Managing Product Information for Lean Construction: Use Cases and a Proposed Process

This paper explores how the flow and management of product information could enable lean construction operations. Recent research has underlined the need and possibilities to integrate product information with building information modelling (BIM). This research extends that knowledge by investigating more thoroughly (1) what are the use cases in construction project life cycle for product information management (PIM)?, and (2) what kind of solutions and processes would support these use cases in lean and BIM-based building projects? Design science approach was used to identify six common use cases for PIM and to identify sub-solutions. In total 36 representatives from Finnish Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) companies are used as informants and participants in workshops. Finally, a process for the PIM was proposed based on the use cases and the identified sub-solutions. The process helps construction practitioners in their efforts towards smoother product information flow which finally contributes on better operations flow in building projects.