Management Information Systems in Construction - Assignment Example

Management Information Systems in Construction D31MI –Construction Practice and IT First A. Reg. No. ################ The emergence of Information and Communications Technology has arisen as a trigger for the onset of revolution with the lives of human beings. Although the whole field of IT has been a means of change, the mobile saga has had immense effects on many fields of life. The effects of the Mobile revolution on construction industry have been both a challenge and blessing. Different aspects of how the construction industry can be changed and how may it be benefitted has been assessed with respect to various aspects of the merger in the study that follows. Introduction The advent of IT has proven to be a source of revolutionizing every field of life. For the entire human race their society went through a complete revolution with the emergence of information and communications technology just a few decades back. Construction and Management is one of the numerous fields that have been benefitted immensely by Information and Communications technology. Not only have the methods of construction been perfected by technology, the ability to communicate in the real time environment among locations physically located at far off places was a revolutionizing factor indeed. The present day construction companies’ scenario is such that highly specialized network infrastructure and special communication needs have become integral for their survival. This is owing to the intricate and advanced nature of the projects that have been taken up by the technology equipped construction companies. The general infrastructure is such that the main hub or the headquarters of the construction company is located in a main city. This construction hub is equipped with the smartest telecommunication technologies so as to remain perfectly in contact with construction points at spread out physical locations. Some construction points may be this far that they may not lie under any physical wired private or public networks or even wireless network coverage area. These construction site offices are often present at the termination of the area that is being constructed. The activities within the entire construction area may be far off from the construction office sites and construction may continue sometimes even for months and years. The movements of staff and managers between ‘different sites’ and ‘between the headquarter and sites’ are intermittent and take place at regular intervals. The terrain of the construction sites is often such that the land is physically irregular with ongoing digging and other groundwork. It is under such circumstances that the laying down of a wired physical network is next to impossible. The communication between far off points in a construction site thus remains a problem unresolved. The above mentioned communication issue has thus become a problem since the establishment of timely communication between construction sites and their headquarter is extremely essential in order to bring updated flow of information, updating of databases and successful flowing of construction information systems. The efficient and timely flow of information within construction sites and main company head office facilitates the following areas of knowledge management: On-site workers’ monitoring Expert support systems may help construction work in the practical site area. Business Process Re-Engineering Quantitative Data can be entered into the system in real-time environment. The technical maps and drawing can be reviewed and commented upon simultaneously via collaborative software. Live data streaming enables the on site evaluation of supplier and subcontractor. The count of equipment usage and collection of measurements can be done at run time. The physical equipment involved in the practical construction area can be tracked at runtime. Quality audit results can be entered directly into audit reports and transferred immediately to head office for perusal. Similar can be the case with other on site audits as well. The current study is aimed at analyzing a number of aspects related to mobile computing and wireless communications for construction projects. In this respect the major already researched aspects would be assessed critically and analyzed with respect to their effectiveness. Body of the paper APPLICATION OF MOBILE IT IN CONSTRUCTION THE STUDY The application and use of mobile industry, just like other fields of IT, in the construction arena, is like providing just the required platform that was always required to facilitate construction projects and their effectiveness. The effectiveness of the said IT technology has been assessed with the help of case studies, usability trials and demonstration projects. Focusing on four peer reviewed papers the study describes what are the needs of construction workers with respect to mobiles and how may the said needs be addressed. It was for this purpose that firstly extensive literature review was carried out trying to evaluate the mobile paradigm and the possible outcomes of the merger of the merger of mobile and construction arenas. The paper states that it is initially essential to analyze that what would be the key factors that would get affected BY THE INTRODUCTION OF Mobile IT into construction industry, what would be the available technologies that may be utilized to support the implementation procedure, what would be the factors whereby which mobile technologies would enable to bring business benefits to the construction organization. The last matter to be reviewed would be to assess whether the implementation of mobile technology has been beneficial or not. Data collection by conducting live survey among construction workers working at construction sites was accomplished. It was from this collected data that further analysis revealed. It was pertinent to understand via usability analysis that since mobile technology was comparatively newer most construction workers were not in even terms with their basic usage. The importance of maintenance of electronic records timely was another mainstream achievement that could have been achieved if mobile technology equipped PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant) were provided to all construction workers at the sites. The updating of timely records and thus the eventual maintenance of construction data via mobile technology resulted into knowledge management embedded construction management. ANALYSIS The merging of mobile technology within the construction paradigm has been assessed well taking care of all its nooks and corners. The analysis could have become even more comprehensive If the capabilities embedded in the latest mobile software would have been mentioned was well. This would have given a clearer and far more comprehensive insight into the integration of mobile technology into construction. Review of one data input software such as excel or access spreadsheet or collaboration software such as Microsoft SharePoint for mobiles and their acceptance into common construction workers would have benefitted the research paradigm even more. INTELLIGENT WIRELESS WEB SERVICES FOR CONSTRUCTION The STUDY The purpose of the study and research on Wireless Web revolves around the need for the implementation and use of a wireless network for establishment of timely data transfer and communication between construction sites. The study provides a review of the state of the art technologies that are prevalent and that may be utilized in the field of construction. It emphasizes upon its use and also imparts proper insight into the matter. The concept of the Intelligent Wireless Web has been created to suit just the requirement needs of the construction scenario. Just as the name very justifying suggests, the intelligent web is a network that would be centralized and would simultaneously provide multiple user interface. Each user interface would be designed so as to facilitate the respective user arena. For an on-site worker the user interface would be user friendlily suiting his needs allowing flexible data inputs and information resource lookup databank. Similarly for the managerial personnel the interfaces would interactively portray reviews of analytical perspective and overall assessment capabilities. Not only would the Intelligent Wireless Web provide multiple user interfaces, it would also possess the capability to learn on its own from the ever changing scenarios that would be entered into it and the The integration of technologies such as Web services technology, context aware computing, Ubiquitous computing technologies, Wireless Sensor networks and Profiling technologies were discussed highlighting the implementation scenarios involved in their convergence. The study stressed the need that since the project proposed innumerable benefits it was essential that the construction needs realized its core essence and implemented their finances for its approval and practical implementation. ANALYSIS The study and research on the Intelligent Wireless Web is indeed a new paradigm the idea of which has been successfully dealt with. The study done however lacks the feasibility analysis for existing construction companies and only emphasizes upon the technical specifications and benefits associated with the scenario. An insight into the technical, usability and economic feasibility of the proposed project would have enabled gaining of enhanced recognition from the industrial gurus. Moreover, the cultural and social particulars of each construction arena differ and these specifications would also need to be taken care of while making the infrastructure for the Intelligent Wireless Web which is otherwise a very attractive and fruitful proposition indeed. A FRAMEWORK FOR USING MOBILE COMPUTING FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION SITES THE STUDY The information and Communications technology have not only automated the entire world for human beings but it has also bridged the gap between man and machines in the past recent years. The very recent invention of information systems may well be described as a computing paradigm that processes raw data and builds it into intelligent information required for knowledge laden data usage. These information systems integrate all the requirements of human beings into one combined environment and are enriched with usability. Using mobile computing as a means of managing information respective to construction and using construction information systems for the said purpose is the main idea behind this study. Emphasizing that the quality, quantity and the timeliness of information providence is integral for the success of any construction organization, it was intended that the application and technical details of the retrieval and transfer of on- site information would be addressed. The research involved data collection from a real world construction site of a hospital redevelopment project. The work area spanned over 60,000 square meters with the camp office being 100 meters away from it as well. Each worker at the site had varying information needs. The findings of the research work were a framework for conceptually organizing mobile computing on construction sites, an application model that assessed the limitations and scope of using mobile technology in practical construction arena and the technological details of mobile technologies. The last part gave the system designers the insight to design the system in line with the technological requirements of the remotely connecting devices. Software such as AUTOCAD, Human Computer Interaction enriched Tablet PCs, IEEE wireless networking protocol 802.11 and other mobile technologies were introduced during the research. ANALYSIS The theoretically rich research provides comprehensive insight into the mobile computing implementation possibility into construction paradigm. However the research may be very short lived since even when the research may have been in process there already have been major advancements in mobile computing technology such as comprehensiveness of the latest smartphones. Technologies of the latest smartphones now surpass the need for even maintaining tablet PCs for information gathering purposes. The cloud technology, being implemented as a default now by software giants may take care of much of collaborating needs now that were not possible earlier only with the persistence of Tablet PCs. MOBILE SOLUTIONS AND THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY THE STUDY The much awaited study done in this part of the paper focuses on the economic aspect of the implementation of Information Technology in the Construction Industry. The research involves initial survey of the present prevalent scenario in the construction industry. After a comprehensive evaluation of the existing trends the requirements analysis and possibility of change is assessed. The study evaluates product by product a number of available options for mobile computing. The discussion results in the fact that if mobiles are equipped with applications that address the true needs of construction related personnel; the technology pertaining to mobiles can then be of essential use for the construction industry. The study addresses the fact that for the sake of popularity and increasing demand most of the mobile applications are targeted to younger audiences thus having nothing to do with specialized tasks such as construction. The results of the study stress upon a need for the creation of specialized apps that are just the need of the day for the construction paradigm. The independence of the professional app developers from the mobile manufacturing companies would also be a key to the promotion of the use of IT in Construction. The proposed beneficial uses of RFID, GPS and the technology of the mobile camera were also thought to be integral components increasing usability of the mobile computing hardware for construction based information systems. THE ANALYSIS The study is an insightful attempt to explore the possibilities of mobile computing penetration into the construction industry in the practical perspective. The use of several software technologies for IT in construction has been well put forth for novices and professionals alike. The study, however, could have been given an even better look if few of the professional smartphone apps in the present marketplace could have been mentioned and reviewed. There could have been an additional supplement of software like ‘open office’ and cloud based Prezi and Excel 2013 for collaborative analysis and on spot result observance. E-MAIL BASED SYSTEM FOR DOCUMENTING CONSTRUCION AS-BUILD DETAILS THE STUDY E-mail or Electronic Messaging System is probably the major reason why the World Wide Web got really popular among human beings. A fast, rather immediate and reliable means of data transfer is e-mail. Besides casual messaging, e-mail may be used for specific informational transfer within organizations. With respect to construction industry it is studied that how may e-mail be integrated within the organization for particular processing, data transfer and collaborated project scheduling. An e-mail based automated system collects information from respective departments and transmits it to pre-decided targeted audience reducing much of manual data messaging work and also taking immense load off construction workers’ heads. THE ANALYSIS The study is highly informative. The way the integration of mobile enabled smartphones and tablet PCs has been highlighted to be connected with information software like MS Project on one end and collaborative email on the other end is a key means by which the construction industry may be highly benefitted. Results The results of the report and study conducted in this writing are that the Information and Technology domain has much in store for any other field that tries to merge itself with it. There are various workable possibilities that can get personalized and designed in line with the working domain of the field of construction. The latest PDAs, Tablet PCs and the very latest and the most equipped and increasingly popular smartphones possess all the requirements that are needed for the establishment and maintenance of framework for the merger of IT and construction. Discussion and/or Conclusions It may well be conclusively stated that the implementation of Mobile IT Technology in construction is proposed to be highly beneficial. The research into the matter has revealed that particular specifications into the matter and specific engineering of the entire merger between Mobile IT and construction may result in enhanced precision in the construction process. Combined with usability and ease the Mobile IT Combination with construction would not only upscale the output of the processes within construction but would also digitize the processing minimizing completion time with added efficiency. References Ahsan, S 2007, Mobile Technologies for Improved Collaboration on Construction Sites, Architectural Engineering And Design Management, 3, 4, p. 257, EDS Foundation Index, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 July 2012. 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