Waste and waiting times down, power up - but how? The widespread use of an individualized product code would enable the use of standard product information both during and after construction. This would revolutionize the construction industry as we know it now.
One or more supply chains are connected to each construction site task. With a unique digital identifier, product information from different data warehouses can be connected to the construction product automatically. In addition to basic information, the user can be offered installation and operating instructions or safety data sheets.
If all construction materials had a unique digital identifier, construction sites would not function as an uncontrolled storage area, but the right construction products would be delivered in appropriate batches to the right place, at the right time. The real-time snapshot also shows product eligibility, certificates and instructions.
The use of the tag enables a real-time snapshot of the supply chain from the factory to the installation site on the construction site, but also a digital parts list of the completed building with all product information.
Digital information about the products, materials and preforms used in the construction project remains with the end user. If the information is machine-readable and can be stored in databases, intelligent life cycle management is possible throughout the property's maintenance. The right information ensures correct maintenance of the building for more than decades.
Information management of material flows is important for the construction industry to improve productivity. The industry's common goal is to halve the construction lead time.
According to studies, the share of productive work on construction sites is less than 30 percent. If the materials needed for construction and the builders met each other effectively at the workplace, the share of productive work could rise to more than 50 percent. In addition to this, product information must be used in the construction value chain on a database basis.
Information management creates the conditions for ever-expanding digitization and automation, which also improves construction quality and work safety, and enables a smaller carbon footprint.
Digitization requires a unique code standard for products. A viable solution is the internationally standardized GTIN (Global Trade Item Number). It is used to identify trade names worldwide. In Finland, it is widely used in consumer products and in the construction sector in about every other product.
We already have three national product databases in Finland that use GTIN codes: LVI-info, Sähkönumero and RT-tuotetieto. This kind of information reserve must be better used jointly and serve the entire construction chain. The use of the GTIN code makes it possible to obtain product information from databases that use the GTIN code about the desired product. Product information must be openly available, it must be able to be transferred and viewed automatically, and be able to connect to building-specific databases.
The code standard that identifies products, materials and prefabricated products, together with widely used product databases, enables a significant digital leap in the real estate and construction industry. We must take this leap together!
Construction industry on behalf of RT's digital team,
Miro Ristimäki
CEO of Digigroup, Skanska's digital services manager
Otto Alhava
Vice President of Digigroup, Director of Development at FIRA
20 RT member companies are represented in the digital group.
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