The informatization of Chinese building industry:

current state of the art and challeges

Ma ZhiliangTsinghua University

1. Background2. Purpose3. Methodology4. Statistical result5. Current state of the art6. Challenges

Agenda

1. Background1999“Outline on computer application and informatization for engineering design sector2000-2005”2001“Fundamental points on informatization of construction field”2003“Outline on informatization of building industry

2003-2008”

Major components are design firms and construction firms Informatization of the firms has not gone wellWhat is the current state of the art? What are the challenges?

Design and construction firms

Software vendors

Researchinstitutes

In order to answer the questionsThe key is to grasp the current state of the artHow?

By exprience By qestionnaire By field investigation

Generality? Accuracy? Systematicness?

1. Background

2. Purpose3. Methodology4. Statistical result5. Current state of the art6. Challenges

Agenda

l to grasp l the current state of the art of the informatization of

design firms and construction firms l generally and systematically

2. Purpose

l to point out l the challenges that the design firms, construction firms,

the relevant software vendors and the relevant research institutes have to face

1. Background2. Purpose

3. Methodology4. Statistical result5. Current state of the art6. Challenges

Agenda

To analyze the relevant published papers

3. Methodology

Contents

New & positive ContentsIn depth & accurate

Conten

ts

Easy t

o obta

in

By experience

By questionnaire

By field investigation

Scope of published papers

Period：1997-2007Keywords：Informatization m design institutes, design, building, project；CAD, aided m building, structure；Informatization m Construction firms, construction project, engineering projects

Full text DB of CN journal papersSince 1994, 8200 Journals

Full text DB of CN excl. MD thesesSince 1999, 350 thousand theses

Full text DB of CN excl. PhD thesesSince 1999, 60 thousand theses

Full text DB of CN conf. proc.Since 1999, > 300 societies

370+459

Designfirms

Constr.firms

How the papers were analyzedEach paper is roughly read to determine its category and to record its attributes, including category, source, published year etc.

The attributes of the papers are analyzed according to the subject foranalysis to obtain the distribution of the papers with year.

The graph presentation of the result from the analysis is obtained and the meaning is explained.

Categories of papers

Argumentum papersExplain and justify some ideas

Research papersPresent the result of a research

Application papersPresent the application case of a certain technology of information system

Comp. ArgumMono. Argum.Comp. ResearchMono. ResearchComp. Applic.Mono. Applic.

Comp.or

Mono.

• Total number：175• Major journals: 13, 90 papers (32 percent of the total)

• 计算机辅助设计与图形学学报（6）

• 科技情报开发与经济（5）• 安徽建筑（4）• 福建建筑（4）• 建设科技（4）• 石材（4）• 西南交通大学学报（4）

• 中国勘察设计 （33）• 工程设计CAD与智能建筑 （19）

• 建筑设计管理（9）• 建筑科学（7）• 工程建设与设计（6）• 中国计算机用户（6）

Journals published the analyzed papers concerning design firms

98010207848151871Total

400000000400西南交通大学学报

400002001010石材

400400000000建设科技

401000011100福建建筑

401000002100安徽建筑

500010021100科技情报开发与经济

600101010210计算机辅助设计与图形

学学报

600000003300中国计算机用户

603110010000工程建设与设计

700001000231建筑科学

901100015100建筑设计管理

1100000222320工程设计CAD与智能建筑

28041354200000中国勘察设计

Total0706050403020100999897Journal¥Year

Distribution with year

Design firms

981724173424Total

4000040西南交通大学学报

4200020石材

4201100建设科技

4000022福建建筑

4000031安徽建筑

5000032科技情报开发与经济

6300030计算机辅助设计与图形学学报

6000600中国计算机用户

6200121工程建设与设计

7300040建筑科学

9002106建筑设计管理

11510023工程设计CAD与智能建筑

28011899中国勘察设计

TotalMono.Research

Comp.Research

Mono.Application

Comp.Application

Mono.Argum.

Comp.Argum.Journal¥Paper category

By papercategory

DesignFirms

Total number: 241Major journals: 12, 148 papers (33 percent of the total)

科技情报开发与经济（7）中国建设信息（7）基建优化（6）技术经济（6）建设科技（6）建筑技术开发（6）

施工企业管理（33）建筑（19）施工技术（18）建筑经济（15）山西建筑（13）建筑管理现代化（11）

Journals published the analyzed papers concerning construction firms

14701834322318145300Total

600031020000建筑技术开发

601220100000建设科技

600121020000技术经济

600311100000基建优化

702202100000中国建设信息

700510010000科技情报开发与经济

1102320112000建筑管理现代化

1301234201000山西建筑

1503272100000建筑经济

1800801341100施工技术

1900059221000建筑

3309662620200施工企业管理

Total0706050403020100999897Journal¥Year

Distribution with year

Constructionfirms

147642351594Total

6010023建筑技术开发

6003003建设科技

6000006技术经济

6000024基建优化

7001024中国建设信息

7001123科技情报开发与经济

11200054建筑管理现代化

130001012山西建筑

152110110建筑经济

18207009施工技术

190242110建筑

330061026施工企业管理

TotalMono.Research

Comp.Research

Mono.Application

Comp.Application

Mono.Argum.

Comp.Argum.

Journal¥Paper Category

By paper category

Constructionfirms

1. Background2. Purpose3. Methodology

4. Statistical result5. Current state of the art6. Challenges

Agenda

We distinguish between design firms and construction firms

Sujects for analysis1) The total number of papers with year2) The number of each category of papers with year3) The proportions of each category of papers with year4) The number of each type of information systems

involved in the application papers with year5) Major characteristics of the firms that are involved

4. Statistical result

论文总数随时间变化

Trend: 00 peak: 30 papers05 peak: 57 papers

18

23

29 30

25

16

33

52

57

44

00

10

20

30

40

50

60

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

The total number of papers with year

concerning design firms

04 7

1725

43

76

97

121

98

1

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Trend：Rapid increase05 peak: 121 papers

The total number of papers with year

concerning construction firms

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

施工企业

设计企业

Comparison：Increase is more rapid for construction firms

Comparision between design firms and construction firms

Constr. firmsDesign firms

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

The number of each category of paper with

year concerning design firms

Trend: Mono. Argum. > Mono. Research > Comp. Argum. > …151 papers 95 papers 75 papers

Comp. Argum.Mono. Argum.Comp. Applic.Mono. Applic.Comp. ResearchMono. Research

Comp. Argum.Comp. Applic.

Comp. Research

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

单项研究性

综合研究性

单项应用性

综合应用性

单项议论性

综合议论性

Trend: Mono. Argum. averagely 40 percent each yearMono. Research averagely 30 percent each yearComp. Research 1.6 percent in total, i.e. 6 papersRatio of Mono. Argum. to Comp. Argum. 2 to 1, total 226 papersRatio of Comp. Applic. to Mono. Applic. 3 to 1, total 44 papers

The proportion of each category of papers with year

concerning design firms

Mono. ResearchComp. ResearchMono. Applic.Comp. Applic.Mono. Argum.Comp. Argum.

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

10

20

30

40

50

60

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

The number of each categroy of papers

with time concerning construction firms

Trend: Comp. Argum. > Mono. Argum. > Comp. Applic. > …259 papers 89 papers 60 papers

Comp. Argum.Mono. Argum.Comp. Applic.Mono. Applic.Comp. ResearchMono. Research

Comp. Argum.Comp. Applic.

Comp. Research

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

单项研究性

综合研究性

单项应用性

综合应用性

单项议论性

综合议论性

Trend: Comp. Argum. more than 50 percent averagely each yearRatio of Comp. Argum. to Mono. Argum. 3 to 1, total 348 papersRatio of Comp. Applic. to Mono. Applic. 4.5 to 1, total 77 papersResearch papers accounting for less than 20 percent each year

The proportion of each category of papers with year

concerning construction firms

Mono. ResearchComp. ResearchMono. Applic.Comp. Applic.Mono. Argum.Comp. Argum.

Comparison between design firms andconstruction firms according to paper category• Design firms

– Mono. Argum., Mono. Research, Comp. Argum.– Pay more attention to application software than to

informatization of firms• Construction firms

– Comp. Argum., Mono. Argum., Comp. Applic.– Pay more attention to informatization of firms

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

专业应用软件

企业层管理信息系统0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

专业应用软件

项目层管理信息系统

企业层管理信息系统

Trend: Firm-level MIS > Application software > Project-level MIS27 papers 10 papers 7 papers

Each category of information

sytems with year concerning design

firms

Application softwareProject-level MISFirm-level MIS

Application softwareFirm-level MIS

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

专业应用软件

企业层管理信息系统

项目协同工作平台0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

专业应用软件

项目层管理信息系统

企业层管理信息系统

电子商务平台

项目协同工作平台

Trend: Firm-level MIS > Project-level MIS > Application software 31 papers 25 papers 17 papers2 papers about EC, 1 paper about collaborative system

Each category of information system

with year concerning

construction firms Application softwareProject-level MISFirm-level MISElectronic commerce platfromsCollaborative system

Application softwareFirm-level MIS

Project-level MIS

Comparison between design firms andconstruction firms according to information system• Design firms

– Application software, project-level MIS, firm-level MIS– Firm-level MIS takes the majority

• Construction firms– Application software, project-level MIS, firm-level MIS,

electronic commerce platforms and collaborative systems

– The firm-level MIS and the project-level MIS together take the majority

44 Applic. Competency level

I: 22 firms, 32 papers

III: 1 firm,1 paper

Out: 8 firms,12 papers

Type of firms

Big firms: 73%

Other firms: 27%

31 firms

Characteristics of design firms

involved

Trend: Big design firms: 72 percent, although accounting for 17.7 percent of the total design firms

77 Applic. Competency level

I: 10 firms

II: 27 firms

III: 1 firm

Out: 8 firm

Type of firms

Big firms: 22%

Middle firms: 59%

Small firms: 19%

46 firms

Trend: Big or middle construction firms: 81 percent, although accounting for 4 percent in the total construction firms

Characteristics of construction firms

involved

1. Background2. Purpose3. Methodology4. Statistical result

5. Current state of the art6. Challenges

Agenda

4. Current state of the art

Major aspects1) Trend of informatization development2) Depth of knowledge about informatization3) Extent of practice about informatization4) Type of firms implementing informatization5) Weakness in the implementation of

informatization

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

施工企业

设计企业

The informatization of building industry has progressed, where the construction firms have progressed more remarkably than design firms in the past ten years.

2002 A project on informatizationstarted under tenth five-year plan

Trend of Informatization

1999-2000 design firms abandon drawing plates

A lot of knowledge about the informatization has been accumulated successfully and the knowledge has been deepened.

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

10

20

30

40

50

60

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

Trend: many argumentum papers 226 papers concerning design firms, 348 construction firms

Depth of Knowledge

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

Many practices about informatization have been carried out successfully and both comprehensive practices and monomial practices are included.

Trend: Many application papers 44 papers concerning both design firms and 77 papersconcerning construction firms

Extent ofPractice

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

10

20

30

40

50

60

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

综合议论性

综合应用性

综合研究性0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

综合议论性

单项议论性

综合应用性

单项应用性

综合研究性

单项研究性

Trend: Big and middle scaled firms account for the majorityBig design firms 73 percentBig and middle scaled construction firms 81 percentAlthough they account for only 4 percent and 17 percentin the total design firms and construction firms

The informatization of small firms need to be promoted especially, although some big and middle scaled firms have implemented informatization successfully.

Type ofFirms

The research on the informatization is relatively weak in the past ten years.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

单项研究性

综合研究性

单项应用性

综合应用性

单项议论性

综合议论性

Trend: The proportion of research papers averagely in a year have not exceeded 5 percent concerning design firms; have not exceeded 20 percent concerning construction firms

Weakness

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

单项研究性

综合研究性

单项应用性

综合应用性

单项议论性

综合议论性

1. Background2. Purpose3. Methodology4. Statistical result5. Current states of the arts

6. Challenges

Agenda

Next peak of informatization of design firms and construction firms will come soon.

6. ChallengesChallenge

1

Design firms and construction firms

Software vendorsResearch institutes

should be aware that informatization is inevitable and thus should be prepared for it.

should be prepared for it in technology by developing more effective products.

The chance for implementing informatization for design firms and construction firms is good now

Design firms and construction firms

Software vendors

Research institutes

Should be active to catch up the chance.

should develop their market aggressively.

should deepen their research to satisfy the new requirements.

Challenge2

Small firms will have a good chance to be developed.

Small design firms and construction firms

Software vendorsResearch institutes

should be aware that it is inevitable to implement informatization to raise the competitiveness.

should develope dedicated technology for the small design firms and construction firms.

Challenge3

12th International Conferences on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering &2008 International Conference on Information Technology in Construction

October 15-17, 2008Beijing, China Beijing Friendship Hotel

Email: icccbe_2008@tsinghua.edu.cnWebsite: http://icccbe2008.civil.tsinghua.edu.cn

Organizer

Abstract due Aug. 31, 2007Full paper due Mar. 31, 2008

Thank you very muchfor your attention