Information Management in the Wooden Single-Family House Industry – Challenges and Potential Solutions

Abstract

In this paper, focus is on information management in the wooden single-family house industry i.e., one segment of the construction industry. So far, there is lack of research that investigates possible paths for information management in the wooden single-family house industry. The purpose of this paper is to overcome this limitation, and to increase the knowledge on how to mitigate the challenges of information management in the wooden single-family house industry. Two research questions were formulated: RQ1 What are the challenges with information management in the wooden single-family house industry? RQ2 What are the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC, and PLM to respectively mitigate the information management challenges? The results presented in this paper are based on a case study at a wooden single-family house company and a literature review on information management. In total, eight empirical information management challenges were identified at the case company, categorized into technology-related, process-related, or people-related challenges. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that a PLM-system has larger potential to mitigate the information management challenges in the wooden single-family house industry than traditional BIM and BIM for OFC. This paper contributes with insights on challenges of information management in the wooden single-family house industry and the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC, and PLM to mitigate these challenges. The results from this paper can support managers in the house building industry with understanding the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC and PLM for specific information challenges and facilitate decision making on what actions to take to improve their information management.