1 of 12 A Case Study of IFC and CIS/2 Support for Steel Supply Chain Processes Mark O. Danso-Amoako, William J. O’Brien, Raja R.A. Issa, University of Florida ({markdan, wjob, raymond-issa}@ufl.edu) Summary The evolution of data exchange and integration standards within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry is gradually making the long-held vision of computer-integrated- construction a reality. The Industry Foundations Classes and CIMSteel Integration Standards are two such standards that have seen remarkable successes over the past few years. Despite successes, these standards support the exchange of product data more than they do process data, especially those processes that are loosely coupled with product models. This paper reports on on-going research to evaluate the adequacy of the IFC and CIS/2 standards to support process modeling in the steel supply chain. Some initial recommendations are made regarding enhancements to the data standards to better support processes. 1 Introduction The Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has for the most part of the last two millennia depended on paper-based drawings and documents for project execution. The last two decades has witnessed tremendous movement of the AEC industry towards the digital paradigm and most importantly, recent years have seen the maturation of data integration models. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and CIMSteel Integration Standards (CIS/2) are two such data exchange standards that have been widely supported and implemented. The evolution of such models makes the possible realization of long held visions for computer- integrated-construction (CIC) via shared integrated data models and information management. Despite its wide base of support, use and implementation, data standards are currently considerably more mature for product modeling than for process modeling (Froese et al. 1999; Staub-French and Fischer 2000). A construction product model provides geometric and topological information of the product of construction, while a construction process model provides temporal and resource information. Through research, product modeling has been well supported, tested and implemented. However, relatively few efforts have been made to evaluate existing standards with regard to their support for processes, particularly processes that are loosely coupled to product models. Such processes include scheduling, resource management, and procurement. This paper complements several existing efforts that are focused on product modeling and processes tightly linked to product models such as automation of erection activities and estimating. The two primary objectives of this paper are: 1. To document and analyze procurement and scheduling processes within the steel fabrication and erection supply chain, and 2. To verify how these processes are supported by IFC and CIS/2 data standards. An introduction to the steel construction supply chain with respect to the above-mentioned scope is outlined. This is followed by a brief discussion of the advantages and limitations of data exchange and integration standards within the AEC industry. CIS/2 and IFC each have their different scopes, architectures and mode of operation that provide different advantages and disadvantages when considering their support for existing processes. To make an effective critique, data on current in-use processes is presented and compared with the IFC and CIS/2