BIM Workflows: Enhancing Collaboration and Overcoming Fragmentation in the AEC Industry
Volume Title: ICASGE2025
Paper ID : 1039-ICASGE-FULL (R1)
Authors
Abstract
Building Information Modeling (BIM) has revolutionized the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, offering a collaborative and data-driven approach to designing, constructing, and managing buildings. By integrating multidisciplinary workflows into a single digital environment, BIM enhances project visualization, improves coordination, and reduces errors. It fosters stakeholder collaboration by enabling real-time updates, clash detection, and detailed documentation. Despite its transformative potential, BIM adoption in the AEC industry encounters significant challenges.
One major issue lies in interoperability, as various software platforms and plugins often fail to communicate seamlessly, leading to inefficiencies in data exchange and workflow fragmentation. The availability of specialized plugins and programming capabilities, while enhancing functionality, can create opportunities but still a lack of standardization across teams. Engineers and architects often rely on different tools and custom scripts, complicating collaboration and data integration. This fragmentation results in the loss of a unified workflow, where a single source of truth for all project information is absent.
Additionally, Resistance to change within organizations and a lack of standardized protocols further slow the adoption process. Data security concerns also emerge due to the centralization of sensitive project information. Addressing these challenges demands industry-wide efforts to establish interoperability standards, streamline plugin integration, and promote cost-effective BIM solutions. Future advancements, such as integrating BIM with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality, promise to overcome existing limitations and drive innovation. Achieving a unified and efficient BIM workflow is essential for transforming the AEC industry into a more sustainable and technologically advanced sector.
One major issue lies in interoperability, as various software platforms and plugins often fail to communicate seamlessly, leading to inefficiencies in data exchange and workflow fragmentation. The availability of specialized plugins and programming capabilities, while enhancing functionality, can create opportunities but still a lack of standardization across teams. Engineers and architects often rely on different tools and custom scripts, complicating collaboration and data integration. This fragmentation results in the loss of a unified workflow, where a single source of truth for all project information is absent.
Additionally, Resistance to change within organizations and a lack of standardized protocols further slow the adoption process. Data security concerns also emerge due to the centralization of sensitive project information. Addressing these challenges demands industry-wide efforts to establish interoperability standards, streamline plugin integration, and promote cost-effective BIM solutions. Future advancements, such as integrating BIM with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality, promise to overcome existing limitations and drive innovation. Achieving a unified and efficient BIM workflow is essential for transforming the AEC industry into a more sustainable and technologically advanced sector.
Keywords
Building Information Modeling; Interoperability; Augmented Reality; AEC Industry; Collaboration; Technologies
Subjects