Inter-enterprise information management in dynamic construction enterprises

IT in use in the construction industry needs to find the right balance between, on the one hand, integrated information infrastructures, tools and systems, and, on the other hand, the organisational peculiarities and complexities intrinsic to this sector. There is a need to support smooth co-operation between non colocated teams, and the co-ordination of their work and activities in an environment that promotes trust and social cohesion. This overall infrastructure should give construction project participants increased flexibility, and effective access to project information regardless of its form, format, and location. This paper presents the findings of a European RTD project entitled, “Open System for Inter-enterprise Information Management in Dynamic Virtual Enterprises (OSMOS)”, that was harnessed to enable European construction companies (in particular SMEs) to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace through the promotion of Internet-based added-value services that support collaborative work in the context of the Virtual Enterprise (VE). The setting-up of these services should be made easy, short (from a few days to a few weeks), and most independent possible of the specific context of each company involved, in particular legacy or commercial applications in use. A short summary of the research approach used is presented followed by an insight into some of the main results and tools developed within OSMOS. This is supplemented with a real case example of one of the commercial tools developed for facilities management virtual enterprises by one of the end-users.