Application of Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) in the Egyptian Construction Industry

Abstract

In today's competitive world especially in an industry such as the construction industry where the competition increases each day there comes a rieed more than ever for effective and efficient project management. Achieving such a goal needs a reevaluation and reengineering of how Egyptian construction companies operates for its engineering process, this objective is achieved by utilizing the use ofcomputers in the Egyptian construction industry. Although, computers spread widely in the whole world during the last decade and are now used in the majority of construction companies in Egypt, unfortunately this wide spread didn't accompany an understanding of the capabilities the computers yet has to offer. The computer usage in the majority of construction companies is mainly to aid the employees in performing their tasks and enhance the output such as CAD, word processing, etc..., but this doesn't enhance the project management process.

Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) is a strategy for linking construction participants and computer . technologies in order to optimize planning; design, accounting, engineering, procurement contracting, management, and eventually achieve a highly integrated construction system. CIC enhances the project management process by enhancing the information transfer throughout the construction process, between sectors of the company and lifecycle stage

This research describes the development of an engineering data-management system that integrates different project phases and processes under one central database. This database can be accessed through a number of computer terminals distributed geographically over the company under a local area network. This network electronically links the project participants and ensures that all participants have access to the same project data by restructuring the company's data and flow information. A Relational Data Management System (RDBMS) will be utilized for this purpose. This system is capable of storing retrieving, and manipulating data in a simple way.