Intelligent construction plant information management

Construction plant information management has progressed rapidly since the inception of paper based and electronic documentation formats. Collated plant management data (e.g. inventories, maintenance costs etc.) assists plant managers monitor plant performance and overall project economics. Traditionally, data are stored on paper based and/or electronic databases or local networks/intranets and maintained centrally within the organization. Pilot studies have revealed that this approach is often preferred even though hardware requirements are massive and accessibility to the system is usually also limited. The Internet, on the other hand, is a relatively new worldwide phenomenon that is rapidly enhancing information management. Information is near instantaneous whilst its open architecture facilitates appropriate user access throughout the company hierarchal structure. Based on this potential, the development of an intelligent web-based construction plant information management system is proposed. This system incorporates models and algorithms that automate the analyses of plant history data. In this paper, particular emphasis is paid to the analysis of plant maintenance cost prediction. The generic approach adopted for this embryonic work is presented to act as a catalyst for wider debate.