Possibilities of Using Building Information Model Data in Reinforcement Processing Plant

While the AEC industry is moving towards digitalization off-site rebar prefabrication became a common practice. Now most companies use a long-established standard order processing method, where the customer submits 2D paper or PDF-based drawings. Subsequently, the manufacturers are obligated to make additional detailing, redrawing, calculations, and preparation of other required information for manufacturing. Thus, in this typical scenario, there is a great repetition of the same tasks, with the obvious loss of time and increased likelihood of human error. However, improvements can be made by the application of advanced digital production workflow and the use of open BIM standards (e.g., IFC, XML, BVBS). Therefore, this paper presents the typical data flow algorithm in contrast to the automated data flow for reinforcement manufacturing. Further, the two approaches are compared and analyzed based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods. The results have shown promising prospects for companies willing to automate their data flow processes by the use of 3D drawings and digital data from the BIM model in their plants.