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Abstract

Conformance with standard corporate and institutional processes and industry best practices are sought because of regulatory requirements and evidence that best practices lead to improved project performance. Automated workflow engine enabled Industry Foundation Processes (IFP) are introduced in this paper that facilitate process conformance through structural transparency, foundation process inheritance, and automated conformance checking. While IFP processes can be customized to suit particular project or corporate conditions, they need to conform to a standard core structure and thus behavior. This has been achieved through defining specific workflow inheritance rules and developing an automated structural process conformance checking algorithm. The algorithm has been developed based on graph theory fundamentals using a first-order logic language, which compares two workflows and detects the conformance of a customized one with its associated IFP. The developed algorithm has been functionally tested and validated with different structural settings of workflows with a number of critical cases. Its functionality has been demonstrated in this paper with an example of the commonly used process of RFI (Request for Information). A new construct is thus contributed that can help improve process conformance to industry best practices particularly in the architectural, engineering, and construction industry, leading to improved project conformance.

9. Summary and conclusions

This paper introduces the concept of Industry Foundation Processes (IFP) and provides an ontology for its development and application. IFPs are simple structured processes with the essence of industry best practices. They possess particular features, such as abstraction and inheritance that enable them to systematically be expanded to more complex processes tailored for specific types and conditions of construction projects. Explicit workflow inheritance rules not only allow methodical customization of IFP processes, but also enable automated conformance checking of any workflow with its associated IFP process. In addition, an accepted core structure for an IFP process facilitates process interoperability, which will be discussed in more detail in a separate publication. Furthermore, this paper discusses the workflow inheritance notion and compares it with the traditional programming inheritance concept. It clarifies that they are different, and both are necessary for implementation of the IFP system. A prototype example of an IFP for the Request for Information (RFI) process – a commonly used process in the construction industry – has been developed in this paper, using C# programming language and Microsoft Workflow Foundation technology, to demonstrate the concept of an IFP system. The concept and methodology introduced, however, can be applied to any other common process in the construction industry, such as risk management, contract management, quality management, and lessons learned.