About the Digital Supply Chains in Built Environment (DSCiBE) work group
The Digital Supply Chains in Built Environment (DSCiBE) is an international work group was launched in March 2019. The group aims to bring together major industry stakeholders which are involved in the Supply Chain of the Built Environment and to jointly develop processes for the digital exchange of all kinds of data and information, based on existing global standards.
Enzo Blonk, Director Industry Engagement Technical Industries at GS1 and DSCiBE Group Coordinator presents at the 5th meeting of the group in Munich
The why
Managing digital data in a way that is transparent, consistent and available to all ie. standardised will allow seamless collaboration between all parties that make up the construction supply chain. This will allow for socially-beneficial Life Cycle Management of assets, from concept design all the way to facility management and eventually disposal.
The main work of the DSCiBE work group aims at providing a solid foundation for the successful implementation of the international BIM standards such as IFC, IFD, IDM, EN ISO 19650, prEN ISO 23386 and prEN ISO 23387. Group members believe that this foundation will enable the industry to get real benefits from digital twins, allowing them to be synced in real-time with physical objects across the entire supply chain, irrespective of IT system, language, local regulation and/or classification system.
The initial focus of the group is on product/material master data, enabling a real-time “synchronisation” of the physical object with its digital twin during its existence, and even beyond (as data stays on longer than its physical twin).
The initial beneficiaries of these efforts will be the manufacturers and contractors and from there the advantages will spread both up- and downstream in the value chain.
Members of DSCiBE
The DSCiBE group was initially created on the basis of a MoU between standardisation bodies GS1 and buildingSMART International, and also Cobuilder has been among the founding members.
These actors all aim to jointly develop and document open digital workflows to enable supply chain members to access product information based on manufacturers’ data and using industry standard product attributes (based on e.g. the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).
Putting together the two pillars of digital supply chains – namely standardisation and product identification creates the required environment for actors to initiate various cooperative activities that can become enablers for the whole sector.
On the manufacturer’s side the group is supported by Construction Products Europe (CPE), the Swedish Wood Association, EDIN S.A., Wienerberger Group, Pipelife Norway and NorDan from its very beginning.
Technological giants such as IBM and Oracle represent the software scene that is absolutely essential for the implementation of future BIM data flows.
Notable client/contractors among the ‘founding fathers’ of the group are SKANSKA and NCC.
After only six months, the group unites over 50 forward-thinking organisations including universities, research institutes and consultancies.
A Call to Action
The DSCiBE is a work group open to all companies, associations and organisations that are interested to contribute in building a data-driven collaborative digital process based on existing global standards, be they Data Template standards, OpenBIM standards or Product Identification standards.
In substance DSCiBE it’s all about linking the dots.
Join the group, engage with your peers and start paving the truly digital way to true BIM implementation across the entire life cycle of assets!
For more information on joining the group, please email:
Lars Christian Fredenlund
CEO Cobuilder AS
Paul Surin
Global Lead BIM & Built Environment | Centre of Competence | Associate Partner IBM GBS UKI
Aidan Mercer
Marketing Director at buildingSMART International
aidan.mercer@buildingsmart.org
David Almroth
Global lead at GS1
