Time and cost reduction in the production chain of construction projects through collaborative computer systems

Nowadays it is very important the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes included in each of the production chains of a construction project, since in this way the scope of the project can be successfully completed, otherwise it may impact directly on its cost and time. This condition has required to subcontract a percentage of the total of the chains, because it offers benefits such as reducing the risk of production and improving cost due to the high specialization of these companies. However, outsourcing has generated new problems in the production chain, like the interaction and information transfer, which affects the project through the introduction of waiting times and added costs for conflict solution. For this reason, many companies seek to select computer tools whose data reporting is effective for all the project stakeholders, and also have the ability to interact in real time to accelerate the communication process. In this context, this research aims to present a dynamic and integral methodology to manage the production chains implemented in residential buildings through the application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools. The result shows a significant reduction in time and also in cost associated with waiting and resolving conflicts in the projects evaluated.