Synergies of Lean, BIM, and Extended Reality (LBX) for Project Delivery Management

Abstract

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry stands to benefit tremendously from the integration of lean construction (LC), building information modeling (BIM), and extended reality (XR) technologies at all stages of a project. These technologies enable multidimensional content viewing and collaboration through cloud-based systems and in real-scale environments, resulting in higher levels of efficiency. The aim of this research is to offer an integrative approach that combines project management philosophies, systems, technologies, and tools. The sections containing the results of this study are as follows. (1) A concise review of the benefits of LC, BIM, and XR technologies in the AEC industry, including BIM-based visualization support for LC (Lean-BIM) and BIM visualization in XR (BIM-XR). This section also presents an overview of the most commonly used wearable XRs on the market. (2) The presentation of an LBX process flow diagram and an IDEF0 diagram for the LBX project delivery management system at each stage of AEC projects, including design, construction, and operation. (3) Two possible scenarios for integrated lean, BIM, and XR implementation are suggested, referred to as “in the office” and “online or semi-online LBX meetings”. (4) An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the LBX management system, practical implications, and open challenges of applying LBX to project management tasks. Overall, this study presents an enormous opportunity to increase the quality of construction project planning, understanding, and performance, and provides a roadmap for future efforts to implement the integration of LC, BIM, and XR technologies in the AEC industry.