Penta and e-Builder to Perform First Cross-application Information Exchange Utilizing agcXML at buildingSMART
Conference Construction Software vendors to Demonstrate how agcXML will Automate Information Exchange
Milwaukee, WI – On December 10th, Penta and e-Builder will demonstrate the capabilities of agcXML at the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) buildingSMART alliance National Conference, co-located with Ecobuild / AEC-ST Fall at the Washington Convention Center. agcXML, a buildingSMART™ initiative led and funded by The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and managed by NIBS, will enable efficient, reliable exchange of electronic project information among all design and construction professionals.
agcXML Review and Validation Committee members Kurt Koenig and Ron Antevy will perform the first live information (RFI) exchange utilizing agcXML between their respective companies’ software applications. The PENTA Project Management Workbench will represent the contractor system, and e-Builder Enterprise will represent the owner system.
Construction professionals know the frustration of working with peers and clients who use dissimilar software, where project data has to be entered twice. These challenges were enumerated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s 2004 report, the “Cost Analysis of Inadequate Interoperability in the U.S. Capital Facilities Industry,” which highlighted how interoperability cost the industry $15.8 billion in 2002.
agcXML establishes a common, non-proprietary data format and classification system to reliably exchange project information among dissimilar and proprietary software applications without requiring the re-engineering or redesign of those applications.
"It's well known that projects that use a common, shared collaborative management system are better for everyone, but contractors should have the freedom to select construction software systems that work best for all of their projects instead of having to use a different system for every project," said John Nabholz, Chair of the agcXML Task Force.
“The PENTA and e-Builder demo utilizing agcXML will be the very first real document exchanged between two totally different construction software systems,” said Nabholz. “In the future, people will wonder why it took us so long to replace cumbersome and slow paper documents with electronic transfers.”
“Using technology to improve project delivery by expediting the exchange of information, especially the information contained in the documents addressed by agcXML, was a hot topic when I joined AGC’s Electronic Information Systems (“EIS”) committee 8 years ago and it has remained at the top of the agenda ever since,” said Kurt Koenig, Penta Vice President. “It is very gratifying to see and participate in the first use of a real, practical standard that achieves these objectives.”
About e-Builder
e-Builder is a leading provider of web-based, capital program and project management and collaboration software. The company’s flagship product, e-Builder Enterprise, provides owners of large capital development projects with a way to reduce contingency expenditures and control schedule and scope across their entire portfolio to ensure timely, on-budget project completion. Since 1995 e-Builder’s technology and industry focus has provided thousands of owners, architects, engineers, contractors and suppliers with solutions that enhance development and construction processes. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information, www.e-builder.net.