In order to efficiently transform business processes (such as product design, product engineering, production, logistics, sales, deliveries, etc.) into digitally automated processes, new concepts have been introduced in both the manufacturing and construction industries. Under the term Industry 4.0, promising possibilities for high-performance production processes are emerging based on e.g., digital twins and cyber-physical systems. However, the construction industry lags behind in adapting these ideas, and is still facing severe productivity deficits. This paper addresses these deficits by assessing the hypothesis of Building Information Modeling—as the digital twinning methodology in construction—representing a key driver for digital automation and thus enabling more productive processes. To this end, we apply a design science research approach to develop artefacts using computational methods for the automation of business processes in a configure-to-order industry partner. The evaluation is done in the context of a pilot project together with this industry partner. The findings obtained in the pilot project revealed time savings in the phases of bid estimation and work preparation. Based on the findings, the applicability and utility of the suggested approach are discussed and allow for the conclusion that Building Information Model data can usefully streamline and automate many processes at the interface between design and production, if structured and preprocessed purposefully.

Many researchers have stated that lean and building information modeling (BIM) have positive synergies. This integrative literature review aims at exploring this body of knowledge within the scope of combinations of BIM and the Last Planner^® System, as an important Lean construction method, in the phase of construction execution. The research motivation is to find out whether a comprehensive understanding of how to take advantage of these synergies exists. Eventually, the question arises of how to condense this understanding—if existing—into a robust conceptual model for integration. As a theoretical backbone, we will make use of the original BIM-Lean interaction matrix. The hypothesis is that new BIM functionalities have been evolved since the first formulation of this interaction matrix almost 10 years ago. These new BIM functionalities cause new interactions with existing lean principles. We will focus on interactions that refer directly or indirectly to production planning and control and use them to find the most relevant literature for this review. Within the content analysis, as a part of this review, we focus on existing conceptual models and frameworks for integration of BIM and the Last Planner^® System and reveal their shortcomings. Eventually, we will propose a new conceptual model.