AISC Strategy regarding Interoperability for the

Structural Steel Industry

Executive Summary:
AISC has been at the forefront of interoperability since 1998 but even with more than a decade of
progress, the issue is not solved. CIS/2 has been the focus of our efforts but its steel only format
has meant that as other disciplines demanded data exchange, other solutions were needed. As
such, along with proprietary, direct links there has also been a general industry migration toward
buildingSMARTs multi-discipline IFC standards. AISC has now re-evaluated its overall strategy
and IFC forms a central part of the new direction.
Acknowledging that getting IFC to the level it needs to be for the steel industry will take a long
time, AISC has adopted a short, medium and long term strategy that maintains its leadership role.
The strategy is summarized as follows:

Short term:
o Ensure model data can be exchanged as needed by the structural steel industry
regardless of the nature of the exchange or format used

Medium term:
o Promote IFC and make it more accessible and understood by working with
buildingSMART, other trade organizations, academia and subject experts

Long term:
o Facilitate the development and implementation of IFC to satisfy the needs of the
structural steel industry

An expanded version of the strategy is included over page.

AISC Strategy regarding Interoperability for the Structural Steel Industry

AISC Strategy regarding Interoperability for the

Structural Steel Industry
Expanded Version
Summary: Ensure data can be exchanged as needed by the structural steel industry (utilizing
any type of model data exchange) while working toward an open, accessible and easily adoptable
IFC solution over the longer term.

Short Term (low cost, high resource)

Ensure that model data can be exchanged as needed by the structural steel industry regardless
of the nature of the exchange or format used (proprietary or open).
Using the steel Information Delivery Manual (IDM) to focus on workflows, we will work through
each set of data exchange points and make sure data can be exchanged between the various
software programs and roles/disciplines. We will document the exchanges and workflows, build a
knowledge base of gaps and problems and encourage vendors to fix those gaps using any
available option. Its not critical that every exchange be supported by open standards so long as it
is supported in some facet. This assures that there is some form of interoperability and will help
maintain a market advantage for structural steel. Some maintenance and updating of the IDM will
be required as understanding and comprehension of exchanges mature. The IDM will also form
the basis for the long term IFC approach.

Medium Term (low cost, medium resource)

Promote IFC, and make it more accessible by working with buildingSMART, other trade
organizations, academia and subject experts.
a. Make the process of developing, implementing and extending IFC much more accessible,
achievable and understandable, by ensuring developers can more easily find guides,
manuals, go-to people and other information as and when they need it.
b. Raise awareness of IFC and promote the benefits of Open Standards by producing case
studies and benefit statements to suit various levels and roles within the industry. i.e. we
need high level explanations of benefits for executives and owners and more detailed
statements for end users and engineers.

Long Term (high cost, high resource ~10 years)

Facilitate the development and implementation of IFC to satisfy the needs of the structural steel
industry while accepting the fact that open standards will never fully meet every nuance.
A general industry migration to IFC is happening. As vendors have reported, open standards are
necessary, but it is unlikely they will be willing to incur the cost of supporting multiple open
standards. In this case, IFC will need to be more robust with regard to supporting structural steel
data (manufacturing models in particular). Rather than develop and extend the actual schema
itself, AISC, with help from academia and IFC experts, will facilitate strategic teams of volunteer
software vendors to develop a comprehensive and robust, extended IFC schema for the benefit
of the structural steel industry.
AISC understands that open standards will never be able to exchange all the data that two
programs could exchange. This strategy is based on the principle of consistently raising the
quality and range of data within the open standard while recognizing that proprietary
enhancements will continue to play a role:
Open Standard + Proprietary Enhancements = State of the Art.

AISC Strategy regarding Interoperability for the Structural Steel Industry