Interoperable framework to support collaborative business processes in eProcurement at AEC-FM

Major trend in the global market is the increasing collaboration among enterprises during the entire product life-cycle. This relates to business drivers, e.g. cost reduction, flexibility, focus on core competencies, etc. For instance, efficient procurement is increasingly being recognized as an essential part of today businesses' networking. Turning current procurement into an enhanced eProcurement through Collaborative Business Processes could be seen as a driver towards business interoperability. Particularly in AEC-FM, eProcurement presents an untapped potential for increased productivity, internal integration, external collaboration and of the yet to-be European Construction Market. The work here presented starts by setting the standing ground for eProcurement, by outlining Operational Models, Reference Process and Typical Scenario; then goes on studying what constitutes an eProcurement Technical Framework, in particular the Architectural Approaches and Technical Building Blocks; followed by a brief overview of some existing standard eBusiness Architectures on view of eProcurement. At the end, a framework is presented that proposes an integrated method for cross-organizational business process modelling and its execution that enables seamless collaboration between parties involved in an eProcurement environment of activity.