Cloud Computing Information System Architecture for Precast Supply Chain Management

. The precast construction industry is associated with a lot of activities, vast effort, many parties and numerous processes. The precast supply chain phases include the planning, design, manufacturing, transportation, installation and construction. The parties within the precast supply chain phases should have efficient communication and access to precise and latest information contributing to the enhanced collaboration, sustainability and improving the integration. The aim of this study is to explore the collaboration tools with proposing the cloud system architecture for the precast supply chain management. The research findings are according to the comprehensive review of the literature on supply chain management, precast construction industry and cloud computing. Findings demonstrate the major problems within the precast supply chain phases comprised of poor planning, ineffective communications among designers and manufacturers, incompetent employees and damage to raw materials, large size and heavy precast components and the poor on-site coordination. These major problems within the precast supply chain phases could contribute to negative consequences on the efficiency, productivity and effectiveness of precast delivery. Therefore, to mitigate and overcome these major problems within the precast construction, the cloud computing implementation as the valuable alternative could be delivered to enhance the efficiencies and effectiveness of the collaboration systems. This research proposes and establishes the concepts of valuable collaborative tools, for instance the Cloud Computing Information Systems


Introduction
The off-site precast construction industry which is launched since 1850, is an integrated construction system comprising of many activities, various products, numerous materials and flow of information and services [1,2]. The precast construction aims to enhance the productivity, decrease the time, and achieve more cost savings among the numerous individuals such as the developers, clients, consultants, suppliers, manufacturers, general contractors, architects/engineers and subcontractors [1,3].
The major issues of precast construction projects will be the integration, assisting and supporting the various stakeholders and numerous supply chain parties on accomplishing the mutual objectives for the precast project. On the other hand, collaborative team workings will enhance the productivity; improve effectiveness and certifying the efficient resources utilisation of precast construction projects contributing to the precast project success. Hence, cloud computing as one of the most valuable collaborative technologies could mitigate the adverse consequences of difficulties, information-intensive, dynamic and risks within the precast construction projects [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Therefore, this research is conducted to explore the concepts of collaboration tools for instance the cloud computing utilization along with proposing the system architecture that will eventually enhance the success of precast construction. The next section of this research will discover the definitions, supply chain phases and major problems within the precast construction.

Precast Supply Chain Management
The precast construction is defined as, the moulds will be filled by concrete, secondly, the curing of concrete within a controlled environment, thirdly, the transportation of precast components to the construction site and lastly, they will be positioned to the construction structure [10,11]. Main benefits of precast construction are: improved sustainability [3], reduced construction time [12], modularization [13], and higher quality [14]. On the other hand, the precast system is implemented for the building [3,[15][16][17][18] and the infrastructure projects [1,11]. The following part of this research will explains the phases within the precast construction industry.

Precast Supply Chain Phases
The precast supply chain phases are categorised to: planning, design, manufacturing, transportation, installation and construction [12,14,15,17,18]. The following section will discover the major problems identified within the precast construction industry.

Precast Supply Chain Problems
Major problems within the precast construction industry which are illustrated in Table 1 could cause negative consequences on the project objectives contributing to time and cost overruns, decreased quality and safety issues. Poor specialised contactors [13] and poor on-site coordination [17] The next section of this research will explore the concepts on the cloud computing consisting of the definitions, types and models.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the recent technology development which could be applied globally at any time in anywhere via internet network [4][5][6][7][8][9][19][20]. It is an approach to outsource data with the aim of decreasing the data storage and reducing the management issues [21]. Main benefits of cloud computing implementation are: less infrastructure investment, convenience, flexibility, enhanced performance and cost reduction [5]. Furthermore, the cloud computing delivery (deployment) models comprises of: public, private, community and hybrid [22]. Consequently, [19,22,23] classified the cloud computing types to: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) such as Salesforce and Amazon web services, Platform as a Service (PaaS) such as IBM and Amazon's EC2 offerings, and

Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 773-774 819
lastly, the Software as a Service (SaaS) such as Amazon and Google Apps including Google Calendar, Gmail and Google Docs. The following section will propose the architectural cloud system.

Cloud Computing System Architecture within the Precast Construction Industry
Cloud computing technology sends and retrieves the data and various applications via the utilisation of internet and central remote servers including the application servers and the database server. The integration of cloud computing, mobile clients (such as the smart mobile devices including the smartphones and tablets), servers and data center [4][5][6]9,19,23] and logistics management [24] could be applied for the precast supply chain management. As illustrated in Figure 1, the architectural system of cloud computing for the precast supply chain management is illustrated.  Figure 1 illustrates that firstly, the data within the precast supply chain phases will be delivered to the database server and the application servers and secondly, it will be transferred to the Information System server engine (IS server engine). Fundamentally, the architecture of Cloud Computing Information System (CCIS) is comprised to four core components: (1) The Mobile Client: Smart mobile devices such as the smartphones, tablets and mobile computers which are capable of sending the data and information within the precast supply chain phases to the Information System server engine via the utilisation of the cloud. Besides, the mobile client will attain the information within the precast supply chain phases by the cloud; (2) The Firewall: Two firewalls has been considered; first one is among the cloud and mobile client whereas, the other firewall is among the IS server engine and cloud. Firewalls in the precast supply chain phases will secure the information that is transferred and delivered to the devices; (3) IS Server Engine: The data within the precast supply chain phases that are delivered by the mobile clients, database server and application servers will be processed via the IS server engine; and (4) The Cloud Server: Information which is created by the IS server engine, with the firewall authorization will be delivered to the cloud. Moreover, the information via the cloud will be distributed to the mobile client within the precast supply chain phases.

Summary
The features of the precast construction industry are distinctive compare to other major industries such as being highly project-based. Cloud computing will significantly impact on how efficiently the information systems should be utilised in order to create the services and applications. This collaborative technology could be applied at any time in anywhere and globally with not much concern on applying new infrastructure, software licenses and employee trainings. Overall, this paper has proposed an intelligent collaborative tool via the cloud computing implementation. Furthermore, the cloud computing implementation within the precast construction industry, will deliver significant opportunities for improving the effectiveness and enhancing the appropriate information flow along with accessing to data, information and services. This study reveals that the implementation of cloud computing could contribute to the efficient delivery of a consistent information system, improved productivity, enhanced effectiveness within the precast construction industry.