Using knowledge of construction and project management for automated schedule updating

The designers of expert systems (ES) are now creating computer programs that perform complex tasks with expert competence. This article explains how project managers can use ES to capture and store project knowledge and to manage those problems particular to construction and engineering projects. It discusses the reasons most computer programs cannot capture expert knowledge and defines the three facets of artificial intelligence (AI). It explains the scope and limits of a case study (a project to construct an offshore oil drilling platform) and the reasons for selecting this project to study ES. It then identifies the software and hardware tools used to manage the project, using a model built in an AI environment, a model known as an IntelliCorp KEE System. It describes the KEE System and its knowledgebase (KB) and explains how project activities and contingency activities were used to build the KB.