Projectmates Construction Software Blog

Custom Forms in Projectmates

Impress your project team with Projectmates Web Forms

With Projectmates 10.2, you now have the ability to build custom forms yourself without any programming knowledge. Quickly and easily integrate electronic versions of forms unique to your project or company.

Why create forms in Projectmates instead of MS Word?
Integrating project forms into Projectmates lets you quickly view and sort multiple form entries, create an online approval process, attach files, and control access to form information. Forms are centralized and can be accessed 24/7 in Projectmates. 

 
 Common Project Forms:

• LEED Tracking
• Inspection Report
• Safety Report
• Project Survey
• Close-Out Report
• New Store Setup
• Test Report
• Infection Control (Healthcare)
• Travel Request

This new feature is both flexible and easy to use, so go ahead and get started today!! Call Projectmates Support if you would like to setup a personalized training session on creating custom forms.

Projectmates Administrators

There are 3 types of administrators in Projectmates: Site Administrators, Project Administrators, and Co-Administrators.  Knowing the differences between the three can help you when deciding who should get which status.

Site Administrators:This administrator has the highest level of access in Projectmates.  The Site Admin can access any project or user on the system.  They have the capability of permanently deleting projects, changing the look and feel of Projectmates, and granting other users access to Portfolio, Bids/Planroom, Campaigns, and Site Admin areas.

Project Administrators: Each project will have a designated user who is the Project Administrator.  The Project Administrator has full access within that project.  He/She will have the ability to add users and roles, create threads, and assign rights to users in that project.  The changes that a Project Administrator makes to his/her project will only effect that single project. Project Administrators also have the ability to delete or park their own project.  When a new project is first created the Project Administrator will default to the user that is creating the project; however, this user can be changed later.  There can be only one Project Admin per project.

Co-Administrators:The Project Administrator of a project can assign one or more Co-Administrators to help manage the project. Co-Administrators have nearly the same access as Project Administrators.  They too can add users, threads, and grant permissions in the Project.  The differences being, a co-administrator cannot assign other co-administrators or change the project administrator.  They also cannot delete or park the project. These capabilities are reserved solely for the Project Administrator.

Note: The three types of administrators described above do not affect the permissions that a user has to individual threads within a project.  The rights associated with viewing and creating new items in threads are dependent upon a user's ROLE in that particular project.  That being said, any of the administrators above have the ability to change their role in a project so that they have the appropriate rights to threads. 

Leapfrogging in Projectmates

Projectmates recently added a time-saving tool that lets you leapfrog from project to project with a simple click. Not only can you switch projects, but you’ll also stay in the same module from project to project. For example, if you are going through your project budgets, Projectmates will keep you in the budget module as you leapfrog from one project to the next. Look for this green symbol “”on the top right corner in Projectmates. Give it a try!

Can your project management software talk to my accounting software?

Construction Executive’s February 2010 article titled “XML for Construction: The Language of Communication,” touched an important topic in the software solution industry. XML or Extensible Markup Language makes transferring information from different systems possible. Few construction management software companies have the capabilities to use XML for their software integrations as yet.

At Projectmates, we have been using XML in our 3rd party integration for a long time already and we have the ability to integrate enterprise software solutions so they can ‘speak to one another’. Projectmates’ XML built-in adapter helps create bridges among other enterprise-level software, making integration easy and seamless, and performed with the least amount of business interruption.

XML helps solve the two major challenges of application integration – data formatting and interpretation. Helping to overcome these two major integration complexities in and by itself helps the integration process immensely. It’s easy to take XML for granted now that enterprise-wide integration using XML is getting to be more common. Before XML, programmers had to spend countless hours creating their own interpretation languages in text files. This was naturally a longer, more complicated and more expensive process. XML became the common denominator for two existing ERPs, making life easier for everyone. The Association of General Contractors (AGC) is taking this one step further to create AGCXML which will serve to create even more uniformity in XML and how it is used in the construction industry based on common industry standards. So in case of Projectmates, it can talk to your existing ERP systems very fluently, so to speak...

 

Mapping your workflow process

Each stage of construction is dependent on the previous one. Starting from the design and bidding process through project completion, to preventative maintenance. The entire project lifecycle is connected. A great construction project management software creates a lifecycle workflow where all the different parts are linked to provide summaries and reports to the decision-makers in leadership roles, while also collaborating with the entire project team.

When it comes to intuitively mapping out the construction process, Projectmates is built for high performance.  All information input into the system is displayed intelligently in the appropriate modules with minimum effort from the users. We’ve already done the work for you. You just get to enjoy its user-friendly interface, while gaining a lot of productivity from the feature-rich tools.

Better accountability and more transparency provide better insight, avoid confusion and bring everyone up to speed on project progress.

Collaboration and Teamwork

The world of construction has always had few constants and many variables. Delays, change orders, budget shortfalls, fluctuating owners’ needs, and technological changes require constant modifications to the project. On top of that, the downward spiral in the economy in the last year or so added even more stress to an industry that already has its fair share of uncertainties. One would imagine that the power of teamwork would be sorely tested under the circumstances. But that’s not always the case.

A recent article in Construction Executive touched on this topic. The article focused on a construction team that worked on a big medical complex that consisted of medical and scientific research centers and had many different parties - architecture firm, contractors and sub-contractors, engineering firm, project managers and the owner. Collaboration was definitely a challenge. But the team was able to overcome most of the anticipated issues by following a divide-and-conquer modus operandi. Teamwork is definitely the key to the completion of a successful construction project. The amount and quality of planning is critical as well and can take up endless man-hours.

The best way to ensure that teamwork always works is by establishing an online project management system that keeps everyone on the same page at the same time – giving them role-based access to update & store documents and project data from wherever they want. Web based construction management software systems provide the kind of visibility and flexibility that allow key players to focus on building rather than collaborating. The software does all of the work for you. A construction managers only issue should be - how to get everyone to use it so it becomes a centralized database? Find a solution built with a user-friendly interface and your team will be highly motivated to use it.

The Final Countdown to 2010!

It’s the final countdown to 2010! It’s also a good time to look back at 2009 and take stock of our achievements at Systemates. With two major releases (and one minor) launched and customer success stories to share, as well as an ever-expanding web presence to better reach our customers and partners, we have had a good and productive year at Systemates.

We kicked off the year with a major release - V9.0. This version had all the bells and whistles that make a good web-based software a pleasure to navigate. A powerful Ball-in-court applet, a scrolling photo feature, and a project map powered by Bing were just some of the cool features. By June we had V9.5 with some improvements to the preventative maintenance and repair work orders module. And we wrapped up the year with V10.0 – offering a completely revamped financial module featuring Earned Value Analysis, enhanced Budget Tracking and a versatile Portfolio Management module.

One of our biggest customer success stories was successfully integrating Projectmates with Oracle accounting system for a large S&P 500 retailer client. Another major success story was streamlining Projectmates’ financial tracking capabilities with the labor timesheets for a large government client and allowing them to get a clear picture of total project costs in real time.

But it’s not been all work! Systemates actively supports sustainable construction and our goals are aligned with LEED, which is why we became a member this year. Our online document management tools save about 3 tons of paper for every construction project (on average). And we have had plenty of fun writing our blogs and keeping you informed and posted on industry happenings and Projectmates updates on our user group at LinkedIn.

We’re excited about 2010! We have many innovative ideas we’re going to start working on next year! Happy New Year from the team at Projectmates!

This holiday season – we present Projectmates User Group! Stay Connected!

There are more articles available online on social networking and the benefits thereof, than there are on the Tiger Woods story! Imagine that! But with enough being said on the topic, I will try to avoid preaching about the merits of virtual business interaction – and get right down to what really seems to work – at least for most businesses. At Projectmates, we created our brand new user group on LinkedIn.com to provide our customers and partners with a platform for interactive communication. We just got started, but it’s been great so far! It’s a great place to go in to share something new you learnt about the industry or to simply reiterate and remind other users about an important best practice in construction management or related topics.

 

Click here to be a part of the Projectmates User Group on LinkedIn.

We love our new user group on LinkedIn already. It’s exciting to be able to give our customers more avenues to reach us and share their thoughts, views and opinions in an informal setting. Everyone has a “Eureka” moment when they come upon a new or fascinating viewpoint, idea or news article that they cannot wait to share with other enthusiastic users on the group. If it benefitted them in some way, it’s sure to benefit others as well. That’s what a user group ought to do – provide something of value to its users.

 

Here’s the wonderful thing about connecting virtually. Sure, you can attend several networking events a year and pocket a100 business cards at every one of them. But in a world where executives are starved for time and companies are adapting strict cost-cutting measures, social networking sites (for the serious networker) is the next best thing to sliced bread and butter. I don’t believe it will or that it should necessarily replace traditional face-to-face interaction. I think the former should complement the latter and reduce them when necessary. It’s important to remember the ‘networking’ part in social networking. So use it to your best advantage! Be active and ‘follow’ activities of your business acquaintances. The next big business opportunity may just come from that!

 

Joining a user group definitely has its benefits. For instance, if you join a Projectmates user group at LinkedIn, you might find yourself automatically connected to several other connections within the construction industry. You may come across familiar names that you would like to hear from or would like to be connected too. One connection leads to several others! We all know that word-of-mouth and references speak much louder than any other marketing tool. Having people endorse you will come in handy when looking for a job or trying to bid on a project within your industry and finding and communicating with key contacts makes all the difference.

 

And finally, you never have to worry about looking for that lost business card again. Just sign into your networking site and get all the information you want about your contact. How easy is that?

 

Come be a part of the Projectmates User Group on

Graphs and charts speak a 1,000 words!

Most people have better memory retention when they see a graph, chart or table as opposed to plain words. Especially when it comes to complex data – there’s really no better way to express compound information than through graphs, charts and diagrams. That’s why you’ve got to love any type of dashboard reporting. Like any other software solution, project management software, especially in the construction industry is served best with a versatile dashboard reporting module or Portfolio Management.

 

A good project management software solution will have Portfolio Management that provides excellent visibility and overview into a company’s construction projects. It’s akin to having a clock that shows the different times in major cities around the world. With all your projects ordered and tabbed, one snapshot view should tell you the status of all your projects simultaneously.

 

There are numerous ways to enjoy the benefits of Portfolio Management but this tool is most effective when grouped and displayed in a user-friendly format with easy navigation and easy-to-read reports. The new Projectmates V10.0 Portfolio Management is versatile and has the capability to produce a variety of reports conveniently grouped under – Construction, Workflow, Financials, and Project Status. This type of dashboard reporting helps in managing the entire project portfolio as a whole, and not just as individual projects.

 

For individual project status monitoring, Earned Value Analysis is a handy tool – another great feature in the new Projectmates V10.0. Combining key factors such as planned time and cost and actual time and cost of a project, simple coefficients will tell you – at a glance – how your projects are faring in terms of time and schedule. Because sometimes, you got to look at the big picture!

Bids for government construction projects heat up

You can thank the economic stimulus package for increased government building projects. But despite the abundance of jobs, getting the winning bid may not be a cinch.

According to a September report on Taragana.com, every state this year has reported average winning bids coming in from 5 to 12 percent below estimate, said Tony Dorsey, spokesman for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, whose organization polled state governments this year on the first round of projects funded by the federal economic stimulus.

The lower bids are being attributed to reduced prices for materials. But increased competition is also a factor.

Jim Andoga, president of the Irving, Texas-based construction giant Austin Bridge & Road told the Web site his company, facing more competition, has reduced built-in profit margins in its bids by about 20 to 25 percent over the past year. In 2006, he bid an average of 9 percent over engineers’ estimates, compared with 17 percent under this year — and still has not won as often.
 
This seems to be a stark contrast to what’s happening in Ohio.

The Columbus Dispatch reported in July government projects in that state are getting fewer bidders and higher bids on projects.

The paper reported contractors are seeing unstable prices for fuel and construction materials and are overbidding, or simply not bidding, on municipal and state projects.

Scott Varner, Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman, said his department is also seeing fewer bidders despite the fact state contracts often include sliding adjustments to account for unexpected cost changes during the years it takes to complete the project – helping to mitigate the risk factors.

"There's greater risk in putting in a fixed price bid today than there was two years ago," Chris Runyan, president of the Ohio Contractors Association told The Columbus Dispatch. "We have never seen price increases at this rate in all of the 25 years that I've been involved in the transportation industry."

Whatever the case may be for your bids, Projectmates can help you get organized during the bidding process and keep everything on budget. The online capital project management software is designed to share documents, track budgets and financials, manage changes and report progress with ease.