Projectmates Construction Software Blog

Client Success Story: Panduit Corp & Global Project Management

Name: Jeff Skimel, Senior Project Manager Global Real Estate
Company: Panduit Corp
Projectmates User Since: 2009
Project Location: Zapopan, Jalisco, MEXICO

Project Facts: Office Renovation (29,000 Sq Ft), conversion of indoor warehouse to indoor parking (44,000 Sq Ft), + exterior site & civil improvements

What was the duration of this project?

Jeff: Approx. 8 months (08/11 thru 04/12) including design. Project was design-build to meet deadline.

What are some of the challenges you are able to overcome using Projectmates for a global project like this?

Jeff: Interestingly, there is a benefit to multilingual challenges. For example, a Spanish-only speaking contractor will submit literature for approval to a bilingual intermediary who will translate and approve through Projectmates. The site photo module is also helpful in managing from a distance.

In what way has Projectmates improved the collaboration between the project players?

Jeff: Greatly, both for domestic and international projects and for all of the major project management processes, such as submittals, RFIs, photos, financials, etc.

About how many RFIs and Submittals did you process in Projectmates for this project? Talk about the time and cost savings of using Projectmates.

Jeff: Roughly 100. Many like items were combined hence the small number. Not only does this module save time, but it would not be possible to single-handedly manage the project without the automated submittal module. In the past, we needed to print, review, stamp, sign, scan, and send approved submittals. Submittals that were not approved required the same process again.

In what ways did Projectmates help with tracking project finances?

Jeff: Projectmates allowed us to see the budget, process invoices, etc. We would like to bridge to Oracle, our main corporate financial system, for more extensive use.

Anything else you'd like to share with readers?

Jeff: Our group likes the new changes to the Projectmates software.

Image: 29,000 Sq Ft Office Renovation in Jalisco, MEXICO. Courtesy of Panduit Corp.

Crate & Barrel Speaks at COAA Conference on how Projectmates Technology and Lean Principles Reduce Project Time by 50%

Each Crate & Barrel store is a one-of-a-kind design. Don't expect a cookie-cutter box when you visit any one of the company's 168 stores. Each store is a brand ambassador with a unique, complex design of clean lines, expansive glass walls, and open interiors in the neo-modernistic style.

John Moebes, AIA, Director of Construction at Crate & Barrel, spoke at COAA's Fall Leadership Conference this past week on his team's "Survival Mandate" to reduce capital investment 30-50% and reduce facility opening cycles 45%. Despite the difficult economy, the company has continued to build because it has adopted new strategies to cut capital investment and build time.

During his keynote session, titled "Lean It or Leave It! How Crate & Barrel Reduces Transaction Costs," Moebes outlined how Projectmates and BIM technology drastically reduce cost and project duration. Between 2006-2008, a typical building took 70 weeks to design and construct and cost millions to construct. Today, the same building takes 35 weeks to design and construct and costs about 55% of what it used to.

Moebes, who describes the construction industry's relationship with technology as generally dysfunctional, places a strong focus on the owner's need to reduce transaction costs of the AEC workflow, or the processes used to produce a building. If the processes are inefficient, the project costs more to build. In traditional construction processes that rely heavily on hardcopies, mail, and faxes, a lot of time and money is spent on redundant logs, forms, transmittals, storage, and archive costs for example.

Projectmates provides a centralized place for owners, architects, contractors, and other project stakeholders to collaborate online and gives owners strong oversight and project control. As Crate & Barrel demonstrates, Projectmates reduces project costs by eliminating many of the fees a company pays out. Moebes added, "All of these were charges to us in order to prove who had done what in a hardcopy world, but where was the value to the project?"

"What we noticed was within 12 months we had eliminated all the printing and shipping costs, except for permit sets, within our processes. A typical project was spending about $45 thousand dollars just to print and ship documents," said Moebes on using Projectmates to manage documents electronically.

Moebes discussed in detail three overarching benefits of using Projectmates to reduce the cost of handling data: 1) Increased transparency in project communications; 2) Streamlined workflow; 3) Reduced project expenses. He mentioned other value-added benefits including multiple project tracking, executive project reports, cross-project performance reports, ball-in-court reminders, extremely secure, easy to backup and archive, and integrated email functionality. 

"We have a very high sensitivity to the look of the facility…Each building we build is as important to us as the first building we ever built," said Moebes. Like Crate & Barrel, each new version of Projectmates reflects a high sensitivity to the needs of the owner in developing the best construction project management software.

Technology Review: Construction Finances

As more companies seek systems to simplify workflow, eliminate double entry, improve productivity and cut costs, Online Project Management Software is becoming the go-to solution. So, how are these solutions positively impacting the bottom line? In May of this year, Construction Executive Magazine ran a special section titled "Construction Finance" and asked leaders in construction technology to share their insights on this question. Our own Hemant Bhave, VP of Systemates, registered architect working in the industry for over 25 years and AIA member, was asked to share his insights on project management solutions.

I want to highlight some key points he made that really emphasize why construction project 
management software is a must in today's business and how Projectmates meets those needs.
 

1. Trim the Fat!
   In the construction industry, fat is paperwork, double data entry, misinformation and delayed responses. Projectmates online project management solutions trim the fat from day-to-day construction processes by bringing everyone together on a common platform.
    
2. Reduce Project Delays.
   Project delays mean less profitability. Projectmates gives you better oversight, shortened workflow processes for change orders and RFI's, automation of routine tasks, streamlined document distribution and increased accountability. With a substantially improved workflow, there is little chance to realize anything but improved productivity.
    
3. On-the-go Access.
   The need to be productive remotely is critical. Owners benefit from anytime, anywhere access to real-time information on Projectmates. Rather than waiting to get to the office, executives and project managers can act on issues from anywhere—the field, airport, or home—using a mobile device, PDA, smart phones and even the iPad.
    
4. Information at your Fingertips.
   It's time consuming to capture up-to-date financial information when it is being manually tracked in spreadsheets. Not to mention compiling reports for each project, let alone for the entire capital program. With Projectmates online solution you can get real-time reports and the latest project information is at your fingertips.
    
5. Substantial Cost Benefits.
   Construction is a paper intensive industry that spends large amounts of money and time printing and shipping. Projectmates clients experience significant savings with electronic bid distribution, and online submittals. For example, on an $8 million project, managing submittals online eliminates an average of 22,649 sheets of paper. That translates to savings of $32,000 in printing and shipping costs for submittals alone. Plus, there's an added benefit: With shop drawings that used to take three weeks are turned around in seven days. With those kinds of stats, can you really afford not to have a web-based capital project management solution?

For the full article published in Construction Executive Magazine follow the link below. http://www.constructionexec.com/Issues/May_2011/Special_Section2.aspx?pageNum=2

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...

 

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. 

Healthcare debate affecting construction outlook

We’ve heard so much in the news lately about the healthcare reform debate. What I haven’t heard talked about is the future of healthcare construction … until now.

Jim Haughey, Reed Construction Data chief economist, said in July healthcare spending is certain to expand in 2011 and create a need for more facilities – hospitals more than residential care.

The good news for those in the healthcare construction business is it looks like there will be plenty of projects in the next couple of years.

“The long term outlook for healthcare construction remains good and will likely be boosted somewhat by whatever Congress decides to do,” he wrote on the RCD Web site.

The uncertainty facing hospitals is also affecting medical offices, nursing homes and residential care facilities … compounding their woes are the effects of the recession and surplus office spaces.

Haughey says overall, healthcare construction spending growth has declined from several years in the 10 percent range to about 2 percent, allowing for drops in construction materials costs, since last fall. He is predicting a further 7 percent decline through the end of 2009. But there is light at the end of the tunnel!

“This is as much due to the uncertain market environment as it is to the recession,” Haughey said. “Then expect a return to the 10 percent growth range by late next year (2010).”

He does warn you to be open-minded and flexible about your projects, however.

“But depending on what Congress decides to do, the project owners may not be the same hospitals you now expect to expand next year,” he said.

Regardless of the size and scope of the project, you can count on Projectmates to help keep all facets of your project running smoothly, on time and on budget.
 

Projectmates lead the way with LEED

Even before going green became all the rage and green projects were being funded by the government through the stimulus plan, Projectmates was doing its part to help save the environment.

It’s a no-brainer using Projectmates saves trees by reducing the amount of paperwork involved in a project. But did you know the online construction project management software eliminates the use of 22,649 sheets of paper or 274 pounds of sheets of paper and 528 kilograms of carbon in a single $8 million construction project in submittals alone? This is the equivalent of saving over three 40-feet-tall trees with every project.

Projectmates joins Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in its efforts to go paperless by providing the platform for completely electronic creation and management of all submittals, RFIs, meetings, bidding and over 200 portfolio reports for LEED construction projects with our Web-based construction project management software.

Projectmates software supports LEED projects by also providing the accountability and transparency needed to manage all LEED-related tasks. Users of LEED projects will be able to track projects, meetings, documents, tasks, timelines, credits and much more.

Green schools for less green

Did you know building green schools can be budget-friendly? Rachel Gutter of School Construction News says so.

We’ve all heard that green schools save money, over time, reducing energy and water expenses. But Gutter says these days a green school can be built for a price comparable to a conventionally designed facility.

I have to admit I was skeptical of this when I first read it. I always heard green building required higher costs up-front, then you would recoup that in utilities savings years down the road, but she has proof it can be less expensive on the front-end to build green.

Gutter says West Brazos Junior High, the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified school in Texas, was built for 18 percent less than an average middle school in the region. Northland Pines High School in Eagle River, Wis., is an LEED Gold school built for 25 percent less than the regional construction average for high schools constructed in the same year.

While she likes the advances being made in new green construction, Gutter says the greatest opportunity to have the biggest impact on energy and water use and the least impact on the environment is through the greening of existing schools.

Just as with new green construction, implementing green strategies into existing school buildings doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag. She suggests districts develop a plan to introduce new green strategies, technologies and policies over time, focusing first and foremost on high-impact strategies that yield immediate savings or have a significant impact on student health and wellness.

Projectmates can help you go green in your school construction project by reducing the amount of paper used, and keeping your projects on budget and schedule through up-to-the-minute reports. Our Web-based construction management software also will help you manage your building structure through its lifespan.

Traditional/hybrid vs Full Automation

How do we approach the traditional vs. automation? What can we do to overcome technology challenges and ease the burden of that transition?

There are a number of factors to consider when making that transition, but one of the biggest problems is acceptance. Although the world of construction is often considered dumb trucks and cement, the reality is it’s a very complicated operation with professionals and not so tech savvy individuals.

So, I guess the question for the day is, how do we get folks to accept automation vs. the traditional/hybrid style of project management?