By Al Ricci

On a bright and early Monday morning Frank, the Project Manager, receives a call from Jack, the Project Superintendent. Jack tells Frank that the General Contractor has advised him that the panel boards were installed improperly; they should have been recessed into the block walls instead of surface mounted.

Frank directs Jack to review the submittal for the panel boards and upon doing so, Jack informs Frank that the submittal he has is not an approved copy. After Frank reviews his files further, he soon realizes that Jack does not have the most current approved submittal, specifying that the panel boards should be a recessed mounted type. After further review, Frank realizes that the supplier did not receive the approved copies of the submittal either. In this case, the supplier shipped the surface mount units from the original submittal.

Now the block wall must be saw cut, new units must be ordered, and the work is delayed. Thousands of dollars are lost, tempers are flared, and the General Contractor is threatening Frank with back charges due to the error.

Sound familiar? This is one example of how important it is to track and manage project documentation, especially in this day and age when margins are growing evermore razor thin.

Many companies are looking to a dedicated project management, collaboration, and document tracking system to aid in this regard. In the long run, the profitability of a project may depend on the tool your company uses to manage it. The question is where do you start? In this article, we will touch upon the basics that a robust project management, collaboration, and document tracking system must provide.

The Basics

A robust project document tracking system must be able to grow with your needs. The tool must focus on improving overall project communication, especially between head office and the field. Without efficient communication with the field mistakes are likely, delays will happen, and cost will not be effectively controlled.

At its core, the tool must provide the ability to create, file, log, and e-mail the following:

-RFIs

-Change Orders

-Field Daily Reports

-Submittal Information

-Meeting Minutes

-Project Calendars

-Purchase Orders

-Transmittals

-Progress Billings

-Prime and Subcontractors

-Schedule of Values

-Punch Lists

-Contact Data

-Correspondence

-Security and Access Control

-Detailed Summaries

The Functionality and Usability

Your more computer-savvy users may find almost any tool acceptable for their needs; however, what about your more novice ones? These individuals may not be overly proficient, but they may be your most experienced project managers, and therefore it is crucial to consider their needs and computer skill level. Look for something that is intuitive to the user’s needs and indicates knowledge of the construction industry, specifically the specialty contractor industry. Many commercial project management, collaboration, and document tracking systems are often geared toward general contractors and do not meet the needs of an electrical or mechanical contractor. Remember, the easier the tool is to use, the faster your people will enter and process information, and the faster you realize your return on investment.

Some project management, collaboration, and document tracking systems may do one or two things very well but may totally lack the capabilities for some key areas of your business. It is important to look for a tool that provides functionality in many areas, including RFIs, change orders, progress billings, purchase orders, detailed reporting, contact and scheduling information, and task management. Vendors that deliver this type of solution are more likely to expand and improve their system’s capabilities over time.

An ideal system must augment what the user is already doing today manually and/or with fragmented tools. It needs to eliminate the paper trail and improve overall project communication. The ultimate goal is to bring the various fragmented processes under one umbrella so as to eliminate duplicate data entry and provide all project team members with consistent, up to the minute information.

Be wary of any vendor that charges a low usage fee, and attempts to make up the difference with a large amount of training. Remember, this is project management, most of which you have been doing manually or with a fragmented system for many years. A robust tool will be easy to use and intuitive enough to allow most users to be productive within the first week of implementation if not the first two days.

The Technology

Typical project management, collaboration, and document tracking systems come in several different flavors. The conventional client/server application must have the server component installed on a server and the client component installed on every computer that will use it. A web-based client/server application needs to only have the server component installed on one server and users access the program through a web browser. This helps bring down overall IT costs as installation and future upgrades are much simpler.

Alternately, you could have the tool hosted online by an Application Service Provider or ASP. ASP services are becoming an important alternative to traditional methods of software delivery, not only for the small company with a low IT budget, but for larger companies interested in outsourcing high IT overhead. The ASP model also offers attractive tax advantages as the entire IT cost can be expensed rather than written off over a prolonged period of time.

Technology is continually evolving, and before your organization commits to any solution, do your homework. Formulate your questions based on some of the areas we outlined in this article, and whichever solution you choose, ensure you select a vendor that is in it for the long run and committed to your needs and success.