Are You Wasting Time in Your Submittals Process - Adding Unnecessary Costs to Project Controls?

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1 Are You Wasting Time in Your Submittals Process - Adding Unnecessary Costs to Project Controls? Going Paperless: Special Report for Oracle Primavera Contracts Manager or Unifier Customers Produced by Lifecycle Technology Ltd. A global leader in full-service engineering, construction, and operations believes this game changing solution will bring document control costs down by 30% or more Discover how you can significantly reduce costs by eliminating wasted man-hours and paper from your submittals and document control processes.

2 Introduction There is no doubt about it, the Engineering and Construction (E&C) industry is drowning under its own weight in paper. Each project uses hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands or more documents throughout its lifecycle (i.e. Bidding, Construction Execution > Hand-over). There are few other industries generating so many documents that need to be shared, reviewed, edited and approved by numerous stake-holders. Thankfully, software such as Primavera Contracts Manager (PCM) by Oracle helps. However, companies using PCM still struggle to: Find relevant information and documents quickly and easily Collaborate on submittals without the use of paper Efficiently manage the submittals processes These inefficiencies are time-consuming and add significant cost to a project. In fact, Document Control Managers and other professionals involved in the review and approvals processes, waste endless hours performing laborious and monotonous tasks (especially in the areas of submittals and document control) by: Drilling in and out of PCM to find information Printing Manually marking-up documents or using non-integrated desktop applications Scanning and re-scanning Attaching and duplicating relevant information and documents ing Manually stamping Chasing-up and analysing information to understand where things are in the process Highly skilled and highly paid Document Control Managers and engineers can quite literally spend thousands of man hours on a project wasted in low value, tedious administrative type activities, rather than adding value and ensuring the project is delivered to specification, on time and to budget. 2

3 In this report, we ll look at three simple Document Control challenges Oracle PCM customers face. We will also demonstrate how (with the use of a simple add-on to Oracle s PCM Software called Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology) you can transform your submittals and document control processes to drive out paper and significantly reduce wasted hours and costs from your project controls. Keep reading to discover how you can: Enable all stakeholders access to relevant in a single mouse click Deliver submittals to all stakeholders in a simple to learn and use portal Streamline the management and set-up of projects Go paperless with your submittals and provide a digital workbench for reviewers Be more competitive and streamlined in the entire lifecycle of a project.

4 Problem No. - SEARCHING, FINDING and VIEWING Wasting Huge Amounts of Time Searching for Project Related Documents Example: 1 On a project with many thousands of documents, being able to quickly search and find relevant information or documents is essential. Usually, the information you want is stored in your PCM system, but how do you easily retrieve this information in minimum time? What metadata do you search on, to find the right document -- and just as importantly, are you looking at the right version? Often, the only way to know if you are working on the right document is to actually open it on screen and view it. But the process of opening a document can require as many as 20 mouse clicks and a series of steps requiring a user to drill down through numerous screens and sub screens before they can open and view their chosen document (assuming they have the correct document viewer installed on their PC). All too often the user might have selected the wrong document (or wrong version), and needs to repeat the whole process -- perhaps many times -- until they find the right file. This whole process of drilling down through screens -- possibly opening the wrong document in the process or having to install stand-alone document viewing software takes time, which is wasted non-value add time. EngCo is working on a large $400m construction project which is scheduled to run for 18 months. The project has over 70,000 documents attached to it. John is the Document Control Manager on the project and has a team of 60+ professionals who on average are charged to the project at $75/hr. 4

5 Typically, engineers have to find and open 5 documents a day. To get to the right document, each engineer has to click through many different screens which can take as many as 20 mouse clicks (including clicking check boxes). Many times the wrong documents opened by mistake, simply not found or an additional document is required to be opened as well. More commonly the engineer simply cannot find the document they are looking for and seek help from others. It is very possible that each engineer could spend 10+ minutes a day simply searching, finding and opening documents. Conservatively assuming that only 50% of the project team (30 people) are searching for documents each day, this still equates to 300 wasted minutes a day using inefficient search processes. This means EngCo are wasting $375/day in simply searching, finding and viewing documents. Over the course of a week this wasted cost equates to $1,875, or $135,000 over the 18-month life of the project. Solution - One-Click Search and View Using a simple add-on to Oracle Primavera Contracts Manager software called Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology; you can quickly and easily find documents using a selection of search criteria. Users can then simply view their chosen document or documents instantly through a web browser without the need for any additional applications. In-built in Lifecycle Technology s Digital Project Portal is Oracle s AutoVue capability, which enables the view, analysis and mark-up of 300+ document formats, including all the major CAD formats, such as ACAD, Bentley Microstation, Building Information Modelling (IFC) and others. Digital Project Portal transforms the way organisations find and view documents from Primavera Contracts Manager. By using Digital Project Portal to quickly and easily find documents, Primavera Contracts Manager customers can drive out wasted hours (and costs) from projects, increasing project margins. 5

6 Using Digital Project Portal s powerful one-click search and document viewing capabilities, companies (using Oracles PCM) are able to eliminate wasted hours spent searching for documents. Professionals involved in the review and approval of project information are wasting time (and money) because of out-of-date paper-based and time intensive manual processes which can be easily transformed through the use of the Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology. 6

7 2 Problem No. - Paper Based Processes Wasting Time Printing, Scanning, Marking-up, and Manually Stamping during the Submittals Process One of the most paper-intensive and time-consuming processes in the life of a project is the submittals process. Still heavily reliant on printers, scanners, photocopiers, highlighter pens and rubber stamps, the submittals process is hugely inefficient and a source of endless wasted hours. Add in paper and printing costs and the submittals process accounts for a significant proportion of document control costs. Nothing is more tedious and mundane for an engineer than having to plough through paper submittal documents to find, review, analyse, mark-up and sign-off. If they have to print, scan or photocopy documents, the engineer s time can be even more wasteful. Given that it is typical for multiple engineers to work on the submittals process, the total hours consumed in inefficient, outdated and wasteful low-value manual processes is significant and could be eliminated by going paperless. Example: E&C Co is a mid-sized Engineering and Construction consultancy delivering 10 projects a year. Each project generates over 10,000+ documents, many of which need to be reviewed and approved by multiple stakeholders, both internally and externally. E&C Co have a dedicated submittals room where engineers go to review and approve the project documents. The company manually prints, reviews, marks-up and photocopies their submittals, and each processed and approved document needs to be re-scanned and attached to the Primavera Contract Manager project from where it came. 7

8 E&C Co believes that their paper-based submittals procedure accounts for as much as 8-11% of a project s document control costs. E&C Co want to drive this cost down (by as much as 30%) and eliminate wasted man-hours by leveraging technology and getting the system to do the work through a paperless submittals process. Solution - Paperless Submittals Process Simply by replacing physical paper with digital files, and time-intensive manual paper-based processes with Digital Project Portal, Primavera Contract Manager customers can drive hours and costs out of the submittals and document control processes. Work that previously took hours or even days can now be completed in minutes by leveraging technology and getting the system to do the work rather than the engineers. Engineers still need to complete their submittals, but now they can do it all electronically within the Digital Project Portal and Oracle PCM Submittals are presented to the reviewers (My Submittals queue) in a simple browser based User Interface where finding, viewing, analysing, marking-up, stamping and approving is completed without the need for paper. 8

9 Using Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology, organisations are able to significantly reduce the costs of delivering projects by going paperless and driving out wasted hours from the submittals process. By introducing paperless submittals, companies can revolutionize their out-dated submittals procedures and processes, immediately making them more competitive. BEFORE: Paper based submittals processes are hugely inefficient, laborious and costly. 9

10 AFTER: Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology transforms the submittals process removing manual processes, paper and wasted man-hours and provides a digital workbench for all stakeholders. 10

11 Related Problem: Using stand-alone document viewers is adding an extra source of complexity, frustration and cost Many companies have already made good inroads into becoming paperless by installing document viewing software on users PCs (i.e. Brava, Bluebeam and Adobe PDF). At an even greater cost, some companies have installed full authoring applications such as AutoCAD. Although both document viewers and software authoring tools allow reviewers to mark-up documents electronically, there are still huge challenges, inefficiencies and disconnects in the submittals process which include: Users downloading and creating duplicate copies of documents Users working in isolation Unnecessary printing and scanning Difficultly knowing the status of submittals Inability to see other users comments Difficulty in consolidating comments Limited format support for different document types Users being disconnected from workflows A lack of standardisation across the business For example, in companies that use stand-alone document viewers, Discipline Leads still need to collect red-lined copies of reviewed documents from their teams. Typically, each document will have comments on them and the Discipline Lead will need to consolidate all the comments into a single master document. This is a laborious, time-consuming process. This consolidation process is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges companies face when using non-integrated stand-alone desktop viewers. Using Lifecycle Technology s Digital Project Portal (which is fully integrated with Oracle AutoVue and Oracle Primavera Contracts Manager) users: Never have to download files to their desktop Never need to duplicate documents Can collaborate simultaneously and see each other s comments Can complete an end-to-end review electronically including sign-off 11

12 3 Problem No. - Management of Submittals Wasted Time in the Management, Changing, Chasing and Checking of the Status of Submittals out for Review In the high cost, low margin, time-sensitive world of engineering and construction, little is more frustrating (and potentially costly) than waiting for submittal reviews to be completed. With looming contractual deadlines, key milestones to meet and stakeholders waiting on submittal documents, it is essential to have control and understand where submittals are in the process, who they are with, what their status is, and who is holding things up and why? However, having full control and visibility of the submittals process is easier said than done for the following reasons: becomes the normal way to notify people that they have a submittal to review. The submittals backlog is not consolidated in a single location and is cumbersome to use. Document Control Managers and reviewers have to contend with initiating pier reviews, assigning new Discipline Leads and providing change in the structure of the project. The people involved in the process of submittal reviews have day jobs and the submittals process is a tiny snapshot of their workload. It is all too easy to lose sight of who has which document, where the document is (or even where the reviewer is) and when the review will be completed. Often, the only way to get visibility of the submittals process is to get on the phone, walk from desk-to-desk to the reviewers, or even worse use the dreaded . Where reviewers are based in different locations, submittal management becomes even more of a challenge. This constant chasing up and hunting down takes time and is incredibly labour intensive. More so, the knock on effect of not getting documents back in time can be catastrophic on the contractual obligations, costs and schedule of a project. 12

13 Example: ProjCo is managing the design and construction of a large out-of-town shopping centre. ProjCo use Oracle PCM to deliver project control services. Over 50 stakeholders are working on the project and there are 65,000 documents in circulation, with a huge volume of submittals to process. David is the Document Control Manager for the project. He is frustrated by the lack of visibility and control he has when documents are in the submittal process and his team constantly complain about the way in which submittals are disseminated and managed. In the document control room, David has all the relevant documents printed, stacked and ready for review with a cover sheet on them. Some documents are reviewed in the document control room, others are ed out for review. As David explains, Our main problem is knowing who has looked at what, where the documents currently are (in the document control room or out in a different locations), what the status of the review is, when we ll get the reviewed and approved documents back and who still has to review them. Very quickly in the review process we lose touch and control of the documents. David continues, Quite literally, the only way we could know what the status of a document is, is if we go down to the Document Control room and go through the stack of 50 drawings and say in this stack Jane hasn t looked at it, or John hasn t looked at it, -- then chase Jane and John to get them to look at the documents to review them. For David, this lack of control and visibility is very frustrating and can have a significant impact on the schedule for project controls. Solution - Improved Control and Visibility of Submittals Management Using Digital Project Portal from Lifecycle Technology, together with Oracle Primavera Contracts Manager, organisations can quickly and easily set-up and manage projects through a simplified User Interface and have complete visibilityof their submittals process. 13

14 Digital Project Portal is a browser-based application, which allows users to quickly and easily see the status of submittals out for review and the priority of work to be completed. 14

15 Summary Lifecycle Technology s browser-based Digital Project Portal is helping reinvent the way Oracle Primavera Customers deliver, run and manage their document control processes. By providing a solution that removes paper from document control and streamlines outdated, inefficient paper based processes, Digital Project Portal helps Oracle Primavera Contracts Manager customers to drive cost out of their projects and significantly improve project margins and competitiveness. Lifecycle Technology estimates that PCM customers who introduce the Digital Project Portal and replace outdated paper processes or stand-alone desktop viewing applications, can conservatively save at least one hour per week, per stakeholder, per project. (More likely the saving is somewhere between 1 and 5 hours a week). The time savings can be achieved by: 1. One-click Search: Providing fast access to documents through one-click search, find and view. 2. Going Paperless: Eliminating paper and providing a digital workplace for all stakeholders involved in document control. 3. Improving Management & Visibility: Providing streamlined management and instant visibility on the submittals process. In a project with 50 engineers, saving just 1 hour per week (charged at $75 hour), Oracle PCM customers can save an estimated $3,750/week, or $180,000 a year. In companies running multiple projects, the cost saving can be many multiples of this. For more information about how to use Digital Project Portal by Lifecycle Technology to drive down the cost of project control: Please visit /DigitalProjectPortal Or call us at Or sales@lifeycle-tech.com to arrange a live demonstration or trial the solution for 30 days.