Gulf Construction Online - BuildAct taps web to boost productivity

Computers

BuildAct taps web to boost productivity

01 October 2002

A UAE company has introduced a web-based project collaboration (Extranet) solution for the construction and engineering industries in the Gulf.

ProjectAct is targeted at private builders, real estate owners, oil and gas companies, public projects, contractors and engineers, says BuildAct, a Dubai Internet City-based provider of construction and engineering solutions and consulting services.

"ProjectAct provides a quality approach to information management, document control and communication processes in a construction project," says Khaled Awad, chief executive officer.

"It improves the productivity and creates a culture of accountability across the project team members and throughout the construction chain, which internal systems, irrespective of their functionality, may not be able to provide if they remain confined to the organisation.

"The system is quickly and easily implemented on the project. It is managed independently from the enterprise hardware and software systems, thereby allowing unlimited scalability and relieving clients from the management of infrastructure and maintenance of data related to projects.

"The clients will not need to invest in hardware infrastructure or third party software, as users will access the system through the web."

BuildAct says ProjectAct's introduction in the Gulf in May this year was prompted by the increasing awareness and demand in the construction community for effective software tools, since poor communication of project information had proved to have a significant cost and time impact during the design and construction phases of a project.

"There is now a growing realisation that effective online collaboration will increase project team productivity, minimise construction errors and reduce the associated risks," Awad says.

BuildAct says the construction industry is adapting to technology driven by three factors: increased competitiveness, increased demand by owners for quality assurance and internal change driven by technology-savvy new generation.

Web-based project collaboration is a knowledge management system which construction projects around the world are increasingly utilising to improve the productivity of team members from all the parties involved, and to support quality assurance on the project.

It is a hosted workspace shared by all team-members, whereby each user can login and access the project information, communicate and work with the team, according to specific permissions and rules based on his role in the project.

Based on recent surveys, BuildAct's chief operating officer Sam Nader says web-based project collaboration offers the following benefits:

Simplification of communications. Having a centralised "store-and-forward" messaging system greatly reduces the number of possible communication paths among the participants on a project, and thus reduces the likelihood of miscommunication. All communications are archived and searchable in a central place;

Comprehensive tracking of time-sensitive items, such as Requests for Information (RFIs) and Submittals. This makes team members accountable for content and timely response;

Supports quality assurance on documents, data and communications on the project;

Common document storage and reference. Everyone knows they are working from the appropriate version of any given document;

Document management. All documents are in a single logical repository (which may be physically centralised or distributed), and are thus accessible in an orderly fashion;

Audit trail. It is possible to verify that a communication was sent or received, by whom and when;

Document delivery. Much faster than overnight courier, and more secure;

Knowledge management. Controlled documents can be stored, distributed, and updated quickly, with no reprinting. Workflows and procedures can be enforced by the software;

Access. Being web-based, such systems can be accessed from any web browser, anywhere;

Faster cycle time. Eliminating lag time as information moves from one organisation to another can dramatically shorten project schedules;

Greater confidence and commitment from staff and management; and

Substantial savings in administrative costs.

BuildAct says it has started a massive training campaign across the Gulf aiming at bridging the gap between web-based project collaboration technology and end-users from the construction industry.

According to BuildAct: "The earlier a construction company in the Gulf jumps into ProjectAct the quicker it will gain the competitive edge differentiator. Laggards could be missing a great opportunity of riding over technology to make big leaps forward in productivity."