2003 C.I.P.A. Winners
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EllisDon Corporation Success Story
To improve operational efficiency and form closer partnerships with customers and partners, EllisDon developed EdgeBuilder, a Web-enabled project management tool that allows project staff and partners to work collaboratively via the Internet to manage critical aspects of a construction project, from planning through to post-construction audit. EdgeBuilder is now commercially available to subscribers through Bell Canada’s new Bell e-Construction Site portal at www.econstructionsite.com Pop Quiz … What do the following construction projects all have in common? … besides the fact that they’re all in Canada and they all involve a heck of a lot of money!
Answer … They were all built by EllisDon Corporation; and the effort required to manage the schedule, costs, people, logistics, sub-contractors, documents and communications required to successfully complete one of these large, complex projects on time and on budget is simply mind boggling! Just the sheer number of documents it takes to support the building of any one of these projects is absolutely staggering, including a multitude of letters, job memos, meeting minutes, project photographs, schedules, inspection reports, safety reports, contract requisitions, subcontracts, change orders, quotations, authorizations to proceed, requests for information, site instructions, superintendent daily reports, weekly timesheets, specifications, shop drawings, subcontractor billings, purchase orders, supplier invoices and many more. “During a one-month study of the document, e-mail and fax activity for one of our larger, $80 million projects, we counted 4,750 incoming pages and 9,700 outgoing pages,” says Bruce Fleming, VP & CIO at EllisDon. “Our experience is that even a modest project in the $20 million range can involve upwards of 100,000 document pages throughout the entire life of the project,” adds Fleming. Facing this level of complexity and scale of effort on every project, EllisDon saw the potential benefits of a management tool that could help it improve its operational efficiency and form closer partnerships with its customers and partners. With more than 50 years of profitable growth, EllisDon Corporation has already earned a spot at the top of its industry. Headquartered in London, Ontario and employing more than 1,000 salaried and hourly people in 11 offices across Canada, the USA and in Greece and St. Lucia, EllisDon does about $1 billion worth of construction work each year. EllisDon was named one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies in 2002 (and re-qualified in 2003), and ranked 5th in Report on Business Magazine's 50 Best Companies to Work for In Canada for 2003 – its second consecutive year in the "Top 50". After searching the software marketplace for a project management tool and not finding one that met all its needs, EllisDon decided to build its own project management solution, called EdgeBuilder, which has helped transform EllisDon into a new kind of company. By providing a comprehensive working environment that includes document management, knowledge management and workflow management capabilities, EdgeBuilder helps project teams at EllisDon deal with the incoming, outgoing and internal communications that control and monitor a construction project, from planning through to post-construction audit. Using EdgeBuilder, information and status for any one of EllisDon’s 100 or so active projects can be accessed by any project member, from anywhere in the world at any time with just a few mouse clicks; and with Webcam facilities set up many of the project sites, project partiC.I.P.A.nts can often view progress in real time. All the data associated with a project – including text documents, CAD drawings, scanned images, time-lapse Webcam images and even some videoconferencing files – is stored in a single, secure database accessible to the entire project team. By accessing the database, documents can be created, viewed, approved and exchanged collaboratively within the application by all team members, including internal staff as well as outside partners such as owners, architects, subcontractors and consultants. This real-time view of deliverables and upcoming items keeps the project team informed and able to resolve issues early and efficiently. EdgeBuilder also systematically tracks the workflow, providing a convenient place for all parties to go to administer their portion of a project. Based on a distributed infrastructure, EdgeBuilder uses Lotus Notes clients and Domino servers to offer a feature-rich solution for internal team members, while external partners access the system via Web browsers. In addition to the centralized data centre, a Domino server is often installed in the on-site office at larger construction sites to improve system responsiveness; and in some instances, this remote system incorporates a wireless LAN to extend system access right out into the actual project site. Project information is entered at source, then replicated to a central facility consisting of clustered Domino servers for redundancy, performance and fault tolerance. EdgeBuilder allows EllisDon team members to simplify administrative work, from the straight forward tasks, such as writing and filing letters, to the very complex workflows such as those required to distribute, track and price project changes. By reducing the administrative work, EdgeBuilder frees up project staff, enabling EllisDon to handle more projects concurrently, while still maintaining high levels of quality and consistency. This has led directly to increased revenue and profitability. EdgeBuilder is even helping them win projects they might not otherwise have won. Senior management at EllisDon is also using EdgeBuilder to monitor the performance of individual projects and the business as a whole. With all project data kept in a single database, key performance indicators – such as forecast-to-complete, projected profit/loss, committed dollars to subcontractors and committed dollars across all projects – are much easier to monitor. Key project documents, such as contracts, can also be tracked to ensure that legal requirements are met and that the work is actually done so that payments to subcontractors can be rendered. In addition to streamlining operations and reducing administrative work, EdgeBuilder is helping EllisDon transform its entire business model, further cementing its leadership position in an industry not typically known for its willingness to embrace technology and all that it can do. “Traditionally just a construction firm, EllisDon has become more of a consulting partner, playing an integral role in projects starting very early in the project cycle. We now often find ourselves actively involved in securing the actual financing and acting as a primary driver behind public sector projects such as hospitals, muniC.I.P.A.l facilities and educational institutions. Technology, and particularly EdgeBuilder, is helping us deliver this broader set of services,” concludes Fleming. Now a commercially available product, EdgeBuilder sits at the heart of Bell Canada’s new construction portal site, called Bell e-Construction Site, enabling any construction firm to subscribe to a secure, easier and faster means for conducting business in Canada and internationally. A 2003 C.I.P.A. Winner!
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