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Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering Projects An information management approach to avoiding mistakes, reducing conflict, and improving collaboration in building and infrastructure projects “Whatever the productivity savings, we feel the most important benefit comes in risk reduction.” –BDP
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Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering Projects...Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering Projects – September 2016 – page 1 of 16 Two sides of information risk Building

Jul 05, 2020

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Page 1: Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering Projects...Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering Projects – September 2016 – page 1 of 16 Two sides of information risk Building

Mitigating Information Risk In Engineering ProjectsAn information management approach to avoiding mistakes, reducing conflict, and improving collaboration in building and infrastructure projects

“Whatever the productivity savings, we feel the most important benefit comes in risk reduction.” –BDP

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Two sides of information riskBuilding and infrastructure projects start and end with information. From emails to handover documentation, collaboration doesn’t work unless the information is right.

And whether you design, build, or operate buildings and infrastructure, you know you have to do more than get your information right. You also need to document it.

Newforma has been developing ways to reduce information and collaboration risk since pioneering project information management software in 2006. This ebook summarizes what our customers are telling us.

1. Correct information in the first place avoids disputes.

2. Documenting decisions wins disputes.

“One of the major risks associated with a construction project is delay of project completion. Newforma shortens response times and creates a concise record that is hard to dispute, thereby mitigating risk.” –WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff

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Less adversarial relationshipsWhen Newforma asked senior executives at design and construction companies, law firms, and insurance companies about risk, they told us they were fed up with the current culture of adversity.

What did they propose instead? Collaborate better. As one executive said, “In collaborative environments, the exposure increases but the actual risk decreases – because there is better control over whether a failure will occur.”

For that reason, this ebook will talk about collaboration as much as it talks about project information management, because they’re always found together.

“When we send plans to a jobsite, we can be confident we have not introduced any conflicts which could cause change orders or delays for which we might be held liable.”

–BergerABAM

SP-SSA International Terminal; Vietnam; by BergerABAM

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What about content management software?Engineering content management (also known as “document management”) software was designed to ensure that work-in-progress CAD and BIM files are being sensibly managed. But it’s not ideal for managing all information. With digital footprints of projects doubling every 18 months, those additional terabytes of data bloat databases, preventing them from working as needed.

Instead of bogging down their content management systems with more data, many Newforma customers are using our software in concert with Bentley® ProjectWise®, Microsoft® SharePoint®, and IBM® FileNet® systems. Newforma® Project Center integrates with them to safely manage all project information, wherever it’s filed.

“The Newforma-ProjectWise integration combines the best of both worlds. This integration provides users with the convenience of not having to switch back and forth between software products.” –RS&H

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Challenges• Information received by email needed to be logged by hand.

• Coordinating construction administration with other trades, architects, and mechanical engineers consumed too much time.

• Tracking internal information was not any easier.

Solution Newforma Project Center converts emails into submittals and RFIs managed by Newforma software.

Results• Automatic logging and tracking of RFIs and submittals enables

easy reporting, tracking, and recovery.

• Complete, easily accessible records lead to quick response to queries and resolution of disputes.

• Time is liberated for design and client service.

“Newforma gives us more time to work on the engineering solution rather than spend time tracking what we’re doing.”

Headquarters: New York, New Yorkwww.thorntontomasetti.com

Roosevelt Island Tramway, New York City; photo by Bess Adler and Thornton Tomasetti

Micro Case Study- Engineering- Construction Administration

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The many faces of risk: delaysConstruction delays come in many forms: wasted time and rework due to working from outdated plans, confusion over the scheduling of trades, and slow turnarounds of submittals and requests for information. Newforma offers multiple ways to mitigate these risks:

• Assurance of having up-to-date plans and specs• Lean production planning software• Software to manage submittals and RFIs

In addition to making it easier and faster to distribute documents to all recipients, Newforma software documents the dates items are delivered and returned, creating a searchable record for every RFI and submittal.

“We now spend less time producing field reports, and they’re more accurate. This mitigates the risk of mistakes and delays during construction.” ––WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff

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The many faces of risk: quality assurance & ISO certificationISO certification is largely a matter of documenting procedures and verifying conformance. Newforma is made for this work.

For example, a large UK design firm defines its quality assurance action items as part of its standard project setup, and makes that bespoke handbook available to all team members through their Newforma software.

Newforma software, by capturing audit trails of all actions and transactions, provides the logs needed to prove ISO conformance.

“We have 46 QA activities included as part of our standard project setup, along with hyperlinks to the relevant BDP procedures. We’ve developed an ability to see compliance with any sector. It’s simple and efficient.” ––BDP

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham by BDP © Tim Soar

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The many faces of risk: transcription errors and delaysBecause design and construction projects employ so many different software applications, and every company has its own systems, the risk is high that time must be spent re-entering data into systems. With those keystrokes come the risk of mistakes. Newforma products offer multiple ways to avoid them:

• The software integrates with commonly used applications to enable seamless transitions from one application to the next.

• Mobile apps eliminate re-entering field data at the office.

• Direct, Newforma-to-Newforma connections between collaborating companies eliminate manual information transfers and redundant data entry.

“Newforma has closed the gap between field and office, enabling us to create more accurate non-conformance reports in a fraction of the time it used to take.” ––Thornton Tomasetti

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Micro Case Study- Engineering- Productivity

Challenges• Turn around small projects quickly, without errors.

• Resolve issues swiftly.

• Quickly find documents originally attached to emails.

Solution Newforma Project Center software for project information management

Results• Newforma Search finds terms even if they exist in email

attachments, external reference documents and ZIP files.

• Project managers are able to find emails resolving issues while the client is still on the phone.

• Electronic drawing comparisons show what’s changed, reducing risk.

“We need to search quickly, get the information, get it onto the drawings and get it out of here. When I saw the presentation for Newforma Project Center, I thought, ‘This is what we’ve been looking for.’”

Headquarters: Chicago, IllinoisEmployees: 220+www.esdesign.com

Mercy Housing Lakefront Near North Apartments, Chicago, Illinois; by Environmental Systems Design

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The many faces of risk: hard-to-find documentsAt Newforma, we want our software to spare you from disputes. But when pressed to perform legal discovery, use Newforma software to respond efficiently and effectively.

For example, when email is liberated from individual inboxes and filed on company servers, it can be indexed by Newforma software. The software’s full-text search capabilities make it very easy to quickly retrieve email and other documents containing text. No filed document is ever again hard to find.

“Newforma software provides us with the tools we need to reduce risk, improve design, and respond more quickly.” ––Wood & Grieve Engineers

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The many faces of risk: missed assignmentsNewforma software enables managers to set automated notifications and reminders for items such as file downloads and action items.

For example, busy project managers can create action items from emails, assign items to team members, link items to emails and other documents needed to act upon the issue, set automatic reminders, and track progress as issues move to resolution.

Easily discoverable audit trails give confidence that tasks and documents are not slipping through cracks.

“The Newforma Plans app enables SSFM to efficiently monitor the jobsite. We have eliminated confusion by assuring we always have complete and current plans and specifications available on-site.”

–SSFM International

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The many faces of risk: large projectsComplex, global projects increase the challenge before team members to manage milestones, coordinate information, and mitigate risk. These are the projects for which a comprehensive collaboration and project information management solution shines.

Team members can quickly search emails, details, specifications, requests for information, CAD drawings and more to resolve issues and avoid risk.

“Newforma software provides considerable advantages on complex, large-scale projects and their numerous potential risk issues.” ––HOK

HOK Office, London, UK’s First LEED-CI Gold Certification

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Micro Case Study- Engineering- Productivity

Challenges• Key project information was hidden on the computers of

individual project members, creating risk.

• When people took time off or left the firm, the larger team lost access to the absent individual’s project information.

Solution Newforma Project Center software for project information management

Results• Principals and project managers can pull up emails of project

team members, including those no longer with the firm.

• Even if project managers return to the office after being away for weeks, they’re able to provide clients with detailed summaries of events that had occurred in their absence.

• Complete project records and automatically captured audit trails mitigate information risk.

“All we deal with is information. Until we implemented Newforma Project Center software, we left it to individuals to work out their own systems of managing it.”

Headquarters: Atlanta, GeorgiaEmployees: 35www.pesengineers.com

Kumho Tire USA office and distribution facility; McDonough, Georgia; by Pruitt Eberly Stone

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Challenges• Collaborative BIM requirements have increased both the

frequency and size of files being shared.

• Audit trails are critical to mitigate risk, but a challenge to create with FTP, Dropbox or email.

Solution• Newforma Project Center Shared Folders

• Newforma Info Exchange web access

Results• Newforma Shared Folders are now used to coordinate and exchange large datasets.

• Drag-and-drop uploads and single-click downloads simplify updates.

• A single, consolidated audit trail tracks all revised files, provides transparency.

• Reminders ensure accountability.

• Mobile apps provide instant access to latest construction documents from phones and iPads.

“We’ve written Newforma into our project execution plans for collaboration with external contractors and consultants.”

Headquarters: Croydon, EnglandEmployees: 180www.riley-consulting.com

Sainsbury’s; Alnwick, UK

Micro Case Study- Construction- Productivity

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The many faces of the solution: part 1Lots of forces contribute to mitigating engineering project risks; training, rewards, and holding people accountable stand out. Here are a few ways better information management can contribute:

Make sure people always work from the latest documents. Apps that integrate with desktop software can help here, as can cloud-hosted central data repositories accessible to all.

Get email under control. Make it easy to manage every email, whether it’s to convert it to an action item, to file the message with other product documents, or to find information in emails and attachments, even when the message was sent to or by people no longer on the team.

“It’s a huge advantage to be able to answer questions from clients and team members right away, often while they’re still on the phone. Often we can resolve a dispute simply by showing an email that documents our instructions.” ––BergerABAM

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The many faces of the solution: part 2Streamline submittals and RFIs while improving accountability. Enough said.

Improve processes for remote work. Central to quality assurance (which is central to risk management) are on-site tasks such as field reports and punch lists (“snag lists” in the U.K. or “defect lists” Down Under). Again, integrated apps are big here.

Stop searching and start finding. Companies need to be able to search, sort and filter their project information as easily as you can search for information on the web.

“In addition to the time savings of using a more efficient submittals management process, both firms appreciate the reduced risk of errors that comes from using an integrated PIM approach to the contract administration phase of this large project.”

–Perkins+Will and Environmental Systems Design

Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; by Perkins+Will

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The Newforma advantageAt a time when a claim’s financial impact can run into millions, it pays to manage project information in a way that reduces risk. Newforma software reduces the risk of lost, misrouted or overlooked project information.

Newforma products improve project delivery whether you’re an individual working away from your desk with your smartphone or tablet, a team member collaborating via a project management website, or a senior executive improving staff utilization and overall company performance.

And success feels good. As one senior executive put it, Newforma is his “big bucket of fun.”

Intuitive. Collaborative. Intelligent.

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Intuitive. Collaborative. Intelligent.

“Our business is more competitive than ever. To make sure clients continue to give us repeat business, we’ve invested in Newforma Project Center software to shorten response times and reduce the risk of mistakes.”

–BergerABAM

NEWFORMA USA1750 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03104, USAPhone: (603) 625-6212 Fax: (603) 218-6145 newforma.com

NEWFORMA CANADA360 Rue Notre-Dame O, Suite 501 (5th floor), Montreal, QC H2Y 1T9newforma.ca

NEWFORMA SINGAPORE1 Scotts Rd., #21-08 Shaw Centre, Singapore 228208Phone: +65 6500 7838 Alt. Phone: +65 9109 0964 newforma.sg

NEWFORMA AUS & NZLvl 6, 10 Help Street, Chatswood, AustraliaPhone: +61 2 8001 6130newforma.com.au

NEWFORMA MIDDLE EASTPO Box 7824, SAIF Zone, Sharjah, UAEPhone: +61 2 8001 6130newforma.ae

NEWFORMA FRANCE3 Rue Taylor, 75010 ParisPhone: +33 (0)1 85 64 11 00newforma.fr

NEWFORMA EMEA85 Tottenham Court Rd., London, W1T 4TQ, UKPhone: +44 207 268 3020newforma.co.uk

NEWFORMA DEUTSCHLAND GMBHTel. +49 (0)89 24 414 939Josephspitalstraße 15, 80331 Münchennewforma.de