The digital revolution is surely entering the construction and real estate sector. The awareness of the need for digitization is also rapidly growing. Pandemic made us realize that widespread adoption of technology is the only way to improve collaboration and increase productivity while managing the construction projects. In 2PM we implemented a digital transformation strategy several years ago and since than we have been investing in the development of own project management software called Effective DM. Read below text to learn more about our experiences and our way to become digitally savvy.
EDM stands for Effective Data Management. It is a tool for the effective management of data and documents in the construction process. Like every innovation, also this one was created out of a need. After many years of experience in project management on small and really huge construction sites, we realized that the large and expensive platforms bought by investors often do not work in practice. The use is sometimes too complicated, time-consuming and, as a result, ineffective. Hence the idea of creating a simple and functional tool that can be used by people with different levels of technical knowledge: from someone very computer literate, to occasional users. Easy operation and functions – obviously different than a regular network drive – but nevertheless responding to the real needs of the construction site and making life easier for all project participants. This were the two main assumptions that we followed during software development phase. The implementation of EDM itself also had to be short and intuitive. There is no time on the construction site to learn complicated operating tools, all has to be up and running without delays.
EDM is a database which collects complete project documentation and organizes it. All process participants have access to the system, but permissions can be granted depending on your needs. The advantage of the tool is that you can freely configure the permissions for individual directories and even individual files. Therefore, it is a flexible tool that can be freely adapted to the customer’s needs. The investor has a full visibility of the data stored in the system, but the contractors only see the parts that they are supposed to see. There is also work in the background – some of the data is visible to selected users, their processing is in progress and only after approval the data becomes visible to subsequent users, e.g. to a contractor. In short, the benefits of using EDM platform are clear- more efficient document flow process, better quality of project management and improved communication between participants.
Let’s look at real life example: a contractor presents a product specification describing the material to be installed, the specification is assessed by the designer, the designer provides feedback in the platform, assigns status and comments. Then the specification is checked by the supervision inspector and finally by the investor who sees all the way of the document with opinions of others. Thanks to such transparency investor can make an informed decision and approve the document for implementation. Instead of printing hundreds of materials and flipping them back and forth, everything happens online, without the use of paper documentation. Imagine the savings in consumption of paper – fit-out project generates on average up to several hundred pages, the process of building the facility from scratch – probably two construction containers!
The platform allows access to data without time limits, from any place and device – desktop computers or mobile. It also limits e-mail correspondence, reduces the need to send out disks or pendrives and replaces it with just a simple link to download the files. It eliminates the risk of loss, omissions or even mistakes. There is no need to search for the guilty one! Documents are stored in one place, updated on a regular basis, everyone has access to them in real time, know where and how to search.
BENEFITS
All parties benefit equally – general contractors and subcontractors, investor, supervision, designers, architects. They take advantage of the fact that the platform allows to store all materials in one place. Pre-assigned workflows allow to easy approve, comment or reject documents.
EDM can be used in literally any construction project. And even more – it is a useful tool in property management where lot of operating documents are produced like inspection protocols, maintenance reports, guarantees and others. EDM allows to store full – historical and current – documentation in right order in one place. Organized building documentation is extremely important during transactions in due diligence processes, i.e. when a building is sold and its track record needs to be inspected.
EDM is also helpful in the event of disputes between investor and participants of the investment process. There are cases when the contractor performs work on the basis of a wrong, i.e. outdated version of the design documentation. When a new version is uploaded to the system, it immediately informs all the parties. Each document has a record of changes so it is easy to trace the history and establish responsibility.
When it comes to administering the platform, there are two models – either the support is provided by the 2PM team, or the client appoints an administrator: a document controller who is trained and responsible for data input. One person is enough for the needs of even a large investment. As a result, we don’t waste the time of people who are paid for completely different tasks than working with documents.
The greatest benefit of using EDM is when the solution is implemented at the very beginning of the construction process. The awareness of the benefits grows over time. More and more often investors introduce a provision in their contracts with the general contractor that cooperation on the project needs to be based on a digital platform. The awareness of the need to digitize project documentation is an opportunity for tools such as EDM. At 2PM, we use this solution on most of our clients’ projects, offering EDM as a separate service, along with training and the possibility of testing. We use it as well for our own needs – for example to store and share administrative and financial documents of the company or to maintain our internal knowledge base, which is used by consultants when working on projects. We have completely switched to digital workflow and paper documentation is very rare in the company nowadays.
Contact us to talk about the needs of your project and take advantage of our experience in digital transformation – write to us.