|
|
 |
|
BlueLine Online's
ProjectNet
The Need
|
The AEC industry is
one of the most challenging for project management. For any
given project, many different participants from many different
professions, often widely dispersed geographically, are thrown
together for a limited duration. Team collaboration and
information exchange is absolutely critical yet, given these circumstances,
it is more often than not time-consuming, cumbersome and
fraught with difficulties. It is believed that the use of Web-based project management tools will
have as substantial impact on the design, construction and
operation of buildings, plants and infrastructure projects. |
|
The Technology
|
With
the Internet acting as the ultimate communications medium,
ProjectNet provides an instant, on-demand, secure online
solution for all team members to communicate, share documents
and collaborate using a standard Web browser.
The "heart
of ProjectNet" is a secure document management and
workflow system that stores all project documents and forms.
The ProjectNet information repository can be updated daily to
ensure that everyone has access to current information. It
enables everyone in the project team to work from the same
page, improving productivity. It helps accelerate
time-to-market, reduce cost, increase revenues and to
minimized rework due to communications errors. With a minimal
investment in Internet technology and personnel, ProjectNet
provides the tools for instant information access – anytime,
anywhere.
ProjectNet is an out-sourced
Internet-based project information and workflow management
service for the design, engineering and construction industry.
It provides specialized tools for all the individuals involved
in the building process and enables construction projects to
be completed under budget and ahead of schedule. The company
sometimes refers to this as their Premium service to
distinguish it from ProjectNet LT which is intended for
smaller projects and department-level collaboration.
This service is focused on
providing project teams with rapid, secure, and easy access to
project information. It promotes the concept of
"partnering" - enabling project owners, planners and
architects to collaborate and to jointly determine how best to
fulfill the goals of the project. To implement effective
partnering it is critical that all project players remain in
regular contact with each other and have access to the same
data. To insure effective coordination of the numerous
partners that make up the project team, it is critical to get
everyone communicating as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Some companies are not ready to
have their project data hosted by an Internet service
provider, but want similar capabilities installed on their own
computer systems. Blueline Online meets this need with
ProjectNet EPS. With the EPS version, these users can tailor
the package to meet their specific needs. Currently about 70%
of the company's customers use the out-sourced version of
ProjectNet and 30% use the internal enterprise version. The
company is seeing this shift as customers recognize the
additional benefits of outsourcing, and expects to see a
90%/10% ratio within 18 months.
|
The Benefits
|
Blueline Online's
services have benefits as follow:
- ProjectNet enables faster
time to market by eliminating delays caused by sequential
project information flow and decision making.
- ProjectNet enhances control
by providing security down to the document level,
providing a permanent audit trail of document access and
decision making through the project life-cycle.
- ProjectNet increases
revenues by improving team productivity through
streamlining administrative procedures, eliminative
non-value added work, simplifying approval processes and
automating workflow.
- ProjectNet eliminates
geographic barriers to collaboration by creating an
environment where all team members have the most current
information at all times irrespective of where they are
located.
- ProjectNet reduces costs by
eliminating unnecessary printing, copying and delivery of
drawings, by facilitating real-time communications, and by
controlling travel costs.
|
Status
|
Designed to enhance
collaboration between architectural engineering construction (AEC)
project teams, ProjectNet 3.3 sets a new standard with
functions that deliver comprehensive job site information
quickly and on demand, notify the project team immediately of
changes in critical information, and provide new levels of
integration with the Palm and Windows CE devices. Blueline
Online unveiled ProjectNet 3.3 at the AEC Systems Conference
'99 in Chicago. Recently,
Blueline Online
and eBricks,
Inc. have merged to form Cephren.
|
Barriers
|
Although
the AEC industry is one of the largest industries in the world
with a market size estimated by industry analysts to be $3.2
trillion, it has traditionally been more resistant to
technological change than other industries. This becomes a
major barrier for the adoption of this type of technology. |
Points of Contact
- David Crimmins, BlueLine
Online, Inc., E-mail: dcrimmins@bluelineonline.com
References
- Blueline Online's ProjectNet -
Web-base Document Management, Construction Administration, and
Project Collaboration, A-E-C Automation Newsletter, Volume 23,
Issue 10, October 1999.
Disclaimer Statement
|
Neither the Construction
Industry Institute nor Purdue University in any way endorses this
technology or represents
that the information presented can be relied upon without further investigation. |
MA31 |
