TOP PRODUCTS '09: Taking Stock of Your Technology
Building your infrastructure and selecting the right products will help you maximize your tech investments in the long run.
For the first time in nearly a decade the contractors have a unique opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, when it comes to construction technology.
Budgets are tighter, activity has slowed, and new contracts are not as abundant as they were merely six to eight months ago. But while the economic downturn has altered the flow of construction activity, it has also consequently created opportunity for companies to reassess technology plans for the next 12 months.
There is little doubt that during the past 10 years technology has emerged to become the dominant tool in the construction industry and very few will argue its effectiveness for helping to improve productivity and increase efficiency. The debate, instead, centers around whether or not companies are indeed getting the most out of technology investments they have made during the past several years.
During busy times it was not uncommon for companies to keep the technology investment train moving forward—adding more software licenses, purchasing more equipment, etc.—all with the intent of having these tools in place to accomplish the task at hand. Yet, as we look forward companies must assess whether or not they have the right mix of technology in order to accomplish the task a-foot (long-term).
How effective is your infrastructure? Are you carrying unnecessary software or server licenses? Are you on the latest version of your software? Is it time for virtualization and shared storage? These are among the questions you should be asking yourself right now.
A great place to start is within your technology infrastructure. “If you think your company will need a new server, why wait for Dell or HP to get busy and raise prices?” says Jay Haladay, CEO, Viewpoint Construction Software, www.viewpointcs.com, Portland, Ore. “You couldn’t ask for a better time to upgrade your server than now. Perhaps you are not yet at that capacity, but then again you don’t want that needle hitting 100% when you are absolutely up against the wall from a business standpoint. Now is a good time to take advantage of your workstations or servers.”
In a cash-strapped situation a good alternative to purchasing new equipment could be a lease program. Haladay says some providers might be open to this route in an effort to move product—and it’s never a bad idea to try and roll a maintenance program in with the lease.
Perhaps it’s the opportune time to investigate virtualization. Reducing 15 servers, for example, down to three using virtualization provides immediate cost savings with relation to equipment, as well as long-term savings on energy and maintenance costs.
“We have been fortunate to have invested in many of our foundation infrastructure components in recent times,” says Tim Malarney, IT director, Shiel Sexton Corp., www.shielsexton.com, Indianapolis, Ind. “We invested heavily in virtual technologies and shared storage. We will now be able to continue with some projects without additional capital expenditures levering our investments.”
Mobility is another area where contractors must truly look under the hood in order to judge how much is being spent. By nature, construction is highly mobile and throughout the years the use of multi-faceted communication devices are becoming a fixture on the belt of every project manager. But could you have too many devices deployed in the field? Experts suggest taking inventory of mobile hardware in effort to consolidate functions onto one device, or even work with carriers to ensure you are on the most effective rate plan.
It’s also a good time to simply ensure you are on the latest version of your software. Why put off that upgrade if you can get it done today? There is no time like the present to get employee training up-to-speed.
“When times are tough you need control and need to have your systems streamlined. We’ve had many companies say now is the time to go ahead and put in the technology so that when things do pickup again we won’t need to add (the overhead back in),” says Larry McAdams, president, Construction Imaging, www.construction-imaging.com, Rocky Mount, N.C. He also mentions the “green” appeal of imaging technology as it is helping cut out the expenses involved with paper and distribution.
This leads in nicely into Constructech’s second annual Top Products Award for commercial. This year’s winner include a fine mixture of New Products, Enhanced Products, Trusted Products, and Supportive Technologies that the editors believe provide a valuable return on investment for your technology dollars during slower times.
Taking good stock of your technology infrastructure today could help ensure you have the most effective tools in place tomorrow.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.accubid.com
Concord, Ont.
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Accubid Estimating Solutions
The Accubid Estimating Solutions line of products has an ideal application for every size job. Most comprehensive is Accubid Pro, proving a tool for project management, job analysis, and scheduling features. BidWinner is ideal for small to medium-sized projects, offering multi-level takeoff breakdowns, labor codes, cost codes, labor factoring, typical takeoffs, item substitution, and the ability to filter both the audit trail and the extension. Building on this foundation is BidWinner Plus, providing additional takeoff modules and other enhanced features. PowerBid is suitable for smaller projects and includes an extensive database of priced material items and assemblies and competitive labor units. In all, this product line can seemingly handle all phases of the job for specialty contractors.
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ENHANCED
PRODUCT
www.accubid.com
Concord, Ont.
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cadLive Version 9
cadLive has become a powerful tool in the market that helps MEP estimators takeoff counts and lengths in any CAD drawing. With the release of cadLive Version 9, Accubid has enhanced the tool, creating functional integration to existing Accubid product lines. Integrating it with Accubid Estimating, estimators are able to see positive and negative quantity revisions as soon as drawings are received. Integrated with Accubid ChangeOrder provides graphical displays of revised quantities within drawings. Choosing to capture positive revisions to one change order and negative revisions to another, or even merging both into one truly demonstrates the value of this integration.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.bluebeam.com
Pasadena, Calif.
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Bluebeam PDF Revu
Nearly everyone that has ever interfaced with a computer is familiar with the PDF (portable document format) file. In construction, this has made the PDF an effective tool for communicating changes on drawings and other documentation. With this in mind, Bluebeam uses the PDF standard to develop a product that allows users to create, edit, and markup PDF files. Custom markup tool sets, the ability to compare multiple PDF versions, the tracking and publishing of comments, and custom takeoff calculations are among the enhanced features most appealing to users in construction. Toolbar buttons created within Microsoft Office and a PDF printer allow users to turn any document into a PDF using the software.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.cmic.ca
Toronto, Ont.
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CMiC
Built on an Oracle platform and using open architecture technology, CMiC has developed an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system—combining project management, imaging, workflow, and financials—that takes a multi-departmental business process approach to automating the way in which information flows specifically within a construction firm. As an example, it’s not just a matter of giving accounting a better looking AP invoice entry screen—it is instead looking at the process end-to-end to see how it can be made more efficient, across all segments of the company. Built around its core ERP system is a set of products for mobile, business intelligence, collaboration, and bid management, among many others.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.computerease.com
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Electronic Invoice Routing
While the construction industry will never go 100% paperless, at least contractors can target the elimination of superfluous paper process-namely invoices. Electronic Invoice Routing streamlines the invoice approval and routing process for contractors. Accounts payable personnel send invoices, along with purchase orders, change orders, and other documentation, to field personnel for approval. Project mangers in the field are alerted of the documents waiting in the computer folder for approval. From there, they can add comments and send the electronic file back to payables personnel in the office. Interfaced with ComputerEase accounting, documentation is easily accounted for in the financial system.
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ENHANCED
PRODUCT
www.conest.com
Manchester, N.H.
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SureCount Symbol Recognition
In a down economy, accurate estimates can be a contractor’s best weapon for survival. IntelliBid is an ideal estimating solution for electrical and data contractors because of its rich functionality of Smart System Technology. Smart System Technology offers built-in NEC (National Electrical Code) tables and automatic adjustments to labor requirements for changes in an installation. ConEst has also added a dynamic link from IntelliBid to SureCount Symbol Recognition Software. SureCount reads electronic drawings by counting and measuring the material requirements of an electrical or data cabling project onscreen and then transferring those material items and lengths to IntelliBid’s Count Sheets, another Smart System Technology feature, where quantities are ready for instant takeoff.
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ENHANCED
PRODUCT
www.construction-imaging.com
Rocky Mount, N.C.
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Construction Document Manager
As the needs of workflow automation continually change, so do the capabilities of Construction Document Manager (CDM). Two recent enhancements allow the product to work in parallel with third-party applications: Print Driver for printing directly into imaging from disparate software, and Link to Third Party Software for pulling data from these applications and populating fields within CDM. The Email Importer enhancement enables the automatic, fully searchable archival of emails and attachments, which is essential to help contractors comply with Federal Rules of eDiscovery. New custom searches allow searching of other imaging databases for backup documentation. Multiple applications specific to HR (human resources), ticket handling, operations, and bidding have also been added to further enhance CDM.
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NEW
PRODUCT
www.jonas-construction.com
Richmond Hill, Ont.
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Paperless Service Management Software
With new construction stagnant, specialty contractors will find greater success in 2009 through adding/enhancing a service component to their business. Jonas Software provides an integrated set of solutions designed to streamline the service department for mechanical, electrical, HVACR (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration), and plumbing contractors. The paperless service management aspect of Jonas includes eService, which allows clients to create work orders, view history details, view/update equipment lists, and view outstanding accounts payable, Jonas Mobile (pictured) for managing work orders from the field using a PDA, and Jonas Dispatch for managing work orders and assigning technicians. Using an integrated suite will ensure no detail goes unnoticed throughout the process, and will lead to success in client satisfaction.
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SUPPORTIVE
TECHNOLOGIES
www.morpheustechgroup.com
Huntington Beach, Calif.
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MTG Framework Solution Set
Typical data bridges can often be inefficient fixes to integrating disparate project and financial data, as they do not allow for flexibility or reconfiguration specific to the end user. The MTG Framework Solution Set takes a different approach. It is a robust and highly configurable middleware platform for linking leading construction project management systems with financial systems. Key to this process is the system’s ability to allow companies to adjust enterprise data integration paths as business needs evolve. Deployment configurations can also support either centralized or decentralized processing of integration transactions, further easing the modification process.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.penta.com
Brookfield, Wis.
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PENTA Construction ERP
Penta has built its ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite around three core elements: management, business process execution, and performance analysis. This suite of fully-integrated applications links multi-company financials, projects, service, labor, materials, and equipment. Document management and mobile application enhancements allow users to extend the benefits of the system to other mission-critical portions of their operations. Custom workflow automates business processes by defining, performing, and measuring key steps to the project execution process, while analytic tools allow management to monitor key performance metrics at different levels across the organization. Specific service modules can be critical to specialty contractors amid changing market conditions.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.skire.com
Menlo Park, Calif.
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Unifier
This program/project management application is licensed by large owner organizations and used by engineers, contractors, project managers, and suppliers, across the lifecycle of a facility. Unifier is built using a proprietary workflow engine that allows users to automate and integrate existing processes and create a set of workflows custom to the needs of the organization without the need for complicated programming efforts. This has been the foundation for helping Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and educational organizations create modules for project cost and schedule controls, design and document management, asset and resource management, funding management, and dashboards and reporting, among others. This creates accountability for all actions involved with capital projects.
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TRUSTED
PRODUCT
www.texturacorp.com
Deerfield, Ill.
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Textura Construction Payment
The payment process in construction is a necessary, yet often highly unreliable process that involves faxing, calculating, mailing, and emailing. Textura is helping the construction industry go paperless within this process. Owners, developers, and general contractors use this set of solutions to automate the payment process, as well as other cumbersome paper processes like subcontractor and supplier invoicing, and lien waiver collection. Users create electronic documents with electronic signatures, review, approve, and markup documents online. Disbursement is validated against compliance status and the information interfaces with many leading accounting and project management systems, ensuring no duplicate entry is needed. It saves the headaches involved with the typical payment process.
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ENHANCED
PRODUCT
www.viewpointcs.com
Portland, Ore.
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Viewpoint V6 Software
Viewpoint V6 Software is a construction enterprise suite that is built on the Microsoft .NET platform, integrating accounting, operations, and project management. This product presents a nice balance of Web and Windows applications, granting users the benefits of both working environments. Two new product modules will help users enhance business processes across their organization. The Business Intelligence module helps companies recognize and track business activity, allowing users to define and present KPIs (key performance indicators) in a graphical format. A Workflow enhancement provides another key fundamental resource, allowing users to establish a foundation for standardizing business processes—which is a key element to reaping the benefits of a fully integrated enterprise suite.
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Below, please find the full list of winners in each of four categories.
New Products: DProfiler from Beck Technology, Paperless Service Management from Jonas Software, Quest Machine Control from Maxwell Systems, Notevault from Notevault Inc., Tekla Structures for Construction Management from Tekla Inc., Field Software Suite from Vela Systems
Enhanced Products: cadLive from Accubid Systems, BID2WIN Estimating and Bidding from BID2WIN Software Inc., IntelliBid from ConEst Software Systems, Construction Document Manager from Construction Imaging, ProEst Takeoff from Construction Management Software, The Executive Dashboard from Foundation Software, Estimation Digital Takeoff from Maxwell Systems, Prolog 2008 from Meridian Systems, ConstructionSuite 2009 from UDA Technologies, Viewpoint V6 Software from Viewpoint Construction Software
Trusted Products: Accubid Estimating from Accubid Systems, Bluebeam PDF Revu from Bluebeam Software Inc., CMiC Software from CMiC, Electronic Invoice Routing from ComputerEase Software Inc., GradeBeam Construction Communication Network from GradeBeam, Proliance from Meridian Systems, PENTA Construction ERP Software from Penta Technologies Inc., Unifer from Skire Inc., Textura Construction Payment Management from Textura Corp.
Supportive Technologies: MyAssistant from Innovative Software Design, MTG Frameworks Solution Set from Morpheus Technology Group, SX7 Series from Telular Corp.