Common obstacles to effective information exchange include incompatible software platforms, sharing costs, and the time required for data translation.

 

 

Market-driven IPD Solutions

With collaboration more crucial than ever, communication is seen as the key to managing successful projects, and IT-based IPD technologies are focused on that function. IPD tools are designed to address the "information silos" that can result from the AEC industry's inherent structure, and the resulting lack of "visibility," both within and across projects.

This was the case for Omaha-based HDR, the architecture and engineering firm (see "Integrated Server Products Boost IPD Effectiveness at AEC Firm," page 8). "As we grow, we're acquiring other companies, and the difficulties of blending all the different websites and locations - dealing with cultural and physical differences between the merged organizations − led us to look for a more integrated collaboration solution that would support our goal of building one great sustainable company," says Angelo Privetera, vice president and chief information officer for HDR.

Put simply, IPD systems allow multiple organizations, locations and people involved in the same undertakings to share and integrate documents to achieve project goals. IPD not only lets a single discipline or company share and integrate documents - an architecture firm, for example, or the entire design contingent on a project -but it also makes those documents and data available to any parties involved with the constructed asset throughout its entire life cycle.

"The ability for us to kind of stay nimble to increase our competitiveness and the ability to reduce risk within projects with data spread across different systems, is something that's a huge challenge for us," says CH2M-Hill's Prather. "Because we need transparency to know how a given project or program doing. Are we on schedule?  Are we on cost budgets? Do we have the right resources? Are we pulling in the right information? Is everybody communicating, with the right documentation? Is it the right version? Those are kind of a lot of the big challenges that are facing us."

IPD technology is designed to address such questions. It allows the AEC project team's work to be communicated internally during all phases, as well as to owners, consultants, interiors designers, facilities managers, maintenance personnel and any other stakeholders in the built asset. The technology solutions also address the very real issue of fieldwork for AEC projects. Many of the more remote jobsites are poor business environments with no access or limited access to technology, which tests the limitations of cell phone, radio and even satellite communications. IPD tools allow team members to work and pull data offline, and later update the enterprise in a coordinated fashion.

Another major difference between traditional modes of project delivery and working with IPD technology is that project tracking and recordkeeping occur as a result of all project team efforts and communications. This decreases the traditional focus on process documentation, shifting effort and resources to the decision-making process.

After updating to new IDP software and systems, says Mark Levitt, vice president for Collaborative Computing in the Enterprise Workplace at IDC, "Generally speaking, organizations should expect a combination of hard and soft benefits when they're looking at evaluating both current tools as well as new tools." Among the benefits he lists are reduced travel expenses for meetings, since much of the collaboration occurs online. Other benefits could include reduced overtime, fewer penalties resulting from delays, fewer fines for noncompliance with building codes and regulations, and fewer costs related to documents used and wages paid to correct mistakes."