Improving Project Reporting and Client Satisfaction Across the Globe
March 2010IMTC-MEI, LLC, a subsidiary of Louisiana-based Crown Enterprises, Inc., is internationally recognized in the industry as a leader in capital construction and program management. With domestic headquarters in Houston, Texas, and international headquarters in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, IMTC-MEI has also established offices in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Kyiv, Ukraine, for continuous expansion of an international platform.
IMTC-MEI programs benefit clients throughout North America and international regions, including Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, by incorporating the international best practices of associations such as the Association for Cost Engineering International (AACEI) and the Royal Institute of Charter Surveyors (RICS). Local staff is fully involved in the management of each project. In addition, procurement options are constantly reviewed to ensure that the best local materials are used, which produces an optimal balance of quality and pricing.
IMTC-MEI is recognized as one of the best in the business at executing catastrophic reconstruction, but the use of disparate software systems made their back-office project management processes problematic. Separate systems were in place for cost control, procurement, document management, and more, which created inefficiencies in overall business processes and provided limited access and visibility to critical information.
“Communication was a challenge for us because we had information coming in from multiple sources that was not being placed in a centralized location,” states IMTC-MEI senior project services manager, Shane Thomas. This made it difficult to generate timely and accurate status reports. Although the company’s clients were happy with the visual progress made on their projects, IMTC-MEI needed a more efficient way to provide them with dashboard reports on budget, costs, and completion percentages.
THE RIGHT SOFTWARE
When IMTC-MEI experienced an increase in projects—and an associated exponential increase in reporting demands—the need to standardize their project management processes using one system of record became imminent. The company did extensive research and reviewed several solutions. After gathering recommendations from clients and thoroughly evaluating their options, IMTC-MEI chose Prolog® Manager from Meridian Systems.
As leaders in their field, IMTC-MEI recognizes the value of niche expertise. That’s why they put their software implementation in the hands of specialists. In September 2008, the company purchased Prolog from Project 3 Technologies, a Meridian Systems Value Added Reseller (VAR) in Texas. With experience in project controls and document management, Project 3 Technologies could help IMTC-MEI successfully implement Prolog to better manage their costs, risks, and resources.
Since the company’s projects can be located anywhere in the world, IMTC-MEI chose to utilize a third party hosting service for their Prolog software. Project 3 Technologies recommended ProjectXnet hosting from The Cram Group, a Meridian authorized System Integrator (SI). ProjectXnet provides secure, Web-based access to Prolog from any Internet connection.
Third party hosting also delivers peace-of-mind to IMTC-MEI. In 2008, Hurricane Ike knocked out the power in Houston for 2 weeks. Thomas is relieved to know that, if another event like this happens close to home, the company’s Prolog data will still be safe, secure, and online.
TEAMWORK EXPEDITES IMPLEMENTATION
With the Project 3 Technologies and The Cram Group teams handling IMTC-MEI’s Prolog implementation, the process moved forward quickly. “It amazes me how fast we were able to implement a fairly complex system like Prolog because of the knowledge and experience of our implementation teams,” Thomas states. “We were online within 72 hours. Two weeks later, myself and three or four other users were comfortable enough to function within the software. Five months later, we were running a $48M project.”
Prolog was implemented in phases by functionality. Procurement was brought online first, followed by Cost Control and Document Management. During each phase, reports were customized to meet the specific needs of IMTC-MEI and their clients. That first $48M project, for example, was a fire rebuild that required cost tracking to the most detailed level and the ability to segregate specific types of expenditures. Reports were created that gave the client a 10,000-foot view of the project with the capability to drill down to details.
Prolog also allows IMTC-MEI to customize nomenclature on reports to present terminology in different ways for different clients. For example, “Committed Cost” for Client A might be changed to “Expend” for Client B. And, to more easily reconcile information between project management and accounting, specific Prolog reports were designed to mirror the company’s accounting reports. “People can now review the same information in the same format from two separate systems,” Thomas states.
IMTC-MEI made Prolog their standardized international technology platform. During configuration of the software the company utilized input from trained bilingual Ukrainian, Slovakian, and Georgian personnel who had the ability to establish IMTC-MEI programs in hospitality, airport, and infrastructure.
FORWARD-THINKING BENEFITS
Since IMTC-MEI can now offer their clients up-to-date, real-time reporting—and offer it through a secure software and hosting system—they clearly have a competitive advantage over other catastrophic rebuild companies. “In the past, I may have spent 3 or 4 days manually creating a custom report for a client,” Thomas says. “Now, I can get even the most complex data from Prolog in less than 3 hours. Our clients love the speed and accuracy of the reporting.”
Internally, the company has also achieved their objective of improved communication through the centralization and standardization of project information. The increased data visibility provided has decreased risk for IMTC-MEI and their clients in many ways. Comparing weekly quantity completions to the schedule helps keep the job on track. Requests-for-information (RFIs) are monitored to avoid cost impacts from response delays. And the Daily Work Journal provides a record of vital site activities.
POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY TRIO
Security, anonymity, and data stability are requirements for the clients IMTC-MEI serves. With the powerful combination of Prolog software, ProjectXnet hosting, and Project 3 Technologies’ services, IMTC-MEI has the most secure and stable system possible in today’s global IT environment. “Our Prolog software has become our be-all, catch-all system,” Thomas states. “Everyone from the most entry level worker to the highest level executive has instant, accurate, and secure access to information that has been collected from multiple sources so that informed project decisions can be made in real time.” ■
For More Information:
Abstracted from Meridian customer case studies, published in 2009 and 2010. For more information on other case studies from the AEC, Commercial, and Public Sector, visit the Meridian Systems Information Library at http://mymeridiansystems.com.
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