ProjectCenter

The Need

Considering that 1-2% of project cost is simply paper work, $500 mil/year is spent on FedEx(US) and no group has more than 65% of the project record at project close record, geographically disperse team members need to share information, documents, drawings and strategies, reducing the likelihood of errors, miscommunication, or missed deadlines through web based project management tool. As a subscription based service, ProjectCenter provides an entire project team with point and click access to all relevant project information, without having to purchase additional software or learn complex systems. Shared information includes directory, specification, correspondence, sketches, meeting notes, shop drawing logs and field reports, RFIs, CCDs and CAD drawings.

The Technology

The ProjectCenter database is developed using Oracle and resides on a secure and reliable environment at Exodus Communications. Palm scanners are used to validate entry and exit from the server facility and there is full camera surveillance of the server floor. The Bricsnet server area is enclosed in a locked cage and is used exclusively by authorized Bricsnet personnel The ProjectCenter servers are multiple SUN E-450's with fail over fault tolerance. Disk storage is on dual SUN A-1000 disk array which are mirrored and striped and applications reside on multiple SUN Netra T-1 servers. ProjectCenter is connected to the Internet via a 100 mb connection to the Internet and resides behind a Cisco firewall. ProjectCenter is compatible with all Windows, Macintosh, and SUN operating systems. ProjectCenter has been used on construction and renovation projects ranging from $50,000 to over $250 mil. ProjectCenter is distributed world-wide and is available in French, German, Dutch, and Japanese. Over $5 billion in construction has been done using ProjectCenter as the communication and management center.

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Centralization of data on server

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Support for CAD drawings and project photographs.

The Benefits

  1. Document Ownership: Team members can control all documents they submit to ProjectCenter. Once a team member uploads a document, they are in con­trol of it-and only they can edit it.
  2. Automatic Document Conversion: ProjectCenter provides automated doc­ument conversion for application-inde­pendent viewing.
  3. AlA Contract Documents: ProjectCenter integrates the official AlA G-series documents, allowing teams to create, review and print industry standard doc­uments instantly. The forms are gener­ated automatically by retrieving data from within your project database.
  4. CAD Redlining: AutoCAD, IntelliCAD and MicroStation CAD drawings can be reviewed and annotated from within the heart of ProjectCenter.
  5. Team Mail: Teams can effortlessly communicate with each other without leaving ProjectCenter. All messages automatically become part of the proj­ect record.
  6. Selective Access: ProjectCenter allows you to choose who sees what information, and when they see it.
  7. Interface: ProjectCenter is widely acclaimed for its ease of use, with an interface that has been called "the most intuitive in the industry."
  8. Project Start-up: Project administrators can set up new projects in minutes by migrating users from previous projects.
  9. Menu Customization: ProjectCenter allows teams to create a menu structure that reflects the way they work, making it easy for users to organize their project information.

Status

ProjectCenter is the brainchild of EVOLV which is a wholly owned part of Bricsnet. The first ProjectCenter sites were placed in February 1998 and currently there are over 3,100 companies and 13,000 individuals in the AEC Industry using ProjectCenter.

Barriers

The following items will be required for using ProjectCenter:

  • Computer with Internet access
  • E-mail account
  • Java-enabled web browser software: The viewer applets for CAD drawings are based on Java Development Kit Version 1.1 (JDK 1.1). Therefore, a JDK 1.1 compliant browser is required. The following are JDK 1.1 enabled browsers:
Vendor Product Name Platform
Microsoft Internet Explorer V4.0+ Win95, WinNT, Mac, UNIX
Netscape Navigator V4.03+ with JDK 1.1 Patch Win95, WinNT, Mac, UNIX
Sun HotJava Win95, WinNT, Mac, UNIX

Points of Contact

  1. Mr. John Miller, BricsNet U.S.A./EVOLV, 53 Green Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, Tel: (603) 436-6868, Fax: (603) 436-5760, Toll free: 1-800-719-2111, e-mail: Jmiller@bricsnet.com

References

  1. ProjectCenter Brochure
  2. BricsNet.com. ProjectCenter, <http://about.bricsnet.com/about/services/projectcenter/>

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.

SL30
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Last Modified: Tuesday, 10-Jul-01 14:54:24 EST