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From CAD User AEC Magazine  Vol 16 No 07 - JULY/AUGUST 2003

CAD User invited Autodesk to elaborate on its vision for Buzzsaw. Richard Harpham, regional sales manager, Autodesk Building Collaboration Services, explains how Buzzsaw is central to the rise of online project collaboration.

In the past, the key players in construction projects - contractors, architects, engineers, consultants and property owners - often worked in isolation without any real sense of shared objectives. Today, the design/build approach is becoming increasingly popular. According to figures from the Design-Build Institute of America, it is currently used for an estimated 50% of all commercial work in Europe, a figure expected to rise to 60% by 2010.

In contrast to traditional methods, design/build brings project members together to form one integrated team with a common goal. Communication tends to be highly complex with team members talking to each other and exchanging information regularly on an individual basis and collectively as part of a larger group.

In this context, over-reliance on traditional methods of communication such as telephone, post and face-to-face meetings is inefficient and frequently leads to budgets being exceeded and projects overrunning. Now, a new technique, ideally suited to the design/build concept, has emerged to address this issue. Online project collaboration helps managers and administrators eliminate these inefficiencies.

This collaborative approach establishes one secure Internet location, where all project documentation is saved. Team members use the site to share, update, track and archive material.

Driven by the need to maintain their competitive edge, construction companies are increasingly exploring the benefits of this type of service. But in an ever more crowded marketplace, they need to ensure they invest in a solution that is versatile and easy-to-use and which allows them to achieve a rapid return on investment.

One such solution is Autodesk Buzzsaw, which enables customers to save time, reduce risk and maximise profitability by tracking and displaying the latest version of all project documents in one secure online location.

Ease-of-use and Centralisation
Solutions targeted at companies operating in the highly-pressurised construction industry must be easy-to-use. Ideally, they should keep the learning curve for new users to a minimum by offering a simple Windows-based configuration and drag-and-drop functionality.

Customers are, of course, also looking for flexibility and openness. It is very important that the chosen solution supports all file types so that users can continue using legacy files rather than getting locked into a very narrow approach to working. Autodesk Buzzsaw provides this support and its close integration with AutoCAD, in particular, enables users to upload and download drawings direct from AutoCAD 2004.
Another important factor in the success of the best online project collaboration solutions is their centralised structure - their ability, for example, to create a single centrally located customised site and build multiple projects within it.

This approach allows companies to standardise project management to ensure consistent documentation, common work processes and faster communication, and enables administrators to simplify and streamline the management process.

Using the Autodesk Buzzsaw solution, project managers can extend their centralised control by assigning user access rights at different levels depending on project needs - recently enhanced in the latest release of the software, Buzzsaw 4.0.

Enhancing Communication
Another key benefit of online project collaboration, particularly in the context of the design/build approach, is its ability to improve communication between team members. The best solutions do this by providing a common, secure, accessible environment for all team members, allowing clients, consultants and contractors to view and mark-up drawings as and when required. The Buzzsaw solution enhances communication levels by automatically emailing members when they receive authorisation or when a relevant document is uploaded to the site.

Effective communication is also encouraged by Buzzsaw's ability to automatically detect when a newer version of a file has been uploaded. As a result, users can review a design history by retrieving earlier versions to view or by comparing them with newer versions.

We have looked at some of the operational benefits of online project collaboration. While the functionality of the software is, of course, critical, potential buyers should also ask themselves, particularly in the current troubled economic climate, whether they are investing in a sustainable solution backed by a financially stable organisation. The Buzzsaw solution is backed by Autodesk, a company with a longstanding reputation for reliability and with few rivals in terms of industry experience and expertise.
For many customers, though, the critical measure of the success of any service of this type is its ability to generate return on investment. A recent study by market research firm the Hurwitz Group* revealed the average annual ROI for a sample group of Buzzsaw customers of 370 percent, and a break-even timeline on total cost of ownership of two to three months from implementation of the service.

A Bright Future
The successful deployment of the design/build concept within the construction industry has created a team-based environment in which online project collaboration tools like Autodesk Buzzsaw are ideally positioned to flourish.

And as the building industry begins to implement these solutions, the first adopters are profiting from improved levels of communication, enhanced control over and access to data, reduced project cycles and perhaps most critically of all, rapid return on investment.

For some time now, the construction industry has been crying out for a business model capable of providing improved efficiency and reducing costs. The development of the design/build concept has provided a strong foundation. Now, with the emergence of online project collaboration and tools like Buzzsaw, in particular, the search appears to be over.

Building an Effective Strategy for Construction Project Management

Why IPC Media Chose the Autodesk Buzzsaw Solution

Leading consumer magazine publisher, IPC Media, has successfully completed a major £2 million building project at its London headquarters, using the online project collaboration service, Autodesk Buzzsaw.

The Buzzsaw solution enables building project team members to send, share, update, track and archive drawings and documents in one secure location. The service was therefore ideal for a project that required co-ordination of three different management teams to ensure it was completed efficiently and on time.

"The project's success was dependent on Buzzsaw's ability to transfer data rapidly and process material quickly," says Tony Floyde, IPC Media's construction manager. "The solution also allowed us to free-up time, earmarked for routine administrative tasks, to spend on more creative work."

The Buzzsaw solution is now bringing benefits across the whole of IPC Media's programme of construction upgrades, refurbishments and new building work. The publisher has already used it on a total of seven projects since June last year. It eliminates the need to create multiple copies of paper documents and issue them through the post, for example. In addition, it delivers information quickly to team members and keeps them continuously informed of the latest project status.

Buzzsaw also provides an efficient method of managing project documentation and correspondence. Audit trails can be tracked and examined if queries arise and enhanced levels of communication allow meetings to be streamlined and kept to a minimum.

In fact, the benefits Buzzsaw has brought IPC Media have been so far-reaching that the publisher is now considering adapting the solution for use in other applications unrelated to construction, such as network management for example.

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