Ease of use and deep functionality
“Version 4.2 of BIW Information Channel is a significant step forward for UK construction collaboration technologies,” says Colin Smith, BIW’s chief executive. “We now offer the best of both worlds: a simpler, more user-friendly interface, but one that also provides access to all the rich underlying functionality and enhanced performance features that we have developed over the past five years.”
“We have been listening to users who have – sometimes quite rightly – criticised us for trying to deliver too much. BIW Information Channel is the most sophisticated application in its class. While experienced users derive enormous value from the additional capabilities we offer, others, especially those in the early phases of the adoption cycle, may find it’s too much. Competitors, too, have had an influence, sometimes offering less complex tools that make a virtue of their simplicity.
In this latest version of BIW Information Channel, many user processes have been re-engineered so that they are more intuitive and can be accessed and completed more quickly and with fewer clicks. For instance:
- a ‘toggle’ switch gives users the option of turning the main navigation menu on or off – advanced users can keep this powerful tool in view; inexperienced or occasional users may prefer a simpler interface
- as part of an overall aesthetic improvement, new toolbar graphics help users move quickly between different functions
- increased use of screen-top ‘tabs’ for navigation between different ‘perspectives’ on project data
- publishing is a simple three-step procedure: select documentation, select recipient(s), and confirm
- more detailed searches and reports can now be applied across all project data
- the system can also be used to provide details about hard copy information held outside BIW Information Channel
- administrative settings affecting multiple users can be altered by batch processes
- context-sensitive help provides simple ‘how to’ guidance throughout the application
Smith continues: “Version 3.5 was a major step forward when it was released in July 2003. Many of its features have now been echoed by competitors offering cheaper products with less functionality, but with version 4.2 we have leapt forward again. Customers who want an easy-to-use starter system can now adopt BIW Information Channel knowing that, as their needs develop, it will support their future, more complex information requirements. They will not now have to sacrifice future performance and reliability for lower cost and simplicity.”
BIW Information Channel – new asset life-cycle perspectives
BIW Information Channel can now also be tailored to the particular perspectives of property and facilities managers responsible for operation and maintenance of built assets throughout their life-cycles.
“We now provide an additional layer of data management that sits above the project level,” says Smith. “This is particularly helpful where, say, a building complex may have gone through successive new-build, refurbishment and extension project processes. Owners and facilities managers now have the option to view the entire history of a built asset, and to access and re-use information about that asset regardless of when it was constructed or installed.
“Many project teams use collaboration applications solely to manage communication during design and construction,” Smith says. “BIW has been working with customers who want to look beyond project hand-over and manage their built assets throughout their life-cycle. This means a fundamental shift from just being site-based or project-centric to looking at how to manage information about an asset as it goes into operation, gets new systems installed, is refurbished, gets extended or is sold.”
Several long-term BIW customers own and manage assets where BIW Information Channel has been employed on new-build, refurbishment and extension projects. Teams can now extract information about discrete elements, phases or zones of an original project or programme, plus any relevant later works (eg: refurbishments, extensions, maintenance work). Key information from previous projects, including health and safety details, can now be aggregated and re-used alongside new data to carry out the latest scheme.
Where a customer has used the BIW system to deliver a multi-project programme, the new facilities can also be used to manage simultaneous work across multiple sites and provide powerful reporting by work type, project groups and/or project phases. For example, a utility company’s asset management programme or a retailer’s re-branding programme could be managed as a single overall programme, allowing the same information and processes to be shared across a series of assets.
It can also be used to manage multiple projects affecting the same asset. For instance, a customer may be running four to five projects concurrently, one to refurbish a key building, others to change layouts or equipment. BIW lets the customer see data accumulate across all projects, while project team members can focus solely on their particular scheme.
Further differentiation
“These latest developments further differentiate BIW’s platform from competitor systems,” says Smith. “They reflect three of our core strengths. First, we have some loyal, long-term customers: their changing requirements have stimulated ground-breaking technical developments that will benefit future users of BIW’s services. Second, we have avoided reliance on third-party applications and have invested heavily to create a truly integrated suite of BIW technologies. Finally, our applications are delivered via a robust, reliable and scalable hosting infrastructure; we combine great usability and ease of navigation with consistently high levels of system performance.”
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Notes to editors:
- Project collaboration services from BIW Technologies (www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1998 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury. BIW customers now include United Utilities, BAA, housebuilders Crest Nicholson and the Peabody Trust, Marks & Spencer, the Ministry of Defence, the Wellcome Trust, O2, Mace, Bovis Lend Lease, Kajima, Gleeds, and developers Stanhope, Land Securities and Garbe.
- BIW Information Channel is a sophisticated web-based supply chain integration technology, designed specifically for construction projects or programmes. Each client is provided with a unique, project-specific website created around a knowledge database. Using this, all data can be made available to every project team member – from the earliest concepts and specification, through detailed design, buildability studies, pre-fabrication, construction, maintenance, operation and improvement to the eventual demolition or dismantling of the facility.
- At 30 June 2004, the total number of BIW Information Channel registered users had reached 34,517, from 3,749 different companies. Collectively, these users had logged in almost five million times, to work on some 2,000 projects with a total capital value estimated at around £15 billion. Over 820,000 drawings and more than 430,000 other documents were being hosted along with an estimated two to three million other items (eg: transmittals, comments, requests for information (RFIs), instructions, etc).
- BIW and BIW Information Channel are registered trademarks or trademarks of BIW Technologies Ltd.
