Balfour Beatty Mott Macdonald on the Road to Efficiency

Nottingham, United Kingdom, May 12, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The Balfour Beatty Mott Macdonald Joint Venture (BBMM) conducts maintenance of UK road networks and oversees the construction of bridges and other structures. The venture recently began work on an Asset Service Contract (ASC) from the Highways Agency for ‘Area 10’ in the North West of England. Around 170 office-based staff and 100 roadside operatives work across 500km of motorway and trunk route carriageway, which includes 2500 structures.

BBMM took the ASC as an opportunity to review existing systems and workflows to see where the management of information could be improved. ASC Mobilisation IT Manager, Danny Greenway, explains the research process undertaken by the company. “We looked at the IT systems used by both Balfour Beatty and Mott Macdonald,” explains Danny. “The group use SharePoint for quality management but not for documents and there are other systems in place across the two companies. We were keen to have one flexible solution to build upon, rather than disparate systems for multiple purposes. It was essential that we had an integrated way of working from the offset and any system we chose needed a quick implementation process.”

Following a search of the marketplace, a group of Directors looked at a shortlist of three options: SharePoint, Oracle and Union Square for Construction. The main criteria for the final decision were cost, system flexibility and the recommendations made by the software provider for maximising efficiency. Additionally, the team visited existing clients of the software providers for first-hand accounts of the benefits they could offer.

The chosen solution was Union Square for Construction, the industry-specific knowledge management system. “There simply weren’t enough resources to develop SharePoint effectively within the required timeframe. We were confident with the core functionality of Union Square as much of what we needed was built into the standard system. The ability to develop on top of the core was a key draw too as we can easily integrate our existing systems to provide one central location for all contract and project-related data,” Danny explains.

BBMM is already up and running with the standard Union Square system and some bespoke development work has been carried out to streamline the management of contact information. Staff have access to drop-in and online training sessions, and a selection of super-users from each department are currently going through a more intensive training programme. “We’re realising multiple benefits from the system, including the removal of duplication, more efficient working processes and cost savings from a reduction in admin tasks. Why reinvent the wheel when there’s a solution available which can integrate for you,” Danny concludes.