Case Study : Aconex

Few industries rely on the timely access and distribution of information as much as the construction industry. Projects often involve more than 100 team members sharing thousands of drawings, documents and correspondence items each month. Once in construction, every hour that is not productive, either because people have to wait, or because they have to rectify mistakes a lot of money is lost. All too often, delays, disputes and quality issues can be traced back to miscommunication and poor information processes; people working of the wrong version of a drawing, or waiting for instructions can make the difference between making money and losing money.

Aconex clients rely on the Aconex collaboration platform to help manage these risks. The system allows project members to log in to a secure, central platform where they can access, distribute, track and archive their information. However, as workforces are becoming increasingly mobile, people are spending less and less time in the office in front of a PC.

This drove the development of the Aconex Mobile iPhone app, which enables our clients to create and access their project information when they’re away from their desks. It also offers a range of features that are only possible with a mobile device, such as capturing photos of defects on site for instant communication to the team. Essentially, the app means that, wherever they are, project managers can stay productive and in control.

Problem:

For any construction project manager, getting the right information to the right people, at the right time is critical to meeting schedules and avoiding risk.

Every day, thousands of project managers around the world use the Aconex online collaboration platform to access, share and manage their information. To keep their projects on track, our clients want to be able to manage their information in real time, not wait until they get back to their desks.

Implementation:

Building an iPhone app wasn’t something we entered into lightly. From the outset, we saw the opportunity for the app to fundamentally evolve and improve how construction professionals manage their information, adding real value to their companies and projects.

To fully understand the industry’s needs, we wanted to develop a detailed picture of our clients’ working week. This involved a number of research initiatives including having some of our clients keep a daily diary describing exactly how and where they accessed their information, their challenges and what tools they currently used (including their use of mobile devises). We then mapped out how an iPhone app could help make their jobs easier and more productive.

Throughout the 6-month development process for the app, our research also included in-depth interviews and beta testing with 50 clients.

Results:

In the 3 months since release, we’ve already had more than 4,000 downloads and are still going strong. The app also appeared in the New and Noteworthy area in the iTunes App store. We’re currently working on our next release, which will incorporate user feedback that we’ve been collating.

Benefits:

With the Aconex iPhone app, project managers have the information they need at their fingertips and can streamline communication with their team members. The app enables them to:

Deal with issues and reply to project mail in real time
Access the most current project documents from anywhere.
Capture on-site information, such as defects, and instantly communicate them to their team
Work on documents and mails while offline (e.g. on a flight) and then have them sync to the Aconex system as soon as reconnected.

This saves time and improves productivity on projects, helping project managers to deliver their projects on time and within budget.