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Case Study 1 :: Large
multi-partner project - Deutsche Post
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The
Situation |
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The German Post Office Department manages its
operation through over 6000 buildings containing
16000 floors encompassing over 100 million square
feet of floor space.
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The Problem |
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Managing such a mammoth facility posed serious
challenges to its facility managers. Data was
widely spread across the facilities in hard copy
format (some nearly 75 years old), making it almost
impossible to assimilate statistics for the purpose
of infrastructure maintenance and managerial decision
making. To add to the problem, the Post also rented
/ leased out a portion of its total floor space
to other agencies. To profitably implement its
renting / leasing policy, the Post also required
updated information regarding the lease / rent
status of its property. In a nutshell, the organization
was in no position to assess its potential real
estate related revenue / expenditure or even accurately
inventory its real estate assets and hence was
unable to frame, let alone implement, profit maximization
and asset control strategies.
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The Solution |
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Like every problem, this too had a solution, only
this required a slightly bolder one. And like every
bold solution this too seemed un-implementable to
start with. Cadworld's German
associates approached the German Post in 1996
with a proposal to implement Computer Aided Facility
Management - a concept not too often heard of
during that time. To the Post the concept seemed
ambitious, the cost looked prohibitive, but considering
the potential benefit the management finally approved
the funds and the project started in June 1997.
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The Logistics |
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It became apparent at the very early stage of
project planning that (a) an offshore component
was essential to manage costs within practical
limits and (b) a very strong on-shore presence
was required in order to support the off-shore
production facility. It was decided that Cadworld's
offshore facility would be supported by three
on-shore agencies, each handling a specific operation.
Partner 1 - Direct coordination
with client, including onsite implementation
Partner 2 - Receipt/cataloguing inputs from client
and dispatch to Cadworld's
off-shore production facility
Partner 3 - On-site validation of data produced
by Cadworld
The project logistics was framed
with three prime objectives in mind -
(i) To design a system whereby the
Post can access accurate information through
a click of a button.
(ii) To maintain a very transparent in-process
status record among on-shore project
partners and client.
(iii) And at the same time, making the whole thing
cost effective.
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The Implementation |
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The documents, in the form of hardcopy drawings
and records, were shipped in batches from the German
Post to the office of Cadworld's German associates
where they were scanned, catalogued, indexed and
referenced. Then the documents were shipped to Cadworld's
offshore production facility in India. At
Cadworld the paper drawings were systematically
converted to intelligent vector drawings using
an integrated drawing + database tool named Drawbase
with final data processing in an Unix based tool
named CAD400. Special add-on modules were written
to handle features such as walls, doors, windows
etc. as per German standards along with attached
databases. Each object (wall, door, window, room/space
etc) had multiple database fields attached containing
information such as material, dimensions, date
of installation, manufacturer, last repair of
date, lease status, tenancy details etc., enabling
efficient searching, sorting, querying and report
generation both in graphical and textual format.
Extremely high level of quality
of deliverables was achieved through multi-level
QC checks both in-process and post-process. All
staff underwent periodic training and refresher
courses during the total span of the project.
Key personnel visited the client facilities for
hands-on training and project related discussions.
Initial production commenced
with 20 operators which was progressively ramped-up
to 55 and the overall 150 man-year project, containing
16000 drawings, was completed within 15 months. |
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Benefit |
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The Post now can access and view all necessary
information both graphically and in report format,
leading to better decision making and efficient
management.
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Case Study 2 :: Architectural
CADD support
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The Situation |
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AAA Inc.( name withheld to protect the privacy
of the client ), a California based Architectural
firm, specializes in design of schools and public
facilities. The volume of projects received by
the organization, and hence its workload, fluctuates
widely from time to time.
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The Problem |
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Due to the widely fluctuating workload, the top
management faced a significant problem with staffing.
At any point of time the organization stood the
risk of being either under staffed or over staffed
- the former resulting in risk of missing client
deadlines and high overtime payment while the
later leading to idle hours, both resulting in
losses, either explicit or implicit. |
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The Solution |
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The area mainly affected due to fluctuating workload
was identified to be the CAD department which
was responsible for production of drawings throughout
the lifecycle of each project, starting from conceptual
design to preparation of construction documents.
To tackle this issue the organization decided
to off-load a major portion of the work done
by this department, retaining only a skeleton
staff to handle some very critical areas which
had to be done in-house.
The organization approached a number of off-shore
companies all of whom was assessed in terms
of capabilities through RFI and a sample project.
Cadworld came out to be the most capable and
was finally selected.
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The Logistics And The Implementation |
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An arrangement was reached whereby Cadworld shall
virtually act as AAA's drafting department. Work
is uploaded to Cadworld's FTP site as and when
required by AAA along with intimation by mail.
On execution of the job, it is uploaded back to
FTP site by Cadworld for AAA to download.
All queries are sorted out over email or telephone
depending on nature of query and urgency.
In order to ensure quality and
quick turn-around, a dedicated team of operators
are maintained who are familiar with AAA's in-house
conventions and practices. |
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Benefit |
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AAA Inc. now maintains a much leaner and effective
structure without having to compromise on quality
and schedule. Apart from that the organization has
been able to cut down infrastructure costs on account
of reduced hardware, software and other accessories. |
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