When discussing investment in information technology, owners of architecture, engineering and construction firms often cringe. IT spending is up and systems and tools can cost a bundle. WIRELESS LAN Networking without cables can be quick, easy and inexpensive. (Photo by Tom Sawyer for ENR) Once just a blip on company balance sheets, IT spending rose from 3.3 to 4.1% of annual revenue at AEC firms between 1996 and 2000, according to a recent survey by consultant ZweigWhite Inc. (ENR 5/28 p. 21). But some firms are finding they don’t have to break their bank accounts to remain technologically viable and
One Florida specialty contractor has seen firsthand the challenges in making information technology management a corporate priority. But executives say that the gain has been well worth the pain. WIRED IN Speciality contractor's president Dillard (right) reviews project plan. (Photo courtesy of MSI-Encompass) MSI-Encompass, formerly Mechanical Systems Inc., Orlando, began a deliberate effort several years ago to boost its IT savvy. "About eight years ago, our company was basically computer illiterate," says Roger Scherer, a senior project manager. MSI founder and President William M. Dillard, who initiated the IT revamp, says improved technology is helping his company stay competitive. "Typically,
Electronic communication is here to stay, but reliability and cost issues continue to plague jobsite managers when it comes to high-speed or broadband access. Many are still shopping around for the best trade-off in the volatile market, while looking for realistic solutions for their project Website delivery systems. TRAILER TALK More construction sites are being wired for Internet project collaboration.(Photo courtesy of Columbia Construction) Broadband carriers are in demand these days, with more contractors communicating via e-mail and more project Websites moving documents electronically. Keeping project information in an electronic environment allows users to better maintain an independent and easily
The numbers are impressive but not flattering. Three of the industry’s Internet project management and collaboration companies, Bricsnet, Buzzsaw. com and Citadon, together lost almost $200 million last year. By themselves, the companies that merged to create Citadon–Bidcom and Cephren–posted combined revenue in 2000 of $5.6 million and had operating expenses of $125 million, according to a document produced for the merger. That means their operating loss for the year came to $119.4 million. All three companies now are involved in raising more money. No wonder these project management and collaboration companies are using profit as the battle cry for
Technology is converging that promises to sharply reduce construction’s endless printing, scanning, copying and transmitting of paper plans, specifications and documents. (Photo by Tom Sawyer, Illustration by Guy Lawrence for ENR) A whirlwind of advances is making electronic plans increasingly practical and is creating an industry-wide hunger for access to plans online. Technology vendors are vying to become the providers of that service. One source at the Associated General Contractors reports more than 50 Internet plan room companies have been courting AGC at the national and chapter levels to gain access to the market. Among the advancements propelling the issue
Photo courtesy of Satoru Mishima (Nikkei Business Publications Inc.) Japan’s once-proud construction industry is painfully realizing its glory days are gone. Construction was once a pillar of the Japanese economy, accounting for nearly a fifth of GDP and employing nearly 7 million people. But after a decade in which the economy has hovered near zero growth, private sector spending has dropped precipitously. And a new government promises a tougher stance toward the public works spending that has kept a floor under the construction market. INFLATED NEEDS Kansal airport (above) and Honshu-Shikoku bridge met expectations and are in debt.(Photo courtesy of
In the wee hours of the morning, Las Vegas resident Catherine B. Tharin steps out of the role of Super Mom to go online to earn a master’s degree in international construction management. Married with six children, she tries to make time to download assignments before leaving at 4:30 a.m. for her job with Bechtel Group Inc. On the 90-mile bus ride to the U.S. Energy Dept.’s Nevada Test Site where she works as a construction manager, Tharin studies. "What I like best is working on my own time and at my own pace," she says of her master’s degree
Cathleen M. Mahoney, a 21-year-old senior in traffic engineering, planned on going for a master’s degree right after she graduates in June. But to keep her options open, she sent out six resumes in January. With a 3.2 grade-point average and two years of engineering experience as an intern, she received three offers immediately–the lowest for $43,000 annually. "When I started interviewing, I got such an overwhelming response that it seemed best to begin working right away. The economy is so good," she says. So in July for an undisclosed sum, she plans to start as an engineer-in-training at the
Late one night last year, a Kentucky specialty contractor bidding a $2-million guardrail job in Georgia learned that one of its suppliers had dropped a key price. The bids were scheduled to be opened in just a few hours in Atlanta, and the contractor had to act fast. The company president didn't sweat it. He went on the Internet, recalled his bid, changed it and won the work. The Ruth Co., Lexington, was an early user of the country's first—and so far only—Internet-based bid submission system implemented by a state department of transportation. But Georgia's pioneer status won't last long.
Everyone believes Digital Age construction disputes are coming and they think they know what the claims will look like, but such conflicts have yet to burst into the courts in a big way. One of the first to be fully litigated holds some warnings for software users that get into trouble, and offers a shield for technology developers and vendors who claim they need protection from consequential damages relating to use of their products. The Supreme Court of Washington last year told Minneapolis-based building contractor M.A. Mortenson Co. Inc. what it didn't really want to hear after critical estimating
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