INEIGHT CASE STUDY:
AECOM
CONTROLS SUCCESS IN ACTION: THE MTA
The Program Controls Engine has proved its value in a five-year program to improve subway performance in New York City, where AECOM is providing project and construction management services. They joined the project three months in alongside three existing contractors, which presented some challenges.
“We needed to provide actionable insights, ensure goal alignment and integration, maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the work, and promote visibility to drive transparency—but first we had to get up-to-speed on the project itself,” says Camson. “We needed the right tools in place if we wanted to deliver the targeted benefits of the program.”
Following a discovery phase, AECOM built a roadmap for the solution elements it would deploy and determined how the Program Controls Engine would fit architecturally with the existing systems. The InEight team was there to help, but it can be difficult to wean people off spreadsheets.
“We held a lot of stakeholder meetings to get their alignment and demonstrate the power of an integrated solution,” says Camson. “Budgets, schedules, contracts, and risk were the priority-one elements at the heart of our Programs Control Engine deployment.”“When you’re aligning cost and schedule at the contract level, you need a huge amount of detail,” says Camson. “But when you move to the project and program levels, you have to convey the top-level message without the unnecessary information.”
“We joined the project three months in and needed to get up-to-speed fast. InEight put the right tools in place to help us deliver the targeted benefits of the program.”
-Aidhean Camson, VP, Global Program Controls AECOM
The program team built an integrated schedule with nearly 3,000 line items
Three contractors had over 30,000 activities in combined contract schedules
IDENTIFYING RISKS, IMPACTS, AND MITIGATIONS
“On the schedule side of things, we had three contractors with over 30,000 activities in the combined contract schedules,” says Camson. “The program team built an integrated schedule with nearly 3,000 line items that was detailed enough to show the interdependencies between partners, critical paths, and necessary handoffs.”
Based on the integrated schedule, AECOM ran Monte Carlo analyses to help identify the most significant risks, their potential impacts on the schedule, and possible mitigations.
“When you’re aligning cost and schedule at the contract level, you need a huge amount of detail,” says Camson. “But when you move to the project and program levels, you have to convey the top-level message without unnecessary information. With the Program Controls Engine, we can easily provide both.”