INEIGHT CASE STUDY:
WESTCONNEX
TAKING A CONNECTED APPROACH TO INFRASTRUCTURE MEGAPROJECTS
The concept of a single source of truth, by definition, refers to a central location that provides real-time, trusted information for everyone. For capital projects, such a repository takes the form of a project management system providing teams with access to current drawings, documents, correspondence, etc., ideally on a secure, cloud-based platform, where team members can connect with each other, as well. These systems significantly reduce project risk with document tracking, making it easy to share the most current information between teams, including a complete history of who has downloaded, viewed or revised project files and any related communications for that specific item. Perhaps most important, with a single source of truth in place, all project stakeholders are working off the most current project information.
The need for a central solution becomes especially imperative when designing, executing and operating megaprojects such as WestConnex. Joseph Lopez is Manager of Information and Records for Transurban. “We needed to ensure that our project stakeholders had a single source of truth for all project engineering documents and data. They needed to have the latest information at the right time and for the right purpose,” says Lopez. “If we were to deliver such a project without any form of accountability, it would exponentially increase our costs. We could not afford to have anything less than immediate access to data with full transparency and accountability.”
Transurban already had experience managing documents and correspondence through its corporate records management system. However, like many capital project owners have encountered, these organizational systems are not built to manage the complex processes of building and managing a construction asset.
“If we were to deliver such a project without any form of accountability, it would exponentially increase our costs. We could not afford to have anything less than immediate access to data with full transparency and accountability.”
-Joseph Lopez, Manager of Information and Records, Transurban
Jenny Jong, a senior document controller responsible for the M4-M5 Link stage of WestConnex, described some of the challenges she faced when relying on the previous information management system. “It was very difficult to find general correspondence, notices and documentation on previous systems,” Jong recalls. “It wasn’t very accessible for all stakeholders and was quite limiting. Project teams were relying on document controllers like myself to download documents and send attachments via email to each individual, which inherently increased our exposure to risk.”
Jong also referenced the communication silos that exist without a single source of truth. “Before InEight Document, every contractual notice or general correspondence between the owner and contractor would have to pass through project administrators, and it was extremely time consuming and inefficient to pass communications back and forth,” says Jong. “With such a large amount of correspondence being generated daily, it would be very difficult to manage other responsibilities without InEight Document. We would need roughly ten document controllers, as opposed to two currently, just to manage project correspondence items.”
By implementing InEight Document as that single source of truth, not only is Transurban able to eliminate communication silos, it is also able to mitigate project risk with a complete, searchable view of everything that’s ever happened on the WestConnex project. All project stakeholders, with proper permissions, can immediately access project information and records they need to complete work. With InEight Document in place, document revisions are current, inter-team communication is captured and reports and dashboards are leveraged to keep track of project issues and present progress updates to stakeholders.
“We would need roughly ten document controllers, as opposed to two currently, just to manage project correspondence items.”
-Jenny Jong, Senior Document Controller, WestConnex