Synopsis
- Client faced challenging project management with a data-centric system that allowed for uncoordinated inputs.
- Construction coordinators didn’t receive notifications for progression triggers and relied on spreadsheets and custom-built access databases for tracking.
- The lack of integration among systems forced reliance on emails and comments to monitor job progress.
- BP3 mapped the data-driven milestones to a standard process within a process engine.
- We identified the necessary systems for task completion, and then transformed these steps and milestones into task events.
- Our solution significantly cut down on overheads, training duration, and the volume of support tickets.
Article
The challenge lay in managing construction projects through a data-centric system, allowing multiple users and systems to input data at any time. Progression to subsequent phases, such as business or funding approval, was triggered by data changes, yet construction coordinators, tasked with overseeing dozens or even hundreds of jobs at the same time, didn’t receive notifications. They relied on spreadsheets and custom-built access databases for tracking. Furthermore, the construction process was hampered by the lack of integration among systems, forcing reliance on emails and comments to monitor job progress.
To address these challenges, we mapped the data-driven milestones to a standard process within the Camunda process engine, accounting for the involvement of other systems and departmental contributions. Through user interviews, we gained insights into the timing and reasons behind specific communication events and identified the necessary systems for task completion. The process model in Camunda would then dictate when a user should get a task, who should get it, and what screen they would need to see. This then is presented to the user via BP3’s Brazos Task Manager, ensuring that the appropriate user received timely notifications and was directed to the correct location to advance the process.
Following the implementation, the system rapidly identified thousands of previously stalled jobs due to unrecognized issues, enabling immediate progression by clearly defining the next steps. This new framework prevented similar delays for new jobs by directly assigning tasks to users, eliminating the need for them to independently determine necessary actions. The solution significantly cut down on overheads, training duration, and the volume of support tickets querying next steps or reasons for job delays. As the process incorporated user feedback and became more refined, offering greater transparency into job statuses and common issues, user adoption steadily grew.