NEWS

Oracle's Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Version 8.0, subject of much anticipation at the recent on-line Oracle EPPM Summit, has now been made available for purchase. P6 EPPM v8.0 is distinguished by being the first totally Web-based release of P6, including all the functionality of v7.0, plus Administration functions and a host of new features.

For more details visit http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/173778 and http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/primavera/primavera-p6-v8-release-174720.html.

ForgeTrack will be pleased to assist you with further information on the P6 Version 8.0 product – email sales@forgetrack.co.uk or call 01992 500900.

Background of Nomitech

Nomitech was founded in 2005 and since then it has been focusing on the development of a powerful estimating system that stands out in the market. It blends talented people of various ages, from various sectors such as Software Developers, AEC and EPC project managers, planners and contractors with many years of experience in their field. It continuously interacts with Universities and this is why it delivers highly innovative features that will become the standards for years to come. Nomitech's system has been successfully applied in some major European PPP projects and in Oil and Gas projects in the Middle East.

Today Nomitech maintains a specialised network of resellers throughout the world, is currently represented in 15 Countries and is rapidly expanding its business.

CostOS Introduction to UK

The kick-off presentation of CostOS 3.6 was by ForgeTrack Ltd and Nomitech, at Oracle’s offices in Moorgate, London, on 10th June 2010.

Topics covered were:

• Cost Estimating with Centralised Relational Resource Cost Databases
• Online Cost Databases with Emphasis on the Spon's Database for the UK construction industry and Richardson's Database for the Oil and Gas sector
• Synchronisation with Oracle's Primavera P6
• Integration with the On-Screen Takeoff (2D) system and quantity takeoff from 3D+ BIM (Building Information Models)
• Embedded BIM technology in Cost Estimating, "Estimate what you see" method and the latest advancements in the EPC and AEC industries

New Standards in Cost Estimating

Current Situation

Things have progressed to a great extent since Microsoft Excel was the absolute solution for Cost Estimating. Even if Excel can indeed be used for this purpose (or even for planning !) this is not the proper way to move forward. The major problems that companies face today with the use of Excel spreadsheets are:

• 1. It is very time consuming, and sometimes impossible, to find historical data
• 2. Estimators need to undertake repetitive work for tasks such as crew composition, productivity calculation etc
• 3. They cannot share cost data with colleagues.. What if somebody leaves the company?
• 4. Planners need to undertake repetitive work to build the project schedule/programme
• 5. Estimators can overlook cells when creating estimate totals
• 6. If the quantity takeoff changes the estimators need to manually input new data

The above problems are caused because Excel is not a database, and even if someone tries to apply it as such there are strict limitations. Although Excel is currently the main product for cost estimating, various Cost Estimating software packages exist today, most of which are developed in the US. The problem with packages developed specifically for the US is that they are based on Line Items instead of calculating costs based on the required resources. This fact causes serious problems when trying to synchronise the estimate with the project programme, and also when trying to work with multiple currencies, or bidding in countries outside the US. It is impossible to see the effect of delays or extended durations on the project total cost if the activities are not resource loaded.

Relational Resource Databases for Cost Estimating

Nomitech's CostOS uses relational resource cost databases to store historical data. The idea of such databases is fairly simple and can be summed up in one paragraph as below:

“The Cost of all of our activities (usually described as BOQ Items), depends on the Cost of the Resources that we use. The resources are categorised as follows:

• • Material
• • Labour
• • Equipment
• • Subcontractor
• • Consumables

There is always a relation between resources and cost and this relation is captured in a Relational Resource Cost Database”

By maintaining such a database, and making use of the powerful search engine of CostOS, estimators can very quickly find priced items, and amend them according to their project's needs. Different levels of users have access to different parts of the database and cost information is shared instantly.

Third Parties Providing Cost Information and how it can be used to get Activity Durations

There are several organisations today, whose major task is to develop and provide Cost Databases. These databases are very useful for reference and they can be used as a basis for building a company's own database. Some of these Cost Databases, and specifically the Reeds (RS Means) Database and the Richardson also provide productivities in addition to the resources required to calculate the Cost.

Nomitech realised the importance of this information and this is why it recreated these databases and applied them as relational resource databases, online. The fact that they are provided online is very important, because users do not have to worry whether their cost data is up to date. Most important though, is that with a click of a button, estimates that were created in the past can be updated instantly with the new resource rates. The fact that these databases are also resource-related has the advantage that they can be applied internationally. Estimators can amend the productivities, the salaries, the material prices, the currencies and so on and apply them in their own country and project location. Moreover the amendments they make on the BOQ items provided by the online databases, are stored on their local database. What Nomitech has experienced from companies that use the software is that within one or two years, they no longer need to subscribe to the online databases as they have built very powerful knowledge-bases with their own cost data for projects they have worked on.

CostOS uses two methods for calculating the cost:

• 1. The productivity method
• 2. The man-hour / total units method

The online databases make use of the productivity method. Thus the following equation:

Activity Duration (hrs) = Budgeted Units / Productivity (Units / hr)

...is applied to calculate the Activity durations when exporting to scheduling systems like Primavera P6, MS Project, ASTA Power Project etc

Integrating Cost Estimating with Planning

Although it may sound obscure, the vast majority of Planners rarely co-operate with the estimators in depth. In most cases the estimator hands over his estimate to the Planner, who in turn has to create the project programme starting from scratch or from a list of BOQ Items (best case scenario). Once finished with the estimate, almost no one checks whether there are enough resources and/or budget to finish the project on the specified milestones. Moreover, extended durations of the activities, due to various site conditions, might mean decreased productivities and thus increased cost. To calculate the new cost, planners must create a resource-loaded programme, and it is well known that this takes tremendous amount of time and effort, especially for large projects.

Some companies on the other hand start from the schedule first, they define the durations and the constraints and then they give it to the estimator to calculate the cost. Once the budget is calculated by the estimator, it is very difficult to make changes either on the schedule or on the estimate and most of the time planners and estimators get very frustrated by each other's changes.

After examining the above facts, Nomitech implemented a very important feature that synchronises the estimate with the project schedule. The estimate can be exported as a resource-loaded list of activities in Primavera, with Durations, WBS codes and budgeted units ready for the planners to start putting in the logic - or the opposite: a Primavera Project can be imported in CostOS and the estimators can start working from there. Whichever method has been used, from there on the estimate and schedule are in line with each other. With one click, changes that are made in the schedule are reflected in the estimate and vice versa.

In addition due to CostOS's ability to synchronise with On-Screen Takeoff as well, changes made in the drawings and thus in the quantities can be then synchronised with the estimate, and the planners can see the effect on their activity durations, at the click of a button.

BIM Estimating and 3D Cost Visualiser

Nomitech recently implemented the 3D takeoff tool. This allows users that have a 3D model of their project to perform Estimating directly on the model, the so-called: “Estimate what you see method”

3D graphics files including BIM (Business Information Modelling) files may be used for interactive take-off of quantities from even the most complex designs, and CostOS enables any-angle viewing, zooming and entry of models, making take-off a very rapid yet precise process

Using the 3D model, estimates can be finished in just minutes rather than days. A detailed estimate of an office building (see the attached screenshot) can be finished in 45min (actual experiment). Mechanical systems can be automatically recognised by CostOS and with just two clicks the estimators can get quantities of pipes, fittings, etc. Such measurements usually require many hours of manual effort, and there is always the risk of manual mistakes.

Despite the advanced productivity of using the 3D model for estimating, the true value of this method lies in the end product. That is a cost-loaded 3D model, which can be used for true value engineering and even for marketing purposes. The user can click on any element on the 3D model and see the cost associated with it as well as the resources, and their cost, required to build it.

Designers, contractors and clients can then work on the 3D model together and optimise the project design or find more cost effective solutions. Finally contractors can apply “an offer layout” on the 3D model, invite their clients to their offices and discuss with them how much the last will have to pay for the different parts of the project.

The momentum towards BIM has recently been accelerated by recent announcements in the UK press that Paul Morrell, the UK Government's chief construction adviser, has indicated that publicly procured building projects will be required to adopt Building Information Modelling or BIM. “The concept will see project teams share the same 3D CAD model to design, build and run the building”, he indicated. Speaking at the Autodesk BIM conference, Morrell said the move follows government research that concludes that BIM offers tangible benefits to the construction industry supply chain, and value for money for the taxpayer.

For more information on Nomitech's estimating product please refer to the Nomitech website: www.nomitech.eu and contact ForgeTrack to arrange a presentation.

News Facts

• Extending the enterprise-wide Project Portfolio Management (PPM) capabilities of Oracle's Primavera product suite, Oracle today announced new releases of Oracle’s Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management and Oracle’s Primavera Contract Management.
• The new Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 7.0 and Primavera Contract Management 13 releases provide significant usability, integration and collaboration enhancements.
• New Web accessibility for Oracle’s Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 7.0 and Contract Management 13 deliver professional project management on the Web, providing access to anyone, anywhere working on a project or program.
• New features in the latest release of Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management help organizations successfully manage and deliver portfolios, programs and projects of any size and complexity by providing role-based functionality needed for each project participant to contribute to project success.
• Usability and version control enhancements added to Oracle’s Primavera Contract Management provide complete project control, enabling organizations to manage document and project changes, mitigate their impact, keep projects on schedule and on budget, and provide visibility into how changes affect the overall project plan.
• The new releases reinforce Oracle’s commitment to delivering a comprehensive suite of enterprise-class PPM products that meet the mission critical requirements of key vertical industries including engineering and construction, public sector, aerospace and defense, oil and gas, utilities and manufacturing.

The Enterprise Reporting Database solution is made of two unique components - the Operations Data Store, a database providing day-to-day operational views, and the Project Star Schema - which gives users the ability to perform advanced business analytics on project data.

Other features include:

• Compatible with third-party reporting tools
• Persists calculated project data for reporting purposes
• Role-based security
• Scheduled data refresh to ensure the most up-to-date project data