Solution Sets come together in an integrated programme controls solution with daa
With the launch this month of a Unifier-based NEC4 Contract Management solution, the final piece of the puzzle is now in place in a transformative new integrated programme controls approach designed and implemented by RPC at daa (Dublin Airport).
DAA had been using Primavera P6 for planning and scheduling for some time, so they were already familiar with Oracle’s project controls capabilities. They first approached RPC for a cost management solution, which was to be held within Unifier, but as this rolled out into the business, the wider opportunities offered by Unifier and the potential benefits that could follow became clear.
Modular approach allows agile development and delivery
Working incrementally and building module-by-module, RPC developed an earned value management capability and a fund management solution, too, to complement the original cost management processes. Always in the client’s mind was the wish for a contract management piece to complete the set and it is this final, newly developed Unifier NEC4 solution that has now gone live.
Alan Duffy, Head of Programme Controls at daa was one of the main driving forces within the client in pushing the limits of possibility with Unifier and working with RPC to develop the NEC4 solution that is key to the fully rounded solution now deployed. “From the outset,” he says, “RPC took the time to understand not only daa’s current requirements but the vision we had for our project controls team. The value the cost management system delivered opened the teams eyes to the transformative benefits further system investment could deliver.”
Overall, the new solution utilises a number of RPC’s Unifier-based solution sets and delivers:
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Project controls and governance
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Project Cost and Schedule Management with Enterprise Cost Management analysis and reporting
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Integrated NEC4 Contract and Contract Financial Management
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Integrated Schedule Management
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Integrated Earned Value Management
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Integrated Cost, Earned Value and Contract financials at the project level
Data integration: confident decisions
Cost Controls were where it all started, and this new system will give everyone involved greater budget control across all levels of the portfolio than ever before, with a centralised repository of cost information across all live projects, all held in a standardised manner and delivering all the dashboards and reporting required to keep on top of data at a project, programme and portfolio level.
All cost data will be integrated with P6 data, Earned Value data and Contracts data and mapped in line with governance process, helping DAA to comply with their regulatory reporting requirements. Allowing standardised change controls to be applied across all projects and programmes makes it easy to generate usable benchmark information across all the different cost centres and using Unifier to bring together all these processes drives an efficient approvals process for all change controls, improving decision making in the business by enabling on-demand report generation.
Scheduling Manager, Olukayode Oni, was part of the team working on the development of integration processes for data sources. “Working with RPC on the deployment of the Earned Value Management module in Unifier was a thoroughly satisfying experience. The team involved were very knowledgeable SMEs with track record of deploying bespoke solutions for various organisations. The team brought this experience and knowledge to bear whilst working with daa to design and deploy bespoke solutions that met our requirements.”
With the implementation of the Earned Value Module in Unifier, schedule data can be integrated from Primavera P6 and cost data from Primavera Unifier, giving real-time performance data for the delivery team and a solid basis for making business decisions. We call this the single source of truth and it represents the end of reviewing cost and schedule data in silos. Before this project, programme control transactions were being made using multiple records, in multiple spreadsheets, all manually updated and with the risk of the same record being distributed potentially with different data.
With the increase in activity and complexity driven by major expansion projects at both Dublin and Cork Airports, this system could not efficiently or effectively be scaled up to meet the needs of the programme. Now, 95% of the data required for earned value analysis in the Unifier EVM module comes straight from P6, without the need for manual data transfer, external data manipulation and all the associated risks of human error or un-synced data that come with that.
Better controls for governance and compliance
Sound governance, controls and auditability are critical, and with Unifier and RPC’s integrated solution, it’s now possible to demonstrate traceability of both changes and records themselves, and guarantee auditability of all data at all levels. With Unifier, DAA can now manage all regulatory funding sources in one place and track consumption at all levels, and also create roll-ups of all costs within the project and across the infrastructure department, supporting governance requirements, planning and regulation.
“Working with the RPC team has allowed us to get the best out of the Unifier implementation,” reflects IT Project Manager, Rachael Marsh. “The regular challenge from Dave Hurren of ‘Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should’ ensured we looked to simplify options and kept us from over complicating the solution.”
As part of this new integrated solution, we created a suite of simple and effective dashboards in P6 to make it simple to get an enterprise level review of projects and programmes. The management of programme and portfolio scheduling requirements has been streamlined, together with access to the OBS for multiple users, integration of data with Unifier via the Primavera Gateway and customisation of reports to stakeholders.
In fact, the implementation of Unifier has delivered the capability for programme and portfolio wide reporting with a powerful drill-down capability. This gives DAA the ability to deliver cost, schedule and change status for each project on a page and to implement an automated data management and reporting solution that leverages the Unifier and P6 integration we have deployed.
NEC4 Contract Management: last card for the full house
The final piece, a new Unifier-based contract management tool, makes managing the requirements of NEC4 contracts far simpler and – crucially from a user’s point of view – more integrated and automated than before. The overall result is a multi-functioning project controls system, all deployed in the Oracle Primavera product suite and integrated with the client’s own ERP toolset to deliver unrivalled best-practice processes for lifecycle project controls.
“Working with RPC has been a very positive experience,” says Gary McGrane, Programme Controls System Lead at daa. “The technical skills and the ability of the consultants to understand our requirements during early design workshops were key to our success later on.The solutions provided were effective and built in a modular manner enabling us to amend and add further configuration as our needs developed. This meant that throughout the implementation, RPC was able to develop our internal capability to manage and grow Unifier with limited support. All of these factors together have greatly expanded the possibilities for Unifier at daa.”
