Project:
Company Overview
Constantly optimising workflows throughout the entire design and production cycle of projects is a crucial aspect for success for architectural practice Hawkins\Brown, which currently employs over 250 architects, located in 4 offices across the UK and the United States, and caters towards a wide range of sectors, including education, workplace, residential, infrastructure, civic, culture and healthcare.
Project delivery manager Erik Dunn explains how the practice manages to keep improving and streamlining processes, even on large projects, and how utilising project information management with Newforma Project Center proves to be a key element in their ongoing optimisation and digitalisation efforts.
Why Newforma Project Center
Assistance Throughout The Entire Project Lifecycle
Dunn and his team’s main role is to ensure that project teams are being supported throughout the entire lifecycle of a project. From the onset of a project via the design process through to final delivery and archiving, they do the legwork and take care of administrative burdens, so that architectural teams are being able to focus on important design tasks. Constant monitoring of project health and thinking of possible solutions for challenges before they arise has proven to be a solid foundation for increasing efficiency while at the same time protecting the whole business
Project Center As A Major Factor For Success
One of the key elements of Hawkins\Brown’s project delivery success is the use of Newforma Project Center throughout the practice. The project information management solution works as a single source of truth for all things project related and makes it easy for users to quickly find, access, view, manage and share important files wherever they reside, saving hundreds of hours each month. Additionally, users can rely on the system to generate records for the entire project and to keep an automated audit trail for every transaction, internally or externally. This greatly minimises project risks as the practice can prove that their deliverables have been successfully submitted at any point.
Workflows and systems can only unfold their true potential if they are being used properly and to a high degree. According to Dunn it is crucial that everyone knows how and why to follow processes and use software like Newforma Project Center, in order to get everyone on board. To achieve this, it is imperative for him and his team is to always be approachable and to provide necessary educational materials in a central location that can be accessed by everyone at any time.
The fact that Project Center can easily be adapted to existing processes and vice versa makes it especially easy for project teams at Hawkins\Brown to fully embrace the platform and make it a key part of their everyday work lives.
“With the Newforma service team being always approachable to discuss improvements and workflow ideas, we have competent and helpful partners by our side to further optimise the way we work at Hawkins\Brown to increase employee satisfaction, improve designs and create more team efficiency throughout.”, says Dunn