Spescom Software Inc, the US subsidiary of Spescom Ltd, today announced that the Watford and Bletchley Alliance (WBA) has chosen Spescom Software's eB solution to manage its project documentation.
WBA, a consortium formed by Balfour Beatty Rail Projects Ltd, Westinghouse Rail Systems Ltd and Railtrack, is a part of the UK rail industry's multibillion-dollar West Coast Route Modernisation Programme.
The document and configuration management capabilities of the eB solution will provide the WBA with improved management and control of the abundant documentation generated by its rail systems upgrade, which entails the renewal of 57 miles of track and associated assets.
Among eB's many advantages are that it allows fast and easy access to documentation, ensures safer operations by identifying each change to a single document in all other related documents, and helps contractors comply with safety regulations. The eB system will be utilised by all project staff working at the WBA's head office in Milton Keynes, as well as other work sites at Ledburn, Balfour Beatty in Derby and Kirby and Westinghouse in Birmingham.
Ray Graveling, Configuration Manager of WBA, commented: "After my previous involvement with a major track renewal project for the Euston Willesden upgrade, I knew it was essential to choose an experienced leader like Spescom who has worked with rail sector companies in both the US and the UK. At the end of the Euston Willesden project, the paper documents associated with Health and Safety filled three containers, all of which had to be transferred to nearly 50 CDs. Clearly, this was not the most convenient or user-friendly method of capturing the information. Spescom Software's eB solution delivers substantial improvements to this process and other aspects of document provision and control.
"Spescom's eB solution goes above and beyond traditional document management. While document management allows for faster and easier access to documents, it also allows simultaneous viewing by a number of people. Spescom's eB solution has the additional benefit of identifying the knock-on effects of change, so we can be absolutely certain that a change to any single document is reflected in all associated documents. This is very important for a wide range of reasons - safety first and foremost, but also helping us to complete projects on time, saving on costly rework and ensuring that the asset information we deliver to Railtrack is accurate."
Commenting on the importance of rigorous document control to rail industry contractors, Carl Mostert, Spescom Software CEO, added: "Railtrack updates the standards that must be met by contractors renewing or maintaining tracks and trackside equipment, every two months, as a matter of course. A failure to comply with the mandatory requirements in these documents will result in withdrawal of a Contractor's Safety Case. Spescom Software's eB solutions are very effective in helping contractors ensure that they do achieve compliance."
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Spescom is a multi-national technology innovator with direct operations in the US, UK and SA.
The group is publicly listed on the JSE Securities Exchange SA (Spescom Ltd), and on the Nasdaq OTCBB : ALTS.OB (Spescom Software Inc).
Spescom addresses the information and communications technology market providing both products and solutions to connect to the network economy, as well as enterprise software to manage information and knowledge.
Specifically, Spescom provides solutions in the areas of access network; enterprise information management; multimedia transaction recording; broadcast; customer contact centres; and test and measurement.
Spescom markets its products worldwide through appointed partners and distributors under the eB brand for its enterprise software, and the DataVoice brand for its multimedia transaction recording solutions.
Spescom's global customer base consists of multi-national organisations including leading enterprises in the utilities, telecommunications, transportation, financial, banking and insurance sectors.
Worldwide, customers include Siemens, British Telecoms, Network Rail (formerly Railtrack), Lloyds of London, Barclays Bank, Abbey National Bank, WH Smith, Caterpillar, Bechtel, AmerenUE, Entergy, Bombardier, Ocean Energy, Sempra Energy, Telkom, SABC, Old Mutual, Eskom, Transnet, First National Bank.
For more information on Spescom, please visit www.spescomsoftware.com and www.spescom.com.
Spescom eB
eB is a registered trademark of Spescom Software Inc. eB comprises an extensive set of software components that together form the foundation for an extremely flexible and powerful information management platform. eB's components include: document management; requirements management; records management; item management; change management; configuration management and workflow components. These components are tightly integrated with CAD, GIS, office and email applications to capture and view information. The full functionality of eB is available via a set of APIs that enable the rapid definition and deployment of customer specific solutions and integration with other line-of-business applications including ERP, CRM, SCM, maintenance management and project management products.
Spescom Software Inc
Spescom Software (OTCBB: ALTS) delivers enterprise e-business solutions that provide rapid access to accurate information in context to assets, products and processes, resulting in improved customer satisfaction, productivity and safety. It achieves this through a tightly integrated suite of document, configuration and records management technologies that not only allows it to capture and securely store information, but also organises and structures this information to place it in context.