South African group BuildSmart has added the SmartProject Web-based collaboration tool to its locally developed suite of products.
Developed in the US, SmartProject provides a common electronic platform for all members of a construction or property development team to share project information of all types, says BuildSmart project leader James Morgan.
"These tools are reducing administration costs, speeding project completion and reducing the number of costly disputes, while providing a complete audit trail," he explains.
"In the US, where broadband access is in wider use than SA, roughly a third of major projects are now running on this kind of platform, and the largest share of these projects are running on Constructware, the BuildSmart partner in SmartProject."
Morgan argues that Web-base collaboration is a phenomenon that is fast changing the way in which all business is being done, as it allows professionals in remote locations to work as a single team.
Application of skills
"Web-based collaboration allows for easier application of skills, and is a growing opportunity for South African professionals to deliver their services. Soon this will be a common application in all business sectors, not only construction."
BuildSmart, says Morgan, is the first South African suite of construction software products designed with full exploitation of the Internet in mind.
"This is a new generation of software that, for the first time, makes it possible for estimating, project and enterprise accounting, procurement and payroll all to be done online, irrespective of location, and the processed information shared in real-time."
BuildSmart has four "pilot" clients who have all the systems in place and are testing local modifications of the SmartProject.
"I think it is significant that Constructware have chosen SA as the first market in which to launch their product outside North America," Morgan states. He adds that the country`s active construction market made this the ideal region for implementation.
Contractual elements
Constructware also sees SA as "an excellent example of the British development world".
In SA, the key contractual elements of a construction project are based on the bill of quantities, which is not the case in the US. This is more suited to the SmartProject tool.
Morgan says SA`s 2010 World Cup bid also played a pivotal role in making this the ideal market for implementing the SmartProject.
"SA has a skills shortage and the product can act as a force multiplier, speeding delivery and raising productivity."
However, the country`s lack of broadband is seen as slowing the deployment of world-class capabilities, making for expensive and uneven availability of such products. Morgan also claims that SA`s broadband shortage has slowed the cultural shift of businesses being always online.
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