Petroglyph Projects Provides Project Controls Support: Another Pipeline Project Success Story
A large North American pipeline owner company with over 7,000 employees wanted to improve their project outcomes, so they turned to Petroglyph Project’s proven expertise in project controls support.
The problem:
The owner’s current tool, P6 (Primavera) lacked the specialized linear project management features required to provide total transparency into the project’s data to manage the project effectively .
The project team was constrained by non-intuitive multi page reports that were lacking both the specific details on project progress, as well as an easy to obtain and visually accurate macro-overview of the project.
The project controls recommendation:
The team at Petroglyph Projects analyzed the needs of the project controls team, and recommended TILOS Time Location Software due to it’s proven excellence in improving linear infrastructure project outcomes.
TILOS’ linear project specific functionality was the missing piece that would enable the owner’s team to access, proactively plan, adjust, optimize and report on the project’s progress.
The stakeholders at this pipeline owner company were impressed with the track record TILOS has in improving project outcomes and approved the provisioning of multiple software licences.
The project controls solution:
Petroglyph Projects provided complete end to end pipeline project controls support.
Once the TILOS licences were provisioned, the team at Petroglyph Projects was ready for implementation with TILOS training for the project team onsite at their offices in Houston, TX.
Both two day basic and two day advanced TILOS training courses and their associated PDU’s were delivered to the TILOS licence holders on the project team.
The TILOS customized training was the perfect way to help the project team begin to import data and implement TILOS renowned functionality on a specific project.
Onsite project controls and implementation support:
The team at Petroglyph Projects then transitioned from TILOS software provisioning and training into providing specific project controls and implementation support. Providing on site software technical support and assistance with using TILOS in the day-to-day of project scheduling, changes, reporting and troubleshooting. In addition to in the office support, the the team also meets with the field controllers regularly to help ensure seamless communication of project data across the organization.”
“They see the value in the tool and feel comfortable having me here to support them in using this tool” says Daniel Cadena, of Petroglyph Projects who has been onsite with the pipeline owner company for the past 9 months.
“TILOS adds a lot of value. It’s easier for the team to show the status of the project construction to all stakeholders. Now they have 7-8 advanced users and they now have the ability to perform detailed project analysis, which they couldn’t do before.”
What this pipeline owner project team has to say about Petroglyph Projects software provisioning, training, implementation and project support services:
“I was initially skeptical, having been a Primavera user for a couple of decades. I didn’t see any reason to use anything different. I’d heard about March Charts. The managers were asking for them. I became persuaded based on what I saw presented by Petroglyph.
We’re using it in the most major project in the company and the benefits it provides are immeasurable. I am so impressed.
It’s difficult to get planning managers to use software tools, but their level of engagement with this tool is the hottest I’ve seen.
When we made the decision to implement TILOS we were just 60 days out from construction and I just didn’t know how we were going to pull this off. I don’t know how we would have implemented TILOS without Daniel and Petroglyph. Generally a timeline like that is insurmountable even using a tool we’re familiar with.
To anyone doing any kind of location based project, the tool and the team at Petroglyph is a must have.”
– L. Davis, Lead Planner
Petroglyph Projects provides complete end to end project support for private and public project infrastructure implementation organizations that seek to improve their project outcomes.
Still creating pipeline project estimates in Excel? You’re going to want to know about this
The functionality of an excel workbook is indisputable.
For engineers and project planners working on complex pipeline project estimates, excel is especially appealing.
Providing virtually unlimited options for calculations to cover every possible aspect of the pipeline project, and none of the limitations of traditional project software, there’s no wonder excel workbooks provide the foundational calculations for some of the most astoundingly complex pipeline projects in history.
The unfettered ability to create and customize extensive calculations is one of the reasons generic estimating software solutions have a historically low adoption rate in the pipeline estimating field. Providing more limitations than helpful resources, there’s been no incentive to adopt a third party solution.
There are however, a few challenges that can occur with the traditional, workbook generated approach to pipeline project estimates.
The first is the efficiency of updating the estimate when one or more inputs, like time or distance is adjusted. Usually, this means a labour intensive manual process of updating each tab, row, calculation and column.
Unfortunately, over the course of a project estimate being developed, these iterations can be plentiful, and each time increase the odds of human error.
Another circumstance that makes the workbook approach less than ideal is when it comes time for knowledge transfer. Communicating the intricacies of a multi tab workbook to a team member new to the project can be resource intensive and may not follow the same logic or approach as the on-boarding team members.
Lastly, generating consistent results using this method can also be problematic. Ever solution oriented, the estimating team often iterates their formulas, improving as they go.
This produces a variation in cost and schedule estimates that can’t always be reproduced by other team members, or within a portfolio of multiple projects where measuring results against a baseline is a core business objective.
These issues with workbooks haven’t outweighed their continuing utility, and so far, the approach has been working.
Over the past 10 years, one project estimating professional has been building a master pipeline construction project estimating workbook, eventually taking the form of a completely custom built pipeline estimating and conceptual scheduling software.
Packed with features like automation of resource allocation, and a dual pronged approach to risk assessment, the final product is an undeniably impressive product that provides outstanding results for it’s users.
Mitigating the troublesome issues present with the workbook approach, yet allowing for the flexibility to import and export to and from excel, APEX (Advanced Pipeline Estimating and eXecution Software) has earned rave reviews from it’s user base over the last decade of widespread use.
APEX may just provide the combination of flexibility, robust calculations, pipeline specific & time saving functionality and repeatable reliable calculations to convert even the most dedicated excel spreadsheet aficionado.
Learn why more pipeline estimating professionals are adopting APEX than ever before.
Leadership Team Meets In Henderson, Nevada For Yearly Strategy Session
Each year the Petroglyph leadership team travels from their individual locations across the Americas to meet at the head office. Over the period of several days, the group discusses industry news, marketplace developments and the rollout of strategic initiatives to better serve their client base.
The first 9 months of 2018 has been newsworthy, with several important developments:
- Petroglyph opened their US subsidiary in Henderson, Nevada, enabling the team to faster serve their American clients.
- Petroglyph began Canadian distribution of Powerproject by Elecosoft – Europe’s leading construction management and BIM3D and 4D software.
- Petroglyph began worldwide distribution of APEX Advanced Pipeline Estimating software.
Beyond software provisioning and support, the team has been busy training and providing project controls support services to their valued clients throughout the Americas.
The leadership team is looking forward to a continued bright future providing complete end to end project controls services for their client base, and will be announcing several more updates in the coming months.
The leadership team enjoying a nice meal.
The Petroglyph Management Team
Now presenting APEX: Advanced Pipeline Estimating & eXecution Planning Software
APEX. THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Petroglyph Project Analytics, in partnership with TriGem Technology Ltd. is pleased to present APEX , the only pipeline industry specific software that provides integrated cost and schedule estimating functions.
Shown to deliver double the output of other tools in half the time, there’s a reason APEX has been used on major pipeline projects over the last 10 years.
“We highly recommend APEX pipeline estimating system.”
Dave Hermanson, President, Pipestone Projects Inc.
“APEX was used to develop two detailed budget estimates that formed the cost/schedule basis for our pipeline project. We chose the software because of its strong reputation for excellence and in part because system and estimating support was available. Definitely satisfied with the results.”
Kevin George, P.Eng.Project Manager IPL
Petroglyph Project Analytics is pleased to invite you to Drive Productivity. RSVP to the next live demo and experience APEX 2.1 software, available now.
Register for the live demo now and learn:
- How APEX can reduce or eliminate typical data integrity issues found through the creation of pipeline project estimates.”
- How APEX software’s unique integrated cost and scheduling functions can reduce the time spent creating estimates and their supporting conceptual schedules.
- How easy it is to export the estimate to excel instead of PDF -allowing for virtually unlimited data applications, imports and customization.
- Find out why APEX is the only pipeline-specific estimating tool and is unlike any other commercially available estimating packages.
- Why APEX robust and comprehensive functionality has been utilized on major pipeline projects over the past decade.