Press Room

It's official. Over the past two or three years, rumors have proffered the cessation of sales and/or support of Primavera P3 (Primavera Project Planner) and SureTrak; indeed, there have even been published dates, such as on Oracle's GSA schedule available on the Internet. Each year the rumors prove false or Oracle/Primavera has moved the published date back. This time, it appears to be official -- our sources at Oracle have confirmed Primavera P3 and SureTrak will no longer be sold after December 31, 2010. "Sustaining" support, however, will continue indefinitely for P3 and SureTrak.

What does this mean to you? The obvious choice, as preferred by Oracle, is to move to Oracle Primavera P6 Project Management (now in version 7; version 8 due out this fall). The other choices are to keep using your copy of P3 or SureTrak, as many of you have been doing, switch to another product, or find an occupation that doesn't need scheduling. All kidding aside, there are quite a few of you who will need to stay on the old programs for one reason or other, such as schedule analysis or contract requirements. Finding new bugs is rare, so support is really not an issue. Application usage questions are often happily answered by the user community.

Upgrade Policy

We're still waiting to hear from Oracle what the official upgrade policy is.  In the past, if you had a paid up P3 maintenance contract, which cost approximately $1,000/year, you were entitled to a free upgrade to P6. We understand from one of our sources that the "migration" process allows a 65-75% trade-in credit from P3 to P6, but have not verified this.  

Moving to P6

It's been five years since P6 was introduced (originally P3e/c) and we do hear more frequently of contractors successfully updating. Indeed, the publisher of Construction Project Controls and BIM Report uses P6 on a daily basis and has reported it to be stable and essentially perform all needed functions previously available in P3. For managing multiple projects in an enterprise environment, its original "raison d'etre," it excels, proving to be a major time saver. Its steps feature is a boon for contractors and its enhanced WBS capabilities greatly improve schedule building and reporting.

Steeper Learning Curve

We look back and think P3 was reliable, powerful and easy to use. It probably seems that way since our learning experience evolved over a multi-year period concurrent with Primavera's own evolution, particularly as it transitioned from DOS to Windows. The P6 learning curve is similarly slow, primarily because the transition included the substantial design and development of an enterprise system. Clearly, this was a learning experience for Primavera as well. But it has proven to be worth it.

What's Next

What's next is not so much as important as what's next for you? P6 has turned the corner and can perform your scheduling projects more than adequately. If you are on P3, we recommend you upgrade and just start using the program. It does have some quirks, particularly in the management of baselines and upgrades, demanding more upfront work to build your resource tables, your organizational breakdown structure and your enterprise breakdown structure along with disciplined procedures for maintaining baselines, updates and backups. What's next as far as Oracle Primavera is concerned is a continued effort to fix bugs, add yet-to-be transitioned P3 features and add new user-requested enhancements. Beyond that, Oracle Primavera continues to put substantial effort into development of web-based capabilities. As we become a more mobile workforce, the ability to access our schedules and to provide select views for others on the project team becomes more productive.  

Where to Start -- The Essential P6 Transition Toolkit

CPC/BIM recently announced a unique mixed-media resource collection designed especially for those moving to P6 from Primavera and SureTrak -- The Essential P6 Transition Toolkit. Drawing upon four education and training tools written by construction experts to help you master P6:     

    * 2010 Edition of The P3-to-P6 Transition Guide (for P6 Version 7) by Gordon Aronson (130 pages, 4-color, PDF document for immediate Internet download)    
    * The 2010 Edition of Project Planning and Control Using Primavera P6 by Paul Harris (378 pages, softbound printed copy, includes shipping and handling)    
    * Challenges and Lessons Learned with Primavera's Project Management Software by Sunu Mohan and Anne Marie Tombros (90-minute recorded webinar, includes shipping and handling).  Focuses in-depth on difference in P3 and P6 and how they affect program usage, schedule calculations and schedule analysis.       
    * One-year subscription to the Construction Project Controls & BIM Report e-letter.  Delivered monthly by email and on the Internet, this publication includes dozens of scheduling and Primavera-specific articles written by industry experts. Look up tips and techniques from past issues and keep posted on new Primavera developments that can help you be a better scheduler and get more from your schedule software applications.

This extremely useful toolkit is being offered for a phenomenally low price, over 50% off the individual retail value. (Total retail value is $793. Toolkit price is only $395.00. Order today.)

Future Considerations

There are several views of the future that will affect all of us. The widespread use of smartphones, tablet PCs, Ipads and soon-to-be Ipad copycats will increase the demand for schedule information at our fingertips. 4D scheduling is a proven concept for larger contractors and will start scaling down to the small-to-midsize contractors and subs.  

Picture yourself on a job site with an Ipad. The GPS tells you where you're standing in the BIM model, and you can see what's scheduled to go in that spot over the next few weeks or the rest of the job right there simulated on your Ipad. RFID-tagged materials will update schedules automatically as rough-in and finish work go into place. When field conflicts are encountered that did not get past the BIM clash detection, virtual meetings with the parties involved can be held on the spot using web-conferencing enabled camera-phones and Ipads. Having the schedules on-hand to study the affect of necessary changed sequences or downstream material utilization will help quickly arrive at a consensus decision.  

The future is not that far-fetched, or far away. Scheduling remains the essential planning tool necessary for the proper execution of the project. Whether today's tools will evolve with the industry or if totally new tools need to be developed remains to be seen. Meanwhile, take advantage of those tools available today. Your feedback is invited.

KLH Engineers in Fort Thomas, Ky., has won an Autodesk BIM Experience award for its early adoption of Building Information Modeling for more than 35 new construction and renovation projects representing a total construction value of nearly $400 million.

The Autodesk Award goes to companies and educators internationally that are using innovative design techniques through the company's building information modeling (BIM). BIM is a software-based sustainable design technique that seeks to streamline building processes by more easily linking architects, engineers, construction professionals, facility managers, and owners. The process allows them all to explore the physical and functional characteristics of a building project digitally.

KLH Engineers began using the innovative design program in 2006.

"This is really the future of engineering and design, everything is going this way," said KLH Marketing Manager Cynthia Jackson. "This is 3D designing, and it helps eliminate the errors in the designing process ahead of time, as projects are being designed. It eliminates change orders and speeds up the work process."

KLH, founded in 1955, is a consulting engineering firm offering mechanical, electrical, communication and information technology, lighting design services, commissioning, and energy solutions. The company employs 95, and also has offices in Columbus and Dayton.

KLH works in the healthcare, civic, institutional, retail, education and commercial markets and has completed more than 10,000 projects throughout the Tri-State and nationally. Among its projects were the IT design and renovation of the Otto M. Budig Theater at NKU, the mechanical, electrical and lighting systems for the 500,000 sq. ft. Fifth Third Bank call center in Madisonville, and the mechanical and electrical systems for Newport-on-the-Levee.

One of KLH's current projects using BIM is NKU's College of Informatics.

The company also has recently been noted for its innovative approach to design by Building Design + Construction Magazine, which named KLH to their 2009 Giants 300 list and named them as one of the Top 75 Retail Design Firms in the U.S. The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce named KLH Engineers as one of its Emerging 30 firms in 2009.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: KLH Engineers Marketing Manager Cynthia Jackson

While the current economic conditions are creating a slowdown in the construction industry, it is also creating a need for change. Companies can no longer operate the way they did in the time of economic boom. In many cases, there is an increased need for collaboration, reporting, and accountability through the use of technology, and owners understand how important this is on projects today.

In fact, the most recent survey of owners from FMI Corp., www.fminet.com, Raleigh, N.C., shows some owners are looking to improve team coordination through the use of technology, which will improve collaboration and reduce risk. Specifically, 18% of owners cite team coordination—with technology-enhanced processes—as the area needing greatest improvements.

One example of an owner using technology is the University of Chicago, www.uchicago.edu, Chicago, Ill., which looked for a tool to manage complex plans and projects and integrate business process automation. With technology, the facilities services team can manage budget approvals, contract approvals, payment applications, project issues, RFIs (requests for information), change management, and submittals, among others.

However, while technology is playing an enabling role, the new structured processes will help the facilities services team control costs and respond to project issues faster. This will also help reduce the risk for delays and cost overruns.

The University selected e-Builder Enterprise from e-Builder, www.e-Builder.net, Plantation, Fla., and is also using the technology with Crystal Reports for more flexibility in the creation of reports and dashboards, which will improve project visibility.

Owners are finding now is the time to use technology to improve collaboration, reduce risk, heighten visibility, and increase reporting.

I-Lab Engineering, Singapore, Asia, was looking for a system to manage a 650,000-sq.ft. scientific research center. According to the company, its goal was to set up a central location for data to increase collaboration and improve reporting of meeting minutes, RFIs, and drawings. The contractor worked with ProjectAIMS, www.projectaims.com, Hong Kong, China, to implement Prolog from Meridian Systems, www.meridiansystems.com, Folsom, Calif.

TS Wong, CEO, ProjectAIMS, says more project owners are adopting technology to manage reporting and team collaboration, and in the light of the complexity of the project and accelerated schedule, I-Lab needed the technology to gain efficiency.

With all the change occurring in the construction industry these days, it will be interesting to see how the role of technology will evolve in the years to come.

12 August 2010

Tekla, Inc. and Meridian Systems announced today a business partner relationship to integrate Tekla Structures for Construction Management with Prolog® Converge software from Meridian Systems. This integration will facilitate greater collaboration between design teams and the general contractor, key subcontractors and fabricators. The integrated solution will be showcased at the Tekla User Conference on August 12-14 in Atlanta.

Tekla Structures is an advanced BIM (Building Information Modeling) software solution that provides an accurate, dynamic, and data-rich 3D environment that can be shared by contractors, structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators, as well as concrete detailers and manufacturers. Meridian’s Prolog software is the industry standard for construction project control and transparency and delivers total control by automating day-to-day construction tasks and processes, from project design to close-out. Prolog Converge, which was introduced in 2009, provides a powerful Web services platform to facilitate best–of-breed integrations such as with Tekla Structures.

By integrating these two leading software solutions, project design teams and construction firms can convert a two-way Request for Information (RFI) review process into an intelligent and visual process that can better identify construction issues early on, and reduce data entry.

“The first phase of our integration focuses on RFI management,” says Andy Dickey, business manager for Tekla North America’s Contractor Group. “From within our BIM software, users can now connect to Prolog Converge, create or modify RFI information, and associate those RFIs with model objects.”

With RFIs integrated into the BIM model, collaboration during design and construction can be done visually in 3D. This provides an intuitive and efficient process for identifying and resolving design and field condition issues.

“This integration brings tremendous efficiency gains during the design and construction process,” said Bruno Berti, senior director of product management, Meridian Systems. “By visually integrating a BIM model with the RFI management process in Prolog Converge, issues can be identified and documented earlier in the process and routed for review and resolution.”

For more information on solutions from Tekla, visit the Tekla Extranet Extension Downloads section: https://extranet.tekla.com/BC/tekla-structures-en/product/extended-applications/Pages/Default.aspx.

For more information on Prolog and Prolog Converge software, visit: http://www.meridiansystems.com/prolog-software-overview.asp or subscribe to the Meridian Information Library for free access to premium research and case studies by going to: http://www.meridiansystems.com/.

About Meridian

Meridian Systems, a Trimble Company (NASDAQ: TRMB), is the Plan-Build-Operate technology solutions leader for project-based organizations (PBO2). Building owners, construction and engineering firms, and public agencies use Meridian software to effectively manage capital building programs and facility assets. Meridian offers construction project management and infrastructure lifecycle management solutions that reduce project costs and schedules across the plan-build-operate project lifecycle. Subscribe to the Meridian Information Library for free access to premium research and case studies by going to: http://my.meridiansystems.com/downloads/.

Tekla Structures

Tekla's technology creates new opportunities for the construction industry. Tekla Structures, the most advanced BIM (Building Information Modeling) software on the market, provides an accurate, dynamic, and data-rich 3D environment that can be shared by contractors, structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators, as well as concrete detailers and manufacturers. The highly detailed as-built structural models created in Tekla Structures enable the highest level of constructability and production control. Centralizing model and non-model based data into the model allows for more collaborative and integrated project management and delivery. This translates into increased productivity, elimination of waste, and an enhanced value for structural modeling. More information at http://www.tekla.com/us.

For additional information, please contact:

Andy Dickey, Business Manager for Tekla North America’s Contractor Group
tel. 770.426.5105, Andy.Dickey@tekla.com

Christian Erickson, Marketing Manager, North America
Tel.770.426.5105, Christian.Erickson@tekla.com

Tamara Kaestner, Marketing Programs Manager for Meridian Systems
tel. 916.294.2375, tkaestner@meridiansystems.com

August 09, 2010 - Mark Mergenschroer

Building Information Modeling (BIM) enables unprecedented Team Work of building design and constructability. The power of BIM to bring together the client, architect, engineer, and contractor into a singular team, centered on project execution, will transform our industry.

The design team’s mission for a BIM project should be to create a realistic simulation of working conditions necessary to produce a realistic BIM Model that will enhance time and effort to produce construction documents, maximize time available for design development and optimization, and thereby provide our clients with a better project development process.

The BIM deliverable focus should center on how, not, who, when, where or why. For the design team to have an effective deliverable, they should involve the client in team communication during every phase of design. Part of the process should be to hand the client a model viewer and supply training on use of the viewer, so that the BIM model can be viewed as the model is being developed. The team focus should be on delivering not only a quality BIM model, but a quality, high performance building, that will be functional for the client.

The first stage of the BIM Model should include information gathering. During this phase, information will be collected and developed into a BIM Model that contains conceptual and schematic level information about the project. This typically produces a conceptual model with key elements in the BIM Model, so that the client can get a visual understanding of the design intent.

The second stage of the BIM model is the analysis stage. This stage will focus on “The Right Fit” for the client. The client’s requirements will be fully developed during this stage, with all analytical analysis being included within the BIM model. During this stage, the team populates the BIM model with all the proper systems, equipment, information, and requirements for the facility. Constructability will be a key concern during this stage, with conflict checks being run by the entire team. User group meetings really help define this stage of the process.

The third stage involves implementation of BIM construction documents to construction of the facility. With the team having placed an emphasis on the constructible BIM model, the construction documentation process should be fluid. Since everyone has worked as a team from the beginning of the project, delays and surprises during the construction phase are greatly reduced.

The fourth stage consists of the facility management aspect of the BIM Model. A BIM model can be more than just a tool for construction. Having an accurate As-Built or As Constructed BIM model can lead to many advantages for the facility maintenance personnel. Part of the BIM deliverable should be to train the maintenance personnel on how to use the BIM model for future facility maintenance issues. Facility maintenance from a BIM model is a growing trend in our industry, as well as, a powerful tool for our clients.

This is a very simple approach to a BIM project. Let's not try to complicate BIM. Let's try to make it as simple as possible, so that our clients can reap the benefits.

New Study Shows up to 44 Percent Overall Productivity Improvements for Users Who Upgrade to AutoCAD 2011

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Aug 10, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Autodesk, Inc., a leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, announced the results of the AutoCAD 2011 software Productivity Study. David S. Cohn Consulting compared the productivity of AutoCAD 2011 to AutoCAD 2008 on typical AutoCAD design processes in a variety of industries. The consulting firm concluded that AutoCAD 2011 showed an average productivity improvement of 31 percent for users who upgrade from AutoCAD 2008 to AutoCAD 2011, and a 44 percent overall productivity improvement for users who upgrade to AutoCAD 2011 and Windows 7, while also upgrading to a new HP Z200 workstation.

"The results of the study were more dramatic than I expected -- after all, how much faster can you draw a line?" said Cohn, a widely recognized expert in the use of AutoCAD and president of the independent consulting firm David S. Cohn Consulting. "To test AutoCAD 2011, I selected eight designs, most of which I concluded would take a typical user anywhere from an hour to half to a day to complete. I saw dramatic improvements in overall productivity. It took 13 hours, 24 minutes to complete all eight designs using AutoCAD 2008, compared to 9 hours, 16 minutes to complete the same tasks using AutoCAD 2011."

Study Shows Significant Return on Investment When Upgrading to AutoCAD 2011

The consulting firm's study found that for typical drawings, the ease of access afforded by the user interface, together with new features and functionality, resulted in individual user productivity increases ranging from 15 to 94 percent.

"The amount of improvement likely to be recognized will lead most users to conclude that the cost of upgrading is easy to justify," said Cohn.

Performance improvements documented in the study include:

-- 50 percent productivity gain due to new functionality in surface modeling, surface associativity and materials

-- 40 percent productivity increase through use of dimensional constraints and constraints as annotations

-- 39 percent increase in productivity due to the hatch enhancements and grip editing

-- 20 percent productivity gain through use of the ribbon interface, 3D gizmos, subject selection, navigating with the Autodesk ViewCube 3D navigation widget and the ability to extrude a curved edge of a solid to create a surface

"The most costly expenditure in an engineering or design firm is time. After 28 years of working on this product, it's Autodesk's goal to continually deliver new and improved functionality to help designers and engineers complete projects faster, and at the same or higher quality," said Guri Stark, Autodesk vice president, AutoCAD and Platform Products. "As demonstrated in this study, AutoCAD 2011 delivers on the promise of increased productivity, with the speed, power and flexibility needed to take documentation and design further."

David Cohn is a renowned AutoCAD expert with more than 25 years of hands-on experience as a user, developer, author and consultant. He has been benchmarking computer hardware and software since 1985, and has published hundreds of articles and reviews as a contributing editor to Desktop Engineering. He is also the author of more than a dozen books about AutoCAD. A licensed architect, Cohn was also one of the earliest AutoCAD third-party software developers, creating numerous AutoCAD add-on programs.

For more information on the study, visit http://www.autodesk.com/productivity

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries -- including the last 15 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to design, visualize, and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD and ViewCube are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

(C) 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE: Autodesk, Inc.

Autodesk, Inc.
Noah Cole, 415-200-6310
noah.cole@autodesk.com

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
July 27, 2010

The Alta Wind Energy Center — with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes — officially breaks ground Tuesday.

It's being called the largest wind power project in the country, with plans for thousands of acres of towering turbines in the Mojave Desert foothills generating electricity for 600,000 homes in Southern California.

And now it's finally kicking into gear.

The multibillion-dollar Alta Wind Energy Center has had a tortured history, stretching across nearly a decade of ownership changes, opposition from local residents and transmission infrastructure delays.

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But on Tuesday, the project is officially breaking ground in the Tehachapi Pass, a burgeoning hot spot for wind energy about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. When completed, Alta could produce three times as much energy as the country's largest existing wind farm, analysts said. It's slated to be done in the next decade.

The project will probably be a wind power bellwether, affecting the way renewable energy deals are financed, the development of new electricity storage systems and how governments regulate the industry, said Billy Gamboa, a renewable energy analyst with the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

"It's a super-mega-project — it'll definitely set a precedent for the rest of the state and have a pretty large impact on the wind industry in general," he said.

The project's developer, New York-based Terra-Gen Power, plans to coax three gigawatts of power from the wind farm over the next eight years. It has led some industry experts to predict that California might have a shot at reclaiming the wind energy crown from competitors such as Texas and Iowa.

"Alta's an absolutely enormous project in probably the most promising wind resource area that remains in the state," said Ryan Wiser, a renewable energy analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "It's the single biggest investment in California wind project assets in decades and is likely the largest the state is ever going to see."

Southern California Edison agreed in 2006 to buy 1,550 megawatts of electricity from Alta over 25 years, one of the heftiest power purchase agreements ever signed. That would be enough energy to serve 275,000 homes and is twice the capacity of the country's largest existing wind farm, a 735-megawatt project in Texas.

Terra-Gen is building Alta as a collection of wind farms; it has finished funding and started building the first group of five. The cluster's 290 turbines will be scattered across 9,000 acres, most of which are leased from private landowners. As early as next year, executives said, the turbines could start producing enough power to boost California's wind energy output more than 25% while creating thousands of local jobs.

By 2015, another batch of farms, with roughly 300 turbines — some with blades spanning nearly the length of a football field — is expected to be producing an additional 830 megawatts. Beyond that, details are scarce.

"The first Alta phases are very real, but future phases might be a little less tangible," said Matt Kaplan, a senior analyst with IHS Emerging Energy Research. "We've seen California utilities sign a lot of power purchase agreements for not necessarily the most realistic projects."

For years, Alta seemed to some like just another ambitious pipe dream tied up in red tape and stymied by a lack of transmission lines to carry the energy to customers.

The project was originally conceived as the Alta-Oak Creek Mojave initiative in the early 2000s by Australian infrastructure fund Allco Finance Group. But when the firm went bankrupt in 2008, Terra-Gen bought control of Alta for $325 million.

The permitting process took about three years, said Steve Doyon, vice president and head of development for Terra-Gen.

Along the way, Terra-Gen had to abandon several proposed sites because of landowners' concerns about noise and frosty turbine blades slinging chunks of ice. Some worried that the skyscraping structures could malfunction and collapse or impede firefighting efforts.

Last year, a petition opposing part of the project collected more than 1,000 signatures. The Federal Aviation Administration also jumped in, saying that some of the proposed turbines would interfere with flights at the nearby Mountain Valley Airport.

"We're not against green energy in any way, but there just comes a time when you say that this is my community and I don't want turbines encroaching in full view," said Merle Carnes, president of the Old West Ranch Property Owners Assn. "There's room somewhere else."

The Alta project had other big hurdles. California has been falling behind in the wind power race, increasing its capacity just 7% in 2008 while Texas and Iowa each doubled theirs.

Pockets where high wind is common — such as the Altamont Pass in Northern California and the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs — ran out of space early on, crammed with small turbines using inefficient old technology, analyst Wiser said. That has led to just "dribs and drabs" of installation over the last two decades. The Tehachapi area is one of the few windy regions left with room to grow, he said.

Edison has been making headway on its Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, connecting alternative-energy projects such as Alta to electricity-hungry city centers. The utility is trying to meet a statewide goal for investor-owned utilities to use renewable energy for 33% of all power supplied to customers by 2020.

Previously tight-fisted investors also are more confident about financing renewable energy projects. Terra-Gen recently secured $1.2 billion in funding for the Alta project.

Vestas-American Wind Technology said last week that it would deliver 190 turbines to Alta, the largest order ever for the turbine-making company. It was unable to land any contracts last year because of the credit crunch.

The industry is not out of the woods yet: In the first half of 2010, newly added wind capacity in the U.S. tumbled 70% compared with the same period last year to just 1,200 megawatts, the American Wind Energy Assn. said Monday.

But for now, experts said, the Alta project seems to be on track.

"I'm not seeing any great big red flags there," Wiser said.

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

By default Quick Upload for Prolog Converge will create a folder for the Data Group and open record number in Document Management when using Quick Upload; Project Documents\RFI Documents\041 for example.

If I want uploaded documents to go to a specific folder location in Document Management when using Quick Upload, how do I tell Converge where to store these documents?

In the Converge Admin Tool under the Menu - System - Portfolio Configuration, Select 'New Record Config'. A new record config may be added to an existing Portfolio to configure automatic document routing for documents uploaded to the Prolog Converge Document Management System using Quick Upload.

With a Record Config entry, the Prolog Administrator may define the folder path which will be used for uploaded documents. The Record Config entry is always associated with a specific Prolog data group, but may also be configured to apply to a specific Prolog Project.

The following settings are available for the Record Config entry:

Database: The Prolog Portfolio which the Record Config applies to.

Project: The Prolog Project which the Record Config applies to. This field is optional.

Record Type: The Prolog data group which the Record applies to.

Web Folder: The Folder Path to use when automatically routing an uploaded document. Unless the 'Don't Modify Web Folder' ‟ checkbox is checked, the full folder path that uploaded documents are stored to will be based on the Web Folder setting and the record number, resulting in the following folder path:
Project Documents\[Web Folder]\[Record Number]
Where [Web Folder] is replaced with the value in the Record Config Web
Folder field and [Record Number] is replaced with the Prolog Record
Number that the document is being attached to.

For example:
Project Documents\RFIs\041\

Don’t Modify Web Folder: When checked, the Record Number will not be automatically added to the Folder Path.

Please Note: When Prolog Converge automatically adds a folder to the DMS,
the folder permissions from the parent folder of the newly created sub
folder will automatically be applied.

How do I set Column Conditions in Prolog Converge?

Column conditions can be used to dynamically alter the look of certain columns. In an example where the RFI Date Required column in the ‘Past Due’ View can be configured to show in Red. Based on the content, you may find other Views with set conditions that highlight text in a single cell based on the record’s status, such as Hotlist Importance.

While Column Conditions can be applied to almost any view, this example demonstrates how to set Hotlist Importance.

To set Column Conditions:

1. Launch and Logon to Prolog Converge Admin Client
2. From the Menu go to Web - Views - Project
3. Select the Module - Doc Control and Data Entry Form Hotlist. Select the 'All' View.
4. Click on the Column Conditions tab and select 'New Condition'
5. Enter a Description and choose a Display Type
6. If you want all Column presented with this condition check the 'All' box. Otherwise, uncheck the 'All' box and choose the Column and Style. Importance in our example.
7. Click the 'New Criteria' Button.
8. Enter the Criteria details. We choose DB Column = Importance where Type like 'Value' and entered High as the value.
9. Click the 'Save View' button
10. Choose from the Menu - Reconfigure - Request Reconfiguration

When logging on to Prolog Converge choosing Hotlist - All, the Column for HotList Importance should now reflect your Column Condition.

Have you considered moving documents such as submittals, RFIs (requests for information), and other construction communications online? You might be surprised to find just how beneficial such efforts can be when it comes to giving all project team members—including subcontractors, general contractors, designers, architects, engineers, and owners—access and visibility to vital project information.

While construction project teams can choose to email these files back and forth, there can be some risks associated with this method when it comes to things like submittals and RFIs. For example, emails can get lost; some document sizes may be too large; and it can be difficult to track if a file is approved or final. Web-based submittal exchange systems can reduce some of the risks associated with doing more traditional paper-based processes or email-based processes.

There are a number of systems available that allow team members to gain access to construction communications via the Web. For example, Submittal Exchange, www.submittalexchange.com, Des Moines, Iowa, is a collaborative online system for exchanging, reviewing, and archiving construction submittals, RFIs, and other construction communication documents.

The technology provider recently partnered with BuildSite, www.buildsite.com, Oakland, Calif., a source of green building product information for the construction industry. This new partnerships allows subcontractors, through Submittal Exchange, to access product information for submittal forms directly from BuildSite.

Subcontractors play an integral role in construction communications process and Submittal Exchange is able to improve such processes, which ultimately increases efficiencies for all project members.

“BuildSite has always aimed to simplify submittals for the AEC industry,” says Ned Trainor, president, BuildSite. “Now our search will connect with the Submittal Exchange workspace. This integration will save Submittal Exchange customers time by allowing them to add product data from BuildSite directly into Submittal Exchange forms.”

According to the companies, the integration will speed up the submittal process, giving subcontractors the ability to pull product data directly from BuildSite’s database.

Recently Meridian Systems, www.meridiansystems.com, Folsom, Calif., and BuildSite entered into a similar partnership, combining Meridian’s Prolog software for project management with BuildSite’s submittals software to enable companies to generate submittals electronically.

While construction teams can choose to continue sharing project documents via email—or even through paper—Web-based solutions give teams a better option for managing submittals, RFIs, and other project communications online.