Issue 13 // January 2019

Submittals Co-Creation Session

Come to our e-Builder HQ in Plantation, FL on February 5th from 9am to 2pm for a short day of problem discussion and collaborative design on our Submittals Module!

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We are excited to announce that along with maintenance improvements, brand new enhancements have been made to e-Builder Enterprise! Here is an overview of the product enhancements:

e-Builder Enterprise™ Resource Management with Cost:

  • Accurate Resource Costs - Enter accurate resource rates and labor burden and then make each resource available for assignment to any project schedule in the portfolio.
  • Link Resources to Budget Line Items - Provide visibility for project managers to manage resource costs in their budgets, determine the accurate available budget for external contracts, enter true labor burden and provide advance visibility into potential cost overruns.
  • Track Resource Allocation across Portfolios - Efficiently manage the allocation of management resources over an entire portfolio; Link schedule resource costs to specific line items in the project budget; Place hold resources during the project planning phase to estimate self-managed costs and more accurately develop budgets.

Bidding

  • High visibility - Information is grouped logically in sections that follow the progression of a bid.  Key data (such as due dates, contact info, and grand totals) are prominently placed for at-a-glance reference.
  • Reduced complexity - Information in displays is removed from grid layouts and presented in a clean design that is limited to only the information needed by the Bid Submitter. Navigation is simplified to reduce clicks and provide more direct access to content.
  • Responsive design - Bid Portal is fully functional on mobile devices to support team members who are on the move and in the field.
  • Equitable interaction - Dedicated Q&A section that allows Bid Submitters to anonymously ask private or public questions and enables the Bid Managers to respond privately or publicly as appropriate.
  • Error avoidance - To diffuse the stress of inevitable last-minute bid submission, the assembly of documentation and preparation of the final financial amounts is easy with prominent summaries to doublecheck data entry. If a bid is mistakenly submitted too soon, the Bid Submitter can recall the bid at any point prior to the Due Date/Time.
In addition to this product release, we have released 7 brand new training videos on our On-Demand Video Training site. New videos are added every quarter, so let us know what videos you would like to see next by taking our short survey.

Click here to view a copy of the release notes.

Click here to view the Q4 Enhancement Release Webinar for more details.


Penn State University Shares Keys to a Successful Implementation

We are excited to launch our new monthly article, Customer of the Month! This section highlights e-Builder users who are going above and beyond with their use of e-Builder Enterprise. e-Builder's January Customer of the Month is Penn State University! This innovative team has taken a proactive approach towards the implementation of e-Builder for all future design and construction projects in their robust capital program.

The process began with the development of governance and team structure, under the guidance of their external consultant Kristine Fallon Associates (KFA), to ensure a successful implementation. Working teams, referred to as “PRIDEs”, were developed to configure and refine 22 specific design and construction processes to meet Penn State’s needs. The teams consisted of numerous Penn State employees, as well as external service providers, including Architects, Engineers, Contractors, and Construction Managers. 




To prepare for the January 2019 launch, the Change Management / Communication team developed a comprehensive rollout strategy that relied on interactive tools to train and communicate with their internal and external constituents, totaling more than 900 users. A variety of engagement strategies were utilized by the team. An internal outreach committee, which included representatives from all major Penn State units impacted by the adoption of e-Builder, was instrumental in helping distribute consistent communications and updates. Traveling “road show” presentations were also made to impacted Penn State work units to provide updates and the opportunity for face-to-face dialogue with “PMT” and “Core Team” members.

Other rollout strategies included publishing information in departmental newsletters and developing a project website, which users can visit for important project information, e-Builder resources/job-aids, ongoing messages and announcements, and contact information for key staff. A comprehensive training strategy was developed and available for end-users to participate in at various stages of development. One example includes a series of “sneak peek - lunch and learn” sessions, which were designed to help end users become familiar with various aspects of the new system prior to launch. Understanding the importance of training beyond the launch date, Penn State is offering “just-in-time training” sessions for end-users on a continuous basis throughout the years to come. 

e-Builder would like to thank Penn State for their hard work and innovative approach in implementation and going live with e-Builder Enterprise!

If you would like to be featured as the next e-Builder Customer of the Month, fill out this form for a chance to be selected.


The Ultimate Structure for Project Documents - Documents drive scope. Scope drives cost. If your documents are unstructured, it becomes all too easy for project teams to work from the wrong version of drawings.

Join our webinar on January 23, 2019 from 2PM - 3PM to learn best practices from fellow e-Builder users on how they have structure and manage project documents and drive effective practices for their programs.

You won't want to miss this; register here today!

Copy and Drag Formatting in the New Schedule Module 

By: Tollie Justice, Program Manager

One of the best parts about scheduling software is the ability to copy or drag data into one or many cells in order to save time when filling out, altering, or updating a schedule. In the past, this functionality was not available in e-Builder and you had to click into each task to update most of the data, save that one task, and then repeat the action for the next task. The only similar option was to select multiple tasks for “Update” and you could update 4 or 5 fields within the same screen, and you still had to retype the data!

Luckily, with the new schedule module in e-Builder, this is a pain of the past, as any data on the front page of the module can be copied and drag and drop functionality is available. This functionality is a huge time saver in any schedule set-up or day to day management and brings e-Builder’s schedule module closer in line with dedicated schedule management tools. The best part is, if you are using the updated schedule module, you already have this functionality enabled! See below for some basic examples.

1. Go to the new schedule module on any project.

2. Select a data point you would like to copy into multiple tasks, like a Resource Name.

3. Use "Ctrl" and "C" to copy the value.

4. Highlight all of the cells you would like to copy the data into with your mouse.

5. Use "Ctrl" and "V" to paste the value into the blank cells.

Try the same method with repeating Tasks or Phrases within a single project schedule or multiple tasks that have the same dependency.



Working With Clients

By: Ashley Sonntag, Product Delivery Manager

The most important participants in any software development team is the clients. Nothing the development team does makes any difference if the final product doesn't solve problems for our clients. Perhaps the most vital part of developing new features in e-Builder is gathering the feedback from our clients and adjusting to them quickly and efficiently. 
Most recently, e-Builder has been experimenting with new and improved ways of working with clients so that we can ensure that every change made to our product results in a positive impact for all clients. 

Our new approach has proven effective in several ways over the last couple of years. We had the unique opportunity to take a very specific request for custom work from a single client and transform it into a major product change. One that allowed e-Builder to expand a small idea into an enhancement for all clients. The success of the project is owed entirely to our ability to work with the client, and their willingness to work with us! 

Though it was productive, rewarding, and filled with achievement, the process was long, time-consuming, stressful, and scary too! Our client made sacrifices in order to work with us, just as e-Builder made sacrifices to work with them. 

The very simple process we follow involves the clients often. They were included in biweekly meetings and in the initial design and final testing stages of the project. 

With each meeting, both sides listened to feedback, clarified the requirements of each, agreed on a plan of action and reviewed the items from previous meetings to ensure we were always on track. This loop was repeated every two weeks and sometimes weekly when needed.

We made sure to take the time to actively listen to each other. Our clients understood that we were building for more than just them and they not only accepted this but helped us with providing insight to industry standards that they were not always following. e-Builder understood that while most of the industry did things one way, we had a commitment to supporting the functionality required by our primary client. 

Both sides of the table made changes to accommodate and the result was a set of features which is broad enough that all clients can easily utilize them with ease. 


The January Maintenance Release was released yesterday, January 17, 2019. CLICK HERE to view a copy of the release notes.

These release notes include issues that have been resolved. Please contact e-Builder Technical Success Team with any questions at [email protected].