Case Study: OMR Architects
Profile
OMR Architects – the Office of Michael Rosenfeld, Inc. Architects – was established in West Acton, Massachusetts in 1975. The firm provides full Architectural services, specializing in the design of educational, religious and other public and private buildings.
Paul Woyda, AIA is the firm’s chief information technologist. In an industry that calls for complicated teamwork, Paul’s job is to find and deliver the software and hardware solutions OMR needs to successfully design, develop and construct its projects.
Paul's Challenge
- Share information among many partners
- Prevent ‘data chaos’ during updates and changes
- Make everything easy to use
“When we are working on a project as large as a $65 million, 350,000 square foot public high school, there are dozens of people involved at each stage and thousands of details to track,” says Paul.
Newburyport High School was a special challenge: the grand old school was gutted right back to the frame, with only the historic brick façades left intact. Everything from the gym floor to the chemistry lab tables had to be rethought, redesigned and constructed anew. Architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, site supervisors, secretaries and, of course, school officials – all had to work together, stay informed and have access to the very latest and most accurate data.
The OMR team is highly mobile, sometimes working in the office, sometimes at the project site, and sometimes on the road. On a typical OMR project, the clients and contractors have separate offices in separate cities or even across the country.
Paul previously had tried construction-specific software apps, such as Primavera Expedition. However, Paul and his team found that such software demanded time-consuming employee training, customization and technical support, and was just too complex for everyday use. And, the software wasn’t always helpful in communicating with contractors, clients and outside members of the OMR team.
Paul had to find a solution that would be powerful enough to organize a hundred million dollar project, yet simple enough that the whole team could use it anytime, anywhere.
He turned to QuickBase for Small Business.
The Solution
- Easy to use
- 24/7 online access
- Improved teamwork and accountability
- Scalable for any project size
Paul introduced QuickBase to OMR in 1999 and his staff quickly embraced its user-friendly Web-based approach. OMR now uses QuickBase to organize all documents, drawings, specs and contracts during a project’s design and construction phases.
QuickBase works without firewalls or software, so clients and contractors can share data along with the OMR team. A separate database is set up for each new project, with varying access permissions given to appropriate team members.
Everyone involved can submit drawings and specs, as Paul notes, “without having to track people down or waste time playing phone or fax tag.” QuickBase’s automatic e-mail notification feature alerts the right staff members when updates are made. The whole team has access to the very latest information, 24 hours a day.
As project Architects, OMR has legal responsibility for maintaining project logs, so the company also uses QuickBase’s recordkeeping features. Reports Paul: “Since updates often have to do with changes and costs, QuickBase provides an automatic, Web-based record of all communications.”
The Results
- Time and money saved
- Improved communication and faster updates
- Less confusion, less stress
- Better coordinated teamwork
By making project documents Web sharable, QuickBase has reduced the OMR team’s administration time, streamlined work processes and increased profitability.
It’s also made life easier for Paul and the whole OMR team as they deal with the everyday challenges of working life. “If there is a true problem, the sooner we find out about it, the better,” says Paul. “Sometimes people are out of the country, so it’s important that they can track their changes anywhere, anytime. This is a great way to save time and money.”
It’s even reduced the time that architects must spend on-site. “When you do out-of-state work, this significantly reduces budgeted hours by hundreds,” says Paul.
With QuickBase, OMR has found a solution that is robust, easy to use and flexible enough to fit the company’s changing daily needs, all at a cost of only dollars a day. As Paul says: “QuickBase is our application of choice – It provides the best of what the Internet and an extranet can offer”.
