Benefits of Construction Management Software - Cost Forecasting

The following series of posts are based on recent conversations we’ve had with executives from North America’s largest facility owners. During these interviews we discuss how they’ve overcome the challenges associated with capital project delivery, and the measurable benefits they’ve achieved through the use of construction management software.

This post is based on an interview with Mr. Kip Edwards, VP Design and Construction at Banner Health, on the topic of construction project cost forecasting. Kip is not only an expert on the topic, but a big proponent of the benefits.

I started out by asking Kip, “What are some of the challenges you've experienced in the past when managing different capital programs [and] different [sites]”?

Kip Edwards: “We had a lot of challenges when I got to Banner four years ago, and it's not unlike what I've experienced at other locations. When you have many projects going on at multiple locations, to manage an overall program, it's really hard to get a good picture of that program, and a timely picture. We were using a variety of spreadsheets and different methods to track our costs, and literally anytime I needed to get either an answer on a specific project, or moreover to accumulate across multiple projects, it would take two to three weeks to get updates in from all of our various project sites. By the time I had the updates in, they were out of date. So we just couldn't stay current, particularly on cost information. It's also challenging to create a consistent practice – practices around accounting, practices around filing, practices around approvals – without some method or tool that ties all of those locations together. And then finally, I just thought we were too slow. Our speed and ability to move issues and move information for the purpose of decision or reaction, we just didn't have those mechanisms in place to do that, and we were too slow with those decisions.”

Kip brings up several points we hear time and time again, including how hard it is to maintain visibility over your capital program with the use of spreadsheets. By visibility we mean immediate (when you need it) access to accurate, up-to-date project cost data that can help you 1) identify potential issues in time to take corrective action, 2) make decisions that can positively impact other projects.

In my next post, I will dig deeper into the role construction management software has played in enabling this process.