Female silhouette people hands hold up technology gears in colorful row.Emmy Award winner Jim Henson created the Muppets. He is also often quoted for saying: “If you can’t beat them, join them.” In that spirit, Strategic Systems Group (SSG) and DiTRA Corp formed a partnership that brings DiTRA’s comprehensive Project Collaboration Tool (PCT) to SSG’s manufacturing ERP clients.

It appeared to be an unlikely partnership, at least on the face of it. It began when Christian Massow (Chief Executive Officer at DiTRA) and Brian Iinuma (President at SSG) came to know each other entirely by accident. At first glance, they were more likely to be competitors than partners.

Until the “ah-ha” moment when they realized that in fact, by joining forces, they could increase the value for each other’s clientele. For example:

  • Strategic Systems Group’s clients can benefit from DiTRA’s and SSG’s joint ability to provide fractional CIO services.
  • DiTRA’s customers receive access to SSG’s business process automation services.
  • SSG’s clientele are introduced to efficient Asset Information Management with DiTRA’s PCT.

What Does a Project Collaboration Tool (PCT) Do for Your Business?

PCT is a software solution designed to facilitate anticipatory planning, monitoring, and control of technical projects. Its primary function is to build and maintain Digital Assets.

Project Collaboration Tool (PCT) PCT provides an environment with a Common Data Model and related structures to manage Scope, Services, Budgets and Costs, Documents, and Engineering Data for your projects and assets.

PCT manages Project Portfolios and supports data and document reuse across projects from Tender to Operation. Clients benefit from:

  • Increased quality, consistency, and transparency.
  • Ability to reuse information.
  • Reduced project costs and risks.

Clients leverage PCT’s digital assets to drive cost reductions in 3 key areas: Sales, Project Execution, and Facility Operation. The statistics are impressive.

Sales

  • Improved Sales/Tender Process Reduction of effort by at least 30%

Project Execution

  • Documentation Effort Reduction by 50%
  • Cost of Poor Quality Reduction by 50%
  • Engineering Costs Reduction by 25%
  • Procurement Costs Reduction by 10%
  • Commissioning Time Reduction by 1 to 4 weeks
  • Data and Document Handover Effort Reduction by 50%

Facility Operation

  • Engineering-maintenance costs Reduction of 15%
  • Operations engineering hours Reduction of 50%
  • Facility availability Increased by 1%

How Project Managers Can Effectively Use a Project Collaboration Tool

It takes a lot to successfully run a project, especially when most of your data comes from multiple sources. Engineers, for example, may have their information management schedules on one system, their documentation on another, and their 3D visualization tools on yet another. Ultimately, that’s a lot of data in a lot of different places. With the help of a PCT, your project can be monitored and controlled throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Essentially, you are streamlining your processes in a centralized system.

During the commissioning process, your business needs to ensure that all systems and components of a building or industrial project are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained according to operational requirements. In practice, the commissioning process is the integrated application of a set of engineering techniques and procedures to check, inspect, and test every operational component of the project – from individual functions, such as instruments and equipment, to complex consolidation modules, subsystems, and systems.

For complex projects, the large volume and complexity of commissioning data, together with the need to adequately trace information, leads to the necessity of integrating powerful IT tools. That’s where PCT comes in. PCT allows designers, engineers, manufacturers, and beyond to effectively plan and monitor the entire commissioning process.

With PCT, project managers can configure all aspects of a project in a centralized system, allowing teams the luxury of streamlining the entire process. Companies typically see cost, time, and effort reductions across the board.

7 Key Benefits of Project Management Collaboration Tools

Project management collaboration tools help project managers plan, execute, and control all aspects of their operations. This advanced technology works to ensure that each task is completed on time, in scope, and within budget. The top 7 benefits are:

  • Improved efficiency. With PCT, your project is supported every step of the way, from initial conceptualizing to order, sale, and continued support.
  • Collaboration. Leadership can rest assured knowing their team is supported in all aspects of the communication process. Regardless of location, teams can seamlessly control and communicate schedules and project status within a single system.
  • Centralized database. Project management collaboration tools eliminate the need for your team to toggle between systems. Gain control and insight into all stages of the project lifecycle, all within a central database.
  • Digital twin. Manage your valuable resources more effectively, giving you the advanced resource optimization functionality you need to make sure that the right resources are working on the suitable projects at the right time. Ensure an asset by utilizing a digital twin, giving your team a true reflection of the current status of your real asset.
  • Scope Management. PCT gives managers clear, real-time visibility into project dynamics and enables them to model “what if” scenarios to optimize price, billing rates, staffing, and overall project profitability. Manage functional project scope, division of work, deliverable interfaces, and more.
  • Data Management. Manage data and document deliverable status, revisions, and more while having all documentation available to various teams in real-time.
  • Cost Management. Increase resource utilization and maximize project success by easily managing and deploying resources to projects according to project needs. Control estimates and budgets to make sure you’re delivering on time and within scope.

Integrations Are Key, Too.

Another major driving force for using project management collaboration tools is their ability to be integrated with other data sources or systems. By integrating your current processes with additional systems, such as Infor and Microsoft Dynamics ERP, you are providing all members of your project access to essential data and documentation on a centralized source.

Additionally, it is good to keep in mind that different integrations offer different functionalities, so it’s essential to understand precisely what you’re looking to achieve from your project collaboration tool. Specific projects might be a better fit for integrating PCT with Infor, while PCT and Microsoft Dynamics might produce the best results for other types of projects. Or, for example, if your company is heavily involved with engineering and design and you are looking to oversee the management of all your projects, then PCT can serve as a great asset on its own. The beauty of PCT is that it is versatile yet adaptable to serve your organization’s needs best.

Take the next step…

For more information, please visit Project Collaboration – DiTRA Corp, email Strategic Systems Group (SSG) at systems@ssgnet.com, or call (310) 539-4645.

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