Construction

The construction industry operates in a business environment with high levels of risk and uncertainty. Projects are very complex, operate under tight budgets and timelines, and involve many people, resources, and subcontractors. There is very little margin for error in planning and execution.

Construction companies are engaged in constant struggles to

• Increase bid-win ratios;
• Plan for and reduce risk;
• Reduce project costs; and
• Shorten project cycles.

Risk-Based Bid Planning

Before you can worry about execution, you must first get the contract. Contract bid preparation is perhaps the most critical phase in a construction project. Without the proper upfront planning and analysis, even the most attractive projects can quickly become unprofitable cost sinks. The only way to accurately plan for construction projects is using sophisticated risk-based planning and analysis tools.

Many tools on the market might show you the Best- and Worst-case performance outcomes. But with project budgets in the millions or even billions of Dollars, this simplistic analysis is insufficient. You need to analyze all possible outcomes and moreover, you need to know their likelihoods of occurring. For example, there is a substantial difference between a 5% chance or a 20% chance of a $30 million cost overrun. In the latter case, the overrun is four times as likely to occur!

Solutions

The Vanguard System™ is a comprehensive business solution for improving the quality, reliability, and speed of management decisions. It does this by helping you Collaborate with colleagues on important plans, Analyze alternatives using state-of-the-art modeling and simulation techniques, Automate routine decisions using expert system technology, and Improve overall management effectiveness by adding structure to a normally chaotic process.

Business improvement is all about working smarter. Vanguard brings together the people, analytics, and systems required to help your business operate intelligently.

Here are just a few of the ways Vanguard supports the construction industry:

• Cost modeling: Accurately estimate costs of very complex projects and contracts.
• Portfolio analysis: Determine which contracts to go after by analyzing their contributions to your project portfolio.
• Rapid bid preparations: Reduce bid preparation time by reusing component models from previous bids and projects and by automating routine or complex analysis.
• Collaboration planning: Let many individuals simultaneously contribute to the planning effort. Like building blocks, easily combine their knowledge, assumptions, and historical data into a complete analysis.
• Risk mitigation: Fully understand risks before engaging in new projects. Implement risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans early on.
• Comprehensive forecasting: Predict needs for materials, labor, and equipment, even when historical data is scarce.
• Resource optimization: Determine how to most efficiently allocate scarce resources such as people, equipment, and cash to projects.
• Operational efficiency: Conduct process improvement/Six Sigma projects to reduce costs, cycle times, and waste.
• Knowledge automation: Expertly guide engineers, contractors, and technicians through complex decision-making processes using intuitive question-and-answer sessions.