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Systemates offers online project management
service |
| 12/11/00 |
| By Courtney Hornsby |
Technology might not be the first
thing that comes to mind when people think of construction workers,
but a local software company is betting the hard-hat industry will
be quick to adopt some high-tech tools.
Dallas-based
Systemates, an application service provider of project management
tools, just launched Projectmates, a Web-based project collaboration
service that allows architecture, engineering and construction, or
AEC, team members to collaborate remotely via the
Internet.
Admittedly, the construction industry is relatively
low-tech, but some analysts said people shouldn’t expect the
industry to shun value-added technology. The construction industry
was among the earliest to adopt fax machines and cell phones, said
officials with Bank of America.
The Internet has made it
possible to build a common platform for the AEC industry, said
Systemates President Varsha Bhave. Those in the AEC industry have
been slow to jump on the technology bandwagon.
“That’s why
we think the industry is going to take off,” she added.
A
typical Systemates customer wouldn’t necessarily be a construction
or architectural firm, but rather, project owners, especially those
whom are unable to make on-site visits.
With Projectmates, a
client can set up a project online in about three minutes.
Projectmates keeps team members up to date with postings and
automated change notifications via the Internet. The site allows
users to track a project’s progress with updated pictures and a job
cam, providing a real-time view. Other features include weather
updates, a discussion forum, information files and a team member
contact list.
Systemates was formed in 1996 and now has five
employees. The company is funded by the founders and through private
investors. Bhave said the company hasn’t approached any venture
capitalists for funding because the company wanted to prove itself
in the market.
Bhave predicted Projectmates could save
companies from 4 percent to 20 percent in labor costs. Users would
pay a $200 monthly fee for the service, which includes a license and
10 users. More users could be purchased for an additional fee. Users
could be anyone who wanted access to a project site whether it’s the
owner, project manager or subcontractors.
Approximately eight
companies have signed up for Systemates, and Bhave hopes to begin a
marketing push in about a month, with the goal of signing up 400
projects by the end of 2001.
Projectmates has already
attracted an undisclosed large shipping company as one of its first
clients for a three-year contract.
There are a handful of
companies offering similar products, but Bhave said no other company
offers sites that are customizable by users. Clients can place their
own logos on the site, and site administrators can modify the site
so team members are only given access to particular areas.
Different licenses are required to run simultaneous
projects. Customers can purchase a group of licenses and recycle
them, but an old project must be deleted from the system before a
new project can use the same license number.
An overview of
the e-commercial real estate industry issued earlier this year by
Bank of America stated there’s currently no online marketplace in
which all information regarding a certain construction project or
development is readily available.
“The efficiencies and cost
reductions such a system makes possible are enormous and definitely
the greatest dollar-volume opportunity within the B2B e-construction
and real estate industry universe,” the report stated.
The
construction industry is a $600 billion to $700 billion industry in
the United States alone, according to the report. However, the
report found the industry’s transaction and supply chains to be
confusing, fragmented and inefficient.
B2B-focused companies
attacking this space represent huge potential, and bank officials’
estimates indicate the marketplace could achieve values in excess of
$150 billion by 2005.
“Through technology applications, the
time it takes to complete a construction project declines, the
efficiency within the construction time period increases, the cost
of goods procurement declines, while the transparency and
accountability of the process increases dramatically,” the report
stated. |
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