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WO2015157792A1 - Project management system and method - Google Patents

Project management system and method Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2015157792A1
WO2015157792A1 PCT/AU2015/000109 AU2015000109W WO2015157792A1 WO 2015157792 A1 WO2015157792 A1 WO 2015157792A1 AU 2015000109 W AU2015000109 W AU 2015000109W WO 2015157792 A1 WO2015157792 A1 WO 2015157792A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
project
data
hours
user
tasks
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/AU2015/000109
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French (fr)
Inventor
Niall O'CALLAGHAN
Conor O'LEARY
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Viewpro Pty Ltd
Original Assignee
Viewpro Pty Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from AU2014901421A external-priority patent/AU2014901421A0/en
Application filed by Viewpro Pty Ltd filed Critical Viewpro Pty Ltd
Publication of WO2015157792A1 publication Critical patent/WO2015157792A1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
    • G06Q50/08—Construction

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to a system and method for managing and coordinating projects comprising numerous tasks and participants.
  • Construction projects such as residential and commercial constructions, including mining, are difficult projects to manage and coordinate due mainly to the need for multiple stages to be performed by a variety of different groups of individuals possessing various skills. Such construction projects are even further complicated where the construction site is in a remote location, as is often the case in mining situations.
  • construction projects employ a variety of contractors to perform a variety of tasks, with the commencement of one task often being reliant upon the completion of one or more previous tasks.
  • commencement of one task often being reliant upon the completion of one or more previous tasks.
  • foundations be set and established prior to the pouring of a concrete slab.
  • a first level may relate to the manual workers employed to physically perform individual construction tasks, such as carpenters, bricklayers and the like. Above this layer may be provided the on-site supervisors who oversee the manual workers to ensure that the work is being performed in accordance with the construction plans and to report on progress.
  • the next level of employees typically includes the engineers who review information supplied by the supervisors and monitor the physical work to address issues as they arise on-site and to provide higher level reports on progress. In the level above the engineers project planners are provided to review the actual progress and performance of the project against the planned progress and performance, to ensure that the project is staying within budget limits and to address issues if the reports indicate problems requiring action.
  • the final level of individual involved in a construction project is typically the Director/CEO/Management that provides overall control to all the levels of employees and is ultimately responsible for completing the project on time and on budget.
  • a system for realtime monitoring and management of a construction project comprising: a host server for receiving and processing data; a plurality of remote computer devices configured to facilitate communication with the host server, each of the devices being capable of obtaining data from a construction site in relation to workers and equipment usage and to transmit said data to the host server for processing; wherein the host server comprises an interface configured to communicate with each remote computer device so as to coordinate the receipt of said data therefrom and for processing and storing said data.
  • the host server includes database storage arranged with a data structure having: a plurality of defined areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project; a plurality of defined activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project; and a plurality of defined tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities; and wherein data obtained from the construction site regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site is stored in the database against corresponding said defined tasks.
  • a method of real-time monitoring and management of a construction project comprising: receiving daily data regarding worker activity and equipment usage on a construction site; processing said data upon receipt to generate a continuously updated plurality of reports incorporating said received data; providing access to said reports in accordance with a predetermined level of authority within a construction company.
  • the method includes: defining a plurality of areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project; defining a plurality of activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project; defining a plurality of tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities; and recording data regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site against said plurality of defined tasks.
  • the method may further include: assigning respective budget quantities for said plurality of tasks; assigning respective budget man-hours based on the assigned budget quantities for said plurality of tasks; determining man-hours spent on a said task from received data; and reporting a production factor metric for said task based on a ratio of man-hours spent to budget man-hours.
  • Figure 1 is a simplified block diagram of a system constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 2 is a chart showing the hierarchy of users of the system of the present invention.
  • Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the primary functional components of an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 4 is a sample view of a login screen in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the an example of process steps involved in initial set-up of a project in an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 6 is a screenshot representation of the Project Editor Lobby
  • Figure 7 & 8 are screenshot representations of the user interface screens provided by the system for entering new worker details and new equipment details
  • Figure 9 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Area / SubArea / SubSubArea linking, resulting in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure;
  • Figure 10 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Discipline / SubDiscipline / Activity linking, resulting in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure;
  • Figure 11 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Area/Discipline linking
  • Figure 12 is a screenshot depicting the Project Budget builder interface
  • Figure 13 to 16 are flow chart diagrams illustrating a procedure whereby users provides input data to the system in an embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 17 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Entry Lobby interface
  • Figure 18 is a screenshot depicting a Worker Selection interface
  • Figure 19 is a screenshot depicting a Worker Daily entry interface where a user assigns hours to each worker, based on hours worked;
  • Figure 20 is a screenshot depicting an Equipment Selection interface
  • Figure 21 is a screenshot depicting a Equipment Daily entry interface where a user assigns hours to each piece of equipment, based on hours used;
  • Figure 22 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Quantities Logging interface
  • Figure 23 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Materials Logging interface
  • Figure 24 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Comments Logging interface
  • Figure 25 is a screenshot depicting a Weekly Comments Logging interface
  • FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing key features of a Dashboard module in an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 27 is a screenshot depicting the Dashboard presentation
  • Figure 28 is a flow chart showing key features of a Project Summary module in an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 29 is a screenshot depicting the Project Summary presentation
  • Figure 30 is an example screenshot of a pie chart for total revised budget man- hours by discipline
  • Figure 31 is an example of a Daily Worker Report, showing a list of workers and/or equipment for a given day;
  • Figure 32 is an example of a Daily Company Tag (Cost Code) Report, showing a list of workers and/or equipment for a given Company Tag (Cost Code);
  • Figure 33 is an example of a Daily Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given day;
  • Figure 34 is an example of a Weekly Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given week;
  • Figure 35 is an example of a Monthly Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given month;
  • Figure 36 is an example of a Scope Variance Report, showing a list of overall project tasks that have had their Budget Quantities and Budget Man-Hours revised;
  • Figure 37 is an example of a Task Report, showing a summary report of detailed information for a specific activity combination in a project as a whole or in a defined area;
  • Figure 38 is an example of a Cost Code Report, showing a summary report of detailed information for a specific client cost code in a project;
  • Figure 39 is an example of a Utilisation Report, showing the degree of utilisation for specific items.
  • Bill of Quantities A bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document used in tendering in the construction industry in which materials, parts, and labour (and their costs) are itemized. It also (ideally) details the terms and conditions of the construction or repair contract and itemizes all work to enable a contractor to price the work for which he or she is bidding.
  • Bill of Quantities is the main type of contract analysed in graphs, charts and reports.
  • the system allows workers to be utilised in both a BOQ and Dayworks contract at the same time.
  • Dayworks Daywork is a means by which a contractor is paid for specifically instructed work on the basis of the cost of labour, materials and plant plus a mark-up for overheads and profit. It is generally used when work cannot be priced in the normal way. Examples of when daywork may be applied are when unforeseen obstructions are encountered during ground works or when work is instructed for which there are no comparative rates in a bill of quantities.
  • a 32 tonne CAT Excavator is given an equipment number of 0001. It may have a Dayworks rate applied directly to it as an individual value, for example $170/hour. Alternatively, if its dollar rate values are left not nominated in the system, a default classification rate may be applied to it because it is classified as a 32 Tonne CAT Excavator, for example $180/hour. Classification rates are set out at the beginning of a project.
  • Bill of quantities rate or "Cost Rate” can then be multiplied by the hours worked and compared to the "Dayworks Rate” or “Claim Rate” totals to display various profit analysis such as:
  • the system as described hereinbelow will also monitor worker & equipment cumulative hours as they cannot, for example, work 10 hours on BOQ and another 10 on the Dayworks.
  • the system terms this as "utilisation" and this type of report shows the breakdown of hours between both contracts.
  • the system may be used to solely track Dayworks or to track Dayworks that occur alongside an existing BOQ project. Materials supplied during a Dayworks contract will usually be charged back to the client. The charge will consist of a cost plus an additional mark-up percentage added on for profit purposes. The system automatically applies this mark-up to items entered in the materials logging under a Dayworks task.
  • a BOQ task requires the following key information:
  • a Dayworks task requires the following key information:
  • Production Factors are a quotient of dividing Spent Man-Hours by Earned Man-Hours and are frequently abbreviated by 'PF'. This is a key metric used in the system with many considerations being based on Production Factors and whether or not the Production Factor for a task or collection of tasks is less than or greater than 1.0. [Examples: I am digging a hole in the ground, 1m deep, 1m wide and 1m high. Therefore 1m 3 of soil is to be removed. I have been allowed 10 hours to complete this task using a shovel. Example 1: 1 take 8 hours to complete the task.
  • Production Rates are a quotient of dividing Spent Man-Hours by Completed Units. The higher the Production Rate is for a task, the less productive the task has been. [Examples: I am digging a hole in the ground, 1m deep, 1m wide and 1m high. Therefore 1m 3 of soil is to be removed. I have been allowed 10 hours to complete this task using a shovel. Therefore the Budgeted Production Rate is 10.0MH/m 3 .
  • Example 3 I take 8 hours to complete the task. My spent is 8, and my completed unit is 1.0m 3 , therefore Production Rate is 8.0MH/m 3 .
  • ViewPro Rates are a quotient of dividing Completed Units by Spent Man- Hours. The higher the ViewPro Rate is for a task, the more productive the task has been. This is an inverse of Production Rate, and is considered to be a more intuitive scale of measurement.
  • Example 5 1 take 8 hours to complete the task. My spent is 8, and my completed unit is 1.0m 3 , therefore ViewPro Rate is 0.125m 3 /M .
  • Example 6 I take 13 hours to complete the task. My spent is 13, and my completed unit is 1.0m 3 , therefore ViewPro Rate is 0.077 m 3 /MH].
  • Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a system 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the system 10 comprises a host server 12 which is accessed remotely by a plurality of users 16 by way of distributed computing network 15.
  • a host server 12 which is accessed remotely by a plurality of users 16 by way of distributed computing network 15.
  • the host server 12 communicates with the distributed computing network 15 via wired or wireless communication channels, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
  • the distributed computing network 15 is the internet; however other LAN networks are also envisaged.
  • Each of the users 16 are connected to the distributed computing network 15 by way of computer devices, such as personal computers (2, 4), mobile phones (8) and/or tablet devices (6). In such an arrangement, the users 16 are able to access the host server 12 to provide and receive information therefrom, as will be discussed in more detail below.
  • the host server 12 is configured to house multiple databases 14 necessary for the proper operation of the methods and systems of the present invention.
  • the host server 12 may comprise any of a number of servers known to those skilled in the art and are intended to be operably connected to the network 15 so as to operably link with each of the plurality of users 16.
  • the server 12 typically includes a central processing unit or CPU that includes one or more microprocessors and memory operably connected to the CPU.
  • the memory can include any combination of random access memory (RAM), a storage medium such as a magnetic hard disk drive(s) and the like.
  • the memory of the server may be used for storing an operating system, databases, software applications and the like for execution on the CPU.
  • the database stores software for processing the data supplied by each of the users 16 in real time and to interpret the data for generating reports and other such information based on the progress/productivity of the project.
  • the system 10 requires various users 16 to collect and transmit real-time information to the host server 12, based upon their predetermined role in the project.
  • Each user 16 is able to access the host server 12 by way of a computer device, such as a standard PC, tablet or mobile phone.
  • Each computer device contains an interface or application that provides a simple means for the remote user 16 to communicate with the central server 12 to collect information tor transmission thereto.
  • This user interface may be a software application stored on the user's electronic device or may be stored on the host server 12 when accessed by the user 16 via their electronic device.
  • the type of user interface available for the user 16 will be largely determined by the position of responsibility of the user 16.
  • FIG. 2 the various types, or tiers, of users 16 of the present invention are depicted, as is typical for a construction site.
  • Tier 5 users generally comprise those workers who perform the physical labour on the construction site. This work can range from manual labour, machine operation, welding and steel fixing, amongst many other things depending on the specific task required to be undertaken.
  • Such Tier 5 users are generally contract workers who may be employed for a given period of time, typically a time sufficient to complete an aspect of the construction that the worker is required to perform.
  • Tier 4 users generally comprise those users that directly supervise the workers in tier 5, and are generally responsible for capturing and entering data into the system. Such supervisors or overseers generally monitor the hours worked by the Tier 5 workers as well as the tasks they perform and the material consumed by the workers as they perform this task. Tier 4 users are generally responsible for ensuring that the workers of Tier 5 are present and productive on a daily basis.
  • Tier 3 users are typically engineers located largely on-site and who oversee and converse with the supervisors in Tier 4 on a daily basis. Such Tier 3 users are able to address issues raised by the Tier 4 issues and are generally responsible for overseeing the work completed and ensuring that this matches with the work recorded by the supervisors in Tier 4. Tier 3 users generally have less contact with the site workers than Tier 4 users but attend site at regular intervals to monitor progress. Hence, Tier 3 users represent the lowest level of management with regular contact with the construction site.
  • Tier 2 users are typically the project managers that receive and review the progress reports from the Engineers in Tier 3 to determine whether budgets and or deadlines are on course or require revision.
  • Tier 2 users can be located onsite or offsite depending upon the project requirement and while offsite are largely reliant on receiving and processing reports from the Tier 3 users to monitor progress and performance of the project.
  • Tier 1 users represent the high level management of the construction project or construction company responsible for the project. Tier 1 management is largely solely reliant on progress reports prepared by the Tier 2 users to ensure that the project is on time and on budget.
  • the system and method is based upon the ongoing tracking and collection of data relating to Man-Hours as they are worked.
  • the system and method of the present invention will also track and collect information on a variety of other aspects of the overall project, such as: date of work performed; area where work is performed; activity undertaken; name of Tier 4 supervisor; name of Tier 5 worker; and the quantity of work completed during any given period.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a representation of the primary functional modules of the system through which users provide and access information related to a project.
  • Each user through their individual electronic computing device, logs into the system (20) to be presented with a home screen (22).
  • a screenshot view of a home screen is shown in Figure 4, which presents the user with access to the various functions, which include: a Project Builder / Editor module (24); a Daily / Weekly Update module (26); a Dashboard module (28); a Project Summary module (30); a Graphs & Charts module (32); and a Reports module (34).
  • the Project Builder / Editor module and the Daily / Weekly Update module are primarily for the purpose of users providing input to the system in relation to a project, whilst the other modules provide various means for analysing and presenting up-to-date information about the state and progress of the project and its operations. The functions and methods involved in the practice of each module are described below.
  • the Project Editor which may also be referred to as "Project Builder", is a key component of the system software.
  • the Project Editor includes a graphical user interface (GUI) which allows users to build projects from scratch, assigning hierarchy and properties to different Tasks.
  • GUI graphical user interface
  • the GUI is a novel interface, designed from first principles to make entering data into the system an easy process.
  • the Project Editor enables a high tier user to establish and edit a project structure and input base data before the project commences as well as during the project.
  • the primary stages involved in building and editing a project according to an embodiment of the present invention are indicated in the chart 50 shown in Figure 5, which include: entering worker details (52), entering equipment details (54), defining project areas (56), defining project activities (58), linking project areas with project activities (60), and establishing various project budgets (62).
  • entering worker and equipment details (52, 54) are shown first in the chart 50, in practice these functions may be completed after the project areas and activities are defined, and updated as the project progresses.
  • the abovementioned processes are accessed by the user through the Project Editor Lobby which contains links to allow users to edit information such as Clients, Projects, Users, Budgets, Workers, Worker Classifications, Worker Logs, Equipment, Equipment Classifications, Equipment Logs, Quantities Logs, Material Logs, Commenting Logs and Weather Logs.
  • a screenshot representation of the Project Editor Lobby 64 is shown in Figure 6
  • Importable or exportable data is unlimited and may include previous project data, or simple project parameters such as tasks and workers.
  • the Project Editor Lobby also enables users to edit raw data on many aspects of the project where required such as editing incorrect hours, updating a quantity, or deleting errors.
  • Workers and Equipment can be entered manually using the project editor entry window or customised CSV templates. Information will include but not be limited to:
  • Areas, SubAreas and SubSubAreas generally represent physical regions or features of the project construction or site. In order to define these, the user is brought to a simple screen with three blank text boxes. Below each text box is an "Add" button. Users are able to fill in a desired Area, SubArea and SubSubArea. Users may then add additional rows to create more Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combinations, etc. Each defined Area may have multiple SubAreas, and each defined SubArea may have multiple SubSubAreas. This results in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure, an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 9.
  • the Areas, SubAreas, and SubSubAreas and their relationships as defined by the user are stored to form a data structure for organising project input data as described hereinbelow. Users may then continue onwards to Activity Builder (second stage) or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
  • Disciplines, SubDisciplines and Activities represent categories of tasks that are to be completed in the construction project.
  • the user is brought to an Activity Builder screen where the process is the same as for the Area Builder screen.
  • the user is again met with three blank text boxes. Below each text box is an "Add" button. Users are able to fill in a desired Discipline, SubDiscipline and Activity using the respective boxes. Users may then add additional rows to create more Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combinations, etc.
  • Each defined Discipline may have multiple SubDisciplines, and each defined SubDiscipline may have multiple Activities. This results in the creation of a horizontal three-level tree structure, an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 10.
  • Disciplines, SubDisciplines and Activities and their relationships as defined by the user are stored to form a data structure for organising project input data as described hereinbelow. Users may then continue onwards to Area/Activity Linking (third stage) or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
  • a Task is a Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combination matched with a corresponding Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combination. Areas/Disciplines are matched by means of a set of dropdown lists which allow users to easily create Tasks.
  • dropdown lists are placed in order as follows: Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity. Dropdown order is not restricted and may reshuffle depending on client requirements.
  • an Add Row button is selected to lock in the Task.
  • Multiple tasks may be created at once as a time saver by selecting multiple activities in the 6 th box. Smart lists are a feature used in the dropdowns so only sub areas linked to an area during the "Area Building" stage may be selected. Additionally, only SubDisciplines linked to a Discipline during the "Activity Building” stage may be selected. This means the tasks created must have predetermined groups of areas and disciplines. For example: an electrical activity (e.g. wiring sockets) cannot be assigned to a civil Discipline & Sub Discipline (e.g. Civil Engineering, Earthworks).
  • the Task(s) information is then written to the database and shown in a table (70) above the six dropdown lists (71-76), an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 1 1. Users may then adjust (Reorder / Filter) the selected Areas/Disciplines in the dropdowns or choose to reset the dropdowns using a reset button. As more Tasks are added to the database, the table grows in size.
  • the table 70 is headed by, but not limited to, seven columns: ID - Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity.
  • the table is sortable by any column, and also contains a search function to allow the user to filter tasks by entering text in a search box. The user may then continue onwards to assigning Project Budgets or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
  • Tasks are presented in similar format to that seen in the Project Summary, which is described hereinbelow.
  • the significance of the Project Summary format is that it is the first place a user gets to see and understand numerically how the project is laid out. Sorting and grouping projects in this manner is a cornerstone feature of the preferred embodiment of the system as described herein.
  • Sorting and grouping projects in this manner is a cornerstone feature of the preferred embodiment of the system as described herein.
  • Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity
  • An example of the Project Budget builder interface is shown in the screenshot of Figure 12. Order may be reshuffled akin to a "Pivot Table" whereby the user can elect to reorder Areas and Disciplines as they desire.
  • An advantage of the system of the present invention is the ability to easily collect detailed data from the users on a daily and/or weekly basis. Such data is real data from the field or site and is processed by the system as it is received. The collection of data on such a regular basis enables the reporting of real-time progress and gives a degree of ownership of the project to the Supervisors & Workers.
  • Tier 4 users will enter data on a daily basis whilst Tier 3 users will review the daily entry and enter additional data into the system on a weekly basis.
  • the user is able to perform a double check and compare the actual estimates to their own.
  • daily entry is performed daily, with additional logging performed on a weekly basis.
  • Daily entry of data into the system may comprise the following:
  • Weekly entry of data into the system may be as follows:
  • the time frame within which the user may log data shall be restricted by what is termed as a 'Daily Entry Window', 'Weekly Entry Window' or 'Monthly Entry Window'.
  • Each client decides the durations of the Daily/Weekly/Monthly Windows. This will decide how far back in time a user may log hours, quantities, comments, weather and materials. This is to ensure that data is collected regularly when information is fresh in the minds of the users.
  • the Daily Entry Window may typically apply to worker and equipment hours, quantities and materials.
  • the Weekly Entry Window may typically apply to comments, engineers' quantities and weather.
  • the monthly Entry Window may typically apply to engineers comments.
  • a progress bar will show on relevant data entry pages to indicate the percentage of time remaining until 'lockout', the point in time when the Window closes.
  • the lobbies may also have a progress bar underneath every link to indicate the amount of time remaining until lockout for that particular section of entry.
  • a countdown timer may also be displayed.
  • Figures 13 to 16 are flow chart diagrams illustrating a procedure whereby a user provides input data to the system of the present invention.
  • the flow chart diagram depicts a method which comprises a series of specific steps to be undertaken by a user at regular intervals, especially tier 4 and 5 users.
  • a flow chart depicting a method 100 for managing daily data entry is depicted. As discussed above, daily data entry is typically performed by a Tier 4 user, namely a supervisor.
  • the user enters their login details in step 101 and is presented to the home screen in step 102, an example of which is shown in Figure 4. From this screen, the user selects icon 26 (Daily & Weekly Entry) in step 103 and is taken to the Daily Entry Lobby at step 104, the interface of which is shown in the screenshot 150 depicted in Figure 17.
  • the Daily Entry Lobby 150 presents the user with a number of different daily data logging options, relating to workers (151 ), equipment (152), quantities (153), weather (154), materials (155) and comments (156).
  • Selecting icon 151 directs the user to the Worker Logging data entry interface (step 105), an example of which is shown in the screenshot 160 depicted in Figure 18.
  • the user selects, from the list of workers defined previously, those workers that the user directly supervises.
  • a worker When a worker is selected as either "Worked” or "R&R”, they will be moved to a Selected Worker list on the right hand side of the screen and their status indicator will notify the worker as either "Worked” or "R&R".
  • a number of workers may be logged in a session to save the user time, because workers will usually be working in crews.
  • the system may also group workers by crew in the "All workers" list. Workers are searchable by means of a search box.
  • Workers may also be assigned to a supervisor and less visible to other supervisors who are not part of the crew. Workers may be faded on the list depending on how many hours they have been logged by the supervisor logging the hours. Workers also appear higher up the list if more hours are logged by the supervisor logging the hours.
  • Niall is a supervisor and works with Bill & Robert, but not Mike and Sarah. When Niall views this list, Bill & Robert will be more prominently shown because they have hours associated with Niall in the last period of time. Mike and Sarah will be on the list, but faded out. If Niall starts working with Mike and stops working with Bill, over the period of time, Bill will be faded and Mike will be more prominent on the list. The list may also be ordered by the amount of hours Niall has logged on each worker.
  • This list is then presented to the user in the manner as shown in the interface 162 depicted in Figure 19, wherein the user then assigns hours to each worker, based on hours worked (step 106), or the user can log hours as Stand-down.
  • step 107 the user then selects the area/activity worked (Task) for each worker using the drop-down lists 163.
  • the user can select from a few "hot topics" 164 which are shortcuts to areas/activities that have been frequently accessed by the users of the system.
  • Hot Topics may be derived by a number of means. Typically, Hot Topics will be generated by the system by analysing the currently selected date and shortlisting a number of tasks based on the selected date. The period of time relating to the selected date will be variable, typically seven days. A short list of tasks with the most hours logged for the period is displayed. Users may choose to pick one of these Hot Topics to save them the effort of manually populating the Area/Activity lists. As the project progresses, certain tasks in the Hot Topics list will come to their natural completion and new tasks will appear in their place.
  • the list may also be generated by other means such as a count of workers and equipment logged to a task for the aforementioned period.
  • tasks may be pre- programmed at the project commencement by referencing to the task properties in the Project Budgets section of the program.
  • NFC Near Field Communications technology
  • each sticker will have the task name written/printed on it Civil- Earthworks-Building1-Footing1 -Base-Excavation etc etc.
  • Stickers will be deployed to site by a high-tier member at the project commencement, or else they will be mailed to site for a project engineer to set up.
  • the stickers will be put on a board in the crib huts/site offices, or in some cases on each level of a building, or on a solid post in suitable places dotted around the site. Workers open a specially built logging app, tap a sticker with their NFC enabled phone/tablet/device, then allocate hours to that task.
  • the sticker may be colour-coded to match its respective Discipline / SubDiscipline / Activity.
  • the user will open the logging app, tap the task sticker of their choice, then log hours to this task. Users will have the ability to select a date (by default, todays date will prefill), enter hours worked, enter hours stand down. The user will also see a table below outlining any other hours they or their supervisor have logged for the selected date, as well as who logged the hours and by what means (i.e. if it was logged in the logging app or via the main web application). Below the table will be a submit button to push the data to the server. If the data fails to reach the server, the application will store the information and re-try when an internet connection is established. The user will be informed of any errors. This concludes the description of the alternative logging method which applies to both workers and equipment.
  • R+R is an abbreviated industry term known as "Rest + Relaxation" off-site, which may be referred to as Rostered Time Off or The Weekend.
  • R+R may automatically log for all workers if defined in the project editor. When a worker is logged as R+R, the system may automatically log them as R+R to a predefined number of days thereafter to cover the standard roster on the project. Key visual indicators are then used to show if a worker has been assigned their predetermined minimum hours for the day.
  • the intent here is to highlight with a Green Tick, Orange Tick or Red '!!!' symbol to help indicate if a person requires further attention before the completion of Daily Worker Logging.
  • the user is taken to a simple page where Area/Discipline dropdowns (also referred to herein as 'Smart Lists') allow users to only log hours to tasks that are relevant to the project and within project budget parameters.
  • a warning or notification may pop up to inform the user they are logging more hours than a pre-defined 'maximum hours threshold' that may be set out at project commencement. This is to try prevent accidental 'double logging' of hours, [e.g. A user tries to log 8 hours for a worker, then later on forgets they have logged the hours and tries again. If the 'maximum hours threshold' of say 12 hours has been exceeded, the system will pop up a warning to check if the user is sure they wish to proceed.]
  • hours When hours are logged they are submitted to the host server (12) instantly.
  • the "Dayworks" selector can be used here to assign hours to a specific Dayworks task. The selector is in place to ensure there is no cross-contamination of hours from Dayworks to Bill of Quantities. Hours logged as Dayworks will not affect any calculation within a Bill of Quantities project.
  • the name of the person logging the worker hours is also collected during this process. This enables traceability of the logged data; the person responsible for logging the data is listed on various reports beside the work they have completed in the system.
  • Selection of icon 152 (Figure 17) directs the user to the equipment logging screen, as depicted in Figure 20.
  • the equipment logging procedure is illustrated in the flow chart diagram of Figure 14.
  • the user first selects the equipment used from the list provided (step 1 10), and then in step 1 1 1 assigns hours of use to each item of equipment or machine selected. Alternatively, the user may assign hours that the machine was stood down or broken down.
  • the user may manually calculate the worked hours, or they may enter the "Machine Hours" generated from the equipment's Hour Meter daily readings, where applicable.
  • the starting machine hours may be automatically populated from the closing machine hours from the previous occasion the machine was logged.
  • Machine hours may be imported automatically from manufacturer tracking databases by means of an API or other similar method.
  • the user also selects the relevant area and activity of use for each machine in step 1 12, the interface for which is shown in the screenshot depicted in Figure 21.
  • the user can select Tasks by way of the Smart Lists or, alternatively, the user can select from a few "Hot Topics" which are shortcuts to areas/activities that have been frequently used recently. Any equipment that has not been working and does not have hours of use allocated against it, will be logged as "Off-Site" for the date of entry, which is the equivalent of the "R&R" function in worker logging. Key visual indicators are then used to show if a piece of equipment/machinery has been assigned their predetermined minimum hours for the day.
  • the intent here is to highlight with a Green Tick, Orange Tick or Red '!!!' to help indicate if a piece of equipment requires further attention before the completion of Daily Equipment Logging.
  • the user is taken to a simple page where Area/Discipline dropdowns (Smart Lists) allow users to only log hours to tasks that are relevant to the project and within project budget parameters.
  • Area/Discipline dropdowns Smart Lists
  • the "Dayworks" selector can be used here to assign hours to a specific Dayworks task. The selector is in place to ensure there is no cross-contamination of hours from Dayworks to Bill of Quantities. Hours logged as Dayworks will not affect any calculation within a Bill of Quantities project.
  • the name of the person logging the Equipment hours is also collected during this process. This enables traceability of the logged data; the person responsible for logging the data is listed on various reports beside the work they have completed.
  • step 120 of the method 100 the user is directed to the quantities logging screen, an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 22.
  • the user selects, from a list of logged tasks performed for that day based on the worker hour logging, a number of said tasks in step 121.
  • the user will land on a page titled "My Tasks" which further shortlists the tasks logged by that specific user in previous screens.
  • My Tasks By clicking "All Tasks", the user may log hours against tasks that other users have logged on that particular day. Alternatively, the user may choose to add their own choice of an unrelated task to this list and log quantities.
  • quantities are assigned to the selected tasks.
  • Step 123 provides an option to assign quantities to tasks that have received no worker hours for the period. Quantities may be logged as actual units or as a percentage complete; the system will calculate the alternative value automatically. A scrollbar or spin button may also be used to increase or decrease the value being entered. When quantities are logged they are submitted to the host server 12 instantly.
  • the user is returned to the Daily Entry Lobby (step 124).
  • the user may be returned to a comments screen where they may be able to make comments on issues that may have arisen on site and/or to capture and record the weather conditions, which is described further below.
  • Users may also elect to log information for Materials while located in the Daily Entry Lobby. Materials must be logged against three levels of areas, with an option to log against the three levels of activity also. Materials logging will be predominantly used in a Dayworks capacity but may also be incorporated into a Bill of Quantities project.
  • the date selector may be used to log historic materials and recorded detail may include, but not be limited to, the following: Description, Supplier, Quantity, Unit and Rate.
  • Users may also elect to log Comments information for Materials by selecting icon 156 from the Daily Entry Lobby interface ( Figure 17).
  • the resulting page (illustrated in Figure 24) will display all Workers, Equipment and Tasks logged for the selected day which acts as a prompt to the user. Comments may logged against, but not be limited to, the following: Major Delays, Minor Delays, Key Progress Points and General Comments.
  • the displayed Workers, Equipment and Tasks can be used to pre-fill the selected comments box to save the user time. Workers and Equipment listed will have additional properties indicating number of hours worked and indicating the tick or '!!!' status as seen in the Worker and Equipment logging stages. LOGGING WEATHER
  • Weather is automatically downloaded from the Bureau of Meteorology website based on the defined location of the project. Manual entry can also be completed and logged information may include, but is not limited to, Type of Day (Sunny / Wet), Ground conditions, Wind, Rainfall (mm) and Maximum Temperature. This page may also include a comments box for specific weather comments.
  • the procedure for Weekly Quantities Logging is similar to that described above for Daily Quantities Logging.
  • the user first logs into the system (201 ) and navigates through the home screen and data entry lobbies (202, 203) to a weekly quantities data entry interface (step 204), an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 25.
  • the engineer is then presented with a list of logged tasks performed for that week based on the worker hours logged during the daily data entry procedures (step 205).
  • quantities are assigned to the selected tasks.
  • the user may also be provided with an option to assign quantities to tasks that have received no worker hours for the period.
  • Quantities may be logged as actual units or as a % complete; the system will calculate the alternative value automatically.
  • a scrollbar or spin button may also be used to increase or decrease the value being entered.
  • quantities are logged they are submitted to the host server 12 instantly (step 207). This then completes the data entry process for Weekly quantities logging. The quantities entered from this section are considered true and accurate, and these govern how many Man-Hours have been earned in a particular task.
  • the system is arranged to automatically communicate to users by a range of methods such as email notifications, push notifications or by other similar conventionally used means. Users may also be automatically notified by the system for other project events such as timesheet completion, poor PF performance, good PF performance, delays, adverse weather warnings, site safety issues. Users may be automatically sent copies of timesheets completed as well as copies of the various other reports in the system, or they may be notified of a means to a quick access portal to these reports and timesheets.
  • Users may also receive notification of the upcoming tasks they have been assigned targets for including minimum rates, % complete goals, PF targets and completion dates. Users can create and assign/nominate tasks to other users i.e. Manager sets weekly goals for a Supervisor. Supervisor logs in and has access to a My Goals section where they are presented with a list of upcoming targets for a given period.
  • the present system has the capacity to process this information in real-time to present graphical analysis and up-to-date reports of progress and productivity to all levels of users.
  • the compiled and processed project information can be presented to users in a variety ways and formats, some of which are described below. It will be appreciated that the user may come from any Tier of the company as shown in Figure 2 and that the information can be used to directly identify progress and responsibility within the overall project. As will be described in more detail below, such information is presented in a simple and easy to understand format that processes the data into a form which can be understood from users across a wide range of experiences.
  • step 221 the user logs in to the system via their personal electronic device.
  • the user may login on a daily basis or numerous times throughout the day as required.
  • the user accesses their laptop or tablet which is typically readily accessible and activates the software stored thereon or logs on to the web based software to facilitate connection with the host server 12.
  • the user will be provided with a secure user ID and password to facilitate a secure login, at which stage the user will be directed to a home screen (step 222), such as the interface 22 of Figure 4. Selecting the icon 28 directs the user to a dashboard interface at step 223, an example of which is depicted in Figure 27.
  • the dashboard screen 230 is customised in accordance with the Tier or level of user or from user preferences where they decide what content they wish to typically display.
  • the Dashboard may be converted to PDF and printed at any point by the user.
  • the Dashboard Interface screen 230 is provided to present a number of key features to the user. These key features include a basic indication of the progress of the project in tabular and graphical form.
  • the dashboard interface 230 may include a dashboard summary table 231 containing key information on the project as a whole and spanning a number of previous weeks.
  • the dashboard summary table contains information about Total Man-Hours Spent, Direct Spent Hours, Earned Hours, colour-coded Production Factors, % complete, % overheads, and average workers per day.
  • the dashboard interface 230 also displays information in the form of pie charts 232 and line charts 233 to show more key data considered relevant to the entire project.
  • the user may print these charts, for example, to discuss with the workers directly in his supervision or with the user's direct manager.
  • the user can then generate a real-time report of the progress and/or productivity of the team the user is responsible for to assess issues that may need attention.
  • the dashboard interface 29 may also enable the user to review work history so as to compare work output from week to week to provide additional information to assess the performance of the team. This may be done by selecting the relevant project week using selector 234.
  • pie charts displayed in the Dashboard interface which may also act as a shortcut link to the relevant pie chart in the Graphs & Charts section (described below), allowing the user to further analyse their chosen pie chart.
  • the pie charts 232 displayed relate to: Spent hours by Area; Spent hours by Discipline; Production Factor by Area; and Production Factor by Discipline.
  • the line charts 233 as shown relate to Production Factor and % Complete over a four week period.
  • the charts relating to PF have proportional segments relating to the amount of Man-Hours spent in that particular Area/Discipline.
  • PF pie charts on the dashboard are coloured Green where the PF value is less than or equal to 1.0, or coloured red if greater than 1.0. This allows a user to quickly see if areas of importance are performing well or not.
  • FIG. 28 Another mode of project information presentation to the user is through the Project Summary interface, the procedure for access to which is outlined in method 240 shown in the flow chart diagram of Figure 28.
  • the Project Summary interface is accessed from the home screen (step 242) by activating the icon 30 ( Figure 4).
  • the user is then presented with a Project Summary interface screen (step 233).
  • An example of a Project Summary screen 250 is depicted in Figure 29.
  • the Project Summary view is a live view of project data collected in relation to the project.
  • the information is shown with respect to areas and activities with column headers including:
  • the Project Summary screen will be customised for the particular user, to display the most relevant information for that user.
  • the user is able to interrogate the information present in the system as the information may be presented in a tabulated form in a collapsed state.
  • the information may be presented with a number of task hierarchy selections 245 which can be selected by the user to determine the specific aspects of the Project they would like to review.
  • the user is able to select various tasks to expand the manner in which the information is presented, or may make individual selections 245.
  • the user is able to select between disciplines such as management / construction / engineering / civil / electrical and the like, as well as between areas of the project, which may vary from floors or levels through to multiple connected sites.
  • disciplines such as management / construction / engineering / civil / electrical and the like
  • areas of the project which may vary from floors or levels through to multiple connected sites.
  • the user is also able to select a specific activity for further information, such as welding / slab forming and the like, and the user can also filter out tasks by discipline or by area, whereby lines in the table may be hidden.
  • Project Summary may be used to view all tasks in the system combined, or to view Bill of Quantities or Dayworks separately.
  • the information is typically provided in a tabulated form under a number of headings 246 that the user may select.
  • the user is able to review the relative information in a customised manner, such as, revised budgets, actual budgets, dollar budgets, dollar rates, as well as various other aspects pertaining to the progress/productivity of the task aspect of the overall project.
  • the Project Summary may be converted to PDF format and printed at any point by the user. It may be printed in any of its 6 collapsible states.
  • tasks in the Project Summary are grouped in the following order: Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity. Order may be reshuffled akin to a "Pivot Table" whereby the user can elect to reorder Areas and Disciplines as they desire.
  • Project Summary headings are interactive and allow the user to relocate columns, hide or show additional data such as showing progress bars in lieu of numerical values. Users may also avail of a search box to find tasks easily.
  • users may also elect to visit a "Meet Your Crew” section from the home screen.
  • This module allows higher level users to inspect various aspects of the workers, & equipment in a project.
  • the "Meet Your Crew” section may be presented like a hierarchy type tree structure where you can see who's on a job, from CEO down to Workers.
  • Information here may include photos, email address, contact number, upcoming roster information, tasks worked on, start/finish date on project, a red/green PF assigned to worker/equipment based on the average PF of the tasks they have contributed hours towards with drilldown functionality, hours worked, discipline/skills, machines that a worker was assigned to, machine hours, qualification tickets & verifications of competencies for equipment, safety statistics & compliances, etc. Not all users may see "Meet Your Crew" or they may only see certain pieces of information. Detailed information such as PF and rostering may only be available to senior, high tier users of the system.
  • Graphs & Charts can be accessed through the home screen or navigation bar and enables all the users to visually understand how the project is progressing without the need to process numbers or interpolate figures. Graphs & Charts can be created across a variety of different aspects of the project, such as: Budget
  • Charts may be interactive and display further relevant information by clicking or hovering on an appropriate area of the chart. Information to include combinations of: Spent/Earned hours, PF, Rates, % complete among others.
  • FIG. 30 An example of a pie chart for total revised budget man-hours by discipline is illustrated in the screenshot shown in Figure 30. Using the dropdown lists, the same metric may be examined for any combination of areas and disciplines down to individual tasks.
  • Line charts will drill down in a similar manner to other charts.
  • the next page will be multiple copies of that chart stacked on top of one another e.g. Civil, Structural, Electrical. If the user then clicks Civil, the line chart presented by default will be for Areas, in a similar order to the default drill down order seen in Project Summary. A user may alter their preferences in the settings menu to rearrange the order in which drill down occurs.
  • Tasks identified as 'Critical Path' in the project budgets can be highlighted in the Graphs & Charts section. Critical path tasks in a project must be completed on time for the project to complete on due date.
  • the present system is able to generate reports for each of the user tiers at daily, weekly, monthly intervals, depending upon the requirements of the user.
  • Reports are generated automatically either on demand or at a set point in a day/week/month. PDF versions can also be automatically generated on demand for specific reports. Report Types are grouped into, but not limited to, four categories:
  • a key feature on the reports is that a user can select and deselect a Dayworks button to view either Bill of Quantities or Dayworks activities / tasks.
  • This report shows a list of workers and/or equipment for a given day, an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 31. Key features are:
  • An example of a Scope Variance report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 36.
  • FIG. 38 An example of a Cost Code report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 38.
  • the function of Utilisation Reports is to show the degree of utilisation for specific items and highlight if an asset is not being used to its full potential. All items are assigned minimum hours for a given month and the spent/worked hours are compared to this value allowing for Breakdown & R+R/'Off-site'. Users may click on a piece of equipment or a worker in the Utilisation report to get a detailed historical set of charts that visually portrays their utilisation and other useful information. An example of a Utilisation report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 39.
  • a very useful report is to report the quantity completed by a prime machine, for example the number of cubic metres of material moved per hour by an excavator (regardless of the quantity of trucks). This enables the user to see if the machine is being under productive, for example requiring the allocation of more trucks. On the other hand, for example, if the prime machine is already working at capacity there's no point in sending any more trucks.
  • an allocate Prime Resource button wherein the total quantity entered against that activity is divided by the hours works and compared to a target returning an under / over production in a separate report.
  • system and method of the present invention provides for a simple and effective means for not only collecting data relating to a construction project, but also processing the data in real time and making the data available to all users of the system in a customised and useful way.
  • Such a system and method ensures that individual users and groups of users take ownership in the progress of a project and share in the overall productivity.
  • process means any process, algorithm, method or the like, unless expressly specified otherwise.
  • Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise) inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore all references to a "step” or “steps" of a process have an inherent antecedent basis in the mere recitation of the term 'process' or a like term. Accordingly, any reference in a claim to a 'step' or 'steps' of a process has sufficient antecedent basis.
  • invention and the like mean "the one or more inventions disclosed in this specification", unless expressly specified otherwise.
  • the phrase "at least one of”, when such phrase modifies a plurality of things means any combination of one or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise.
  • the phrase "at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel” means either (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car, (v) a widget and a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, a car and a wheel.
  • the phrase "at least one of”, when such phrase modifies a plurality of things does not mean "one of each of" the plurality of things.
  • Numerical terms such as “one”, “two”, etc. when used as cardinal numbers to indicate quantity of something mean the quantity indicated by that numerical term, but do not mean at least the quantity indicated by that numerical term.
  • the phrase “one widget” does not mean “at least one widget”, and therefore the phrase “one widget” does not cover, e.g., two widgets.
  • any given numerical range shall include whole and fractions of numbers within the range.
  • the range "1 to 10" shall be interpreted to specifically include whole numbers between 1 and 10 (e.g., 2, 3, 4, . . . 9) and non-whole numbers (e.g., 1.1 ,
  • determining and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., to determine a price, determining a value, determine an object which meets a certain criterion) is used in an extremely broad sense.
  • the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and therefore “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.
  • determining can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like.
  • determining can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.
  • the term “determining” does not imply certainty or absolute precision, and therefore “determining” can include estimating, extrapolating, predicting, guessing and the like.
  • determining does not imply that any particular device must be used. For example, a computer need not necessarily perform the determining.
  • indication is used in an extremely broad sense.
  • the term “indication” may, among other things, encompass a sign, symptom, or token of something else.
  • indication may be used to refer to any indicia and/or other information indicative of or associated with a subject, item, entity, and/or other object and/or idea.
  • phrases "information indicative of and “indicia” may be used to refer to any information that represents, describes, and/or is otherwise associated with a related entity, subject, or object.
  • Indicia of information may include, for example, a code, a reference, a link, a signal, an identifier, and/or any combination thereof and/or any other informative representation associated with the information.
  • indicia of information may be or include the information itself and/or any portion or component of the information.
  • an indication may include a request, a solicitation, a broadcast, and/or any other form of information gathering and/or dissemination.
  • the mere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term “widget” (1 ) does not indicate that either widget comes before or after any other in order or location; (2) does not indicate that either widget occurs or acts before or after any other in time; and (3) does not indicate that either widget ranks above or below any other, as in importance or quality.
  • the mere usage of ordinal numbers does not define a numerical limit to the features identified with the ordinal numbers.
  • the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first” and “second” before the term “widget” does not indicate that there must be no more than two widgets.
  • a single device/article may alternatively be used in place of the more than one device or article that is described.
  • a plurality of computer- based devices may be substituted with a single computer-based device.
  • the various functionality that is described as being possessed by more than one device or article may alternatively be possessed by a single device/article.
  • the functionality and/or the features of a single device that is described may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are described but are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features.
  • other embodiments need not include the described device itself, but rather can include the one or more other devices which would, in those other embodiments, have such functionality/features.
  • Devices that are described as in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to each other as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain from exchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine in communication with another machine via the Internet may not transmit data to the other machine for long period of time (e.g. weeks at a time). In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
  • process may be described singly or without reference to other products or methods, in an embodiment the process may interact with other products or methods.
  • interaction may include linking one business model to another business model.
  • Such interaction may be provided to enhance the flexibility or desirability of the process.
  • a product may be described as including a plurality of components, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, that does not indicate that any or all of the plurality are preferred, essential or required.
  • Various other embodiments within the scope of the described invention(s) include other products that omit some or all of the described plurality.
  • An enumerated list of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.
  • an enumerated list of items does not imply that any or all of the items are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specified otherwise.
  • the enumerated list "a computer, a laptop, a PDA" does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list are mutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list are comprehensive of any category.
  • a processor e.g., one or more microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digital signal processors
  • a processor will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory or like device), and execute those instructions, thereby performing one or more processes defined by those instructions.
  • a "processor” means one or more microprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or like devices or any combination thereof.
  • a description of a process is likewise a description of an apparatus for performing the process.
  • the apparatus that performs the process can include, e.g., a processor and those input devices and output devices that are appropriate to perform the process.
  • programs that implement such methods may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable media) in a number of manners.
  • media e.g., computer readable media
  • hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, some or all of the software instructions that can implement the processes of various embodiments.
  • various combinations of hardware and software may be used instead of software only.
  • Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory.
  • Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes the main memory.
  • Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor.
  • Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications.
  • RF radio frequency
  • IR infrared
  • Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
  • data may be (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over a wireless transmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmitted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet (or IEEE 802.3), SAP, ATP, BluetoothTM, and TCP/IP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G; and/or (iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of a variety of ways well known in the art.
  • a description of a process is likewise a description of a computer- readable medium storing a program for performing the process.
  • the computer-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) those program elements which are appropriate to perform the method.
  • an apparatus includes a computer/computing device operable to perform some (but not necessarily all) of the described process.
  • a computer-readable medium storing a program or data structure include a computer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, can cause a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of the described process.
  • databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to those described may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structures besides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations or descriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrative arrangements for stored representations of information. Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g., tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustrated entries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content of the entries can be different from those described herein. Further, despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats (including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributed databases) could be used to store and manipulate the data types described herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a database can be used to implement various processes, such as the described herein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be stored locally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such a database.
  • Various embodiments can be configured to work in a network environment including a computer that is in communication (e.g., via a communications network) with one or more devices.
  • the computer may communicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired or wireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, a telephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communications line, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, a satellite communications link, a combination of any of the above).
  • Each of the devices may themselves comprise computers or other computing devices that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any number and type of devices may be in communication with the computer.
  • a server computer or centralized authority may not be necessary or desirable.
  • the present invention may, in an embodiment, be practiced on one or more devices without a central authority.
  • any functions described herein as performed by the server computer or data described as stored on the server computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or more such devices.
  • the process may operate without any user intervention.
  • the process includes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or with the assistance of a human).
  • a limitation of the claim which does not include the phrase “means for” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. ⁇ 1 12, paragraph 6 does not apply to that limitation, regardless of whether that limitation recites a function without recitation of structure, material or acts for performing that function.
  • the mere use of the phrase “step of” or the phrase “steps of in referring to one or more steps of the claim or of another claim does not mean that 35 U.S.C. ⁇ 112, paragraph 6, applies to that step(s).
  • Computers, processors, computing devices and like products are structures that can perform a wide variety of functions. Such products can be operable to perform a specified function by executing one or more programs, such as a program stored in a memory device of that product or in a memory device which that product accesses. Unless expressly specified otherwise, such a program need not be based on any particular algorithm, such as any particular algorithm that might be disclosed in the present application. It is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art that a specified function may be implemented via different algorithms, and any of a number of different algorithms would be a mere design choice for carrying out the specified function.
  • structure corresponding to a specified function includes any product programmed to perform the specified function.
  • Such structure includes programmed products which perform the function, regardless of whether such product is programmed with (i) a disclosed algorithm for performing the function, (ii) an algorithm that is similar to a disclosed algorithm, or (iii) a different algorithm for performing the function.

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Abstract

A method and system are provided for real-time monitoring and management of a construction project. The system includes a host server for receiving and processing data, a plurality of remote computer devices configured to facilitate communication with the host server, each of the devices being capable of obtaining data from a construction site in relation to workers and equipment usage and to transmit the data to the host server for processing. The host server comprises an interface configured to communicate with each remote computer device so as to coordinate the receipt of said data therefrom and for processing and storing said data.

Description

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2014901421 in the name of ViewPro Pty Ltd, which was filed on 17 April 2014, entitled "Project Management System and Method" and to Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2015900286 in the name of ViewPro Pty Ltd, which was filed on 30 January 2015, entitled "Project Management System and Method" and the specifications thereof are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to a system and method for managing and coordinating projects comprising numerous tasks and participants.
[0003] It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention in relation to a system and method for managing and coordinating construction projects that provides participants from all levels of management with real time information about the state of the construction project and the performance of the various participants, however it should be appreciated that the present invention is not necessarily limited to that application only.
BACKGROUND ART
[0004] Construction projects, such as residential and commercial constructions, including mining, are difficult projects to manage and coordinate due mainly to the need for multiple stages to be performed by a variety of different groups of individuals possessing various skills. Such construction projects are even further complicated where the construction site is in a remote location, as is often the case in mining situations.
[0005] Typically, construction projects employ a variety of contractors to perform a variety of tasks, with the commencement of one task often being reliant upon the completion of one or more previous tasks. By way of example, in the construction of a building, it is required that the foundations be set and established prior to the pouring of a concrete slab. Hence, a delay in one stage of construction will lead to delays in later stages and an ultimate delay in the completion date of construction, which is undesirable.
[0006] Most construction sites typically employ individuals across a variety of levels. A first level may relate to the manual workers employed to physically perform individual construction tasks, such as carpenters, bricklayers and the like. Above this layer may be provided the on-site supervisors who oversee the manual workers to ensure that the work is being performed in accordance with the construction plans and to report on progress. The next level of employees typically includes the engineers who review information supplied by the supervisors and monitor the physical work to address issues as they arise on-site and to provide higher level reports on progress. In the level above the engineers project planners are provided to review the actual progress and performance of the project against the planned progress and performance, to ensure that the project is staying within budget limits and to address issues if the reports indicate problems requiring action. The final level of individual involved in a construction project is typically the Director/CEO/Management that provides overall control to all the levels of employees and is ultimately responsible for completing the project on time and on budget.
[0007] As will be appreciated, due to the various levels of management present within a construction project, management and coordination of the various individuals is difficult. For manual workers and their supervisors, it is often difficult to obtain feedback on their progress and their individual productivity within the overall project due to their finite role within the team structure. Thus, if their progress is not optimal or their productivity reduces, this may not become evident until the completion of their involvement in the project, which is often too late for those individuals to address the issues.
[0008] To assist in management of such projects, real-time management programs and software packages have been proposed. However, these programs and packages are typically developed for use by upper management levels that oversee the construction projects and have little involvement with the actual workers and supervisors on site. Similarly, intrinsic with such management programs and packages is the lag time that often exists between a problem or issue occurring and the effect that problem/issue may have on the project. Hence, by the time a problem/issue is identified it is no longer possible to correct or address the problem/issues but rather adjustments are made to future tasks to take into account such issues. This can then have a "knock- on" effect to the completion date and budget of the project. Hence, most existing project management software and packages deal more with addressing the effect of problems after they arise rather than real-time identification and handling of problems.
[0009] Thus, there is a need to provide a system and method for managing a construction project in real-time that incorporates direct and regular feedback from workers on site and their supervisors and which processes this information in real time to place responsibility and ownership of the project across the employees rather than merely at an upper management level.
[0010] It is to be appreciated that any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification has been included to explain the context of the present invention. Further, the discussion throughout this specification comes about due to certain realisations by the inventor(s) and/or the identification of related art problems by the inventor(s). Moreover, any discussion of material such as documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention in terms of the inventor's knowledge and experience and, accordingly, any such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any of the material forms part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art in Australia, or elsewhere, on or before the priority date of the disclosure and claims herein.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[001 1] The invention according to one or more aspects is as defined in the independent claims. Some optional and/or preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.
[0012] Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention there is provided a system for realtime monitoring and management of a construction project comprising: a host server for receiving and processing data; a plurality of remote computer devices configured to facilitate communication with the host server, each of the devices being capable of obtaining data from a construction site in relation to workers and equipment usage and to transmit said data to the host server for processing; wherein the host server comprises an interface configured to communicate with each remote computer device so as to coordinate the receipt of said data therefrom and for processing and storing said data.
[0013] In an embodiment of the invention, the host server includes database storage arranged with a data structure having: a plurality of defined areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project; a plurality of defined activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project; and a plurality of defined tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities; and wherein data obtained from the construction site regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site is stored in the database against corresponding said defined tasks.
[0014] In another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of real-time monitoring and management of a construction project comprising: receiving daily data regarding worker activity and equipment usage on a construction site; processing said data upon receipt to generate a continuously updated plurality of reports incorporating said received data; providing access to said reports in accordance with a predetermined level of authority within a construction company.
[0015] In one form of the invention the method includes: defining a plurality of areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project; defining a plurality of activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project; defining a plurality of tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities; and recording data regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site against said plurality of defined tasks.
[0016] The method may further include: assigning respective budget quantities for said plurality of tasks; assigning respective budget man-hours based on the assigned budget quantities for said plurality of tasks; determining man-hours spent on a said task from received data; and reporting a production factor metric for said task based on a ratio of man-hours spent to budget man-hours.
[0017] Further scope of applicability of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosure herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] Further disclosure, objects, advantages and aspects of preferred and other embodiments of the present application may be better understood by those skilled in the relevant art by reference to the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure herein, and in which:
Figure 1 is a simplified block diagram of a system constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a chart showing the hierarchy of users of the system of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the primary functional components of an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 is a sample view of a login screen in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the an example of process steps involved in initial set-up of a project in an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 6 is a screenshot representation of the Project Editor Lobby;
Figure 7 & 8 are screenshot representations of the user interface screens provided by the system for entering new worker details and new equipment details;
Figure 9 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Area / SubArea / SubSubArea linking, resulting in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure;
Figure 10 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Discipline / SubDiscipline / Activity linking, resulting in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure;
Figure 11 is a screenshot depicting an interface for Area/Discipline linking;
Figure 12 is a screenshot depicting the Project Budget builder interface
Figure 13 to 16 are flow chart diagrams illustrating a procedure whereby users provides input data to the system in an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 17 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Entry Lobby interface;
Figure 18 is a screenshot depicting a Worker Selection interface; Figure 19 is a screenshot depicting a Worker Daily entry interface where a user assigns hours to each worker, based on hours worked;
Figure 20 is a screenshot depicting an Equipment Selection interface;
Figure 21 is a screenshot depicting a Equipment Daily entry interface where a user assigns hours to each piece of equipment, based on hours used;
Figure 22 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Quantities Logging interface;
Figure 23 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Materials Logging interface;
Figure 24 is a screenshot depicting a Daily Comments Logging interface;
Figure 25 is a screenshot depicting a Weekly Comments Logging interface;
Figure 26 is a flow chart showing key features of a Dashboard module in an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 27 is a screenshot depicting the Dashboard presentation;
Figure 28 is a flow chart showing key features of a Project Summary module in an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 29 is a screenshot depicting the Project Summary presentation;
Figure 30 is an example screenshot of a pie chart for total revised budget man- hours by discipline;
Figure 31 is an example of a Daily Worker Report, showing a list of workers and/or equipment for a given day;
Figure 32 is an example of a Daily Company Tag (Cost Code) Report, showing a list of workers and/or equipment for a given Company Tag (Cost Code);
Figure 33 is an example of a Daily Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given day;
Figure 34 is an example of a Weekly Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given week;
Figure 35 is an example of a Monthly Quantities Report, showing a list of task quantities, Man-Hours & Dollar rates for a given month;
Figure 36 is an example of a Scope Variance Report, showing a list of overall project tasks that have had their Budget Quantities and Budget Man-Hours revised;
Figure 37 is an example of a Task Report, showing a summary report of detailed information for a specific activity combination in a project as a whole or in a defined area;
Figure 38 is an example of a Cost Code Report, showing a summary report of detailed information for a specific client cost code in a project; Figure 39 is an example of a Utilisation Report, showing the degree of utilisation for specific items.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] An embodiment including preferred features of the present invention in relation to its application for use in the management of a construction project, such as a mining construction project, is described hereinbelow with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the features illustrated in and described with reference to the drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of the invention. In particular, it will be appreciated that the present invention could be equally employed across a variety of different construction projects, either residential or commercial construction, or any project that requires the management and coordination of multiple individuals/teams to perform a variety of tasks.
[0020] An embodiment of the present invention is described hereinbelow in the form of a system and method of real-time monitoring and management of a construction project. The system and method is intended to enable monitoring of man-hours and equipment usage, and their associated costs, whilst the project is actually in progress so that reactive and proactive management can be applied. Several concepts are first introduced for ease of explanation in the detailed description that follows.
[0021] There are two types of contract processed by the system, "Bill of Quantities" and "Dayworks". These are common industry terms to differentiate between their various characteristics. A single project (e.g. a new rail bridge) may have both types of contract running on it, with workers sharing their time between both.
[0022] "Bill of Quantities": A bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document used in tendering in the construction industry in which materials, parts, and labour (and their costs) are itemized. It also (ideally) details the terms and conditions of the construction or repair contract and itemizes all work to enable a contractor to price the work for which he or she is bidding.
[0023] In the system described hereinbelow, Bill of Quantities, or BOQ, is the main type of contract analysed in graphs, charts and reports. The system allows workers to be utilised in both a BOQ and Dayworks contract at the same time. [0024] "Dayworks": Daywork is a means by which a contractor is paid for specifically instructed work on the basis of the cost of labour, materials and plant plus a mark-up for overheads and profit. It is generally used when work cannot be priced in the normal way. Examples of when daywork may be applied are when unforeseen obstructions are encountered during ground works or when work is instructed for which there are no comparative rates in a bill of quantities.
[0025] Dayworks tasks must be separated from BOQ tasks as the hours spent on Dayworks must be charged for separately. Any Dayworks hours also cannot be included in the BOQ data as it will affect Production Factors and other calculations (described below).
[0026] Items recorded in Dayworks may have a different rate applied to the hours worked than in the BOQ tasks. This rate will be established at the Worker & Equipment set up stage (described below) and will be known as "Dayworks Rate" or "Claim Rate". The rate may be applied directly to the Item number or the overall classification such as Carpenter, 32 tonne excavator or Ute.
[0027] For example: A 32 tonne CAT Excavator is given an equipment number of 0001. It may have a Dayworks rate applied directly to it as an individual value, for example $170/hour. Alternatively, if its dollar rate values are left not nominated in the system, a default classification rate may be applied to it because it is classified as a 32 Tonne CAT Excavator, for example $180/hour. Classification rates are set out at the beginning of a project.
[0028] The Bill of quantities rate or "Cost Rate" can then be multiplied by the hours worked and compared to the "Dayworks Rate" or "Claim Rate" totals to display various profit analysis such as:
• Profit % per Item
• Profit % per Classification
• Profit % per Area
[0029] The system as described hereinbelow will also monitor worker & equipment cumulative hours as they cannot, for example, work 10 hours on BOQ and another 10 on the Dayworks. The system terms this as "utilisation" and this type of report shows the breakdown of hours between both contracts. [0030] For this reason they must be separate but are also related. The system may be used to solely track Dayworks or to track Dayworks that occur alongside an existing BOQ project. Materials supplied during a Dayworks contract will usually be charged back to the client. The charge will consist of a cost plus an additional mark-up percentage added on for profit purposes. The system automatically applies this mark-up to items entered in the materials logging under a Dayworks task.
[0031] A BOQ task requires the following key information:
• An Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combination
• A Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combination
• An assigned Budget Quantity
• An assigned Budget Man-Hour
[0032] The following are optional extra pieces of information that may be entered for BOQ tasks:
• An assigned Dollar Value for the task or alternatively an assigned "Dollar Rate" per unit. "Dollar Rate" is linked to Revised Budget Quantity, so any changes to Budget Quantity are multiplied by the Dollar Rate to update the Overall Dollar Value of the task. Budget Rates remain the same throughout the project.
• An assigned "Show Dollar Rate" property (whether or not Dollar Rates are shown on reports and Project Summary).
• An assigned "Overhead" property (determining if a tasks hours get counted towards the overall performance related figures analysed throughout the project).
• An assigned "Variation" property (determining if a task shows up in a "Variation" report).
[0033] A Dayworks task requires the following key information:
• An Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combination.
• A Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combination.
• An assigned Dollar Value for the task or alternatively an assigned "Dollar Rate" per unit. Dayworks Dollar Value is not affected by quantity increases or decreases.
• An assigned "Show Dollar Rate" property (whether or not Dollar Rates are shown on reports and Project Summary). [0034] The following are optional extra pieces of information that may be entered for Dayworks tasks:
• An assigned Budget Quantity
• An assigned Budget Man-Hour
• An assigned Overhead" property (determining if a tasks hours get counted towards the overall performance related figures analysed throughout the project).
• An assigned "Variation" property (determining if a task shows up in a "Variation" report).
[0035] "Production Factors" are a quotient of dividing Spent Man-Hours by Earned Man-Hours and are frequently abbreviated by 'PF'. This is a key metric used in the system with many considerations being based on Production Factors and whether or not the Production Factor for a task or collection of tasks is less than or greater than 1.0. [Examples: I am digging a hole in the ground, 1m deep, 1m wide and 1m high. Therefore 1m3 of soil is to be removed. I have been allowed 10 hours to complete this task using a shovel. Example 1: 1 take 8 hours to complete the task. My spent hours are 8, earned is 10 (this is the set budget Man-Hours), therefore PF = 0.8 (this would be marked as green in the associated report). Example 2: I take 13 hours to complete the task. My spent hours are 13, earned is still 10, therefore PF - 1.3 (marked as red in the associated report)].
[0036] "Production Rates" are a quotient of dividing Spent Man-Hours by Completed Units. The higher the Production Rate is for a task, the less productive the task has been. [Examples: I am digging a hole in the ground, 1m deep, 1m wide and 1m high. Therefore 1m3 of soil is to be removed. I have been allowed 10 hours to complete this task using a shovel. Therefore the Budgeted Production Rate is 10.0MH/m3. Example 3: I take 8 hours to complete the task. My spent is 8, and my completed unit is 1.0m3, therefore Production Rate is 8.0MH/m3. Example 4: 1 take 13 hours to complete the task. My spent is 13, and my completed unit is 1.0m3, therefore Production Rate is 13.0MH/m3.]
[0037] "ViewPro Rates" are a quotient of dividing Completed Units by Spent Man- Hours. The higher the ViewPro Rate is for a task, the more productive the task has been. This is an inverse of Production Rate, and is considered to be a more intuitive scale of measurement. [Examples: I am digging a hole in the ground, 1m deep, 1m wide and 1m high. Therefore 1m3 of soil is to be removed. I have been allowed 10 hours to complete this task using a shovel. Therefore the Budgeted ViewPro Rate is 0.1m3/MH. Example 5: 1 take 8 hours to complete the task. My spent is 8, and my completed unit is 1.0m3, therefore ViewPro Rate is 0.125m3 /M . Example 6: I take 13 hours to complete the task. My spent is 13, and my completed unit is 1.0m3, therefore ViewPro Rate is 0.077 m3/MH].
[0038] Now referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a system 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In essence, the system 10 comprises a host server 12 which is accessed remotely by a plurality of users 16 by way of distributed computing network 15. It will be appreciated that the following discussion describes one structure of such a system 10, but variations to the system 10, as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, are also envisaged.
[0039] The host server 12 communicates with the distributed computing network 15 via wired or wireless communication channels, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In a preferred embodiment, the distributed computing network 15 is the internet; however other LAN networks are also envisaged. Each of the users 16 are connected to the distributed computing network 15 by way of computer devices, such as personal computers (2, 4), mobile phones (8) and/or tablet devices (6). In such an arrangement, the users 16 are able to access the host server 12 to provide and receive information therefrom, as will be discussed in more detail below.
[0040] As will be appreciated, the host server 12 is configured to house multiple databases 14 necessary for the proper operation of the methods and systems of the present invention. The host server 12 may comprise any of a number of servers known to those skilled in the art and are intended to be operably connected to the network 15 so as to operably link with each of the plurality of users 16. The server 12 typically includes a central processing unit or CPU that includes one or more microprocessors and memory operably connected to the CPU. The memory can include any combination of random access memory (RAM), a storage medium such as a magnetic hard disk drive(s) and the like. The memory of the server may be used for storing an operating system, databases, software applications and the like for execution on the CPU. As will be discussed in more detail below, in a preferred embodiment, the database stores software for processing the data supplied by each of the users 16 in real time and to interpret the data for generating reports and other such information based on the progress/productivity of the project.
[0041] As will be discussed in more detail below, the system 10 requires various users 16 to collect and transmit real-time information to the host server 12, based upon their predetermined role in the project. Each user 16 is able to access the host server 12 by way of a computer device, such as a standard PC, tablet or mobile phone. Each computer device contains an interface or application that provides a simple means for the remote user 16 to communicate with the central server 12 to collect information tor transmission thereto. This user interface may be a software application stored on the user's electronic device or may be stored on the host server 12 when accessed by the user 16 via their electronic device. As will be discussed in more detail below, the type of user interface available for the user 16 will be largely determined by the position of responsibility of the user 16.
[0042] Referring to Figure 2, the various types, or tiers, of users 16 of the present invention are depicted, as is typical for a construction site.
[0043] Tier 5 users generally comprise those workers who perform the physical labour on the construction site. This work can range from manual labour, machine operation, welding and steel fixing, amongst many other things depending on the specific task required to be undertaken. Such Tier 5 users are generally contract workers who may be employed for a given period of time, typically a time sufficient to complete an aspect of the construction that the worker is required to perform.
[0044] Tier 4 users generally comprise those users that directly supervise the workers in tier 5, and are generally responsible for capturing and entering data into the system. Such supervisors or overseers generally monitor the hours worked by the Tier 5 workers as well as the tasks they perform and the material consumed by the workers as they perform this task. Tier 4 users are generally responsible for ensuring that the workers of Tier 5 are present and productive on a daily basis.
[0045] Tier 3 users are typically engineers located largely on-site and who oversee and converse with the supervisors in Tier 4 on a daily basis. Such Tier 3 users are able to address issues raised by the Tier 4 issues and are generally responsible for overseeing the work completed and ensuring that this matches with the work recorded by the supervisors in Tier 4. Tier 3 users generally have less contact with the site workers than Tier 4 users but attend site at regular intervals to monitor progress. Hence, Tier 3 users represent the lowest level of management with regular contact with the construction site.
[0046] Tier 2 users are typically the project managers that receive and review the progress reports from the Engineers in Tier 3 to determine whether budgets and or deadlines are on course or require revision. Tier 2 users can be located onsite or offsite depending upon the project requirement and while offsite are largely reliant on receiving and processing reports from the Tier 3 users to monitor progress and performance of the project. Similarly, Tier 1 users represent the high level management of the construction project or construction company responsible for the project. Tier 1 management is largely solely reliant on progress reports prepared by the Tier 2 users to ensure that the project is on time and on budget.
[0047] In this regard, conventional project management software and tools have been directed towards providing Tier 1 and 2 users with the ability to oversee the progress of the construction project. As such, Tier 3 - 5 users have been largely overlooked in providing tools to monitor their progress and productivity, relying largely on feedback from the Tier 1 and 2 users.
[0048] In accordance with the present invention and in the construction industry in general, progress and performance is generally measured through two main currencies: "Dollars" and/or "Hours" ("Man-Hours"), both of which are typically interrelated. The type of currency measurement applicable to the specific construction project will vary depending upon the project being undertaken. However, in general terms Hours is the most important piece of data that is tracked within a construction project in order to measure performance of that project. In this regard, a typical construction project will generally be assessed and have assigned to it a Man-Hour Budget that dictates how much time may be spent on various tasks within the project. In this regard, if an individual task uses more Man-Hours than was originally budgeted at the commencement of the project, this will result in the construction company taking a loss on their profit.
[0049] In accordance with the present system and method, the system and method is based upon the ongoing tracking and collection of data relating to Man-Hours as they are worked. The system and method of the present invention will also track and collect information on a variety of other aspects of the overall project, such as: date of work performed; area where work is performed; activity undertaken; name of Tier 4 supervisor; name of Tier 5 worker; and the quantity of work completed during any given period.
[0050] As will be appreciated from the description provided below, by collecting such information in real time in a simple and convenient form, all tiers of users of the company are able to view progress and productivity, as the project is developing. This will allow groups of users to quickly identify and react to instances where progress is faltering and seek remedies to address this, or make it known to upper management tiers.
[0051] Figure 3 illustrates a representation of the primary functional modules of the system through which users provide and access information related to a project. Each user, through their individual electronic computing device, logs into the system (20) to be presented with a home screen (22). A screenshot view of a home screen is shown in Figure 4, which presents the user with access to the various functions, which include: a Project Builder / Editor module (24); a Daily / Weekly Update module (26); a Dashboard module (28); a Project Summary module (30); a Graphs & Charts module (32); and a Reports module (34). The Project Builder / Editor module and the Daily / Weekly Update module are primarily for the purpose of users providing input to the system in relation to a project, whilst the other modules provide various means for analysing and presenting up-to-date information about the state and progress of the project and its operations. The functions and methods involved in the practice of each module are described below.
[0052] In general, use of the system to monitor and manage a construction project first requires some information and structure about the project plan and parameters to be provided, which is accomplished through use of the Project Builder / Editor module (24). This would typically be completed before commencement of the construction project itself. Then, whilst the project is underway, users (particularly those on site, such as Tier 4 and Tier 5 users) undertake a series of specific steps at regular intervals (e.g. each day) in order to provide updated information to the system as to progress of the project and related parameters and metrics for individual tasks. This then allows all those users with supervisory and oversight responsibilities, from Tier 4 up to Tier 1 , to utilise the Dashboard, Project Summary, Graphs & Charts, and Reports functions to generate and display up-to-date information about progress of the project and its various aspects. Project Builder / Editor
[0053] The Project Editor, which may also be referred to as "Project Builder", is a key component of the system software. The Project Editor includes a graphical user interface (GUI) which allows users to build projects from scratch, assigning hierarchy and properties to different Tasks. The GUI is a novel interface, designed from first principles to make entering data into the system an easy process.
[0054] Not all users will have access to this area: ordinary workers, for example, will have not have access to this function. Supervisors will be able to deactivate or add new workers & equipment. Engineers and Project Managers and most members in tiers above will have access to most of the features. CEO level users will have greater access to certain reports such as costs and variance. A universal user privilege system will allocate allowable access to the various sections of the product.
PROJECT EDITOR LOBBY
[0055] The Project Editor enables a high tier user to establish and edit a project structure and input base data before the project commences as well as during the project. The primary stages involved in building and editing a project according to an embodiment of the present invention are indicated in the chart 50 shown in Figure 5, which include: entering worker details (52), entering equipment details (54), defining project areas (56), defining project activities (58), linking project areas with project activities (60), and establishing various project budgets (62). Although the processes for entering worker and equipment details (52, 54) are shown first in the chart 50, in practice these functions may be completed after the project areas and activities are defined, and updated as the project progresses.
[0056] In the system of the preferred embodiment the abovementioned processes are accessed by the user through the Project Editor Lobby which contains links to allow users to edit information such as Clients, Projects, Users, Budgets, Workers, Worker Classifications, Worker Logs, Equipment, Equipment Classifications, Equipment Logs, Quantities Logs, Material Logs, Commenting Logs and Weather Logs. A screenshot representation of the Project Editor Lobby 64 is shown in Figure 6
[0057] Much of this data may be easily imported and exported by CSV data, or other database editing packages, or through a linked API to other compatible software packages. Importable or exportable data is unlimited and may include previous project data, or simple project parameters such as tasks and workers. The Project Editor Lobby also enables users to edit raw data on many aspects of the project where required such as editing incorrect hours, updating a quantity, or deleting errors.
[0058] At the top of the lobby are links to the four key stages to building a project:
• Area Builder (56)
• Activity Builder (58)
• Area / Activity Linking (60)
• Project Budgets (62)
[0059] The procedural steps involved in establishing a project structure according to the stages outlined in Figure 5 are explained below.
WORKER AND EQUIPMENT ENTRY
[0060] Workers and Equipment can be entered manually using the project editor entry window or customised CSV templates. Information will include but not be limited to:
Worker Setup:
• Name, Surname
• Project, Company, Classification
• Default Discipline
• Min Hours, Unit
• Active (Deselect to remove from ViewPro daily entry lists)
• Standard threshold, 1.5 Overtime threshold, Double overtime threshold
• BOQ Regular rate worked/standdown
• BOQ Overtime rate worked/standdown
• BOQ Double time rate worked/standdown
• DW Regular rate worked/standdown
• DW Overtime rate worked/standdown
• DW Double time rate worked/standdown
Equipment Setup:
• Equipment Number, Equipment Name • Project, Company, Classification
• Default Discipline
• Min Hours, Unit
• Active (Deselect to remove from viewpro daily entry lists)
• Standard threshold, 1.5 Overtime threshold, Double overtime threshold
• BOQ Regular rate worked/standdown
• BOQ Overtime rate worked/standdown
• BOQ Double time rate worked/standdown
• DW Regular rate worked/standdown
• DW Overtime rate worked/standdown
• DW Double time rate worked/standdown
[0061] Screenshot representations of the user interface screens provided by the system for entering new worker details and new equipment details are shown in Figures 7 and 8, respectively.
[0062] Using the four key stages described below, projects are created in way that funnels a user into building a project for the best way of tracking and managing the project using the system of the preferred embodiment.
AREA BUILDER
[0063] Areas, SubAreas and SubSubAreas generally represent physical regions or features of the project construction or site. In order to define these, the user is brought to a simple screen with three blank text boxes. Below each text box is an "Add" button. Users are able to fill in a desired Area, SubArea and SubSubArea. Users may then add additional rows to create more Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combinations, etc. Each defined Area may have multiple SubAreas, and each defined SubArea may have multiple SubSubAreas. This results in the creation of a horizontal 3-level tree structure, an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 9. The Areas, SubAreas, and SubSubAreas and their relationships as defined by the user are stored to form a data structure for organising project input data as described hereinbelow. Users may then continue onwards to Activity Builder (second stage) or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
ACTIVITY BUILDER [0064] Disciplines, SubDisciplines and Activities represent categories of tasks that are to be completed in the construction project. In order to define these, the user is brought to an Activity Builder screen where the process is the same as for the Area Builder screen. The user is again met with three blank text boxes. Below each text box is an "Add" button. Users are able to fill in a desired Discipline, SubDiscipline and Activity using the respective boxes. Users may then add additional rows to create more Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combinations, etc. Each defined Discipline may have multiple SubDisciplines, and each defined SubDiscipline may have multiple Activities. This results in the creation of a horizontal three-level tree structure, an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 10. The Disciplines, SubDisciplines and Activities and their relationships as defined by the user are stored to form a data structure for organising project input data as described hereinbelow. Users may then continue onwards to Area/Activity Linking (third stage) or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
AREA / ACTIVITY LINKING
[0065] This third stage enables the user to be then brought to a "Project Areas / Activity Linking" page which is used for the creation of "Tasks". A Task is a Discipline/SubDiscipline/Activity combination matched with a corresponding Area/SubArea/SubSubArea combination. Areas/Disciplines are matched by means of a set of dropdown lists which allow users to easily create Tasks. In the preferred implementation, dropdown lists are placed in order as follows: Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity. Dropdown order is not restricted and may reshuffle depending on client requirements. Once a user has selected their preferred Area/Discipline combination with all six criteria selected, an Add Row button is selected to lock in the Task. Multiple tasks may be created at once as a time saver by selecting multiple activities in the 6th box. Smart lists are a feature used in the dropdowns so only sub areas linked to an area during the "Area Building" stage may be selected. Additionally, only SubDisciplines linked to a Discipline during the "Activity Building" stage may be selected. This means the tasks created must have predetermined groups of areas and disciplines. For example: an electrical activity (e.g. wiring sockets) cannot be assigned to a civil Discipline & Sub Discipline (e.g. Civil Engineering, Earthworks). The Task(s) information is then written to the database and shown in a table (70) above the six dropdown lists (71-76), an example of which is shown in the screenshot of Figure 1 1. Users may then adjust (Reorder / Filter) the selected Areas/Disciplines in the dropdowns or choose to reset the dropdowns using a reset button. As more Tasks are added to the database, the table grows in size.
[0066] The table 70 is headed by, but not limited to, seven columns: ID - Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity. The table is sortable by any column, and also contains a search function to allow the user to filter tasks by entering text in a search box. The user may then continue onwards to assigning Project Budgets or return to the main Project Editor lobby.
PROJECT BUDGETS
[0067] In the fourth stage, the user is then brought to a "Project Budgets" page which facilitates the user in adding properties to the Tasks as defined in the preceding processes. Tasks are presented in similar format to that seen in the Project Summary, which is described hereinbelow. The significance of the Project Summary format is that it is the first place a user gets to see and understand numerically how the project is laid out. Sorting and grouping projects in this manner is a cornerstone feature of the preferred embodiment of the system as described herein. By sorting the tasks into a specific order, i.e. Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity, the user is quickly able to differentiate the different tasks throughout the project. An example of the Project Budget builder interface is shown in the screenshot of Figure 12. Order may be reshuffled akin to a "Pivot Table" whereby the user can elect to reorder Areas and Disciplines as they desire.
[0068] Through the Project Budget interface users have the ability to enter properties for each defined Task, such as: Company Tag (Cost Code), Budget Quantity, Budget Quantity unit, Budget Man-Hours, Revised Budget Quantity, Budget Dollar, Budget Dollar Rate, Revised Budget Dollar, Revised Budget Dollar Rate, Overheads flag, Dayworks flag, Variance flag, 'Show Dollar Rate' flag, Task Scheduled Start Date, Task Revised Start Date, Task Scheduled Finish Date, Task Revised Finish Date, NFC Identification Number/Information, to name a few. Users may enter a Budget Quantity at the start of the project. If subsequently revisiting the Project Budgets in an editing capacity to revise a task, the Budget Quantity is locked and the user must enter a Revised Budget Quantity instead. A similar action is seen for items such as Dollar Budget, Task Start Date and Task Finish Date. Users have the option to export the project budgets as a CSV table in order to enter in values using a spreadsheet program. Users may also import a new CSV table at this stage, or re-import the previous CSV with updated values.
Daily / Weekly Data Entry
[0069] It will be appreciated that in order for a user to access and review data, the data needs to be firstly collected by the system. An advantage of the system of the present invention is the ability to easily collect detailed data from the users on a daily and/or weekly basis. Such data is real data from the field or site and is processed by the system as it is received. The collection of data on such a regular basis enables the reporting of real-time progress and gives a degree of ownership of the project to the Supervisors & Workers. Typically, Tier 4 users will enter data on a daily basis whilst Tier 3 users will review the daily entry and enter additional data into the system on a weekly basis. By providing weekly data entry for Tier 3 users, the user is able to perform a double check and compare the actual estimates to their own.
[0070] In general, data entry is performed daily, with additional logging performed on a weekly basis. Daily entry of data into the system may comprise the following:
• Worker hours - entered by Tier 4 user (supervisor)
• Equipment hours - entered by Tier 4 user (supervisor)
• Quantities Estimated - entered by Tier 4 user (supervisor) - to be confirmed/overruled by the Tier 3 user (Engineer) at the end of the week)
• Comments- entered by Tier 4 user (supervisor)
• Weather - entered by Tier 4 user (supervisor)
• Materials - entered by Tier 3 user (Engineer)
[0071] Weekly entry of data into the system may be as follows:
• Confirmed quantities - entered by Tier 3 user (Engineer)
• Comments - Entered by Tier 3 user (Engineer)
[0072] The time frame within which the user may log data shall be restricted by what is termed as a 'Daily Entry Window', 'Weekly Entry Window' or 'Monthly Entry Window'. Each client decides the durations of the Daily/Weekly/Monthly Windows. This will decide how far back in time a user may log hours, quantities, comments, weather and materials. This is to ensure that data is collected regularly when information is fresh in the minds of the users. The Daily Entry Window may typically apply to worker and equipment hours, quantities and materials. The Weekly Entry Window may typically apply to comments, engineers' quantities and weather. The monthly Entry Window may typically apply to engineers comments. While a window is open, a progress bar will show on relevant data entry pages to indicate the percentage of time remaining until 'lockout', the point in time when the Window closes. The lobbies may also have a progress bar underneath every link to indicate the amount of time remaining until lockout for that particular section of entry. A countdown timer may also be displayed. When the window closes, only a "super Admin" level user will have the power to bypass the user and this person will need to be contacted directly by the locked out user so that they may complete their logging. Users may opt to be notified that particular windows are due to close.
DAILY WORKER LOGGING
[0073] Figures 13 to 16 are flow chart diagrams illustrating a procedure whereby a user provides input data to the system of the present invention. The flow chart diagram depicts a method which comprises a series of specific steps to be undertaken by a user at regular intervals, especially tier 4 and 5 users. Referring particularly to Figures 13 to 15, a flow chart depicting a method 100 for managing daily data entry is depicted. As discussed above, daily data entry is typically performed by a Tier 4 user, namely a supervisor.
[0074] To do this, the user enters their login details in step 101 and is presented to the home screen in step 102, an example of which is shown in Figure 4. From this screen, the user selects icon 26 (Daily & Weekly Entry) in step 103 and is taken to the Daily Entry Lobby at step 104, the interface of which is shown in the screenshot 150 depicted in Figure 17. The Daily Entry Lobby 150 presents the user with a number of different daily data logging options, relating to workers (151 ), equipment (152), quantities (153), weather (154), materials (155) and comments (156).
[0075] Selecting icon 151 directs the user to the Worker Logging data entry interface (step 105), an example of which is shown in the screenshot 160 depicted in Figure 18. In this step the user selects, from the list of workers defined previously, those workers that the user directly supervises. When a worker is selected as either "Worked" or "R&R", they will be moved to a Selected Worker list on the right hand side of the screen and their status indicator will notify the worker as either "Worked" or "R&R". A number of workers may be logged in a session to save the user time, because workers will usually be working in crews. The system may also group workers by crew in the "All workers" list. Workers are searchable by means of a search box. Workers may also be assigned to a supervisor and less visible to other supervisors who are not part of the crew. Workers may be faded on the list depending on how many hours they have been logged by the supervisor logging the hours. Workers also appear higher up the list if more hours are logged by the supervisor logging the hours.
[0076] Example: Niall is a supervisor and works with Bill & Robert, but not Mike and Sarah. When Niall views this list, Bill & Robert will be more prominently shown because they have hours associated with Niall in the last period of time. Mike and Sarah will be on the list, but faded out. If Niall starts working with Mike and stops working with Bill, over the period of time, Bill will be faded and Mike will be more prominent on the list. The list may also be ordered by the amount of hours Niall has logged on each worker.
[0077] This list is then presented to the user in the manner as shown in the interface 162 depicted in Figure 19, wherein the user then assigns hours to each worker, based on hours worked (step 106), or the user can log hours as Stand-down. In step 107, the user then selects the area/activity worked (Task) for each worker using the drop-down lists 163. Alternatively the user can select from a few "hot topics" 164 which are shortcuts to areas/activities that have been frequently accessed by the users of the system.
[0078] Hot Topics may be derived by a number of means. Typically, Hot Topics will be generated by the system by analysing the currently selected date and shortlisting a number of tasks based on the selected date. The period of time relating to the selected date will be variable, typically seven days. A short list of tasks with the most hours logged for the period is displayed. Users may choose to pick one of these Hot Topics to save them the effort of manually populating the Area/Activity lists. As the project progresses, certain tasks in the Hot Topics list will come to their natural completion and new tasks will appear in their place.
[0079] Example: all the footings in a building get completed, now the workers move their efforts to creating the walls. Therefore the tasks on the Hot Topics list will change from Concrete Placement/Steelfixing etc to Masonry.
[0080] The list may also be generated by other means such as a count of workers and equipment logged to a task for the aforementioned period. Or tasks may be pre- programmed at the project commencement by referencing to the task properties in the Project Budgets section of the program.
[0081] The following is a description of an alternative method of logging hours.
[0082] An alternative system will be available to log worker and equipment hours. Users may also choose to use the alternative logging system by means of a specifically built smartphone or tablet application that utilises Near Field Communications technology (NFC) in the users' device. Each task in the Project Budgets will have a dedicated NFC chip or sticker placed in a suitable location.
[0083] Example: each sticker will have the task name written/printed on it Civil- Earthworks-Building1-Footing1 -Base-Excavation etc etc. Stickers will be deployed to site by a high-tier member at the project commencement, or else they will be mailed to site for a project engineer to set up. The stickers will be put on a board in the crib huts/site offices, or in some cases on each level of a building, or on a solid post in suitable places dotted around the site. Workers open a specially built logging app, tap a sticker with their NFC enabled phone/tablet/device, then allocate hours to that task.
[0084] The sticker may be colour-coded to match its respective Discipline / SubDiscipline / Activity. The user will open the logging app, tap the task sticker of their choice, then log hours to this task. Users will have the ability to select a date (by default, todays date will prefill), enter hours worked, enter hours stand down. The user will also see a table below outlining any other hours they or their supervisor have logged for the selected date, as well as who logged the hours and by what means (i.e. if it was logged in the logging app or via the main web application). Below the table will be a submit button to push the data to the server. If the data fails to reach the server, the application will store the information and re-try when an internet connection is established. The user will be informed of any errors. This concludes the description of the alternative logging method which applies to both workers and equipment.
[0085] Any workers who were not present on site for that given day and who have no hours of use allocated against them will be logged as "R+R" for the date of entry. "R+R" is an abbreviated industry term known as "Rest + Relaxation" off-site, which may be referred to as Rostered Time Off or The Weekend. R+R may automatically log for all workers if defined in the project editor. When a worker is logged as R+R, the system may automatically log them as R+R to a predefined number of days thereafter to cover the standard roster on the project. Key visual indicators are then used to show if a worker has been assigned their predetermined minimum hours for the day. The intent here is to highlight with a Green Tick, Orange Tick or Red '!!!' symbol to help indicate if a person requires further attention before the completion of Daily Worker Logging. The user is taken to a simple page where Area/Discipline dropdowns (also referred to herein as 'Smart Lists') allow users to only log hours to tasks that are relevant to the project and within project budget parameters. A warning or notification may pop up to inform the user they are logging more hours than a pre-defined 'maximum hours threshold' that may be set out at project commencement. This is to try prevent accidental 'double logging' of hours, [e.g. A user tries to log 8 hours for a worker, then later on forgets they have logged the hours and tries again. If the 'maximum hours threshold' of say 12 hours has been exceeded, the system will pop up a warning to check if the user is sure they wish to proceed.]
[0086] When hours are logged they are submitted to the host server (12) instantly. The "Dayworks" selector can be used here to assign hours to a specific Dayworks task. The selector is in place to ensure there is no cross-contamination of hours from Dayworks to Bill of Quantities. Hours logged as Dayworks will not affect any calculation within a Bill of Quantities project. The name of the person logging the worker hours is also collected during this process. This enables traceability of the logged data; the person responsible for logging the data is listed on various reports beside the work they have completed in the system.
EQUIPMENT LOGGING
[0087] Selection of icon 152 (Figure 17) directs the user to the equipment logging screen, as depicted in Figure 20. The equipment logging procedure is illustrated in the flow chart diagram of Figure 14. The user first selects the equipment used from the list provided (step 1 10), and then in step 1 1 1 assigns hours of use to each item of equipment or machine selected. Alternatively, the user may assign hours that the machine was stood down or broken down. The user may manually calculate the worked hours, or they may enter the "Machine Hours" generated from the equipment's Hour Meter daily readings, where applicable. The starting machine hours may be automatically populated from the closing machine hours from the previous occasion the machine was logged. Machine hours may be imported automatically from manufacturer tracking databases by means of an API or other similar method.
[0088] The user also selects the relevant area and activity of use for each machine in step 1 12, the interface for which is shown in the screenshot depicted in Figure 21. As with worker logging, the user can select Tasks by way of the Smart Lists or, alternatively, the user can select from a few "Hot Topics" which are shortcuts to areas/activities that have been frequently used recently. Any equipment that has not been working and does not have hours of use allocated against it, will be logged as "Off-Site" for the date of entry, which is the equivalent of the "R&R" function in worker logging. Key visual indicators are then used to show if a piece of equipment/machinery has been assigned their predetermined minimum hours for the day. The intent here is to highlight with a Green Tick, Orange Tick or Red '!!!' to help indicate if a piece of equipment requires further attention before the completion of Daily Equipment Logging. The user is taken to a simple page where Area/Discipline dropdowns (Smart Lists) allow users to only log hours to tasks that are relevant to the project and within project budget parameters. When hours are logged they are submitted to the host server 12 instantly. The "Dayworks" selector can be used here to assign hours to a specific Dayworks task. The selector is in place to ensure there is no cross-contamination of hours from Dayworks to Bill of Quantities. Hours logged as Dayworks will not affect any calculation within a Bill of Quantities project. The name of the person logging the Equipment hours is also collected during this process. This enables traceability of the logged data; the person responsible for logging the data is listed on various reports beside the work they have completed.
QUANTITIES LOGGING
[0089] In step 120 of the method 100 (shown in Figure 15) the user is directed to the quantities logging screen, an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 22. The user then selects, from a list of logged tasks performed for that day based on the worker hour logging, a number of said tasks in step 121. By default, the user will land on a page titled "My Tasks" which further shortlists the tasks logged by that specific user in previous screens. By clicking "All Tasks", the user may log hours against tasks that other users have logged on that particular day. Alternatively, the user may choose to add their own choice of an unrelated task to this list and log quantities. In step 122, quantities are assigned to the selected tasks. Step 123 provides an option to assign quantities to tasks that have received no worker hours for the period. Quantities may be logged as actual units or as a percentage complete; the system will calculate the alternative value automatically. A scrollbar or spin button may also be used to increase or decrease the value being entered. When quantities are logged they are submitted to the host server 12 instantly.
[0090] Following completion of the daily logging procedure the user is returned to the Daily Entry Lobby (step 124). Alternatively the user may be returned to a comments screen where they may be able to make comments on issues that may have arisen on site and/or to capture and record the weather conditions, which is described further below.
[0091] Users may also elect to log information for Materials while located in the Daily Entry Lobby. Materials must be logged against three levels of areas, with an option to log against the three levels of activity also. Materials logging will be predominantly used in a Dayworks capacity but may also be incorporated into a Bill of Quantities project. The date selector may be used to log historic materials and recorded detail may include, but not be limited to, the following: Description, Supplier, Quantity, Unit and Rate. Once this information has been entered, the system will preview the Cost, Margin % and Total for that item prior to submitting to server. Rows can be added to log multiple items to the same area, or materials can be submitted to server as a single line by clicking the Submit Materials button. The interface for this procedure is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 23.
LOGGING COMMENTS
[0092] Users may also elect to log Comments information for Materials by selecting icon 156 from the Daily Entry Lobby interface (Figure 17). The resulting page (illustrated in Figure 24) will display all Workers, Equipment and Tasks logged for the selected day which acts as a prompt to the user. Comments may logged against, but not be limited to, the following: Major Delays, Minor Delays, Key Progress Points and General Comments. The displayed Workers, Equipment and Tasks can be used to pre-fill the selected comments box to save the user time. Workers and Equipment listed will have additional properties indicating number of hours worked and indicating the tick or '!!!' status as seen in the Worker and Equipment logging stages. LOGGING WEATHER
[0093] Weather is automatically downloaded from the Bureau of Meteorology website based on the defined location of the project. Manual entry can also be completed and logged information may include, but is not limited to, Type of Day (Sunny / Wet), Ground conditions, Wind, Rainfall (mm) and Maximum Temperature. This page may also include a comments box for specific weather comments.
[0094] It will be appreciated that the above referenced method for capturing daily data ensures that the relevant data continues to be collected by those in the field and enables the system to process the information as it is received.
WEEKLY LOGGING
[0095] Similar to daily logging, the role of the Engineer is to log weekly quantities and log weekly comments. A method 200 for weekly logging data entry is illustrated in the flow chart diagram of Figure 16.
[0096] The procedure for Weekly Quantities Logging is similar to that described above for Daily Quantities Logging. The user first logs into the system (201 ) and navigates through the home screen and data entry lobbies (202, 203) to a weekly quantities data entry interface (step 204), an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 25. The engineer is then presented with a list of logged tasks performed for that week based on the worker hours logged during the daily data entry procedures (step 205). At step 206, quantities are assigned to the selected tasks. The user may also be provided with an option to assign quantities to tasks that have received no worker hours for the period. Quantities may be logged as actual units or as a % complete; the system will calculate the alternative value automatically. A scrollbar or spin button may also be used to increase or decrease the value being entered. When quantities are logged they are submitted to the host server 12 instantly (step 207). This then completes the data entry process for Weekly quantities logging. The quantities entered from this section are considered true and accurate, and these govern how many Man-Hours have been earned in a particular task.
NOTIFICATIONS [0097] The system is arranged to automatically communicate to users by a range of methods such as email notifications, push notifications or by other similar conventionally used means. Users may also be automatically notified by the system for other project events such as timesheet completion, poor PF performance, good PF performance, delays, adverse weather warnings, site safety issues. Users may be automatically sent copies of timesheets completed as well as copies of the various other reports in the system, or they may be notified of a means to a quick access portal to these reports and timesheets.
MY GOALS
[0098] Users may also receive notification of the upcoming tasks they have been assigned targets for including minimum rates, % complete goals, PF targets and completion dates. Users can create and assign/nominate tasks to other users i.e. Manager sets weekly goals for a Supervisor. Supervisor logs in and has access to a My Goals section where they are presented with a list of upcoming targets for a given period.
Data Processing and Reporting
[0099] As alluded to above, the present system has the capacity to process this information in real-time to present graphical analysis and up-to-date reports of progress and productivity to all levels of users. The compiled and processed project information can be presented to users in a variety ways and formats, some of which are described below. It will be appreciated that the user may come from any Tier of the company as shown in Figure 2 and that the information can be used to directly identify progress and responsibility within the overall project. As will be described in more detail below, such information is presented in a simple and easy to understand format that processes the data into a form which can be understood from users across a wide range of experiences.
DASHBOARD & PROJECT SUMMARY
[00100] One of the project information presentations available to users is referred to as the Dashboard. Method 220 shown in the flow chart diagram of Figure 26 provides an outline of the Dashboard presentation and is described below. [00101] In step 221 , the user logs in to the system via their personal electronic device. In the case of a Tier 4 or tier 5 user, the user may login on a daily basis or numerous times throughout the day as required. In the login process of step 221 , the user accesses their laptop or tablet which is typically readily accessible and activates the software stored thereon or logs on to the web based software to facilitate connection with the host server 12. The user will be provided with a secure user ID and password to facilitate a secure login, at which stage the user will be directed to a home screen (step 222), such as the interface 22 of Figure 4. Selecting the icon 28 directs the user to a dashboard interface at step 223, an example of which is depicted in Figure 27. The dashboard screen 230 is customised in accordance with the Tier or level of user or from user preferences where they decide what content they wish to typically display. The Dashboard may be converted to PDF and printed at any point by the user.
[00102] The Dashboard Interface screen 230 is provided to present a number of key features to the user. These key features include a basic indication of the progress of the project in tabular and graphical form. In particular, the dashboard interface 230 may include a dashboard summary table 231 containing key information on the project as a whole and spanning a number of previous weeks. In the screenshot example shown in Figure 27 the dashboard summary table contains information about Total Man-Hours Spent, Direct Spent Hours, Earned Hours, colour-coded Production Factors, % complete, % overheads, and average workers per day.
[00103] The dashboard interface 230 also displays information in the form of pie charts 232 and line charts 233 to show more key data considered relevant to the entire project. The user may print these charts, for example, to discuss with the workers directly in his supervision or with the user's direct manager. The user can then generate a real-time report of the progress and/or productivity of the team the user is responsible for to assess issues that may need attention.
[00104] The dashboard interface 29 may also enable the user to review work history so as to compare work output from week to week to provide additional information to assess the performance of the team. This may be done by selecting the relevant project week using selector 234.
[00105] There are four pie charts displayed in the Dashboard interface, which may also act as a shortcut link to the relevant pie chart in the Graphs & Charts section (described below), allowing the user to further analyse their chosen pie chart. In the example shown in Figure 27 the pie charts 232 displayed relate to: Spent hours by Area; Spent hours by Discipline; Production Factor by Area; and Production Factor by Discipline. The line charts 233 as shown relate to Production Factor and % Complete over a four week period. The charts relating to PF have proportional segments relating to the amount of Man-Hours spent in that particular Area/Discipline. PF pie charts on the dashboard are coloured Green where the PF value is less than or equal to 1.0, or coloured red if greater than 1.0. This allows a user to quickly see if areas of importance are performing well or not.
[00106] Another mode of project information presentation to the user is through the Project Summary interface, the procedure for access to which is outlined in method 240 shown in the flow chart diagram of Figure 28. Once the user has logged in (step 241 ) the Project Summary interface is accessed from the home screen (step 242) by activating the icon 30 (Figure 4). The user is then presented with a Project Summary interface screen (step 233). An example of a Project Summary screen 250 is depicted in Figure 29.
[00107] The Project Summary view is a live view of project data collected in relation to the project. The information is shown with respect to areas and activities with column headers including:
• Overall Budgets (Man-Hours & Quantities);
• Spent Budgets (Man-Hours)
• Earned Budgets (Man-Hours & Quantities)
• % Complete
• Production factors which may have colour indicators to indicate the health of a task or a collection of tasks
• Dollar Rates for selected activities, specifically nominated in the Project Budgets screen which may have colour indicators to indicate the health of a task dollar rates
[00108] Typically, the Project Summary screen will be customised for the particular user, to display the most relevant information for that user. [00109] As depicted, using the Project Summary presentation procedure, the user is able to interrogate the information present in the system as the information may be presented in a tabulated form in a collapsed state. In this form, the information may be presented with a number of task hierarchy selections 245 which can be selected by the user to determine the specific aspects of the Project they would like to review. In this regard, the user is able to select various tasks to expand the manner in which the information is presented, or may make individual selections 245. Using an "Area- Discipline Selector", the user is able to select between disciplines such as management / construction / engineering / civil / electrical and the like, as well as between areas of the project, which may vary from floors or levels through to multiple connected sites. The user is also able to select a specific activity for further information, such as welding / slab forming and the like, and the user can also filter out tasks by discipline or by area, whereby lines in the table may be hidden. Project Summary may be used to view all tasks in the system combined, or to view Bill of Quantities or Dayworks separately.
[001 10] As part of the Project Summary presentation procedure, once the task has been selected in step 245 the information is typically provided in a tabulated form under a number of headings 246 that the user may select. The user is able to review the relative information in a customised manner, such as, revised budgets, actual budgets, dollar budgets, dollar rates, as well as various other aspects pertaining to the progress/productivity of the task aspect of the overall project.
[001 1 1] Tasks identified as 'Critical Path' in the project budgets can be highlighted in the project summary. Critical path tasks in a project must be completed on time for the project to complete by the due date.
[001 12] By clicking on any of the relevant values in the Project Summary, the user can navigate to a related chart in the Graphs & Charts section for further analysis. Furthermore, when the user is relocated to the Graphs & Charts section via the Project Summary, there will be a "View in Project Summary" button to direct the user back to the Project Summary, allowing them to pick up where they left off.
[001 13] The Project Summary may be converted to PDF format and printed at any point by the user. It may be printed in any of its 6 collapsible states. By default, tasks in the Project Summary are grouped in the following order: Discipline - SubDiscipline - Area - SubArea - SubSubArea - Activity. Order may be reshuffled akin to a "Pivot Table" whereby the user can elect to reorder Areas and Disciplines as they desire.
[001 14] Project Summary headings are interactive and allow the user to relocate columns, hide or show additional data such as showing progress bars in lieu of numerical values. Users may also avail of a search box to find tasks easily.
[001 15] By providing a method 240 of interrogating the system as described above, users across a variety of Tiers are able to simply and effectively interrogate the system to ascertain the overall progress of the project, and particularly in respect of those aspects directly relevant to them. Whilst the method in Figure 26 provides each user with access to the overall progress of the project, the system of the present invention is also able to provide more specific information and reports to the user about specific aspects of the project specifically directed to that user. This is described below in relation to the generation of graphs & charts and reports.
[001 16] As an additional feature, users may also elect to visit a "Meet Your Crew" section from the home screen. This module allows higher level users to inspect various aspects of the workers, & equipment in a project. The "Meet Your Crew" section may be presented like a hierarchy type tree structure where you can see who's on a job, from CEO down to Workers. Information here may include photos, email address, contact number, upcoming roster information, tasks worked on, start/finish date on project, a red/green PF assigned to worker/equipment based on the average PF of the tasks they have contributed hours towards with drilldown functionality, hours worked, discipline/skills, machines that a worker was assigned to, machine hours, qualification tickets & verifications of competencies for equipment, safety statistics & compliances, etc. Not all users may see "Meet Your Crew" or they may only see certain pieces of information. Detailed information such as PF and rostering may only be available to senior, high tier users of the system.
GRAPHS & CHARTS
[001 17] Graphs & Charts can be accessed through the home screen or navigation bar and enables all the users to visually understand how the project is progressing without the need to process numbers or interpolate figures. Graphs & Charts can be created across a variety of different aspects of the project, such as: Budget
ManHour Budget
ManHours Spent -vs-budget
Man-Hours Spent -vs- Budget (as a %) $ Budget
$ Spent -vs - Budget
$ spent -vs - Budget (as a %)
Quantity Budget
Quantity completed -vs - Budget
Quantity completed -vs - Budget (as a %)
Progress
ManHours spent -vs- Earned
ManHours Spent -vs- Earned (as a %) % Completed
S-Curve
Spent hours - Overall
Spent hours - Area
Spent hours - Discipline
Productivity
Production Factor - Historical
Production Factor - Overall
Production Factor - Area
Production Factor - Discipline
ViewPro Rates
Production Rates
Dollars per unit
Costs
• $ Spent -Vs- Budget (week-by-week)
• $Spent -vs- Budget (cumulative) [001 18] Charts may be interactive and display further relevant information by clicking or hovering on an appropriate area of the chart. Information to include combinations of: Spent/Earned hours, PF, Rates, % complete among others.
[001 19] Much akin to the project summary, users may drill down through charts and deeply inspect the performance of a project. For example, where a user has a set of pie charts, ring charts, or bar charts, the user may click a segment and be brought deeper into the project. The page will refresh with relevant information relating to the specific Discipline or Area clicked, effectively drilling down into the project. The user may also elect to use the familiar Area/Discipline dropdowns, also known as 'Smart lists' to drill deeper into the project. Charts are dynamic and will read live data. Charts may also be read historically by using a date/week selector to inspect how the chart looked in previous weeks and months.
[00120] An example of a pie chart for total revised budget man-hours by discipline is illustrated in the screenshot shown in Figure 30. Using the dropdown lists, the same metric may be examined for any combination of areas and disciplines down to individual tasks.
[00121] Line charts will drill down in a similar manner to other charts. When a user clicks the line chart, the next page will be multiple copies of that chart stacked on top of one another e.g. Civil, Structural, Electrical. If the user then clicks Civil, the line chart presented by default will be for Areas, in a similar order to the default drill down order seen in Project Summary. A user may alter their preferences in the settings menu to rearrange the order in which drill down occurs.
[00122] Tasks identified as 'Critical Path' in the project budgets can be highlighted in the Graphs & Charts section. Critical path tasks in a project must be completed on time for the project to complete on due date.
REPORTS
[00123] The present system is able to generate reports for each of the user tiers at daily, weekly, monthly intervals, depending upon the requirements of the user. [00124] Reports are generated automatically either on demand or at a set point in a day/week/month. PDF versions can also be automatically generated on demand for specific reports. Report Types are grouped into, but not limited to, four categories:
Overall
• Cost (Dayworks Only)
• Areas (Dayworks Only)
• % Profit (Dayworks Only)
• Dashboard
• Scope Variance
• Task Report
• Cost Code Production Report
• Prime Resource
Daily
• Worker
• Equipment
• Materials
• Company Tag (Cost Code)
• Quantities
• Task Report
• Cost Code Production Report
• Prime Resource
Weekly
• Worker Equipment Utilisation
• Quantities
• Company Tag (Cost Code)
• Task Report
• Cost Code Production Report
• Prime Resource
Monthly
• Quantities
• Materials • Cost (Dayworks Only)
• Company Tag (Cost Code)
• % Profit (Dayworks Only)
• Worker Equipment Utilisation
• Task Report
• Cost Code Production Report
• Prime Resource
[00125] A key feature on the reports is that a user can select and deselect a Dayworks button to view either Bill of Quantities or Dayworks activities / tasks.
[00126] Examples of some report presentations are described below.
Daily Worker & Daily Equipment Report
[00127] This report shows a list of workers and/or equipment for a given day, an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 31. Key features are:
• A date selector for defining the particular day to be examined
• Worker/Equipment Name/ID, classification and which supervisor logged their hours
• Tasks worked on
• R+R/Off-site status
• Total hours in the opposing contract (i.e. Dayworks or BOQ)
• Total Stand-down & Total Overall hours
• Total Breakdown hours (where applicable)
• A "Generate PDF" facility
Daily Company Tag Report
[00128] This report displays a list of workers and equipment for a given day while wrapped under a "Company Tag" otherwise known as "Cost Code", an example of which is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 32. Key features are:
• A date selector
• Worker/Equipment Name/ID, classification and which supervisor logged their hours
• Company Tag (Cost Code) worked on • Total Stand-down & Total Overall hours
• A "Generate PDF" facility
Quantities Report
[00129] Daily - The quantities entered by the supervisor in the Daily entry are used in the Daily Quantities Reports and used to calculate an estimated PF value in the Weekly Quantities Report. PF values are colour-coded to indicate the overall health of the tasks contained therein. It is important to note that these quantities typically do not get used in other locations as they are estimates and have not yet been verified by the Engineer and contribute to "Supervisor Estimated Variance" reported in Weekly Quantities Reports. An example of a Daily Quantities report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 33.
[00130] Weekly - All calculations in this report are based on the Engineers weekly logged quantities as they are regarded as true and correct. There is a column in this report that will highlight "Supervisor Estimated Variance" and this will calculate the % difference from the supervisors estimated quantities to the engineers confirmed quantities for each specific task. Another key feature on this report is the estimated daily Production Factors are displayed at the bottom of the report. These Production factors are based on the Supervisors estimated quantities and are also rolled up into a weekly total. This total can then be compared to the actual confirmed total and will highlight the accuracy of the daily reports so management can take action if required. An example of a Weekly Quantities report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 34.
[00131] Monthly - All calculations in this report are based on the Engineers weekly quantities as they are regarded as true and correct. There is a column in this report that will highlight "Supervisor Estimated Variance" and this will calculate the % difference from the supervisors estimated quantities to the engineers confirmed quantities for each specific task. Another key feature on this report is the actual weekly Production Factors are displayed at the bottom of the report. These Production factors are based on the confirmed weekly quantities and are also rolled up into a monthly total. An example of a Monthly Quantities report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 35.
Scope Variance report
[00132] A simple report that compares original Budgeted Man-Hours with Revised Budget Man-Hours, offering a simple way to show where any scope changed. Items included on this report will include Task information, Budgeted Man-Hours, Revised Budget Man-Hours, the name of the user who last revised the Budget, the date the Budget was changed, the Number of times the Budget was changed, the percentage Budget Variance, and the change in Man-hour Budget. This report will aid the contractor with substantiation at the completion of a project. An example of a Scope Variance report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 36.
Task report
[00133] A summary report showing detailed information for a specific activity combination in the project as a whole or in a defined area. Key information shown will be:
• Quantities complete
• Actual dollars per unit compared with the assigned budget dollars per unit.
• PF / Production rate / ViewPro rate switcher
• Spent & Earned Hours
• Supervisor Variance
[00134] An example of a Task report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 37. Cost Code Report
[00135] A summary report showing detailed information for a specific client cost code in the project. Key information shown will be:
• Quantities complete
• Actual dollars per unit compared with the assigned budget dollars per unit.
• PF / Production rate / ViewPro rate switcher
• Spent & Earned Hours
• Supervisor Variance
[00136] An example of a Cost Code report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 38.
Utilisation Report
[00137] The function of Utilisation Reports is to show the degree of utilisation for specific items and highlight if an asset is not being used to its full potential. All items are assigned minimum hours for a given month and the spent/worked hours are compared to this value allowing for Breakdown & R+R/'Off-site'. Users may click on a piece of equipment or a worker in the Utilisation report to get a detailed historical set of charts that visually portrays their utilisation and other useful information. An example of a Utilisation report is depicted in the screenshot shown in Figure 39.
Prime Resource Report
[00138] A very useful report is to report the quantity completed by a prime machine, for example the number of cubic metres of material moved per hour by an excavator (regardless of the quantity of trucks). This enables the user to see if the machine is being under productive, for example requiring the allocation of more trucks. On the other hand, for example, if the prime machine is already working at capacity there's no point in sending any more trucks. To enable this report, when entering the daily quantities against a task there is an allocate Prime Resource button, wherein the total quantity entered against that activity is divided by the hours works and compared to a target returning an under / over production in a separate report.
[00139] It will be appreciated that the system and method of the present invention provides for a simple and effective means for not only collecting data relating to a construction project, but also processing the data in real time and making the data available to all users of the system in a customised and useful way. Such a system and method ensures that individual users and groups of users take ownership in the progress of a project and share in the overall productivity.
[00140] While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification(s). This application is intended to cover any variations uses or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth.
[00141] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristics of the invention, it should be understood that the above described embodiments are not to limit the present invention unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive.
The following sections I - VII provide a guide to interpreting the present specification.
I. Terms
[00142] The term "product" means any machine, manufacture and/or composition of matter, unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00143] The term "process" means any process, algorithm, method or the like, unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00144] Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise) inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore all references to a "step" or "steps" of a process have an inherent antecedent basis in the mere recitation of the term 'process' or a like term. Accordingly, any reference in a claim to a 'step' or 'steps' of a process has sufficient antecedent basis.
[00145] The term "invention" and the like mean "the one or more inventions disclosed in this specification", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00146] The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some embodiments", "certain embodiments", "one embodiment", "another embodiment" and the like mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments of the disclosed invention(s)", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00147] The term "variation" of an invention means an embodiment of the invention, unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00148] A reference to "another embodiment" in describing an embodiment does not imply that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with another embodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referenced embodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise. [00149] The terms "including", "comprising" and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00150] The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00151] The term "plurality" means "two or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00152] The term "herein" means "in the present specification, including anything which may be incorporated by reference", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00153] The phrase "at least one of", when such phrase modifies a plurality of things (such as an enumerated list of things), means any combination of one or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the phrase "at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel" means either (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car, (v) a widget and a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, a car and a wheel. The phrase "at least one of", when such phrase modifies a plurality of things, does not mean "one of each of" the plurality of things.
[00154] Numerical terms such as "one", "two", etc. when used as cardinal numbers to indicate quantity of something (e.g., one widget, two widgets), mean the quantity indicated by that numerical term, but do not mean at least the quantity indicated by that numerical term. For example, the phrase "one widget" does not mean "at least one widget", and therefore the phrase "one widget" does not cover, e.g., two widgets.
[00155] The phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on", unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" describes both "based only on" and "based at least on". The phrase "based at least on" is equivalent to the phrase "based at least in part on".
[00156] The term "represent" and like terms are not exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the term "represents" do not mean "represents only", unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words, the phrase "the data represents a credit card number" describes both "the data represents only a credit card number" and "the data represents a credit card number and the data also represents something else". [00157] The term "whereby" is used herein only to precede a clause or other set of words that express only the intended result, objective or consequence of something that is previously and explicitly recited. Thus, when the term "whereby" is used in a claim, the clause or other words that the term "whereby" modifies do not establish specific further limitations of the claim or otherwise restricts the meaning or scope of the claim.
[00158] The term "e.g." and like terms mean "for example", and thus does not limit the term or phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence "the computer sends data (e.g., instructions, a data structure) over the Internet", the term "e.g." explains that "instructions" are an example of "data" that the computer may send over the Internet, and also explains that "a data structure" is an example of "data" that the computer may send over the Internet. However, both "instructions" and "a data structure" are merely examples of "data", and other things besides "instructions" and "a data structure" can be "data".
[00159] The term "i.e." and like terms mean "that is", and thus limits the term or phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence "the computer sends data (i.e., instructions) over the Internet", the term "i.e." explains that "instructions" are the "data" that the computer sends over the Internet.
[00160] Any given numerical range shall include whole and fractions of numbers within the range. For example, the range "1 to 10" shall be interpreted to specifically include whole numbers between 1 and 10 (e.g., 2, 3, 4, . . . 9) and non-whole numbers (e.g., 1.1 ,
I .2, . . . 1.9).
II. Determining
[00161] The term "determining" and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., to determine a price, determining a value, determine an object which meets a certain criterion) is used in an extremely broad sense. The term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions and therefore "determining" can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, "determining" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, "determining" can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like. [00162] The term "determining" does not imply certainty or absolute precision, and therefore "determining" can include estimating, extrapolating, predicting, guessing and the like.
[00163] The term "determining" does not imply that mathematical processing must be performed, and does not imply that numerical methods must be used, and does not imply that an algorithm or process is used.
[00164] The term "determining" does not imply that any particular device must be used. For example, a computer need not necessarily perform the determining.
III. Indication
[00165] The term "indication" is used in an extremely broad sense. The term "indication" may, among other things, encompass a sign, symptom, or token of something else.
[00166] The term "indication" may be used to refer to any indicia and/or other information indicative of or associated with a subject, item, entity, and/or other object and/or idea.
[00167] As used herein, the phrases "information indicative of and "indicia" may be used to refer to any information that represents, describes, and/or is otherwise associated with a related entity, subject, or object.
[00168] Indicia of information may include, for example, a code, a reference, a link, a signal, an identifier, and/or any combination thereof and/or any other informative representation associated with the information.
[00169] In some embodiments, indicia of information (or indicative of the information) may be or include the information itself and/or any portion or component of the information. In some embodiments, an indication may include a request, a solicitation, a broadcast, and/or any other form of information gathering and/or dissemination.
IV. Forms of Sentences
[00170] Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as well as more than one of a feature (e.g., a limitation such as "at least one widget" covers one widget as well as more than one widget), and where in a second claim that depends on the first claim, the second claim uses a definite article "the" to refer to the limitation (e.g., "the widget"), this does not imply that the first claim covers only one of the feature, and this does not imply that the second claim covers only one of the feature (e.g., "the widget" can cover both one widget and more than one widget).
[00171] When an ordinal number (such as "first", "second", "third" and so on) is used as an adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unless expressly specified otherwise) merely to indicate a particular feature, such as to distinguish that particular feature from another feature that is described by the same term or by a similar term. For example, a "first widget" may be so named merely to distinguish it from, e.g., a "second widget". Thus, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first" and "second" before the term "widget" does not indicate any other relationship between the two widgets, and likewise does not indicate any other characteristics of either or both widgets. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first" and "second" before the term "widget" (1 ) does not indicate that either widget comes before or after any other in order or location; (2) does not indicate that either widget occurs or acts before or after any other in time; and (3) does not indicate that either widget ranks above or below any other, as in importance or quality. In addition, the mere usage of ordinal numbers does not define a numerical limit to the features identified with the ordinal numbers. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first" and "second" before the term "widget" does not indicate that there must be no more than two widgets.
[00172] When a single device or article is described herein, more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may alternatively be used in place of the single device/article that is described. Accordingly, the functionality that is described as being possessed by a device may alternatively be possessed by more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate).
[00173] Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), a single device/article may alternatively be used in place of the more than one device or article that is described. For example, a plurality of computer- based devices may be substituted with a single computer-based device. Accordingly, the various functionality that is described as being possessed by more than one device or article may alternatively be possessed by a single device/article. [00174] The functionality and/or the features of a single device that is described may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are described but are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments need not include the described device itself, but rather can include the one or more other devices which would, in those other embodiments, have such functionality/features.
V. Disclosed Examples and Terminology Are Not Limiting
[00175] Neither the Title nor the Abstract in this specification is intended to be taken as limiting in any way as the scope of the disclosed invention(s). The title and headings of sections provided in the specification are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
[00176] Numerous embodiments are described in the present application, and are presented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments are not, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The presently disclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the disclosed invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and alterations, such as structural, logical, software, and electrical modifications. Although particular features of the disclosed invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understood that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they are described, unless expressly specified otherwise.
[00177] The present disclosure is not a literal description of all embodiments of the invention(s). Also, the present disclosure is not a listing of features of the invention(s) which must be present in all embodiments.
[00178] Devices that are described as in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to each other as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain from exchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine in communication with another machine via the Internet may not transmit data to the other machine for long period of time (e.g. weeks at a time). In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
[00179] A description of an embodiment with several components or features does not imply that all or even any of such components/features are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present invention(s). Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no component/feature is essential or required.
[00180] Although process steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a particular sequential order, such processes may be configured to work in different orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be explicitly described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.
[00181] Although a process may be described as including a plurality of steps, that does not imply that all or any of the steps are preferred, essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of the described invention(s) include other processes that omit some or all of the described steps. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no step is essential or required.
[00182] Although a process may be described singly or without reference to other products or methods, in an embodiment the process may interact with other products or methods. For example, such interaction may include linking one business model to another business model. Such interaction may be provided to enhance the flexibility or desirability of the process.
[00183] Although a product may be described as including a plurality of components, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, that does not indicate that any or all of the plurality are preferred, essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of the described invention(s) include other products that omit some or all of the described plurality.
[00184] An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of the items are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the enumerated list "a computer, a laptop, a PDA" does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list are mutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list are comprehensive of any category.
[00185] An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of the items are equivalent to each other or readily substituted for each other.
[00186] All embodiments are illustrative, and do not imply that the invention or any embodiments were made or performed, as the case may be.
VI. Computing
[00187] It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the various processes described herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmed general purpose computers, special purpose computers and computing devices. Typically a processor (e.g., one or more microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digital signal processors) will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory or like device), and execute those instructions, thereby performing one or more processes defined by those instructions.
[00188] A "processor" means one or more microprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or like devices or any combination thereof.
[00189] Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of an apparatus for performing the process. The apparatus that performs the process can include, e.g., a processor and those input devices and output devices that are appropriate to perform the process. [00190] Further, programs that implement such methods (as well as other types of data) may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable media) in a number of manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, some or all of the software instructions that can implement the processes of various embodiments. Thus, various combinations of hardware and software may be used instead of software only.
[00191] The term "computer-readable medium" refers to any medium, a plurality of the same, or a combination of different media, that participate in providing data (e.g., instructions, data structures) which may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes the main memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
[00192] Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying data (e.g. sequences of instructions) to a processor. For example, data may be (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over a wireless transmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmitted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet (or IEEE 802.3), SAP, ATP, Bluetooth™, and TCP/IP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G; and/or (iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of a variety of ways well known in the art.
[00193] Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of a computer- readable medium storing a program for performing the process. The computer-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) those program elements which are appropriate to perform the method.
[00194] Just as the description of various steps in a process does not indicate that all the described steps are required, embodiments of an apparatus include a computer/computing device operable to perform some (but not necessarily all) of the described process.
[00195] Likewise, just as the description of various steps in a process does not indicate that all the described steps are required, embodiments of a computer-readable medium storing a program or data structure include a computer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, can cause a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of the described process.
[00196] Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to those described may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structures besides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations or descriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrative arrangements for stored representations of information. Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g., tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustrated entries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content of the entries can be different from those described herein. Further, despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats (including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributed databases) could be used to store and manipulate the data types described herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a database can be used to implement various processes, such as the described herein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be stored locally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such a database.
[00197] Various embodiments can be configured to work in a network environment including a computer that is in communication (e.g., via a communications network) with one or more devices. The computer may communicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired or wireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, a telephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communications line, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, a satellite communications link, a combination of any of the above). Each of the devices may themselves comprise computers or other computing devices that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any number and type of devices may be in communication with the computer.
[00198] In an embodiment, a server computer or centralized authority may not be necessary or desirable. For example, the present invention may, in an embodiment, be practiced on one or more devices without a central authority. In such an embodiment, any functions described herein as performed by the server computer or data described as stored on the server computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or more such devices.
[00199] Where a process is described, in an embodiment the process may operate without any user intervention. In another embodiment, the process includes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or with the assistance of a human).
VII. 35 U.S.C. §112, Paragraph 6
[00200] In a claim, a limitation of the claim which includes the phrase "means for" or the phrase "step for" means that 35 U.S.C. §1 12, paragraph 6, applies to that limitation.
[00201] In a claim, a limitation of the claim which does not include the phrase "means for" or the phrase "step for" means that 35 U.S.C. §1 12, paragraph 6 does not apply to that limitation, regardless of whether that limitation recites a function without recitation of structure, material or acts for performing that function. For example, in a claim, the mere use of the phrase "step of" or the phrase "steps of in referring to one or more steps of the claim or of another claim does not mean that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, applies to that step(s).
[00202] With respect to a means or a step for performing a specified function in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, the corresponding structure, material or acts described in the specification, and equivalents thereof, may perform additional functions as well as the specified function.
[00203] Computers, processors, computing devices and like products are structures that can perform a wide variety of functions. Such products can be operable to perform a specified function by executing one or more programs, such as a program stored in a memory device of that product or in a memory device which that product accesses. Unless expressly specified otherwise, such a program need not be based on any particular algorithm, such as any particular algorithm that might be disclosed in the present application. It is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art that a specified function may be implemented via different algorithms, and any of a number of different algorithms would be a mere design choice for carrying out the specified function.
[00204] Therefore, with respect to a means or a step for performing a specified function in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §1 12, paragraph 6, structure corresponding to a specified function includes any product programmed to perform the specified function. Such structure includes programmed products which perform the function, regardless of whether such product is programmed with (i) a disclosed algorithm for performing the function, (ii) an algorithm that is similar to a disclosed algorithm, or (iii) a different algorithm for performing the function.
[00205] "Comprises/comprising" and "includes/including" when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words 'comprise', 'comprising', 'includes', 'including' and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".

Claims

1. A method of real-time monitoring and management of a construction project comprising:
receiving daily data regarding worker activity, equipment usage and quantities logging on a construction site;
processing said data upon receipt to generate a continuously updated plurality of reports incorporating said received data;
providing access to said reports in accordance with a predetermined level of authority within a construction company.
2. A method as defined in claim 1 , including:
defining a plurality of areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project;
defining a plurality of activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project;
defining a plurality of tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities; and
recording data regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site against said plurality of defined tasks.
3. A method as defined in claim 2, including:
assigning respective budget quantities for said plurality of tasks;
assigning respective budget man-hours based on the assigned budget quantities for said plurality of tasks;
determining man-hours spent on a said task from received data; and
reporting a production factor metric for said task based on a ratio of man-hours spent to budget man-hours.
4. A system for real-time monitoring and management of a construction project comprising:
a host server for receiving and processing data;
a plurality of remote computer devices configured to facilitate communication with the host server, each of the devices being capable of obtaining data from a construction site in relation to workers and equipment usage and quantities logging and to transmit said data to the host server for processing: wherein the host server comprises an interface configured to communicate with each remote computer device so as to coordinate the receipt of said data therefrom and for processing and storing said data.
5. A system as defined in claim 4, wherein the host server includes database storage arranged with a data structure having:
a plurality of defined areas relating to physical regions and/or features of the construction project;
a plurality of defined activities relating to classes of actions to be performed during the construction project; and
a plurality of defined tasks each comprising a selected one of said areas linked with a selected one of said activities;
and wherein data obtained from the construction site regarding worker activity, equipment usage and material quantities on the construction site is stored in the database against corresponding said defined tasks.
6. Apparatus adapted for real-time monitoring and management of a construction project, said apparatus including:
processor means adapted to operate in accordance with a predetermined instruction set, said apparatus, in conjunction with said instruction set, being adapted to perform the method as claimed in claim 1 , 2 or 3.
7. An apparatus, device or system as herein disclosed.
8. A method, process or protocol as herein disclosed.
PCT/AU2015/000109 2014-04-17 2015-02-26 Project management system and method Ceased WO2015157792A1 (en)

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