How Digital RFIs and Submittals Can Help Improve Project Accuracy and Reduce Rework
How Digital RFIs and Submittals Can Help Improve Project Accuracy and Reduce Rework
Construction companies face ever-growing challenges with budget constraints, turnover times, and the modern expectations of stakeholders in terms of meeting deadlines, quality, and maintaining constant communications. Into the bargain, companies now must keep up with the increase in global demand for construction, as the World population continues to rise each year.
Improving the processes of construction companies can be difficult at times, however, workflow management software can now help companies regain control over their ever-blossoming project workflows. Implementing tools such as integrated, Cloud-based software reduces error and rework for organizations using shared data, and who are looking to expand access to information across teams.
Engineering RFIs/Submittals
Efficiently communicate with downstream parties
RFIs and Submittals
Though there are a myriad number of construction related workflows, we will focus on one of the most important in terms of meeting client expectations and improving overall communications – RFIs (Requests for Information) and Submittals. When managed properly, they can increase productivity and provide greater clarity into the status and requirements of a project. Moreover, they allow construction companies to manage requests information that is crucial for project accuracy. RFIs and submittals provide companies with a streamlined and standardized approach to communicating with third parties and internal staff, by effectively simplifying interactions with owners and downstream contractors. More than ever, companies can do this by leveraging digital solutions for managing RFIs, submittals, and other facets of their document-centric workflows.
Companies know inefficient processes can create destructive silos that impede essential construction workflows, which is in part why the RFI exists in the first place. RFIs and submittals are systematic, and can therefore be controlled and referenced throughout all stages of a construction projects. Regardless, however, many companies still exacerbate these processes by requiring workers to manage communication across applications without structured and integrated software systems.
The Discipline of Workflow Schedule Management
Business operations seem more chaotic than ever. The economic swings seem bigger; the labor pool is tighter, more diverse, and more geographically dispersed; the amount of information is enormous; and at the end of the day, management has just become harder. Trying to get your arms around all that’s going on and ensuring the organization is focused on getting the tasks done is now more complex and daunting. Add pandemics, supply chain disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and now even historical inflation.
What is a manager to do?
EDMS Solutions with RFI/Submittal Capabilities
ImageSite and Engine-Box enable managers to delegate and communicate tasks to team members. In addition to the RFIs and submittals module, companies can automate document-centric tasks and assign responsibilities and approvals throughout workflows using the Workflow Plus module. This, in turn, creates accountability for all relevant parties, helping teams identify sources of information silos or bottlenecks as they occur. Both solutions enable office or project managers to review audit trails as actions are taken, or as new data is entered into the system. This allows for post-mortem analysis of workflow performance and identification of areas for improvement.
Information is kept in a single location, so details included in an RFI or submittal can be referenced at any point in time. Increased visibility takes the guesswork out of the equation, and ensures that managers can refer to a point of contact for questions or concerns regarding an RFI or submittal. It also allows managers to communicate within the system, so there are never questions as to what conversations have been had or when.
What Is an Engineering Submittal and Why Is It Important?
The submittal review process provides checks and balances during the construction phase of a project. Submittals are often used for quality control, and help project owners understand what they’re getting themselves into.
Digital Solutions
A workflow and document management system provides companies with a common data environment for people involved in a construction project. It’s a centralized location for managing every aspect of document-centric project workflows. Using a Cloud workflow and document management system, companies access drawings, documents, and essential workflows continually from their mobile devices.
Using digital RFIs and submittals for construction reduces the time it takes to communicate information between team members and allows them to respond to changes quicker, often in real-time. The RFI and submittals module of a document management system helps companies stay on-budget by making it easy to identify the cost impact of changes and minimize rework due to lack of information or late decision-making. Additionally, it helps companies improve schedule awareness by providing RFI managers with notifications of upcoming deadlines.
Additional EDMS Features
Our EDMS Solutions
ImageSite and Engine-Box (the Cloud version of ImageSite) are eQuorum’s robust workflow and document management solutions, created to help workers manage their essential workflows while maintaining complete control over their engineering files and documents. Not only do they provide a secure collaboration site for workers, but they also help organizations manage document distribution with third parties like vendors, contractors, and customers. Both systems are offered at a competitive price, enabling organizations to get a quick return on their investment by providing the features and functionality needed to help organizations improve efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. Companies can choose from concurrent user subscriptions or named user subscriptions, ensuring organizations have subscription options that make sense for their business.
ImageSite®
Our single source engineering workflow and document management system. Built in HTML5 so there is no software to deploy to client computers or mobile apps to download. Offered as an On-premise or Private Cloud system.
Our EDMS Solutions
ImageSite and Engine-Box (the Cloud version of ImageSite) are eQuorum’s robust workflow and document management solutions, created to help workers manage their essential workflows while maintaining complete control over their engineering files and documents. Not only do they provide a secure collaboration site for workers, but they also help organizations manage document distribution with third parties like vendors, contractors, and customers. Both systems are offered at a competitive price, enabling organizations to get a quick return on their investment by providing the features and functionality needed to help organizations improve efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. Companies can choose from concurrent user subscriptions or named user subscriptions, ensuring organizations have subscription options that make sense for their business.
Engine-Box™
Engine-Box is a cloud based workflow and document management version of ImageSite that resides outside the corporate network.
The eQuorum Customer Promise
In 2005, eQuorum developed the first all browser-based EDMS. The system, although for on-premise use, was still created to remove client software and JAVA from user computers and allow users to have a single viewer based on the simple navigation functionality of browsers. Today, eQuorum provides that same application in a private Cloud or a SaaS Cloud option. We can do this because we are, and have always been, browser-based, understanding the enhanced speed, security, and usability of this technology.
With the abundance of document management systems on the market today, there’s no doubt that choosing the right Cloud document management software can be a difficult decision. eQuorum is here to provide a comprehensive, powerful, and most importantly – affordable Cloud document management solution. We believe in providing real value to our customers by eliminating unnecessary costs, providing industry-leading functionality, and equipping your team with the right tools using cutting edge technology to bring your products to market faster.
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eQuorum®
We specialize in engineering workflow and document management. Our comprehensive, yet easy-to-use software provides the solution to manage data from design to manufacturing and production, to sales, support and administration.