How Clayco adds AI-driven visual layer to Primavera P6 EPPM schedules

Clayco is a leading full-service real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build, and construction firm that focuses on delivering clients the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations.

In accordance with that mission, Clayco seeks to optimize how they use industry standard technology solutions, embracing new tools to serve their clients and help progress the industry’s digitalization.

This approach has served Clayco well. Today the company ranks No. 1 in the commercial sector on Engineering News-Record’s 2020 ENR Midwest Top Contractor list and No. 5 on the 2020 ENR Top 100 Design Build firms. The company’s commitment “to create and to innovate” is a driving force behind its leadership position.

Open systems

Clayco knows how to use data to their advantage. The company pulls information generated from different systems – enterprise resource planning (ERP), estimating, scheduling, project controls – into their business intelligence solution before consolidating, analyzing, and acting on the data’s findings.

Clayco has a comprehensive view of each project—as well as across all their projects—achieved by standardizing on tools and steering clear of closed systems and proprietary formats. The company accurately compares performance across projects, views trends, takes corrective action, and makes project-to-project improvements by using consistent tools and metrics across all their projects.

Industry standard solutions

Clayco benefits from the stability and security associated with Oracle ERP and construction and engineering industry standard solutions, such as Oracle’s Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM), Oracle Primavera Cloud, and Oracle Textura Payment Management. This strong technology backbone gives the company the foundation they need to run their business confidently and to adopt new cutting-edge technologies.

Cutting-edge technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), machine learning (ML) and other acronyms look and sound cool and futuristic. But what is even more exciting is observing how promising newer technologies can have a tangible impact on day-to-day challenges.

One such solution, Reconstruct, is a visual data analytics platform for construction that improves industry productivity by enabling web and mobile products to integrate with reality capture, BIM, and schedule. Users can manage their projects visually, helping teams more accurately manage and plan their work.  

Reconstruct, which is an Oracle Partner Network (OPN) member and Oracle Construction and Engineering Innovation Lab tenant, was one of the first companies to be accepted into Oracle’s Startup Cloud Accelerator Program.

Clayco took advantage of an integration between Oracle project management solutions and Reconstruct to improve safety, cost, and efficiency by adding visual data into their Primavera P6 EPPM schedule.

Here’s how that works. Reconstruct integrates 2D drawings and/or building information models (BIM) with the project schedule using Primavera P6 EPPM APIs to form a visual plan for the project. Photos and videos are captured through 360 cameras, drones, and crane cameras.

Afterwards, the photos and videos are continuously fed into Reconstruct’s cloud-based computer vision engine to produce 3D models of indoor and outdoor construction operations, adding a visual layer to the schedule.

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“By adding the visual information from Reconstruct into our Primavera P6 EPPM schedule, we save time on validating progress and we identify issues earlier, so we can take action before the schedule is impacted."

-Carlos Montiel, Director of Project Controls and Scheduling, Clayco

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This visual field data is compared with the visual plans to provide actionable insight on progress, quality, and productivity. For each project, Reconstruct’s AI and VR capabilities provide a 3D timeline of views for project stakeholders to track and resolve project issues in a virtual environment before the project cost or schedule are impacted.

This additional information improves the value of Primavera P6 EPPM schedules, according to Clayco. This additional capability is particularly valuable right now, with a boom in demand for data and distribution centers resulting from the immense increase in online shopping and other activities during COVID-19.

The project owners are demanding increasingly condensed schedules to meet their market demands and Clayco’s technologies have set the construction company up for success.

Five benefits from using Reconstruct with Primavera P6 EPPM

1)    Project stakeholders can see and discuss actual 4D progress against plan to identify schedule and budget risks early enough in the project to take corrective action.
 
2)  Contractors can review daily reports to see the percentage complete and the probability of staying on schedule.

3) A view across disciplines and projects enables comparisons and sharing of best practices.

4) The project and all parties on the project benefit:
a.    Subcontractors’ foremen can plan better by seeing a visual forecast.
b.    Project managers can reduce risk by quickly and accurately verifying work completed to process  pay applications in Oracle Textura Payment Management.
c.    Specialty consulting can reduce travel/worksite presence by remotely viewing the Reconstruct model, which can be generated as a 3D model without BIM.
d.    Disputes are reduced due to additional visibility.
e.    Financers can see project progress and gain visibility into how resources are spent.

5) Owners gain increased assurance that their projects are being managed to plan.

The updated Reconstruct model is accessible to project stakeholders who can interact with the model in real-time by inputting the weekly Primavera P6 EPPM schedule and work plan into Reconstruct.

This direct and consistent input from the field into the schedule supports Clayco’s mission to deliver clients the highest quality solutions on time and on budget.

Clayco’s five tips for successful technology implementation

1.    Always innovate and improve.
2.    Gain buy-in to drive system adoption/usage. Start with the right team members and identify your champions.
3.    The report out format must be actionable. Spend time setting up your systems to meet your organizational needs.
4.    Integrate multiple systems to create the most comprehensive project view. Avoid stand-alone solutions.
5.    Use the analysis to impact all facets of the project (safety, schedule, budget). Data is only as valuable as how you use it.

What’s next?

Currently, the valuable visual layer, added by Reconstruct to the Primavera P6 EPPM schedule, is synched on an hourly basis. In the future, with 5G connectivity, this information will be available in real time.

Read about other Oracle Industries Innovation Lab partners who are providing cutting edge solutions to industry leaders like Clayco.

Oracle Construction and Engineering, the global leader in construction management software and project portfolio management solutions, helps you connect your teams, processes, and data across the project and asset lifecycle. Drive efficiency and control in project delivery with proven solutions for project controls, construction scheduling, portfolio management, BIM/CDE, construction payment management, and more.