How MWAA brings together the right tools, processes, and teams to drive successful capital projects
March 29, 2021 | 3 minute readWhen the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) began contemplating their next major capital projects plan, they reflected on past projects, processes, and technologies but also had their mind on the future.
MWAA knew future projects must meet department needs, serve the community with a world-class airport system, and implement efficient and environmentally sustainable business processes.
MWAA, whose mission is to develop, promote, and safely operate the Reagan National and Dulles International airports, also knew they would need the right scalable technology, implementation, and team to help maximize productivity and achieve these goals.
2020 was a year of uncertainty and rapid change, highlighting more than ever the need for agility, flexibility, and better planning. Helping MWAA successfully meet the challenge was Oracle’s Primavera Unifier, a comprehensive and flexible asset lifecycle management solution.
The organization reviewed available technologies, seeking a system to support bringing things in-house to work smarter - not harder. “The goal,” said Laura McKeehan, MWAA’s project management information system administrator, “was to replace the PM’s cost, schedule, contract administration, and document management proprietary technologies with an all-in-one tool.”
Such an approach would mark a cultural shift away from having an onsite and heavily integrated program manager. In addition, while previous software implementations were successful, the authority desired more functionality as it matured and planned for major programs across both airports. MWAA selected Primavera Unifier for its configurability and scalability.
Primavera Unifier would help the authority configure the system to meet their current needs while providing the flexibility to adapt as their business needs evolved.
“We then took a deep dive into how we wanted and needed to do business versus how we’ve done it in the past,” said McKeehan. Foresee Consulting helped MWAA focus the effort and brought perspective and experience to the table, ensuring MWAA was thinking broadly about all aspects of the airport operations - both today and into the future.
Foresee examined MWAA’s new policies and procedures and asked numerous hard questions about what they did, what their goals were, and why they mattered.
The process was lengthy, but worth it, according to MWAA. A business process relationship diagram was created and shared with stakeholders across the organization as a reference tool, helping keep the team focused and ensuring buy-in through involvement.
Watch the on-demand webcast on MWAA’s capital program management successes with Primavera Unifier and Foresee Consulting.
McKeehan and her team have brought significant achievements to MWAA:
• Elimination of duplicate processes and a single source of truth
• Significant reduction of document management efforts with auto-publishing
• Resolution of major delay claims in a fraction of the time with timestamps and field reporting
• Delivery of large design packages to licensed reviewers with no system limitations
• Reduction of workflow steps and delays by replacing some sign-offs with automated notifications
• Alignment and standardization of processes, allowing staff to transition seamlessly between contracts
• Addition of owner transparency into the contract change process
• Prompt transition to remote work with no operational interruption
Foresee Consulting is a capital program management consulting firm specializing in the implementation, integration, support and training of project management systems. The consulting firm brings years of experience implementing Primavera Unifier across sectors and specifically for the transportation industry.
Foresee has helped realize consistent results for their clients by standardizing processes and procedures and focusing on areas of continuous improvement, including:
- An increase of more than 60% of on-time delivery of projects under budget
- Reduction of change orders by 21%
- Estimated time savings on workflows of more than 50% by implementing the right tools and improving processes
Watch the on-demand webcast on MWAA’s capital program management successes with Primavera Unifier and Foresee Consulting to learn more.
Learn more about Primavera Unifier.
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.
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