In construction, it's difficult to leverage data across applications to effectively diagnose problems, predict risk, and plan future actions. To address this challenge, Oracle today announced Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud Analytics. The new solution combines data from Oracle Smart Construction Platform applications to give builders and contractors a comprehensive understanding of performance throughout their operations. With these insights, organizations can quickly identify and resolve issues and find ways to continually improve project planning, construction, and facility operations.
"You can't manage what you can't measure," said Roz Buick, senior vice president of product, strategy and marketing at Oracle Construction and Engineering. “The new Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud Analytics offering combined with the Smart Construction Platform's predictive intelligence engine and shared data environment gives our customers a deeper, holistic understanding of their performance. Now they can create unique data strategies that drive competitive differentiation. In this way, the construction industry will achieve Six Sigma accuracy, which is already found in other parts of the industry and in manufacturing today.”
The Smart Construction Platform brings together capabilities from Oracle Construction and Engineering applications and third-party solutions in a common data environment with an enhanced user experience. The platform makes it easier for builders and contractors to collaborate to improve decision-making across organizations. Oracle is introducing the new analytics solution and other platform updates today at the Oracle Industry Lab in Deerfield, Illinois.
“We are increasingly focused on finding new and better ways to use our data so we can gain further insights into project performance and risk,” said Brian Neal, project manager at Rudolph Libbe Inc. “The connection and the combining of data for analysis will provide the most comprehensive insight into our operations and help us understand trends in our business. It also allows us to find ways to streamline the delivery of projects to our customers.”
Smart Construction Platform: people, processes and data in harmony
The Smart Construction Platform brings together the core applications, processes and data building owners and contractors need to collaborate across project and asset lifecycles. This includes portfolio planning, bidding/tendering processes, contracts, schedules, project documents, as well as Building Information Model (BIM) collaboration, on-site activities, costs and payments. With the new unified experience, shared data environment, and cross-application interoperability, users can easily switch between applications and datasets while working on a single project. By synchronizing activities, resources, and data throughout each project and asset, the platform helps teams from different disciplines work towards the same goal with the same information.
For example, the planning and project management capabilities sync design and site teams against a master plan, providing insight into both a unified schedule and the task data needed to get the right work done in the right place at the right time. So, should the date of an HVAC installation change due to an issue in the supply chain, the project manager will automatically receive the updated schedule information and can coordinate any necessary adjustments for the affected teams.
In addition, the platform provides investment planners with accurate, timely data on project forecasts so they can coordinate with managers on budget requirements and adjust them as strategic priorities change. For example, inflation doubles the cost of the materials needed for a project. The project manager can pass these new actual amounts and forecasts to the planner, who can then make timely changes to the portfolio.
The platform continuously learns and gets smarter using machine learning, so it considers past actions to highlight potential risks and support more informed decision-making. Oracle offers its customers a variety of networked functions. This includes:
• Provide project managers with up-to-date schedule data so teams can align with planned delivery dates and other schedule requirements.
• Joint planning (CPM schedule) with site teams (task plan) to minimize wasted time and resources.
• Capital planning and project execution teams can share budget and actual cost data so both teams can confidently adapt to different situations as the project progresses.
• Automatically store completed bid/request packages, as well as approved invoices and other payment materials, in company document registries.
• Transparency for all stakeholders to jointly track progress, identify and mitigate risks, and efficiently manage changes throughout the supply chain.
"Thanks to Oracle, we are improving coordination, transparency and control during project development," said Weronika Nowak, document control and IT manager at Mayflower Wind. “The ability to further connect our teams, processes and data across applications and all project phases increases efficiency. It also provides our staff with the information they need to easily manage change as we work to deploy critical energy assets.”
