Tweedale brings its knowledge together

Feb. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Specialising in architecture, project management and town planning, Tweedale’s roots can be traced back to 1898, but that hasn’t stopped the business from moving with the times. The 14-person practice works across the UK and India and has signed up to Union Square for AEC Professionals, the construction-oriented knowledge management solution. The system will provide a more collaborative way of working for all of Tweedale’s projects, which include work for the commercial sector, the government and NHS Trusts.

Terry Reynolds, Tweedale’s Managing Director, talks us through the current way of working: “We’ve been using the timesheets and resourcing capabilities of TimeMinder for the past six years but realistically this is only about 20% of the system’s functionality. The practice is accredited with ISO9001:2008 so our filing structure is organised but there’s a lack of internal discipline when it comes to the digital storage of documentation. Working with NHS Trusts there can be lots of clients all needing the same 8MB drawing, so our server capacity is always being increased unnecessarily as multiple people file the same emails and attachments.”

The Board of Directors at Tweedale decided that there was a requirement for change. “We felt we needed something to support us, which would replace TimeMinder and create a more disciplined way of storing and managing documents” explains Terry.“With the developments in BIM we’re going to be dealing with many more large files and are keen to have the handling capacity in place.”

The practice researched three knowledge management solutions and considered which would be the best fit for the business. Following a series of meetings and presentations the Board came to a decision. “Union Square won for a variety of reasons.  It will ensure we’re only storing one copy of all information, reducing the server space required and increasing efficiency, whilst remaining flexible. We like the fact that procedures will be standardised but users can still personalise the interface of the system to suit individual preferences and requirements. Emails will be automatically copied into project folders, saving further time and reducing the risk of lost information. The other bonus is the system’s modular approach, allowing us to bolt on extra functionality as and when we require it.”

Tweedale also decided to upgrade its hardware in preparation for Union Square, pushing the practice to optimum technological capacity. “We plan to be ready to implement Union Square in the coming weeks. We’re looking forward to it bringing together our various disciplines” concludes Terry.