Sandpiper Corporation and BIW Technologies help a leading project and construction management company reduce resolution of defects timescales significantly.

BIW Technologies  Ltd (BIW®) provides supply chain integration services to the global architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) community. It deploys, hosts and manages access to its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications from a centrally managed facility. BIW helps constructors to work more efficiently and profitably with lower levels of risk. Businesses can progressively expand their online working capabilities, from simple collaboration through to sophisticated project control. Capitalising on BIW's sophisticated contract change and financial control applications, major contractors now have unprecedented visibility of the impacts of change on their projects and on their businesses as a whole.

In conjunction with Sandpiper, new mobile facilities are provided to support BIW’s Quality Manager application - a flexible and robust inspection and defects management solution, fully integrated with the core BIW system. Users can capture data using mobile devices supplied by Sandpiper such as the Motorola MC35 rugged handheld computer and share that data via BIW’s market-leading collaboration platform. Equally, updated information can be uploaded from the BIW system to mobile devices for reuse onsite.

Building on a well-established relationship with Sandpiper, BIW was keen to maintain continuity and level of service for its latest project. Sandpiper evaluated a number of devices and recommended Motorola’s MC35 rugged handheld computer. It was essential that the device allowed a Windows platform to run smoothly with BIW’s software.

The durable and pocketable device puts the combined power of a mobile phone, notebook, camera and barcode scanner in one durable device and offers a product life that well exceeds that of the traditional consumer smartphone or PDA. It also allows the convergence of voice and data translates into one device for employees to carry and one device for IT to manage - simplifying the mobility architecture, capital and operational costs.

The mobile element of BIW: Quality Manager has been developed specifically for Windows Mobile and the latest hardware, and gives users access to project data via hand held PDA type devices equipped with 3G, GPRS, wi-fi or direct cable connectivity.
Once ordered direct from BIW, each device is configured by Sandpiper and sent direct to the customer as part of a seamless process.

The BIW Quality Manager software is also highly configurable to suit the process requirements of each customer and its processes. Typically, the system will reflect the detailed work breakdown structure created for the project; users can drill down into that structure to identify, say, issues associated with specific rooms or a particular work package.

The complete solution allows customers to record data accurately, faster and in one process - reducing the need for re-keying of data. The collation and transmission of defects to relevant contractors is also achieved quickly and effectively; fewer paperwork bottlenecks means defects are resolved more quickly. All data is real-time giving contractors improved reporting on supplier performance and a clear audit trail of all defect resolution processes.

BIW customers deploying BIW Quality Manager include property developers, construction and project managers and main contractors, with numerous supply chain professionals including architects and engineers using them daily. One customer has deployed over 100 devices across many different projects, with one project involving the management of 70,000 separate defect items across a wide spread supply chain..

“Just as delivering accurate, up-to-the-minute data is vital to our project teams, so is the reliable provision of robust handheld devices to help capture and manage that data. We have been working with the specialists at Sandpiper since 2006 and their technical advice and support has been invaluable to us and to our customers deploying BIW’s mobile application in challenging site environments” stated Steve Cooper, BIW’s Sales Director.