VPVI-80: Maximizing Efficiency & Information with User Defined ...€¦ · VPVI-80: Maximizing...

VPVI-80:Maximizing Efficiency & Information with User Defined Components & Workflows

Kim Young and Julie Jewitt, Millennium EMS Solutions Ltd

• An employee-owned company that specializes in providing a diverse range of environmental, health and safety consulting services

• Offices in Canada: – Alberta: Calgary, Edmonton and Grande

Prairie

– British Columbia: Victoria

• 150 employees

• 1000 - 1200 active projects at any time

• Vision 7.6 on premise

The Mission

• To possess a state-of-the-industry enterprise management system encapsulating: MEMS Human Capital, Projects, Clients, Proprietary Knowledge, Finance and Legal Obligations

• Create executable project platform information in Vision to allow coordination and increased efficiency in work execution

Issues

• Project Initiation (using a fillable PDF form)

Incomplete information provided

Duplicated effort

Some info entered from memory

• Budgeting (using spreadsheets)

Multiple rate schedules used for a single client

Forgetting to include add-ons

Not knowing Billing Codes (labour codes) for employees

How is Vision helping us achieve our mission? How is Vision helping us to solve these issues?

Efficiency

Workflows to automate standard info

Complete and accurate information

Less reliance on ‘institutional knowledge’

Tracking and Reporting

Statistics that weren’t possible before

Our Wins …so far

Converted forms and spreadsheets into Info Centers (IC)

Reduced potential for incorrect data through automation

Increased information available to PMs in the Projects Info Center and Dashboard

Addition of user defined fields

Workflow Overview

Replacing Forms and Spreadsheets

with User Defined Info Centers

Project Initiation Form (PIF)• Used for initiation of new projects

• 4-page fillable PDF (checkboxes & dropdowns)

• Emailed to Billers for entry into Vision

• Issues with PIF:o Incomplete/wrong information!

o People not using latest version of the form

o Hassle updating the dropdowns when information changed

o Duplicated the effort of opening a project

Vision Solution Project Set-up UDIC

• Project Managers can enter a Set-up before a client is created

Able to create a new Client and Contact from here

• Pulls Client-specific data from the Client Info Center

• Pulls Project Classifications and Phases/Tasks from WBS Template UDIC

Project Classifications are maintained in the UDF Management UDIC

• Automatically notifies the Project Team

• Automated workflows allow for risk management

Other Three User Defined Info Centers

• User Defined Fields Management• LEM

Labour, Equipment and Materials• Basically the building blocks of a Rate

Schedule

• Rate Schedules also used for Project Budgets

User-Defined Fields Management UDIC

• Why did we create a UDIC to manage User-Defined fields?

The fields are used in multiple Info Centers

Add or update data in one place

People who use the info can manage it

Don’t have to give them access to User Defined Components in Configuration

If a record is no longer valid, the status is changed to ‘Dormant’. This isn’t an option in User Defined Components.

Budgeting and Planning UDIC

We’ve outgrown Project Budgeting but aren’t ready for Resource Planning so we made our own Budgeting Info Center.

Enables budget entry before project is created

Ensures that correct rates and add-ons are used

Budget vs Billing tab – Project IC

• Shows financial information at all levels of the project

Budget

Billed

WIP

Unposted

Balance remaining

Preventing incorrect data –one method we use

• Employee IC– Checkboxes to limit who may

be selected

– Stored procedures to prevent unassigned selections

Challenges

• Change Management

Getting user buy in

Continual training required

• More transparency and automation results in identification of previously unknown issues

Other Accomplishments

• Project Management Dashparts

• Production Support Request UDIC

• Archiving UDIC

• Addition of EleVia Field Services Suite

• Addition of EleVia Electronic Invoicing

• Addition of EleVia AR Management

• IT Helpdesk Info Center

• Vision Helpdesk Info Center

What’s Next?

• CRM

• HR Management

• Milestone tracking

• Subcontractor Management

Questions?

37

Kim Young kyoung@mems.ca

Julie Jewitt jjewitt@mems.ca

Thank you!

Appendix

Screenshots

Other UDICs

Production Support Request

• Outlook form

Checkboxes, Dropdowns, Text boxes

• Main Issues

Incomplete info

Unable to track

Vision Solution –Production Requests UDIC

• Initiates in Projects IC

• Creates a record in the Production UDIC

• Email to Production Dept

• Status updates to the Project IC