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To be competitive today, architects, contractors, developers and owner need to do a lot more with a lot less. For that reason, many construction professionals are taking into consideration online construction document management software. This Web-based software can help contractors and architects create decisions faster, automate documentation and reduce costs.
Here are some of the major advantages of online construction project document management software.
Current Information: Up-to-date information can be made available on the web without the need for direct contact with key individuals. Users get a real-time view of the latest information, ceasing delays. The systems maintain a date-stamped log of each online document like Requests for Information (RFIs), submittals of material samples and installation drawings, Construction Change Directives (CCDs), Architect’s Supplemental Information (ASIs) and similar construction documents, excluding confusion about whether (or when) users obtained the information.
Increased Accuracy: Information can be entered at the source and does not need to be retyped. For example, a field superintendent can enter an RFI question using a simple online form. The RFI is relayed to the engineer, who may answer the question online. That information becomes instantly available to anyone else who is in need for it. All users see identical information, making it possible to resolve issues fast.
Ceased Workload: Members of the construction team can get needed information (such as answers to RFIs) quicker, helping them to complete projects in a timely fashion. The construction staff does not need to constantly expand and reformat contract-administration spreadsheets, a time-consuming and error-prone process. Because members of the construction team may straightly input and submit information, no one own to re-input and reformat material. Real-time, online logs eliminate the need to reconcile logs in meetings.
Enhanced Accessibility: Online systems overpower some of the limitations of e-mail and faxes, which should be sent to everyone who needs access to the information. With an online system, it’s a lot quicker for people to browse the Web and download the information. The usual means of communication “push” information out to the people; while the online system “pulls” people to the information. It is the difference between sending the information many times to be read once (e-mail or fax) or sending the information once, to be read by the majority of people (e.g., online web access).
Online Paper Trail: The whole cycle is documented. Questions and answers are written and automatically date-stamped. This assists assure the question is clear, and that the answer is less likely to be misinterpreted. With its immediate access to information and electronic search abilities, online construction document management software may significantly reduce the time needed to research previous communication and documents.
In short, such software can dramatically help construction teams enlarge efficiency, save time and reduce costs.
Tags: document management software, document software, management software
Posted in Business · February 9th, 2010 · Comments (0)
Think back 5, 10, 15 years, and try to recall all of the mom and pop retail bakeries that existed. In each ethnic neighborhood, you had the Jewish Bakery, the German Bakery, the Italian Bakery and so on. My dad once owned eight bakeries in a range of neighborhoods throughout the Philadelphia area. Remember the signs in the store windows: “Fresh bread”, “Fresh cakes”, “Butter cookies”, “All Baking Done on Premises.” Those were the days. Bakery owners did the real baking; they woke early and started baking way before the sun came up. Freezers were small, as there was no need to freeze racks of cake, cookies, and pies. Who ever heard of using a all ready made up mix? Ha, Ha, just add water and mix. Even funnier, today the joke is who ever heard of scratch baking! Remember the names of the bakeries? My dad’s name is Arthur. His bakeries were known as, (guess), Arthur’s Bakery. The names reflected who owned the store, not what big corporation owned the store.
So, where did all the bakeries go? In no specific order, here are my answers.
1. The Big Box Store Effect: 15 years in the past the products that the Supermarkets and Wholesale Clubs put out were lousy. In the course of the years their product has gotten much improved, still nowhere near as good as a retail bakery can put out, but decent enough. I am in the bakery supply business, so I really try to support the “mom & pops” but here’s the thing… Junior is turning 3 and I require a cake. We’ve invited 25 of Junior’s best and closest preschool buddies. My wife calls the neighborhood bakery and orders a ½ sheet cake, the price is $35.00, and she then calls a warehouse club and finds out that their price is $19.87. Will the preschoolers really mind what their piece of cake tastes like? Should I save $15.00 or spend an extra $15.00 in order to support the community retailer?
2. Who Wants to Work so Hard? Growing up, my father worked a lot of hours. I rarely saw him during a holiday season, up and gone by the time I woke up for school, and when I got home from school he was either still at work, or catching up on his rest. Phone calls in the middle of the night, the mixer broke, the driver didn’t have money to cross the bridge, the store was robbed, and then there was the fistfight in the parking lot. The police force were called. Who needs that? Ok so we did all right, but the family was certainly not “rich” by any measure. My dad made most of his money from the sale of the properties that the bakeries stood on.
3. College: So the bakery was doing ok, and papa baker wanted his offspring to have a better life, so he sends Junior off to college. Well, when Junior graduates college, he doesn’t wantto go back in the family business and split the profits with his dad. Junior is better off working in commerce or buying a Dunkin Donuts, which brings me to point #4.
4. They Never Really Left, Just Changed to Specialty Shops: Well we have, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Cupcake Only Shops, etc. The collective bakery goods selling now is much greater than it was, and this is not only due to population enlargement, it’s due to sexy marketing by the fast food chain stores. Hey, I can stop at the mom and pop bakery and get a muffin for breakfast, or I can stopover at Starbucks and overpay for the muffin and coffee. I’ll select Starbucks, because I love to be hip.
5. Convenience Stores, Especially Those with Drive-Through-Windows: Pick up smokes and a bagel, in and out in a minute or two. I recall my dad’s shops had the cigarette machines and the customers had to put quarters in it. If you didn’t have the change, then you had to go to the counter and wait for the cashier to break a dollar or two for you. Now, they swipe their debit cards for a $1.98 sale. Who carries money anymore? So now, Mr. Retail baker can’t hide his cash as easily any longer. The “cash” was a perk that was unspoken about.
6. Changing Nutritional Habits: Peanut Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Blah, Blah. The Supermarkets are able to change faster and advertise that they “have it”. Whatever “it” is that month. By the way, I never heard of peanut allergies when I was a kid.
7. The Home Cake Decorator: No doubt about it, the bakery industry is getting sexier, and sexier. Just watch the T.V. shows, “Cake Boss”, “Ace of Cakes”, “Extreme Cake Challenge” or read the latest Martha Stewart Magazine. The trouble is that the mom and pops were never geared to make such ornate cakes, spending ½ a day on one specialty wedding cake. The bakeries that I grew up in are set up to whip out numerous cakes. On a decent weekend through the wedding season they’d bake, ice, and decorate 30 to 40 wedding cakes! Anyway the retailers didn’t stay up with the times so the empty space was filled by Suzy Homemaker, who can afford to labor on simply one or two cakes a week. They act as the baker and the person who will decorate a cake. The buyers of such cakes do not understand that the “creation” is not made in a commercial kitchen, the “baker’ isn’t licensed, nor do they have business insurance.
8. Only the Strong Survive: No matter what, running any small company is tough. The bakeries that were working on a slim to none, profit margin, closed up shop during our most recent recession. The younger bakers got jobs in the Supermarket Bakery, where they were offered a stable paycheck and benefits.
Ecstasy for them! An air-conditioned atmosphere, set working hours, getting off on Holidays, and best yet, they don’t work nearly as hard. Instead of “scratch baking” or adding water to a mix, they pull from the freezer and thaw out the premade cakes that were made 3 weeks ago in a big plant. The really “experienced” baker will do what’s called a “bake off.” In this case, the item is prepared and pre-baked ½ the way. The “baker” pulls this product from the freezer, thaws it, and then “bakes it off”. Ahh, the fragrance of fresh baked bread.
FYI, I did not follow in my dad’s path, but I do work in the bakery industry, as owner of a company that sells cake decorating supplies. I work on the supply side of things. I try to adjust to changes as best as I can but it’s getting harder and harder. For more information on ideas to decorate a cake please feel free to contact us.
Tags: cake decorating supplies, cake decorations, candy making supplies, rolled fondant, Wilton cake decorating
Posted in Baking · February 9th, 2010 · Comments (0)