StreamFocus™ Blog

  
After 2 years of research and over a year of programming, we are happy to announce the launch of our Limited Beta.  Here is information on our concepts, features, pricing, and screenshots.  We look forward to collaborating with our users on making StreamFocus even better.

Case Study: Architecture

We’ve been using StreamFocus at my architectural firm for the past 6 months, and we are having a dramatic experience: 50% increase in productivity, a large increase in quality, and happier clients and staff with a growing business. This sounds impossible, but it’s a fact.

Please read these articles to find out about the main features enabling us to achieve this large productivity boost:

• Project Templates establish Project priorities and organization
• Workflow Templates and constrained Workflows prevent costly rework and provide easy to use project and action management
• Information made available contextually for the action at hand allows users to move easily from one action to another and stay fully informed on the information they need to get the top priorty job done and collaborate in a powerful way.

With StreamFocus, we are able to customize our project and Workflow templates to optimize our business and continue to improve the flow and quality of our work. Additionally, because the action sequence is captured in the Workflow templates, users are able to benefit from that captured knowledge and operate at higher levels with less direct management input and greater satisfaction levels - allowing me to focus on designing a great project with less time spent managing.

©2007 Organon Technologies LLC

Case Study: Architecture - Back to: 50% Productivity Increase with Better Quality?

In StreamFocus, a Workflow is a connected flow of actions that creates a value for the customer. A Workflow template establishes a company-wide template for carrying out a Workflow. The diagram below is a simple example of a Workflow template:

Flow Constraints Within a Workflow

Within the template, constraints are set to control the flow of actions. A solid line indicates a mandatory path, and a dashed line indicates an optional path. An oval shape is an action, and a triangular shape is waiting for action. So in the above diagram, the “Building Survey” action can not be worked on until “Signed Contract” is waiting for action. After performing the “Review Survey” action, either the survey is approved and information can be sent on to the “Survey Files” wait for action, or errors were found in the survey and thus the survey information is sent to “Building Survey Revisions” wait for action and then sent back for revisions in the “Building Survey” action.

Flow Constraints Between Workflows

Constraints can be set on a Workflow which indicate that other Workflows must be complete prior to working on it. This allows for dynamic priority setting when unforseen issues arise. An example Project hierarchy:

For example, the Workflow “14. Model Structure” in the lower right of the diagram above has an available action to work on under SubProject “1. First Floor Plan” and is currently the top priority. Then the structural engineer submits revisions to his design because of an unforseen issue with the existing structure which affects Workflow “11. Prelim Design”. Because this issue is in Project priority 3, it overrides “14. Model Structure” and becomes the top priority on the project. Additionally, because “14. Model Structure” is constrained by “11. Prelim. Design”, “14. Model Structure” is no longer available to work on until “11. Prelim. Design” is complete.

Setting constraints between Workflows allows simple but effective project management. The combination of Project priorities and Workflow constraints allows for dynamic setting of priorities that flow with changes that occur on most projects, helping the team stay focused on the top priority and avoiding costly rework.

Next: Contextual Information Retrieval

©2007 Organon Technologies LLC

Case Study: Architecture - Back to: 50% Productivity Increase with Better Quality?

How much time do you spend looking for relevant information when working on a project? For my information-intensive firm, a lot of time was spent looking for product brochures, the latest project prints, old project prints, the latest phone call information from the client, that beam redesign fax from the engineer, the latest email from the Planning Department with the new deadline, etc. It was overwhelming, especially when larger teams were trying to use the same information.

Contextual Focus

With the help of StreamFocus, our high-speed scanner, and scans converted to pdfs, all the information we need for any Action is immediately available. In looking at an Action view, all the relevant information is there including the ability to add information, such as phone call, emails, etc with the click of a button. We know who is working on that action currently and in the past. Additionally, when selecting an Action to view, StreamFocus shows the context to the Workflow and subproject the Action belongs to. This context focus is displayed highlighted at the top of the screen with the ability to move up or down the focus hierarchy changing the context of what is displayed in the various system views.

For example, if you are viewing the participants for the structural engineering coordination action within “13. Final Design”, the structural engineer and his staff as well as your staff interacting with the engineer will be displayed and all others who created or were conveyed information about the action. If you select up the hierarchy to the next subproject level, “Contract Documents”, all of the participants in all the information created and conveyed below that level will be displayed, and so on. A real-time view of all the relevant participants on a project is obtained by simply clicking on the Project name at the top “200701_Vincent”. This same contextual display is true for other views such as Information, Sessions, and in the case of Architecture and Engineering, Products and Keynotes.

Team Collaboration

In addition to the personal productivity gain contextual action information has given us, we have also gained dramatically in team collaboration. For example, at any given time I can see exactly which Action any other team members are working on. If a team member asks a question, with a click on their Action, I am presented with the same contextual Action view that they have so that I can quickly grasp their context, such as the latest call from the engineer or a sketch with a red-lined area of concern, and can answer quickly. This tool is as equally powerful when the team is in the same room or scattered about in different countries. The right information at the right time in the right quantity is a very powerful tool.

Back to: 50% Productivity Increase with Better Quality?

©2007 Organon Technologies LLC