NG Bailey work with our consultants to set new planning standards

NG Bailey uses Asta Powerproject as one of their standard planning tools in engineering, so they turned to Elecosoft when they needed guidance on how the product could be used to set and maintain planning quality needs. Planning Manager Kevin Bingham, a highly experienced Asta Powerproject user, felt he was more than able to create even complex programmes, but had never created a template programme before. This is where he turned to Elecosoft for guidance.

NG Bailey previously had training sessions but felt they needed more specific support and Elecosoft’s consultancy team were able to help. An Elecosoft consultant started with an initial phone conversation and then met for a day’s consulting. Our consultant was well prepared so they were able to work through the day quickly. Kevin said “it wasn’t a case of ‘read that’ and ‘do that’ – instead” the Elecosoft consultant listened to what we wanted to do, and spoke common sense.

“Because Elecosoft’s consultancy team have been there and done this process of standardisation with many other clients, they know all the pitfalls to look out for, and can advise and guide me. The process really delivered very, very useful advice. The value of Elecosoft’s consulting was around all the intangibles – because they were speaking from actual experience. They’d seen all the common pitfalls. Most importantly, when I wanted to make extensive use of task pools and define all the sequences we use in the business to create standard design, procurement, construction and commissioning processes, the consultant made me pause. She pointed out that we were potentially making the template too complicated and prescriptive.” said Kevin

The advice proved valuable not only for the process of creating a standard Asta Powerproject template, but to support the wider aims of the planning standards programme:

“What I learned, and the big message that I circled in my notes, was: think about the user and the process they need to go through first. Ask yourself: am I making this template simple to use? I’ve since taken that principle through to other standard company documents that we have produced. Because Elecosoft’s consultancy team have been there and done this process of standardisation with many other clients, they know all the pitfalls to look out for, and can advise and guide me. The process really delivered very, very useful advice. There’s definitely value in a relationship like this – especially when you make the decision to standardise processes and upskill practitioners”, said Kevin.