OnTrack Engineering’s Director of Marketing sat down with Trevor Lamb, P. Eng., President at Three Streams Engineering, to discuss how using has made a difference in the way they do business, and in the positive outcome of their projects. His insights on Three Streams experience are summarized here.

What is the basis of your company?

We are a high energy, fast paced organization that is geared to complete full cycle EPCM projects from simple MOC type work costing less than $10,000 to major projects in excess of $50MM. Our company philosophy is to provide our team with the best tools available to complete their tasks and responsibilities. We believe that On-Track meets this criterion and we are please to be involved with its excellent performance and continuous improvement enhancements.

Why were you seeking a solution? What problem were you having?

The key issues in our shop were traceability, reliability and our reputation. The system of using Excel spreadsheets is great if you are an organization of less than 5 people. As we grew from a 3 person company to over 50 people in less than 18 months, the quality, reliability, accuracy and traceability of our PO ’s and cost reports diminished so rapidly that it started to become embarrassing when presenting documentation to our clients. An alternative was required if we are to succeed past this recent boom period.

Why On Track Project Manager?

As I have worked within many EPCM and owner organizations, I have seen many in-house developed programs that seem only to be operable by the creator of the program, and typically not useful to the people adding the data. In essence, every in-house program was created into a monster that offered no real value or useable data for the people that are intended to use the program. I am pretty sure that they provided some great reports to present for some prospectus; but I never saw these reports.

In addition, our business mandate does not entail software development; therefore, the decision to move to a “canned” program became the only choice. After one year of on-going software reviews and evaluations, the final choice was very obvious based on the product simplicity and support availability by the On-Track team.

What about the philosophy of how work is managed within the system?

We found the system to be very simple in design and therefore, completely understandable and manageable. Our opinion of this program is that it can be as simple or complex as you chose to make each project. Therefore, each project can be “fit-for-purpose” based on the project size and/or complexity.

The philosophy in our company is that the Client and the Project Engineer agree on the level of complexity based on the number of line items to be managed within an AFE estimate. If project cost controls are required to be only a few items, or a few thousand items, then so be it. In summary, make an estimate (AFE – Original Budget), buy from the line items within the budget ( PO’s - Committed), confirm that the items were received (MRR’s - Accrued), monitor the invoice receipt (Paid - Approved). You can even add scope changes and trends as required. And best of all is that everything is traceable to the person who makes any changes (hopefully authorized).

You’re growing fast but still considered a small company. How do you justify the purchase of a solution like OnTrack?

As a young and growing organization, costs are always a significant consideration in the purchase of any product. We have based our decision on the belief that On-Track is the right software that will let our reputation of cost control and reporting stand above the rest.

The initial costs of capital for the seats was a significant consideration to our cash flow; however, when compared to the cost of in-house development and support; this consideration became insignificant. In looking back, as we implemented On-track within TSE, it was the staff of On-track that provided the training and support for this learning curve. We had many repetitive and rather simple questions that got resolved by the excellent On-Track support team. We thank these people for their patience and support, and can only expect this support requirement will expand as our company grows. One of the key cost considerations was that our time (both personal and business) would be better spent on other issues, and the On-Track personnel support their program and cost control learnings. This has turned out to be an excellent benefit to our owners and managers.

How is the flexibility?

Our Project Engineers struggle with the simplicity and flexibility of this software. At times they become overwhelmed with the fact that you can basically do anything that that you plan; and can still change, if required. Specifically, the program itself is simply data and should not complicate, cause chaos or create pain to anyone. The greatest benefit is that this data gets automatically updated as the project unfolds; the end result is the many excellent canned or self developed reports, that can be prepared to present this data, in a useable format that is reliable, accurate, traceable and aesthetically pleasing.

What is your overall opinion on the value added by OnTrack?

The implementation of On-Track involved a significant start up effort and commitment on our part; but the pay-back dividends have still not been fully recognized as the benefits continue to grow. The clients have already expressed increased confidence with our reports, and most importantly is that our own staff can be proud of the higher quality product and presentation to our clients.

It is important to consider that this software will only be as good as the effort that is provided to implement, and if you are expecting an “easy button solution” then go to Staples and save your money. If continuous improvement for your organization is your objective, then your effort and support is required; and will definitely be rewarded.

Any other benefits to OnTrack Engineering?

We originally purchased this software for its proven excellence in cost reporting and cost control; however, as we continue our use, we have already implemented or plan to take advantage of the following simple benefits that come as a “by-product” of entering the required data:

• Equipment and material database
• Vendor and database (with quality ratings and comments)
• Store/ Manage MTR’s
• Material receiving reports validating the receipt at site for every single item and fitting that has been ordered via the software
• Expediting summary to aid in ELIMINATING delay in material deliveries

Three Streams Engineering Limited is a multi-discipline Engineering company providing Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management (EPCM) services to the Upstream Gas and Oil industries. Three Stream Engineering dedicated team consists of experienced professionals with diverse industry knowledge, and focuses on small to medium upstream Oil Gas projects.

www.threestreams.com

Phone: 403.536-5005