Dieter Kromm, President of Tartan Engineering Ltd., a Calgary based EPCM firm, supporting many of Canada’s oil and gas producers, discusses how using OnTrack Project Manager has made a difference in the way they do business, and in the value to its clients’ projects. His insights are summarized here.

What problem were you trying to solve, that led you to investigate project management software?

We started off looking for procurement software and began using OnTrack as a procurement database across a wide array of projects. Later we began to use some of the related capabilities, however the initial driver was a search for a simple, easy to use off the shelf procurement tool.

Why OnTrack Project Manager?

We take the KISS approach. We had reviewed several project management systems and this tool seemed very streamlined, not overly clunky. There was integral project controls capability in addition to procurement and cost control, that we could utilize as required.It’s simple to use and the best tool we saw at the time.

OnTrack offered a canned solution for project controls within one piece of software - no fuss, no tinkering.

Prior to selecting OnTrack we owned and tested other project control software and found them too complicated; spending too much time customizing the software to our needs, developing reports and training. We went looking for a tool requiring minimal set-up, training and operational support requirements.We looked for productivity right out of the box, with minimal set-up and results on your clients behalf immediately.

For Joe User who wants results, OnTrack offers simplicity like Excel.

In today’s environment with the resource crunch that situation hasn’t improved, has it?

No - if anything it’s even more acute and you are working oftentimes with less experienced people so you need a simple tool they can use to do their job and get it done quickly.

On Track takes an approach we compare to a Swiss Army Knife –integrated modules that “talk to each other” and take you from RFQ / bid evaluation through to expediting and warehousing in one system - and can take data from feeder systems. Do you use the whole system or just certain modules?

We don’t use all that capability – you could say some of the blades are left in the chassis. The modules are in fact there, they are well thought out and lead to the right conclusion but not every user requires all the blades.

We use the procurement and project control modules on all our projects. Commitments and cost control go hand in hand, as each PO line item is posted against a budget item, and seamlessly rolls into the cost reports.

Other capabilities including materials management, expediting and the MS Projects link for earned value analysis are used on some of our larger projects.As project needs dictate, we are using more of the modules.

This is “smart” software, which is quite unique. It’s pre built to work that way, offering a suite of project control capabilities that add value.However, it’s scalable so you can take advantage of the features and capabilities that suit your needs project by project.

What distinguishes OnTrack from other “project management” solutions?

Simplicity, integration of modules, scalability and its library of reports have a classic presentation. These reports are recognizable and industry best practice.

Another important consideration is that OnTrack has quite a following here by our clients and EPCM competitors.This tool facilitates clients and service providers getting onto a common platform; offering inter project flexibility, confidence and better control across those interfaces.

Using a tool that is widely used in your geography takes the value of standardizing within the company and extends it outwards?

Yes, the larger projects commonly involve multiple owners, EPCMs and so on. Joint ventures and partitioned projects are easier to facilitate when you are all using the same system.

Enterprise Planning Systems like SAP are often used for procurement. Why not use an accounting /financial system to do project procurement, and project cost?

We have experimented with accounting software’s capability and didn’t find it had the right mindset - OnTrack has relevance to projects – it’s more than project cost accounting, it’s forward looking. OnTrack offered us what we really wanted, not twisting an accounting package that’s not really good at managing interfaces between procurement, project controls and expediting.

Sometimes systems will work well for a single large project, or a few smaller ones, but bog down when you start to fill them up with data. What types of projects are suited to OnTrack Project Manager – can you run multiple projects against a single database without having it slow down or fall over?

At Tartan today we are running hundreds of jobs concurrently off the same database.The data all resides in same place - one interface.We were surprised how many projects we could run and access off a single database without impacting performance.

As we know, there’s a resource crunch in engineering today, with many engineers reaching retirement age and a lot of younger folks coming on board. How does this system support the needs of your company as it relates to engineers who are still gaining work experience?

There is a solid basis and strategy behind way data is presented and the flow is intuitive - it actually guides someone less experienced. If you left it totally up to individual users to specify what and how data was managed it’d be bigger risk. Here it is pre thought-out and drives to a logical conclusion. So it’s easier for junior and new to industry to get up to speed quickly.

OnTrack Project Manager can be run inside your firewall or over the Internet, How do you use it?

We run it internally on our server.

We might consider the business cases for OnTrack hosting our head office and/or multi-party or remote projects sites. Some considerations - spend less time on upgrades and maintenance, particularly for remote project sites; allow OnTrack to shadow the users and help them solve problems.

Given that no solution is perfect and all software applications have bugs or problems from time to time, what is it like getting support?

Generally it’s been fine. OnTrack has phone and online support as well as an office with developers and tech support nearby. Given reasonable lead time they can get support out to our offices. Getting support when we need it hasn’t been an obstacle.

How would you rate OnTrack in terms of incorporating your suggestions and your clients’ requirements in product development?

The user forum has been a gathering point of user requests. Some of our suggestions get adopted via that process and other specific needs were addressed on a commissioned basis for a fee. It’s unusual that a software company will respond to a single client’s requests. Like anything, good work takes time, it’s a project, you have to work with the availability of programmers and priorities.Our requests do get addressed to our satisfaction.

How has OnTrack Project Manager added value to your / your clients’ projects?

It’s fit for purpose - we can manage the clients’ projects simply and cost effectively and with a high degree of confidence. We’re not spending huge hours to build the capability to run their projects – it’s already there.

The philosophy of cost reporting is strong – I like being able to give reports to owners that they recognize. It lets us demonstrate accountability to the client and gives them confidence that we know where their projects are at and where they are going – we are rarely pushed to new reporting frontiers; most ask for very standard classic reporting information

The standard reports in the system have been accepted by almost all of our clients. From time to time, new report / forecast requests have been addressed by data already there and with report adaptation or customization, click, and we’re back in business. What’s in this system is solid.