Sage CRE releases new PLM tool

Sage Software of Beaverton, Ore., has created Sage PLM (Project Lifecycle Management), a web-based, secure collaborative platform to track project documents and information — including budgets, forecasts, documents, and drawings — for any member of a Building Team. Sage PLM is being sold as “software-as-a-service (SaaS),” meaning it allows communication with general contractors, subcontractors, and vendors throughout the supply chain via a secure, subscription-required web site. This is Sage CRE’s first entirely web-based product. My one-week trial of Sage PLM allowed me to easily customize and track project information based on my individual (fake) company’s needs.

Construction and real estate companies are the prime customers for Sage PLM and pay a monthly fee for Sage PLM that’s dependant on the size and number of users, so I created a fake general contractor company to be my main user. Subcontractors, consultants, vendors, and facilities managers can use PLM while working on a general contractor’s projects at no charge. All project areas (plan documents, RFIs, submittals) are real-time updated to the entire team giving users not only the latest project information, but also a record of time-stamped changes.

As the name suggests, PLM is made for the entire lifecycle of a project, so it can be used as a web storage space for design drawings and models during conceptual and schematic design, fabrication models for individual pieces of a project during on-site construction, and a project archive for handing off to clients and facilities managers after the project is done. I was able to save file tapes as varied as PDFs, DWGs, and DWFs in the project area. While it was difficult to gauge its bid management effectiveness in my controlled setting, I was constantly updated about new bids I made (as a subcontractor to my main user general contractor) and able to tie my construction company’s bid amounts into accounting as is common with other Sage products. When I was bidding as a sub, I was given access to information relevant to my particular bid package, and was able to view,

download, and print out drawings or specifi cations as I wished free of charge.

The real draw of Sage PLM is its portability and constant updates. I updated my fake project from my laptop at work, my personal laptop at home, a blackberry, and using a Motion Computing tablet PC from a public wifi source on an actual construction site. All sources automatically changed project parameters and alerted and updated the fake subcontractors I created that were affected by the changest. Thanks to the workflow I created, Sage PLM also did NOT unduly burden fake subcontractors and Building Team members who were not especially affected by small changes in areas they weren’t working on. Their documents were still updated but they didn’t receive the project notifications and alerts that the directly affected fake subs did.

The documents area of Sage PLM gives users easy access to project drawings, photographs, schedules, meeting minutes, O&M manuals, and more. Notice also the areas for change and bid management, comments, and punch lists.