Jun 10 2010
Aconex has released a major upgrade to its industry-leading online collaboration platform that significantly streamlines the bid and tender management process on construction, infrastructure and energy projects.
The company’s revamped Bid and Tender Management module provides all of those involved on either side of a bid - such as contractors, project managers, subcontractors and suppliers – with a secure, central platform to manage the process and its related information. The module, developed with extensive input from some of the company’s 160,000 users, combines process automation with advanced tracking capabilities to improve efficiency and reduce risk.
Rob Phillpot, Aconex co-founder and General Manager of Product, said: “Bids and tenders are a crucial part of construction, yet it’s a complex and heavily administrative phase in any project – causing headaches for both those coordinating and those responding.
“Large volumes of information need to be managed and distributed to various parties, and yet companies typically use a combination of hard copies, spreadsheets and internal systems to coordinate each tender.
“These offline tools don’t provide a structured way to track what has been sent and received, so that common tasks such as responding to Requests for Information (RFIs) become unnecessarily complicated. This increases the risk of errors and delays. Similarly, issuing addenda often becomes inefficient and unstructured, as important information is managed in multiple formats and locations. This can put compliance at risk on public projects, and on any project can lead to disputes and the risk of litigation over what has been agreed.”
The Aconex Bid and Tender Management module has been purpose-built for construction, infrastructure and energy projects. Fully integrated with the Aconex platform’s core document and correspondence management functionality, the module allows companies to track invitations and manage RFIs and addenda promptly and confidentially. All parties are provided with secure access through automated email notifications.
Phillpot said, “The Bid and Tender Management module provides one system to distribute information, communicate between parties, maintain version control and track submissions – reducing manual input and complexity. It’s a purpose-built solution that provides a consistent and structured framework to ensure companies meet compressed timeframes with less effort and reduced risk.
“Managing bids and tenders on Aconex gives confidence at every stage of the process, as parties know that documents, information and submissions will be received by the right people in a secure and timely manner. All information is created and securely captured in one place, available for the life of the project.”
Phillpot added, “Our commitment to platform neutrality ensures that no individual party has control over another’s data. This is particularly important when submitting tenders for government projects. Bid Managers can also apply an electronic ‘lockbox’, which ensures that access to tenders is restricted until a specific time and date, just like in the hard copy world.”
Over the past 18 months, Aconex has accelerated its investment in product development. New product launches include: an enhanced version of its Workflows module to improve document control functionality; Web Services APIs to enable integration with other systems; and a handover module for streamlining handover and deliverables on projects, particularly of vendor data on energy and resources projects. Aconex has also implemented a range of industry-leading technologies to further improve its reliability and performance, such as Akamai web-acceleration which improved network speed by up to 300% for many users.
Source: http://www.aconex.com/