Faithful & Gould has launched a new tool that assesses and prioritises construction work for clients working on major investment programmes.

The system, called prioritisation modelling, helps clients decide which projects are needed most and then organises them into a database, ranging from projects on site to ones under consideration. The database can be altered in line with changes in costs, the client’s budget or the programme.

F&G director Martin Dancy, who developed the tool, said the idea behind it was to help clients decide which schemes are needed in the first place, rather than advising on live ones.

He said: “The tool will assist in doing the right projects in the first place instead of doing the wrong projects well. A lot of clients tell us they are really good at delivery, but not so sure on deciding on projects in the first place.”

Dancy said that the system is suitable for major construction programmes. He said: “It’s about big programmes of work, on a scale beyond what one human being can cope with.”

He added that it is suitable for a company that is restructuring or for property strategies following mergers or acquisitions, but also stressed the need for a leading figure at the client, such as a finance director, to control the use of the system.

F&G first drew up the system while working for GlaxoSmithKline, formed in 2000 by the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. It was designed to help bring the two companies’ r&d facilities together, and GSK now uses it as an embedded system.

The tool was introduced late last month at a launch in central London. Dancy said two clients had already expressed an interest.

The system starts off by converting clients’ business needs into three possible solutions. These are: do nothing; expenditure, which either means purchase, construction or leasing/licensing or servicing; and consolidation, which leads to refurbishment, reconfiguration or outsourcing.

These solutions are then translated into individual projects and prioritised using a tool that compares the benefits of each project against each other and can draw up a sequencing plan.

Source

QS News