Case Study: theapro GmbH

by Sandra Schick, tags: Case Study, Optional, Success stories from practice, trade union Download article

Since I started using docu tools, I no longer have to walk around the construction site with a clipboard and a printed Excel spreadsheet.

Executive Summary

With 35 years of experience, theapro is a reliable partner as a planner and consultant for complex cultural construction projects in the DACH region. In recent years, inventory and defect documentation has been carried out largely manually using clipboards and Excel spreadsheets. Although images were taken on site, they could not be directly located by external parties afterwards. Using docu tools, they were not only able to establish and improve collaborative work across all project phases and participants, but also introduce transparent and self-explanatory documentation of their projects.

About theapro

With 35 years of experience, theapro is an expert in comprehensive planning and consulting for event technology in cultural buildings. theapro combines its 35 years of experience with innovation to provide optimal support for various types of cultural buildings, such as opera houses and theatres, as well as universities and convention centres. Theapro’s mission is to develop highly functional and cost-effective event buildings for a variety of purposes. Theapro’s experts have expertise in sound and media technology, stage technology and lighting, interim venues, 3D scanning/modelling, room and building acoustics, theatre architecture and conceptual work. Among its best-known projects are the renovation of the Bühnen Köln theatre, the Staatstheater Darmstadt theatre and the new BMW Welt building in Munich.

• Number of projects created: 24
• Number of digitised plans: 480
• Number of pins set: 3,583
• Number of photos taken: 4.043
• Number of tasks created: 3.037
  
  

Problem

theapro acts as a planner and consultant for projects in a wide variety of trades and construction phases. They faced a major challenge, particularly in the area of inventory documentation, defects and remaining work. Thomas Smith, lighting designer in the field of stage lighting and a veteran at theapro, had only one way of documenting defects. Using a clipboard and a printed Excel spreadsheet, he manually checked and documented the current status at the various construction sites. After the inspection, dozens of defects were meticulously typed into the existing Excel spreadsheet on the PC and added. The documentation and digital processing involved a multi-step process. Another challenge was the limited functionality of Microsoft Excel. A few years ago, it was simply impossible to collaborate on and manage an existing file. This resulted in dozens of different documents and tables that were filled in differently and therefore contained different information. The result was an error-prone and inconsistent level of knowledge across all project participants. For the next site visit, these documents were then printed out, checked and manually entered into the Excel file again. Since Thomas Smith was solely responsible for this documentation at the time, there was no actual loss of data, but the time required was enormous and the process was characterised by unnecessary extra work.

There were also some obstacles in the area of photo documentation. The images were taken directly on the construction sites and then stored in the respective folders. These images were then inserted into the Excel spreadsheet in a greatly reduced size. The problem with this, however, was that the images were not easily recognisable in this size, nor could people who had not taken the images themselves identify them. The enormous file size of this Excel spreadsheet also caused problems. A new type of digital documentation was needed.

Solution

docu tools has been used at theapro since 2019, mainly for defect management and inventory taking using photo documentation, from construction management, project management, and assistance to project engineering. It should be noted that theapro is one of the few project companies where the company’s own engineers not only plan the projects but also supervise them throughout the entire construction phase.

The software was easy for the project team to integrate, mainly thanks to its intuitive user interface. According to Franziska Geyer-Gensterblum, project assistant at theapro, docu tools does not get bogged down in details, yet is detailed enough to allow for highly customized workflows. This meant that, in some cases, users were able to explore the software on their own without training and intuitively create plans, categories, and pins.

With docu tools, expertise can be pooled and remain transparently visible within the project. For projects in which they act as general planners, the software is also used to check preliminary work. In the area of slot and breakthrough planning, for example, they were able to locate each breakthrough directly on the plan using pins and thus check after completion whether they had been implemented in the correct size and in the correct locations.

The direct localization of image material is also a great help for collaborative work. Using docu tools, all project participants can easily assign photos without any prior knowledge, allowing the project to continue even in cases of illness. The know-how is bundled in the app and no longer resides with individual employees.

However, there was one obstacle in the collaboration with the subcontractors. At first, they resisted working with another tool. To bridge the gap between the digital and non-digital worlds, Thomas Smith printed out around 280 defects as PDF files using the report function directly in the app and handed them over to the subcontractor in a folder. The individual PDF pages were then to be processed, dated, stamped, signed, and returned to theapro. After a short time, the project manager of the subcontractor decided to use the free subcontractor function of docu tools for the sake of simplicity and dealt with the defects directly in the app. They are now enthusiastic docu tools users and have been convinced by the resulting increase in efficiency.

Clients and subcontractors can now receive a daily report containing all relevant information and outstanding tasks at the touch of a button. Weekly work reports are sent to the contracted companies using the report function and can be visually prepared and organized directly in the app. All communication with the client is based on docu tools and provides an overview of the current project status.

The subcontractors, who were initially rather skeptical about the software, also recognized the advantages of docu tools in the course of the project and gratefully accepted the reports that were created (albeit still partly in paper form). The fact that the app was free to use for subcontractors was particularly helpful in this regard.

Conclusion

docu tools has now been used within the company for four years across all project phases as a construction supervision program for numerous well-known projects such as the Thalia Theater in Hamburg (inventory), the Stadttheater Landshut (inventory), the Kammerspiele Munich (fire protection documentation), and the interim venue of the Nationaltheater Mannheim (construction supervision). The software, which was previously integrated at theapro purely for reasons of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, is now an essential part of everyday work. All employees are now so convinced of the quality of the software that it is being introduced as mandatory documentation software for new projects.

The use of docu tools has the following positive aspects for theapro projects:

• Enormous time savings
• No more unnecessary multi-step processes -> Changes only need to be entered once and are then applied everywhere
• Transparent documentation (meaningful arguments that do not lead to unnecessary discussions)
• Uniform level of knowledge within the team
• Collaborative work with subcontractors

Intended usage

theapro uses docu tools throughout the entire project and can consolidate this content in docu tools. At Bühnen Köln, stage technology, lighting, and media technology can be quickly and easily combined in the defects section, and a complete project report with all outstanding tasks can be exported. This allows not only detailed individual reports for the respective areas to be created, but also a general project status.

theapro primarily uses the documentation software for the following tasks:

• Reporting for internal and external project participants
• Project status report
• Management of interfaces (e.g. in the field of fire protection)
• Defect documentation and remaining services
• Various administrative tasks that can be bundled together in the software

• Weekly work reports for the contracted companies
• Transparent documentation among all parties involved – accessible online at any time, even when on the move
• Photo documentation throughout all construction phases (before-and-after comparison)

Quote

“Since I started using docu tools, I no longer have to walk around the construction site with a clipboard and a printed Excel spreadsheet.”
Thomas Smith, lighting designer in the field of stage lighting, theapro

“docu tools is the Google Maps for construction management.“
Franzsika Geyer-Gensterblum, Project Assistant at theapro

Four most frequently used features

• Create reports at the touch of a button
• Direct localization
• Filter function of the pins
• Datasets/group creation for filter function
• New pin designs (refining functionalities, keywords, and tags are helpful)

About the interviewees

Thomas Smith has been responsible for stage lighting as a lighting designer since 2004 and has already supervised numerous high-profile projects. Having worked in stage lighting himself for many years, he is particularly adept at reflecting the user’s perspective, enabling him to respond even better to requirements and provide valuable input into project planning. For almost two and a half years, Franziska Geyer-Gensterblum has been supporting him as a career changer in the field of project assistance.

Luisa Glock is responsible for corporate communications, where she oversees external communications and numerous internal communications projects.