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Case Study: List smart results GmbH

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by Sandra Schick, tags: Case Study, Success Stories from Practice, Trade Union
Person uses docu tools on a tablet to digitally document a building shell.
Logo of List smart results

The first program I open in the morning is docu tools. I use it throughout the entire workday and can't imagine being without it.

Kerstin Hölbling, graduate engineer

Project management, List smart results GmbH

Executive Summary

The general contractor List smart results manages both small and large construction projects in the hotel and tourism sector in Germany and abroad. In one of its largest projects in recent years, the company faced a challenge in terms of construction site documentation. Countless detailed plans, documentation, and project participants had to be coordinated and ensured for a flawless construction process. In the course of this, the docu tools software was recommended to the project team. The software enables efficient and transparent communication between all project participants, direct localization of tasks, remaining work, and defects on the construction plans, and comprehensible documentation for follow-up after project completion.

About List smart results

List smart results is a general contractor for smart and exclusive building construction and interior design based in Edlitz-Thomasberg, Lower Austria. The company was spun off from the former List group of companies in 2012 and has since focused on the hotel and tourism sector—not only in the area of interior design, but also on a large scale in project development and the construction of tailor-made buildings. Depending on requirements, List smart results draws on exclusive craftsmanship and the high-tech production of F/LIST at their shared location. In addition to experienced employees who have been with the company for many years, it also has a proven and loyal network of international partners consisting of architects, designers, technicians, and contractors. Thanks to this broad base, the company can guarantee top quality while strictly adhering to deadlines and absolute cost compliance. Whether it's a novel modular hotel, the furnishings for a luxurious penthouse, or a private villa.

problem

As a general contractor, List smart results works together with numerous project partners and subcontractors in a wide variety of project phases. They faced a major challenge, particularly with their last major project, the Hotel Maritim in Ingolstadt. The construction site in Germany covered an area of around 21,000 m2, with dozens of companies involved in the realization of the hotel project. A total of 800 implementation and detailed plans had to be taken into account and linked together for the project, which was an immense organizational effort with a great deal of responsibility. Due to constant planning updates and further developments in the project, the project team was faced with a high level of communication and administrative work. Numerous emails per day had to be reviewed, summarized, prioritized, and correctly assigned to all subcontractors.

The project team faced a major challenge, particularly in the area of defect management. On the one hand, the flow of information between the office and the construction site proved to be time-consuming, but the immense effort behind this flood of information also had to be managed. In order to be able to handle this project at all, the project team was looking for a tool that would bundle all these aspects, simplify communication, and ensure transparent documentation across all project phases.

solution

For three years now, engineer Kerstin Hölbling has been working with docu tools as part of a project team. Many of the company's employees and project partners now use docu tools software. With docu tools, they were able to solve all the numerous problems they faced in the Maritim Ingolstadt project in one fell swoop.

This meant that the approximately 800 implementation and detailed plans no longer had to be laboriously printed out and distributed individually, but could be managed and kept up to date in a planning pool directly in docu tools for the project team to view. As soon as a new plan was submitted, it was uploaded to the software at the List smart results office, and within seconds, colleagues at the construction site 600 km away had the latest plan at their disposal. This simplified and reduced email communication. Not only does this ease the workload, it also reduces potential sources of error. In addition, pins were placed on the foreman's plans and stored directly on the plan with the corresponding detailed plans (e.g., details for stair railings, door details, various connection details, etc.).

An example of a quick and simplified communication process for Dipl. Ing. Kerstin Hölbling is as follows: a colleague on site discovered water damage on the 5th floor. He placed a pin on the foreman's plan, including the exact location and photo documentation. Just a few minutes later, a colleague in the office was able to create a damage report with all the necessary information for everyone involved in the project and for the subcontractor, including deadlines. The subcontractor was then able to repair the damage quickly and easily, knowing immediately where the defect was located and how to fix it. The damage documentation and the repair of the structural damage were completed in a traceable manner in docu tools.

Transparent documentation of the software is also a clear advantage for List smart results, especially when it comes to project follow-up. In hotel projects in particular, there are often dozens of hotel rooms that look identical. In this case, direct location tracking and photo documentation were particularly helpful in maintaining an overview of the construction progress. Every week, wall, floor, and ceiling photos were taken in each room, documenting the construction process on the respective directly located pin on the implementation plan and thus providing an insight into the various construction phases, even after completion of the project. This makes it easy to quickly answer questions such as "Which pipe was laid under the screed?" Without docu tools, this would have been difficult or time-consuming to answer.

Using docu tools saves the company a huge amount of time—eliminating the need for lots of legwork. There are no error-prone Excel lists or countless folders with undocumented photo material, and potential language barriers on the construction site are also simplified—the plan itself works best as a communication medium for everyone. With docu tools, it is digital and always up to date.

With just the click of a button, the client, the construction supervisor, and other project participants could receive a daily report containing all the necessary/filtered information. Weekly work reports were sent to the contracted companies using the report function. 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).

completion

docu tools has now become an integral part of everyday work at List smart results and is used by the entire company—from management to assistants. List smart results has already implemented several high-profile projects using docu tools, such as the TUI Blue Montafon hotel (commissioned as total contractor) and the Kittenberger Chaletdorf (general contractor).

In future projects, docu tools will be used to support the planning process and will be introduced as mandatory software for all project participants. List smart results also had to learn how to use docu tools – true to the motto: "learning by doing" or integrating the software efficiently into the project workflow. For the next project, some practical lessons have already been learned, which should ensure an even simpler and better documented project workflow in the future.

The use of docu tools has the following positive aspects for the projects of List smart results:

intended uses

List smart results uses docu tools for projects of varying sizes and regardless of the areas commissioned (e.g., conceptualization, planning, project implementation, etc.). They primarily use the software for the following tasks:

quota

“Thanks to docu tools, the flow of documentation between the office and the construction site is incredibly fast. As soon as the updated plan came in, the construction site 800 km away already had the current status.”
Kerstin Hölbling, Project Manager, List smart results


"docu tools is largely self-explanatory, as long as you follow certain basic rules."
Maria Reiterer, Project Assistant, List smart results


“docu tools has become the project elixir.”
Kerstin Hölbling, Project Manager, List smart results

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