| Hunt Construction
Group Uses Prolog® Solutions and Encompass Software to Complete
World Class Sports Stadium in Time for Preseason Opener |
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| Founded in
1944, Hunt Construction Group is one of the top construction
firms in the nation and a leader in sports building. Headquartered
in Scottsdale, AZ, Hunt also has offices across the U.S. Its
subsidiaries include Hunt Paving Company, Hunt Sports and
Hunt International. The firm is ranked #27 on ENR’s 2006 Top
400 Contractors list and #84 on its 2006 Top 225 Global Contractors
list. The recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, Hunt’s
recently-completed Arizona Cardinals Stadium project was named
one of the Top 10 Sporting Structures in the World by BusinessWeek.
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| When Hunt Construction
Group searched for project management software to replace
its spreadsheets and manual, paper-based processes, it’s no
surprise that it chose Prolog® Manager and Prolog® WebSite
from Meridian Systems®. To manage $1.7B in annual revenues,
Hunt needed a flexible solution to deploy on a variety of
project types while meeting the reporting needs of various
owners. Prolog delivered. |
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| With
more than 100 projects underway on any given year, Prolog
provides Hunt’s 600 employees with a mechanism to maintain
the organization and distribution of large volumes of
information. When Hunt was awarded the design-build
contract for the recently-completed $455M Arizona Cardinals
Stadium, the renowned sports builder had standard Prolog
processes in place to complete the three-year project
in time for the 2006 football season. |
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| Prolog
Facilitates World Class Construction |
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| Hunt is no stranger
to the sports industry. In 1975, it completed the Louisiana
Superdome, the largest steel-span structure in the world (certified
by the Guinness Book of World Records). In 1980, it completed
the first fabric-domed stadium in the United States: the Carrier
Dome at Syracuse |
| University.
And in 1988, it completed Chase Field (formerly Bank
One Ballpark), the first |
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|
retractable roof facility in the U.S. with a natural
grass playing field and air conditioning. |
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| By
using Prolog for the Arizona Cardinals Stadium construction,
Hunt was able to significantly streamline its management
of the project. |
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| “With
Prolog,” explains Julie Meeker, Hunt Project Engineer,
“our construction staff can focus on the job of designing
and building world class landmarks such as the Arizona
Cardinals Stadium instead of ‘reinventing the wheel’
each time a new project is started.” Consistent reporting
allows management to assess the state of a project and
resolve problems before they add costs or create schedule
delays. |
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| “Having
Prolog reduces the amount of time needed to get new
projects off the ground |
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| because our staff
is familiar with its processes,” continues Meeker. “We can
moveemployees from project to project without spending time
and money on additionaltraining. Plus, the ability to consistently
retrieve project documentation from Prolog when an issue comes
up has resulted in long-term savings for Hunt.” |
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| Hunt uses Prolog
WebSite, a Web-based extension of its Prolog software, to
facilitate collaboration with outside designers and owners
and ensure the timely distribution of critical project information.
“Instead of flooding our customers with an overwhelming amount
of paperwork,” explains Meeker, “they can use Prolog WebSite
to access project details at their convenience.” |
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| Encompass
Increases Punch List Efficiency |
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| Hunt has leveraged
Meridian Systems partner products to further increase the
efficiencies it has gained from using Prolog. For the Stadium
project, Hunt turned to Dimension 5 Solutions (D5; www.d5solutions.com)
and its Encompass Software Suite for help in expediting its
punch list process. |
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| Historically,
punch list items at Hunt were hand-written and manually entered
into Prolog. Due to the aggressive Stadium project schedule
driven by the Arizona Cardinals’ preseason opener on August
12, 2006, Hunt needed to streamline its punch list time and
resources during this final stage of the project. |
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| After meeting
with Hunt about its needs, D5 recommended Encompass: Mobile
for remote punch list data collection and Encompass: Project
Controls for immediate corrective action. When integrated
with Prolog, these solutions would meet Hunt’s unique punch
list collection requirements. |
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| Encompass:
Mobile. Using a tablet PC running Encompass: Mobile,
Hunt was able to efficiently punch out each area of the stadium
on a single, customized form. Data was collected using a stylus
to check off existing punch list items, select common descriptions
from a drop-down list and hand write items directly on the
tablet screen. Once data was collected, it was wirelessly
sent to Hunt’s Prolog database, where punch list records were
automatically created. |
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| Encompass:
Project Controls. Once the punch list records were
created in Prolog, the subcontractors could immediately access
their punch list items through the Encompass: Project Controls
Web interface and take immediate action to correct their items.
From the field, Hunt wirelessly downloaded the corrected punch
list items directly to a tablet PC and performed the check-off
inspections to close each completed item. |
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| By using the D5
Encompass solutions in conjunction with Prolog, Hunt was able
to realize a significant increase in punch list efficiency,
which contributed to the timely delivery of the Arizona Cardinals
Stadium. |
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| Prolog
Positively Affects Company Growth |
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| In today’s construction
environment, a tool that organizes project information is
a necessity. One that also delivers the ability to standardize
project management processes, says Meeker, can allow companies
like Hunt to increase revenues without adding support staff.
“By standardizing on Prolog software,” she states, “we have
been able to manage jobs more efficiently and spend more time
on actual construction. Prolog positively affects company
growth and sales.” |
