Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Health care management
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-18
2003-06-17
Weiss, John G. (Department: 3629)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Health care management
C705S001100, C705S007380, C705S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581040
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for providing enhanced communications for the managing of projects, and more particularly to systems and methods for managing and monitoring construction project communications involving multiple resource providers.
2. Background Information
An example of such projects are Construction projects which involve a complicated process requiring the cooperative efforts of multiple business entities, in which work for the projects are posted for bids, bids are placed, bids are evaluated, bids are awarded, and construction takes place. One specific type of construction project is the “specified bid construction” process which has evolved a complicated and cumbersome method for connecting work to be done with entities who are capable and interested in doing such work. This is the bidding system typically related to large construction projects, which are based on a large set of professionally prepared project specifications.
A typical life cycle of such a process follows. Such a project begins when an owner decides to build a building. The project owner could be a government entity, a business, an individual, or a group of individuals. The owner has some conception of the project, or has certain functional specifications which are required. For instance, the owner may require parking to be available for 200 automobiles, or may require the project to be for a 14-story building with a certain number of square feet available on each floor for rent. The owner defines whatever aspects of the project are critical to him, and prepares some general description of the project.
Next, the owner posts the general description of the project, and invites architects, designers, and engineering companies or other qualified individuals to submit proposals for the project. The proposals of these architects, designers, and engineers, or companies with some or all of these abilities, are submitted, and may include proposed plans for the design, appearance, and general specification of the project. From these submitted proposals, the owner selects the firm with the preferred design bid and awards the design contract to that firm. This may be a firm with one architect, one designer, or one engineer, or it can be a huge firm with a large staff of such professionals.
The Architect or Architect/Engineer (A/E) firm which is awarded the design bid is called the “Project Manager” after winning the design bid. The Project Manager next prepares detailed specifications which define the details of the project in much higher detail than the owner's proposal contained. There are typically some 16 defined major divisions of work within a project based on categories of construction defined in a widely accepted “CSI” code. Some projects may have only a few divisions, others may have all 16. (The 16 divisions are also broken down into sub divisions.)
Once these detailed specifications are prepared, they are posted for bid. In the current system, these detailed specifications are made available to potential bidders by announcing their availability through local plan centers or through a pre-selected General Contractor. Interested bidders may contact the Project Manager and seek to be placed on an allowed bidders list. As registered bidders, they can get copies of the written plans, drawings and specifications, or portions of them, and begin reviewing them to prepare individual bids.
Several business entities may prepare competitive bids on one or more portions of the specified work. Bids for completing the work which is outlined in the detailed specification are bid and performed through several layers of contractors. These contractors could be called resource providers, because they provide various resources which are needed by the project. These resources could be labor, equipment, materials, or management. The prior art system of managing the bidding and information flow of a project is shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
.
The zero level of bidding occurs as above, when the Architects compete for the project design work. The second and more extensive level of bidding starts when general contractors bid on the right to manage the overall project. At this step of the process, general contractors evaluate the overall project, and begin preparing overall bids. In order for a general contractor to prepare a complete project bid, the general contractor requests bids from contractors for specific divisions or sets of divisions of the project. This information is needed so that the general contractor can get a good estimate of what it will cost for him to do the project. In order for contractors to submit bids to the general contractors, they in turn request bids from subcontractors on individual divisions or portions thereof. Before the subcontractors can submit bids to the contractors, the subcontractors must invite bids from vendors. So, in order for each general contractor to prepare a bid for the project, he must have a chain of bids from contractors, subcontractors, and vendors. When this is accomplished, each general contractor who is interested in the project compiles and submits their bid for completing the entire project. One particular vendor may submit bids which are included in the bids of a number of different subcontractors, contractors, and general contractors. Likewise, subcontractors and contractors may submit a number of bids to work with various general contractors.
For a chance at the successful completion of the project, the winning bidder must assemble a large and complex partnership, linked by bids and proposals based on the design and specifications published for that project. Each project publication initiates a new series of communications, bids and partnerships. While several such temporary partnership structures may form for each posted project, only one is successful. The efforts of “losing” bidders are lost, and the costs of that effort must be absorbed by the business entities involved.
After the general contractors have submitted bids for the project, the owner or the architect, or the two in combination, select a general contractor to manage and complete the project. In order for the general contractor to complete the project, each contractor, subcontractor, and vendor of supplies, material or equipment, performs the portion of the work which they agreed to, in the schedule they agreed to in their bids to the general contractor, and eventually the project is completed.
This general flow of information, offers, bids, and commitments, which is illustrated in
FIG. 1
would appear to be fairly simple and effective. However, in practice, there are many problems with this system.
FIG. 2
shows a more detailed view of some of the interactions that take place between some of the larger steps which are shown in FIG.
1
. For instance, when the detailed specifications of a project are posted for bids, and as contractors, subcontractors, and vendors evaluate the postings, they set into motion the task of screening a variety of simultaneous postings, seeking additional details on postings of interest, proportioning projects between themselves, and seeking partnerships among themselves to be able to bid on portions of the project for which they are qualified. The contractors, subcontractors, and vendors also make bid decisions, form a variety of temporary partnerships, and prepare bids. All of these interactions require extensive communications between each entity. These activities are disorganized and involve delay, expense, and frustration for the contractors, subcontractors, and vendors. Eventually, however, the vendors submit bids for the project to subcontractors, who submit their bids to contractors, who submit their bids to the general contractors, who submit their bids to the Project Manager or owner.
The inefficiencies and bottlenecks in communication and allocation of resources inherent in this system are best addressed by a network-based communications system to facilitate every step of
Flesher Dann J.
Wright Daniel B.
Dykas Frank J.
Nipper Stephen M.
Saunders Kevin
Shaver Robert L.
Weiss John G.
LandOfFree
Project specific communications system and method does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Project specific communications system and method, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Project specific communications system and method will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3155953