Introducing ICS-AUTOMATION

What ICS-Automation Is All About

ICS-Automation has exclusive responsibility for development and production of business software in support of all ICS-Global Business Groups and Operational Divisions. Of special note, ICS-Automation is the technical incubator for proprietary software programs that are destined to dramatically and permanently change the way that Construction Project Time Management is performed in North America.

Why ICS-Automation Was Created

When one thinks of Project Management software, CPM (Critical Path Method) scheduling software comes to mind. If one polls the dying breed of senior Scheduling Practitioners, they unanimously pine the days of P3 (Primavera Project Planner). While it was a workhorse software program in the eyes of seasoned schedulers, to most others, it was unnecessarily complicated — burdened by bells and whistles that one might never need or want.

By the turn of the century, the Project Management world unavoidably transitioned from P3 to P6. This seismic shift in technologies rendered scheduling software even more inflexible and overly complicated. P6 is based on the concept that all projects are operational elements of overseer programs. In order to create a simple Project Schedule in P6, one must first define and create an Enterprise Project Structure. This would include identification of human and other resources, establishment of global definitions and codes, and so forth.

No wonder old-timers pine for the return of P3. But studies at ICS-Research concluded that the construction industry needs scheduling software especially designed to manage the unique nuances of construction projects. Its recommendation was that ICS-Global should locate and hire individuals with combined expertise in software development, construction means and methods, and Project Controls processes. ICS-Automation is staffed by a number of uniquely qualified individuals meeting these rare standards. Currently they are working on development of several software programs that promise to change the trajectory of Construction Project Time Management.

Whom ICS-Automation Is Intended to Serve

Anyone interested in the effective management of time on construction projects will want to keep an eye on these developments at ICS-Automation, in conjunction with ICS-Research.

  • Contract Managers: In both the public and private sectors, the current construction industry standard for addressing the negative effects of Adverse Weather on contractual deadlines requires prediction of irregular Adverse Weather deviations (called, excessive). Unfortunately, recent significant changes in climatic patterns have rendered invalid most previous historical trends, rendering such predictions fraught with inaccuracy and is no longer viable.
  • As a solution, ICS-Research has developed an alternative method for handling the effects of Adverse Weather on weather-sensitive construction projects, one that disregards excessive Adverse Weather altogether. The key feature of this alternative method, called DAWN, is a formula-based application of pre-defined Adverse Weather Variables and Tripwire Thresholds to real time weather conditions. Learn more
  • Owners: Design Professionals acting on behalf of construction project Owners are tasked with writing the General Conditions and Technical Specifications for the project. Among these, and central to Construction PTM, are the Scheduling Specifications.
  • The approach to development of Scheduling Specs has changed little over the last 50 years – simply copy and paste from another scheduling spec. Most Design Professionals understand quite little about the factors that either facilitate or debilitate Project Time Management efforts on a construction project. Inappropriate or inadequate requirements for schedule/scheduling performance are a major reason why construction overrun their deadlines: Project Management’s primary navigational tool, the Project Schedule, has been hopelessly compromised.
  • ICS-Research’s solution to this chronic problem is to automate the process of drafting the Scheduling Specifications. Using our proprietary software, Design Professionals answer a set of online questions about the scope and details of the project and well as desired Project Management protocols. In the background, the software generates a Scheduling Specification that is uniquely tailored to each specific project. Learn more
  • Project Managers and Professional Schedulers: the majority of Project Schedules are created by a Contractor’s Project Manager, not a Professional Scheduler. Tasked with development of a Project Schedule that will meet Scheduling Spec requirements is challenging enough. But working with current Scheduling Software complexities only exacerbate matters. PMs would kill for a simple CPM-based scheduling program that is intuitive, suited for construction projects, and meeting Scheduling Specifications parameters.
  • Project Navigator is the brainchild of ICS-Research, offering the ideal balance between simplicity and power. Designed by professional schedulers for the construction industry, Project Navigator contains only those features that one would routinely need in order to design, develop, maintain, and use the Project Schedule successfully. Project Managers will love it for its easy of use; Professional Schedulers will adore it for its power, versatility, functionality, and ease of use. Learn more
  • Scheduling Consultants: A core component of Project Navigator is Project PlotR, a powerful tool that facilitates the graphical development and depiction of Schedule Logic. ICS-Research has identified a strong correlation between the ultimate integrity of the schedule’s logic with the practice of conducting Logic Development Sessions. Project PlotR is an automated graphics component that facilitates the integration of Schedule Logic during Schedule Development, Schedule Maintenance, and Schedule Usage. Learn more
  • Owners, Contractors, and Consultants: In recent years, various professional organizations have strived to establish standards and metrics for qualifying schedule content. ICS-Research has studied these efforts and found one common deficiency; the standards and metrics are non-specific as to industry application, project type, or schedule usage design.
  • These shortcomings alone disqualify their application to the construction industry. But there is an even greater flaw in their approach; they limit their evaluations to Schedule Content only, all the while ignoring the Schedule Processes that work with the Project Schedule.
  • ICS-Research has responded with the conceptual design for a qualification system that (a) considers both the Project Schedule and Scheduling Processes, and (b) incorporates this system into the Scheduling Specifications produced by SchedSpec. The result is a consistent grading system, comparable across all construction project types. Learn more about ICS-Scorekeeper, a proprietary software program by ICS-Automation that will automate the scoring and reporting of Schedule Content and Schedule Process scores. Learn more

How ICS-Automation Is Organized and Functions

Currently, ICS-Automation is hard at work on these exciting breakthrough projects:

  • AWSim: Although ICS-Research’s DAWN methodology can be implemented manually, ICS-Automation is developing AWSim, Adverse Weather Simplified. This proprietary software will simplify the processes of (a) accounting for Adverse Weather and (b) correspondingly adjusting contractual deadlines within the Project Schedule
  • SchedSpec: Using this proprietary software, Design Professionals will be posed with a set of online questions about the scope and details of the project and well as desired Project Management protocols. Functioning much like TurboTax, in the background SchedSpec, the software will gradually draft a customized Scheduling Specification that is supports the PTM informational needs of each unique project, and its Project Management approach.
  • Project Navigator: Designed by Professional Schedulers for the construction industry, Project Navigator contains only those features that one would routinely need in order to design, develop, maintain, and use the Project Schedule successfully. The result is a scheduling software program that is lean and mean.
  • Project PlotR: Project PlotR is an automated graphics component that facilitates the integration of Schedule Logic during Schedule Development and subsequent Schedule Maintenance/Usage.
  • ICS-Scorekeeper: Designed by ICS-Research, ICS-Scorekeeper is a proprietary software program that will automate the scoring and reporting of Schedule Content and Schedule Process scores.