The Savoy (Chorus Group) 

• Full refurbishment of one of London’s most famous hotels
• MS Windows-based products were insufficient
• Achieved approximately £25,000 saving in print costs
• Better audit trail and accountability

Cost savings and improved accountability on iconic hotel project

Client

Founded in 1996, Chorus Group are specialists in high quality refurbishment and fitting out. They operate within the commercial offices, hotels & leisure, public sector & retail sectors, covering planning, design and construction. 

Project

The Savoy, one of London’s most famous five-star hotels, recently underwent a full refurbishment. Internally, its 267 guestrooms were renovated and a 16-room Royal Suite was added. Nineteen new lifts were installed and its public and back-of-house areas were refurbished. In the Thames Foyer, the hotel's afternoon tea venue, a glass roof and a specially built conservatory, rendered in silver, were built. The River Restaurant was reopened and a new champagne bar added. External works include a new courtyard to the entrance and external façade refurbishment incorporating new windows, cathodic protection and stonework.

Challenges

Rob Anderson, Document Control Manager at Chorus, oversaw a team of document controllers across the project. He said, “The Savoy is a £65 million (US$117m) project, with a team that is dispersed across Britain and includes a consultant in the Middle East. There’s a heck of a lot of information flying around – we’re building at a rapid rate and require real-time sharing of information.

Limitations of MS Windows-based products 

“Managing information in-house has huge time and cost implications,” said Anderson. “Previously, Outlook and Windows-based products were the most common ways of managing information and this meant that data was dispersed across PCs rather than being centralized.

“Relying on Outlook to transmit large files is a concern as larger file transmission can be a problem. Sometimes we’ll want to send 150 drawings at once, or 600 in a single day. Can you imagine trying to send 600 1mb files across standard email?”

Having data held on PCs and contained within organizations would also make it harder for Chorus to ensure that correct document control protocols are being followed across the project team.

“Standardizing document control protocols can be difficult because different people have different standards,” said Anderson. “This increases the chance of errors. Particularly with the risk of litigation, you need an audit trail. If someone forgets to type “Revision B” into a spreadsheet because they got distracted, it can be costly and cause a dispute.”

Need for a shared platform

“Without a shared platform, there would be increased print and distribution costs and we’d struggle to share information in good time between parties. A major issue for us was, ‘How do we get information across our dispersed team of consultants and suppliers without spending big bucks on local and international couriers?’

“We needed a system that allowed efficient retrieval of our documents and correspondence, where there was proof of issue and receipt, and where all project information was in one platform so that it’s easy to track and easy to archive,” said Anderson.

Solution

Chorus selected to use the Aconex online information management solution to manage their documents and correspondence. 

“One reason Aconex was selected was because aesthetically it looks good and has a user-friendly interface. Because of this, it’s easier to get people to use it,” said Anderson.

Results

During the two-year project, Aconex was used by 270 team members from 40 organizations to manage up to 40,000 documents and project mails each month.

Anderson said, “Aconex delivers an effective way of managing information – it’s efficient and saves time, cost and resources. By using the system we can share information instantaneously. People can tap into their files and mails remotely from wherever they are. They can access project information on the move, at home and receive updates on their Blackberries.

Cost savings

“Compared to Outlook or paper-based information management, there is faster distribution of files. It cuts down on handling, postage, shipping, and so on, the whole time-consuming process. With Aconex, you just tick a box next to files you want to distribute and click ‘Transmit’.

“There is certainly less money spent on couriers and postage. We estimated that we could save approximately £25,000 (US$45,000) on printing and postage over the duration of the project.”

“We could save approximately £25,000 on printing and postage.”

Rob Anderson, Document Control Manager at Chorus

Data is set in stone

“We like that when something is stored on Aconex it’s set in stone. You can’t tamper with it,” said Anderson. “We have a better audit trail and there is better accountability for all parties.”

“Being able to track our transmittals over the system is a powerful QA feature. It ensures that documentation goes out on time and if we need to get back to design consultants to reject a drawing, we have an audit trail of the exchange. It speeds up doc controllers’ tasks and definitely speeds up the management of documentation compared to using paper or email.”

Improved visibility for management

Anderson said, “Reports can be generated for Management to identify outstanding items and track the status of RFIs, site instructions and replies. This makes life easier for them as they can gain an overview of documentation or view a revision history when required.”

Summarizing the use of Aconex on the Savoy project, Anderson said, “There is better information management across the project, so all parties benefit. It allows us to liaise efficiently between the design team and subcontractors. Information is more transparent across the team and the audit trail helps ensure that people are doing what they should be.”