Data management automation for the ground disturbance field
Active Link Software is an information management system aimed at optimizing the buried facilities phase of the construction process. The software initiative aimed at unifying the workflow within the industry and digitizing the management of the ground disturbance processes, so that businesses can boost their efficiency and decrease the idle time due to management issues.
The system comprised a web platform for overall management and a mobile app for prompt offline access for in-the-field workers.
Our client has years of experience as a GD coordinator and, during this time, has often faced bottlenecks in the workflow due to primarily manual processes. They didn’t find a product that would satisfy all the needs, so they decided to create a solution that would help their and other similar businesses optimize the operational processes.
Among the most critical challenges to solve were:
High load of paperwork
All the documentation was processed manually, causing lots of delays, a high risk of human errors, and difficulties with accessing the necessary files promptly
Lack of overview
The management was struggling to track the project stage, people involved, and progress, resulting in informational gaps that held the project back
Scattered communication
The files and messages were located through various platforms, causing the risk of information loss, and access to the project data was difficult when working in the field
The project had been in development for some time, with its founder doing his best to cover the business side, management, and testing, while still working on his ground disturbance projects. However, as the product was expanding, it required more and more expertise to ensure thorough testing and grant the product quality.
The Active Link Software founder came to SysGears to establish the quality assurance process without their direct and constant input. Moreover, the client expressed the need to handle project documentation and refine the development requirements to ensure alignment of the development effort with the product vision. We tailored our services specifically to fulfill these needs.
Our business analyst started by revising and validating existing requirements to ensure that the current progress complied with business objectives. Whenever our specialist revealed gaps, ambiguities, or inconsistencies, they suggested improvements and estimated their impact on the project timeline and costs.
We revised the overall solution logic with the client to ensure it catered to the industry's needs while avoiding an overly generalized framework. Based on the refined workflow, our specialist prioritized features for the MVP to accelerate MVP release time and created a backlog for further enhancements.
Our team adapted the agile methodology to ensure efficient workflow and smooth communication without unnecessary bureaucracy and micromanagement to implement only valuable project management practices for the nuclear team. Our specialist worked closely with the team and stakeholders throughout the process to constantly improve the workflow.
We started with building the testing strategy for the already established part of the project to ensure no defects or other issues were blocking further development. Then we proceeded to ongoing testing of the newly-developed functionalities and their impact on the rest of the product, ensuring coherent system performance and positive and intuitive user experience.
Our team checked the whole system, ensuring it aligned with the requirements and solved business challenges. The client helped to involve an external expert from the ground disturbance industry who, together with our business analyst, helped define the product value for businesses in the industry and identify gaps and potential features for the project.
We provided the possibility to create, import, replicate, export, and access documents in a few steps so that the users can manage project documentation and data related to any particular project or its part. All the data is stored on the cloud, which resolves backup and access issues and allows tracking of the change history to identify and resolve any problems quickly.
A project details dashboard allows management to keep track of real-time progress, and workers to monitor all information relevant to their permission level. It enables users to see all activities they are involved in, shows documents and requests, and builds a general picture of overall progress straight on the homepage.
We created a built-in document exchange system and integrated emailing to keep all correspondence in one place with easy admission for everyone involved. Workers can use email letter templates and contact databases for quicker and more efficient communication and track responses to avoid any communication gaps.
As a huge part of the process is conducted in the field, there’s a mobile application with access to critical data, important contact information, and pre-loaded project-related documents. The app allows efficient management of organizational issues on-site and helps keep daily documentation up-to-date, even without an internet connection.
