Dec 11 2007
Hensel Phelps Construction Co., a Colorado-based construction company that for more than seven decades has built a wide range of public and private projects nationwide, has used Vela Systems' mobile field management software to help deliver a full-sized prototype of a new electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) for the U.S. Navy. The prototype is located at the Naval Air Engineering Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
EMALS overcomes many drawbacks of the steam catapult systems in service on today's aircraft carriers, which are large, heavy, energy inefficient, manpower intensive and require steam production from a carrier's engineering plant. EMALS, which uses magnetic pulses to launch planes, provides better performance, requires less manpower and costs less to maintain than steam catapults. EMALS is capable of launching all conventional and short takeoff fixed wing carrier aircraft, including the Joint Strike Fighter.
Designed 'from the ground up' to make work in the field more efficient and effective, Vela Systems' mobile field software enables people in the field to mark up drawings, make notations and initiate work processes while on the job site in their own handwriting. With the VelaViewer(TM), field personnel can mark up plans on the screen and insert pushpins to pinpoint issues that need to be addressed.
Building the EMALS facility was extraordinarily complex. The steel frame, which will house highly sophisticated electronic equipment, had to be installed to extremely precise tolerances. Since the system is designed to launch planes over the open ocean, there was no room for error. Vela Systems gave field personnel an easy way to capture and communicate complicated information quickly and accurately in a format that made the issue at hand immediately understandable to everyone involved.
In addition, in today's highly competitive construction environment, organizations like Hensel Phelps are constantly under pressure to do more with less. Vela Systems streamlined communications and made Hensel Phelps' personnel more effective and efficient so that they could successfully deliver this large, highly complex project with a relatively small team.
"With Vela Systems, our superintendent could mark the exact location of a work item or issue on a structural drawing with a pushpin and add text, a photograph and audio," said Jeff Brown, project manager for Hensel Phelps.
"Timely, concise information could be readily transferred from the field to the owner, the architect and subcontractors in a manner that could be clearly understood so issues could be quickly resolved.
"Vela enabled our staff to cut the amount of time it takes to bring an issue to the attention of the responsible parties and get it turned around," Brown continued. "The superintendent liked how Vela allowed him to prepare punch lists, work lists and to-do lists without typing. It improved his productivity and increased accuracy by eliminating redundant data input."
As a result of using Vela Systems, Hensel Phelps:
- Communicated faster and more accurately: Information flowed more rapidly and accurately from the field to subcontractors, executives and design engineers;
- Saved time: Vela Systems helped improve communications and accelerate project delivery;
- Increased productivity: The Hensel Phelps team no longer needed to spend eight to 12 hours per week transcribing information from paper field documents into computers, and could instead focus on resolving problems and moving the project forward;
- Reduced risk: Vela Systems' software created documentation that can be used to answer questions and, thanks to improved communications, reduced the risk of misunderstandings and error.
"Complex projects like the EMALS prototype for the Navy require accurate documentation and rapid communications," said Tim Curran, CEO of Vela Systems. "Whether on luxury hotels, high-rise condominiums or extremely technical government projects like this one, Vela Systems helps construction professionals deliver their projects faster at an even higher level of quality."