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Home Guest Writers Project Control Tools provides solutions to digitise rail and construction schemes

Project Control Tools provides solutions to digitise rail and construction schemes

Project Control Tools (PCT) is on a mission to help transform rail and construction projects with its innovative, user-friendly software, designed to ensure easy data capture for onsite teams.

The Durham-based business developed its Censite suite of products to streamline onsite processes, enabling the site team to capture and collate information electronically in their use friendly app. Now, Censite and CensiteStores are being used across some of UK rail’s most transformative projects.

PCT was founded by Fin Gregory and James Staines, two rail and construction industry professionals with extensive onsite experience. Prior to launching the company, Fin spent his career in technical and project management roles, while James worked as a Health and Safety professional.

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Digitising onsite paperwork

The duo had first-hand experience of the pain points associated with large infrastructure projects, and felt that specially designed software could offer a solution to manage the copious amounts of paperwork used on projects.

“We both worked on those kinds of projects, and effectively found that there was a lot of pain in gathering paperwork, reports, documentation, and data from site,” Fin explained. “The software that was out there was quite cumbersome and not very user friendly, and that became the focus in our development.”

PCT created Censite, a software product that would capture and collate information from site, automate data analysis, and generate tailored reports. Originally called SiteMate, this user-friendly solution enabled teams to digitise site documents, simplifying a labour-intensive process.

Where teams had previously been expected to fill out reams of paperwork, Censite allowed them to create digital reports and forms, where the reports and data are available in real-time and available to the project team instantly. It also automatically analysed site data and integrates with commonly used software.

“It was all about making a simple, easy-to-use solution for challenging project issues such as gathering key information onsite, with a real focus on the end-user,” James added.

Today, Censite helps teams to save time, reduce costs, avoid siloed working, and make data-driven decisions. The information can be shared across projects to align company data help improve their ability to deliver successful projects consistently.

It can also be used alongside CensiteStores (formerly StoresMate), PCT’s stores-management product to help protect the profit margins which are often eroded by tool losses, damages and late off hiring.

Automating stores-management

Designed to be used on infrastructure projects with stores, CensiteStores digitises the inventory management process. Tools can be tagged, tracked, and managed in real-time, helping to reduce losses and prevent late off-hires. It provides a full accessible asset history, with reports and user usage.

CensiteStores can also track the condition and compliance status of tools, ensuring that they are safe and workable.

“The big pain points it solves are losses, damages, and late off hires,” James explained. “They can lead to massive unnecessary costs across the board, and all that money comes straight off a project’s profit.”

Digitally transforming major rail projects

PCT’s software has been adopted by a range of suppliers and project teams – most notably, Network Rail (NWR), whose Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) track delivery team is currently making use of the Censite application. With a transient workforce and multiple locations, TRU hinges on clear communication; Censite allows its team to share progress updates in real-time, replacing inefficient paper site packs saving mountains of paper.

Network Rail Works Delivery Peterborough, meanwhile, is using CensiteStores while it carries out essential works on OLE across the Southern area of the OLE route. Its large team relies on a central store location in Peterborough, and must be able to access the right tools quickly and easily. PCT’s application has facilitated this, providing an efficient alternative to the spreadsheets NWR previously used.

Looking to a digital future

PCT will continue to develop and enhance its Censite products, keeping the needs of end-users firmly in mind.

“We started with a good idea of what the industry wanted, and the feedback we’ve had has verified that,” concluded Fin. “Now, we’re building on this success. Our clients will find a gap within their systems, and we’ll implement that within the software – all to reduce the amount of work they have to do onsite. Our approach is what separates us from our competitors.”

To learn more about PCT, visit www.projectcontroltools.co.uk

Photo credit: Project Control Tools

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