Are You Using the Right Software for AWP? 

Before we dive into what the right software is for Advanced Work Packaging, let’s take a quick refresher on what AWP is according to Concord Training Academy, the leading training institute as far as AWP is concerned.

Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) is a construction-driven planning and collaboration system for building capital projects that are sharply focused on creating a constraint-free work environment in the field. It requires detailed work packages to be created early in the project life cycle. 

Why should you listen to my recommendations?  I am a mechanical engineer with 15+ years of experience in oil and gas (upstream and downstream) and have worked in various countries including India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam just to name a few. As a project manager on O3’s customer success team, I’m responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of our software. Through the processes of change management, education, and training I’ve learned many lessons to achieve success. One of the most important factors is the features AWP software includes. Choosing the right software to support your AWP program is critical to your project’s success. 

1. For me, to choose software for AWP, I recommend considering these questions: Is using this new software going to change the way I work? Will there be a lot of disruption and/or additional work needed? 
2. Will this impact my department and colleagues and make their work more difficult? 
3. Will using this software make my work easier and my colleague’s work easier in the long run? 
4. What are the tangible and intangible benefits of the new software? 
5. Does learning and utilizing this software help me in the future? 

Answers to the above will differ from person to person, but here are my personal answers and opinions.

1. Is using this new software going to change the way I work? Will there be a lot of disruption and/or additional work needed? I would not like to change the way I work. What I mean is that the processes involved should not change and basic concepts should not change. When I am using this software initially, it should not be an uphill task to learn. It should be user-friendly and minimal disruption should happen when I am switching over from existing methods to the new AWP software. 
2.  Will this impact my department and colleagues and make their work more difficult? Usually working in an AWP or construction environment is interdependent among various disciplines and departments. If a smooth transfer of information is not happening, your work handover can affect other departments’ work as well. When I use AWP software, I want to report to my boss to be easy and efficient. Reports coming from others should also be easy and efficient. I also must consider that certain reports are confidential and should not be viewed by everyone, hence restricted access also should be available. 
3.  Will using this software make my work easier and my colleague’s work easier in the long run? Now, when I spend time and effort in learning new software and implementing it, it should not only be effective, but it should also save time. Everyone would love to get their work done in five minutes rather than ten minutes. So, if the software over a longer period helps me and my colleagues save time, who would say no to such a great shift? 
4. What are the tangible and intangible benefits of the new software? Saving time is always a good tangible benefit but the AWP software should also help to save money and improve quality as well. The three main factors affecting all projects whether it’s brownfield or greenfield are cost, quality, and time. If AWP software can reduce cost, improve quality, and reduce the project duration, I would absolutely consider making a change. 
5. Does learning and utilizing this software help me in the future? Finally, in the future, I might plan to apply for a senior position, or I might get promoted. Will using this AWP software prepare me for that? A globally recognized software in AWP will be used by one and all and will be recommended by top construction and oil and gas companies in the world. Using that software will give additional recognition to you, and your profile/resume will weigh in higher compared to others if you are using such software.

Now for the ultimate question, we are trying to answer: “Are we using the right software for AWP?” 

Is there AWP Software that fulfills all these needs? 

Yes, there is.

O3 Solutions checks all the above boxes when selecting the best AWP software on the market.

1.  O3 makes change management easy with shared dashboards and team collaboration.  
2. Reporting and analytics are made seamless with the ability to configure data with real-time functionality and information.  
3. Using O3 is proven to save you time in the field when gathering data and reporting to leadership.  
4. By using a single platform like O3 to manage projects and support AWP you are able to minimize human errors and avoid making decisions based on outdated data.  
5. O3 empowers users to be more efficient, safer, and more accurate on the job site.