Case Study: Ed. Züblin AG

by Sandra Schick, tags: Case Study, Optional, trade union Download article

Without docu tools, it would never have been possible for me to carry out construction documentation of this depth and quality.

About ZÜBLIN

Ed. Züblin AG, based in Stuttgart, is a German construction company with branches and subsidiaries in Germany and abroad. The company’s range of services covers all construction-related tasks – from complex turnkey construction, engineering and tunnel construction to construction logistics, building maintenance, special civil engineering, timber construction and steel construction. In recent years, ZÜBLIN has driven forward the topics of digitalisation, LEAN.Construction and sustainability and, based on the long-standing expertise of its central engineering department, is increasingly offering integrated planning and construction from a single source as a general planner. ZÜBLIN takes a holistic view of projects across all life cycle phases and focuses on constructive and cooperative collaboration.

• Number of pins set: 1,210,792
• Number of projects created: 3,533
• Number of digitised plans: 228,546
• Number of photos taken: 1,664,136

Problem

As the general contractor, ZÜBLIN had numerous programmes at its disposal that were to be used for a wide variety of applications. However, none of these programmes were comprehensive or specifically applicable, which meant that many employees continued to resort to dozens of printed A0 plans and marked the defects with notes on the construction plans. These plans were subsequently filed away and the to-do lists were sent to the subcontractors by email. In order to document these defects, numerous pictures were taken and uploaded to various locations. The trades involved then had to identify and rectify the defects based on printed plans and images that could not be clearly assigned. Locating the defects on the construction site proved particularly difficult and was difficult to trace retrospectively. Due to the high workload of the site managers and project managers, countless additional hours of overtime had to be worked for documentation purposes.

Sebastian Wittek, project manager in the turnkey construction division, faced a major challenge, particularly during his last project (at that time still as site manager). A project covering over 160,000 m2 and in some cases 600 m in length had to be documented. This would have required dozens of A0 printouts. In his opinion, there had to be a way to ensure efficient digital documentation of defects, condition assessments and approvals.

Solution

Today, Sebastian Wittek, project manager at ZÜBLIN, works with docu tools and locates potential defects with centimetre precision directly on the digitised plan. This allows him to work not only in floor plan perspective, but also in practical view perspective (e.g. for facades). Pins can be used to store images, texts, due dates and responsibilities directly and record them in a transparent and traceable manner. Updates to plans can be uploaded and adapted directly in the software using the existing pins without losing valuable information. This easy adaptability not only saves valuable time, but also ensures a smooth handover to the subsequent trades. Furthermore, construction and project managers have the option of inviting subcontractors to the project free of charge on the docu tools platform. This ensures flawless, transparent communication within the project team. All project participants can easily find the pins and the associated task or status assessment on site without any project knowledge. This precise approach saves time and costs on both sides.

Conclusion

docu tools has now become an integral part of ZÜBLIN’s diverse construction sites and is used every day. For Sebastian Wittek, docu tools is an all-rounder – it can be used in countless applications. The more you work with this tool, the more new ideas and possible uses you discover. He sees the intuitive reporting system as a unique selling point – complete documentation including all texts and images, visually prepared and created at the touch of a button within a few minutes. According to Sebastian Wittek, these five points are what make docu tools stand out:

• General overview of the docu tools interface
• Transparency in the project team
• Project structure
• Traceability within the project team
• Uniformity (same process)
  

Purpose of use

ZÜBLIN uses docu tools not only on large construction sites, but also on smaller projects, regardless of the cost groups involved (e.g. structural work, finishing, building services, etc.). They use the software primarily for the following areas:

• Informative status quo reports for building owners
• Transparent documentation among all parties involved – accessible online at any time, even when on the move
• General assessment of condition
• Deficiency documentation and processing
• Distribution of tasks within the project team
  

Quote

“Without docu tools, it would never have been possible for me to carry out construction documentation of this depth and quality.”
Sebastian Wittek, B.A. Architect, Ed. Züblin AG

‘docu tools is miles ahead of other programmes in many respects!’
Sebastian Wittek, B.A. Architect, Ed. Züblin AG

Four most frequently used features

• The usage itself
• Pin creation – super easy
• Create report
• On all possible devices – kept simple

About the interviewee

Sebastian Wittek began his career at ZÜBLIN in early 2017 and currently works as a project manager in the Stuttgart Turnkey Construction division. He has been involved in numerous high-profile projects in Germany, gaining valuable experience in the management of projects with particularly high order volumes.