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Cadweb produces the First Actual Cost Savings Figures
January 2005


One of the biggest problems in the case for implementing a Project Extranet has been demonstrating real cost savings the system will generate for a client and project. The classic method of cost justification has been to use theoretical print and postal usage and estimate how employing an Extranet might reduce this.

Cadweb Ltd now provides a print service, which enables us to move this methodology from the theoretical to the actual, by analysing real data. We have used data from a large (£110m construction value) project, analysing the amount of drawings being sent for print as a proportion of the total, enabling us to calculate the actual amount saved by using cadweb.NET on the project.

From these actual figures to date (the project is only 45% through the planned program) savings of over £500,000 have been made. It is conservatively predicted that by the end of the project just under £725,000 will be saved. As far as we know these are the first real figures to be published.

These figures alone justify the use of cadweb.NET on the project. However, no actual estimate of the main savings that cadweb.NET brings to the performance of a project have been made because they have always been "unquantifiable".

The next step is to identify some specific document workflows that have improved when Cadweb.NET is used and quantify their financial benefit. The speed of resolution of RFIs is an ideal candidate. We estimate that the "unquantifiable" benefits of using an Cadweb.NET will far outweigh the savings made by reducing print and post and could add up to 5% of a project's value.

Set out below are the detailed workings showing how the figures have been calculated. These are applicable and can be used for all projects regardless of their size. A "Return on Investment" Calculator like the one below will be available on the Cadweb website to calculate the savings you can expect on your project.



Cost Savings assumptions

From our experience (10 years) we know that typically between 4,000 and 8,000 files per £million of construction spend are generated on any given project. Of these 56% will be drawings therefore for the £110M project in question we know that there will be approximately 462,000 drawing files (including all revisions) generated by the end of the project.

The project in question started on site in April 2003 and is due to complete in September 2006 and at present, is on program. It is 19 months into a 42 month program (45% complete) To date on the project there are 154,378 original documents on the system generating 571,575 files (an average distribution of 3.7). Of these original documents 86,619 (56%) are drawings. The print breakdown is as follows: -

23,670 prints have been made so far (15.3% of the total) the balance, 84.7 % have been exchanged electronically. Of these prints 18,770 are drawings (21.6 % of the 86,619 total number of drawings) therefore 78.4% of drawings are being exchanged, acknowledged and read by Cadweb.net users without being printed.


The ROI calculator shows quantified savings that Cadweb.net will generate.

Enter your Project's value in £m in the blue box (e.g. for a £10m project double click on the blue box and enter 10, then click on the Calculate button)

 
Project construction value £m
   
Number of drawings and copies 462,000
   
Number of original drawings 124,865
   
Cost saving for the project £724,416
 
Cost Savings Analysis

If we assume an average print/dispatch cost is £2.00 per copy the cost savings to date are as follows:

Actual Cost of Drawings Printed to date for the entire project:
18,770 x 3.7 copies x £2 = £ 138,898

Actual Printing Cost SAVING from Drawings sent via Cadweb.net to date for the entire project:
86,619 - 18,770 = 67,849 Drawings not printed x 3.7 copies x £2 = £502,082

If we extrapolate this data to the conclusion of the project we can estimate the total cost savings Cadweb will generate for the project. Given that there have been 5,196 files generated so far per £1m of construction spend and the program is 19 out of 42 months complete (or 45%) We predict that there will be 7,500 files per £1m of construction spend by the completion of the project. Therefore: -

7,500 x 110 = 825,000 files in total of which 222,973 (825,000 / 3.7) will be original documents. 56%, or 124,865 of these will be drawings and 21.6% of these drawings will be printed or 26,971

Estimated Total Drawing Print Cost:
26,971 x 3.7 copies x £2 = £199,585

Estimated Printing Cost SAVING from Drawings sent via Cadweb.net by the end of the project:
124,865 - 26,971 = 97,894 x 3.7 copies x £2 = £724,416



Ends
For further information please contact Francis Newman on 0208 964 5040.


Notes to Editors

  1. Founded in 1995 Cadweb is the longest and oldest, established project extranet provider in the UK. Cadweb is now recognized as the de facto market leader in it's field with a long and growing list of blue-chip clients. Project Extranets provide an internet based central searchable repository for project information whereby project data can be stored and retrieved by all members of a construction project.
  2. Cadweb.net provides an internet based, central, highly searchable repository for all project information, whereby project data can be stored and retrieved by all members of a construction project.





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