The construction industry and asset owners now have a faster and easier way to electronically manage the handover of operation and maintenance manuals following the launch of a new digital solution from Aconex and Grazer.

‘Aconex O&M Manuals’ is the result of a partnership between the world’s largest construction collaboration provider Aconex and Australian asset knowledge management specialist Grazer. The companies have joined forces to alleviate a common source of frustration and delays at the end of construction projects: the handover of quality operation and maintenance manuals to the asset owner.

Steven Brant, Aconex General Manager for Australia and New Zealand, said: “Aconex O&M Manuals links the construction process with the operations of an asset, reducing time, cost and risk in the process.”

Brant added: “O&M manuals are a key deliverable for contractors and one of the last areas of construction where paper, ring binders, email and CDs are still prevalent. In the final rush to project completion, this outdated method of compiling manuals often results in incomplete data that is delivered late, adding unnecessary costs to the contractor and risk exposure to the asset owner.”

The Aconex O&M Manuals solution links the Aconex collaboration platform, which is used to manage information during construction projects, with Grazer’s C-Manuals solution, a software product providing a fully digital set of O&M manuals with a unique visual navigation capability.

The result is that information can now flow from the beginning of a construction project right through to facility management. Using the data captured on Aconex, the manuals are automatically compiled in digital format as subcontractors upload their files and reviews are managed online. The contractor can then deliver high quality, graphically-referenced, digital O&M Manuals on time at the project’s completion.

Grazer founder John Martin said: “Our clients have always been impressed by how much easier it is to use our digital O&M manuals, however the manuals are only as good as the information that goes into them. Partnering with Aconex means that we now have the mechanism that virtually automates the process of collection and review and therefore the quality of the information.”

Martin added: “This solution can change the way both asset owners and their contractors view the handover process. Connecting the information flow between construction and asset management has, until now, been a missing piece of the process – now that’s been taken care of.”

Grazer’s C-Manuals solution uses intuitive visual navigation that makes finding information as simple as clicking on the required asset on an as-built drawing. The user friendly solution provides operational benefits by significantly reducing the amount of time spent finding information as well as saving on printing costs.

Paul Armstrong, Estate Manager at Adelaide Zoo which has adopted the Grazer solution said, “Rather than searching through countless pages of technical information stored in any number of unwieldy four-ring binder manuals, our staff can now readily access O&M data electronically. So whether we need to check a warranty, schedule a maintenance task or track building compliance, the new Grazer system has given the Adelaide Zoo an enormous boost in managing and maintaining our critical infrastructure.”

Grazer provides its asset knowledge management products and services to many of Australia’s largest organisations across diverse industry sectors including construction, property, mining and energy, health, defence and government.