Construction Industry Solutions

Issue 2 2013
THE NEWSLETTER OF
Construction Industry Solutions
In this issue
Page 2/3
· Taylor Wimpey - One business,
one system
· Carey Group moves to web-based
CVR and VPS
Page 4/5
· Persimmon - Expert at IT
migration
· Improved IT system efficiency for
Avant Homes
· Controlling costs in the Housing
market upturn
Page 6/7
· Herbert T Forrest goes mobile
· Focus on core business, not IT
Page 8/9
· Pasha Construction to employ
COINS ERP
· Air Masters selects COINS OA
· COINS Middle East enjoys doubledigit growth
Page 10/11
· Market trends for Top 75 home
builders
· eBusiness plans for the future
· Jane Wernick wins First Women in
the Built Environment Award
Page 12/13
· COINS OA 10.27 & 10.28
· Hints and Tips:
Using COINS Favourites
· Meet Steve Jones
Page 14/15/16
· New faces at COINS
· Introducing... Bob Childs... Larry
O’Brien
· Solar initiative to power schools
· Coast to Coast for the COINS
Foundation
· COINS supports inclusive child
development centre
Clearing 48,000 tonnes of earth onto barges at
Lots Road Power Station site in London.
Careys article on Page 3
Created by the merger of George Wimpey and Taylor
Woodrow in 2007, Taylor Wimpey is one of the largest
residential developers in the UK, developing new homes
across the country and operating its business from 24
regional offices.
One of the challenges the company faced was to introduce common business
One business,
one system
processes and systems throughout the new organisation. The head office
required deeper insight into performance across its business; however, some
of the regional operations had inherited very different legacy systems and there
was no standardised reporting method.
Taylor Wimpey sought a solution that would provide for one tool for
process management and control, one source of information from one
database. The chosen solution capitalises on the latest open
architecture platform from COINS, with modules covering the core
business processes of land acquisition, material and subcontract
procurement, production, sales and customer service.
The 1B1S (“one-business, one system”) concept was born out of many
business management challenges caused by the plethora of disparate
systems brought in through Taylor Wimpey’s business acquisitions.
Getting the company onto one platform that could ultimately add value
was the end goal. As Andy Feldon, IT Director for Taylor Wimpey said,
‘We wanted a stronger, simpler and more efficient organisation. If you
start with all your core processes managed within one database then
you have the basics to drive more value added benefits. COINS offered
a solution that delivered this.”
Upon completion of a successful pilot programme, Taylor Wimpey began
a roll out that included training 1,200 staff across 24 business units and
head office. Post migration, the decommissioning of legacy systems
occurred.
Taylor Wimpey will benefit from a common way of working and the ability
to access better information. As Andy said, “Much of the value of our
investment is the provision of high quality, accurate, up-to-date data and
we cannot underestimate its importance moving forward. This provides
the business intelligence needed to gain a competitive edge with the
ability to benchmark key performance indicators in all areas of the
business.”
THE NEWSLETTER OF
two
Construction Industry Solutions
Carey Group Plc, a multi-discipline construction company operating in the UK
and Ireland, worked with COINS specialist consultants HenleyIS to add webbased Cost Value Reconciliation (CVR) to its existing COINS solution. The
COINS CVR module gives quantity surveyors a consistent reporting tool for
contract costing and also provides greater visibility of contract performance
data throughout the organisation.
Carey
Group
moves to
web-based
CVR and
VPS
Carey Group is still family operated and employs 60 surveyors based from five regional
offices and its headquarters in Wembley, Middlesex. HenleyIS specialises in independent
consultancy services for COINS, the market leading information system used within the
construction industry. It is the only consultancy company in the UK to be appointed by
COINS as an approved partner and is owned by former COINS Director Neil Duguid.
Dermot Purcell, Group Finance Director for Carey Group, said, “Cost Value Reconciliation
is fundamental to our business because it ensures that the profits shown in company
accounts are accurate and realistically display our current financial position. I wanted
to eliminate the inconsistencies that were caused by surveyors using differing types of
spreadsheets and felt it was important to create some uniformity and improve
transparency. COINS CVR provided that.”
COINS CVR is a tool that helps quantity surveyors, commercial managers and
commercial directors in the timely production of monthly cost value reconciliations, end
day forecasts and cash forecasts. This can be achieved either by creating CVR screens
and reports within COINS or by
generating
and
distributing
standardised spreadsheets directly from
I wanted to eliminate the inconsistencies
COINS, populated with data held in
that were caused by surveyors using
COINS. With the spreadsheet option,
differing types of spreadsheets and felt it
surveyors reconcile and update the data
was important to create some uniformity
in Microsoft® Excel® and the updated
and improve transparency. COINS CVR
detail is then returned to COINS.
The key benefit of
implementing CVR
is that all contract
cost information is
now recorded on
COINS and can be
viewed on one
screen
provided that.
For Carey, the key benefit of
implementing CVR is that all contract
cost information is now recorded on
Dermot Purcell, Group Finance Director
COINS and can be viewed on one screen.
for Carey Group
Enquiry screens allow access to up-todate data that the surveyor has entered in his/her spreadsheet. This means that key
data, which had previously resided on individual laptops and PCs, can be stored centrally
and is therefore secure and can be accessed by others.
Carey Group's new CVR module will greatly enhance real time costing and its smooth
implementation is the result of a great team effort from the Surveying and ICT
departments.
three
Established in 1972, Persimmon Plc has grown rapidly both organically and through
acquisitions, including Beazer Group plc in 2001 and Westbury plc in 2006. In
October 2012, they acquired Kent house builder Hillreed Homes in a strategic move
that strengthened its presence in the South East.
Since 1998, COINS has become a fundamental part of Persimmon’s business. Persimmon’s
investment in COINS Open Architecture [OA] has helped standardise processes and keep
control of costs whilst providing very high levels of system reliability and availability.
Expert at IT migration
Persimmon has been able to quickly integrate the businesses it acquires into the COINS
solution, thanks to its close partnership with COINS, the stability of the COINS product, the
ease of setting up new business units, and Persimmon’s extremely focused IT department.
The acquisition of Hillreed Homes was no exception.
Nigel Salisbury, Business Systems Manager
of Persimmon said, “It took just three
months to integrate the new business
into COINS.
When we acquire a
business we extract the
minimum amount of
data required, migrate
it into COINS and then
immediately archive
any
acquired
systems. We
are always
confident
that
this
approach
will work due
to the ability of
COINS to integrate new businesses
without
the
fear
of
system
degradation.”
Persimmon now has a total of 24 offices around
the UK and 750 COINS users. Nigel Salisbury
adds, “The stability and reliability of COINS has
meant that we achieve 100% availability
for our staff. By this I mean that there
has been no system failure or downtime.
In addition, the COINS OA implementation
has contributed to improvements in our business processes.”
Persimmon is a perfect example of how COINS can be deployed within a short time frame
on a large scale, capable of absorbing additional data seamlessly and without any
performance degradation. The rapid integration of Hillreed Homes into Persimmon’s COINS
installation has proved that COINS can be easily extended and configured to support both
growth and changes in business structure.
THE NEWSLETTER OF
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Construction Industry Solutions
Avant Homes (www.avanthomes.co.uk), formerly the Gladedale Group, is a major force in the UK property industry in both the residential and
commercial sector. During 2004 and 2007, the company grew through acquisition to point that they had 14 different IT systems in operation. With
seven regional offices and a head office function to control, Avant recognised the need to implement a business system that would provide consistency
of information, standardisation and better access to timely reporting. Its host of different systems and processes made it impossible for Avant to
get an overall picture of business performance. Some streamlining had to take place.
Improved IT system
efficiency for Avant Homes
COINS, one of Avant’s legacy IT systems, was implemented into the whole business because
it is comprehensive, scalable and easily extended to support growth and business change.
The other legacy IT solutions were migrated into COINS in a phased manner. COINS designed,
tested, fine-tuned and deployed software on the company’s network.
Avant’s Group IT Director, Carole Asker comments, “It is a huge advantage to have all our businesses operating in the same way as it greatly improves
visibility and accountability. We are able to respond quickly and make better-informed decisions and forecasts far more quickly than we could
before.”
Phase One of the implementation is complete, covering Finance, Commercials (including Procurement and VAP), House Sales and Payroll. Phase
Two is well under way. For Phase Three, Avant Homes is considering implementing the HR module and is piloting COINS mGRN, a mobile goods
received note solution that connects directly with the COINS Procurement module.
Controlling costs in the Housing market upturn
The recent Housing Market Intelligence (HMI) Report confirmed the recovery of the housing market, with a significant number
of home builders reporting considerable increases in operating profits and margins. The Help to Buy scheme is contributing to
an increase in house sales and driving activity in the sector, whilst the relaxing of restrictions on planning permission has
attributed to a significant increase in planning approvals for new homes.
The HMI Report for 2013 strongly suggests that cost control will be an extremely useful weapon in improving margins for home builders and
residential property developers coming out of the recession. Many regional home builders have taken the opportunity to implement cost control
strategies and review their IT infrastructure during the downturn, in order to aid sustainable business growth in the upturn.
A number of these home builders have chosen COINS Firstbase to help them realise these goals, as it is a business solution that is able grow with them.
Mar City Homes focusses on the affordable housing sector in the West Midlands and London. The company predicts that it will complete 200
homes by the end of the year and has a medium term objective to grow to 500 homes per annum. Implementing COINS Firstbase is part of that
growth strategy. Firstbase provided a preconfigured ‘fast track’ solution covering Financials, Payroll and House Sales enabling Mar City Homes
to reap the value of COINS more quickly, at a significantly reduced implementation cost.
Newcourt Residential creates exclusive residences in some of the most desirable locations in London and the South East of England and picked
up three ‘What House’ Awards in 2013. Its implementation of COINS Firstbase is supported through the COINSCloud platform. Newcourt Residential
will also be migrating its desktop/office infrastructure from its current cloud partner to COINSCloud. Newcourt’s Finance Director, Aziz Elkhadraoui
commented, "This is a very exciting period of growth for the Newcourt business and we needed to implement a new system to support the
challenges that this growth will bring. COINS will provide support for our business both now and in the future."
A number of regional home builders have implemented or contracted for COINS Firstbase recently, including:
five
Herbert
T Forrest
goes
mobile
Herbert T Forrest, a leading service provider in the social
housing sector, is now live with a key stage of its COINS
implementation project: adding the Facilities Management (FM)
module and an integrated COINS-mobile application, mFM, into
its existing COINS ERP solution.
Forrest (www.forrest.co.uk) offers a comprehensive range of regeneration,
refurbishment, responsive and renewable services from its North West base.
The company’s 50 operatives in the Response Division carry out extensive works
to over 15,000 properties.
Since the beginning of April, Forrest has been using FM with mFM on a newly
awarded contract, deploying 20 operatives armed with Seal TS3 Android devices
and using the COINS-mobile workforce solution. The new contract requires the
operatives to maintain around 5000 properties.
The company’s mobile workforce receives information such as jobs, tasks, and Schedule of
Rates (SORs) on the Android mobile devices using the mFM app. The mobile app also allows
the operatives to record updates as the status of each job changes, which are sent to COINS
FM in real time. The COINS-mobile platform, MobileOneX, ensures that the data is passed
between device and COINS FM on time, completely and accurately.
Forrest realised that managing mobile operations using hardcopy work
orders was a paper chase and the data quality was poor, resulting in
incomplete data or errors being re-keyed into its repair management
systems. The mobile solution has fixed these issues and also provides
Forrest with a real-time view of each operative’s location, achieved
by capturing GPS co-ordinates sent back from the device.
Lee Ebbrell, Forrest’s Head of IT believes the implementation of
a mobile FM solution has produced positive results for both
customer and householder. He says, “We can now provide better
time slot allocation to operatives which in turn means that delivery to
tenants or customer service is improved.”
In the future, the mFM solution will help the company drive efficiencies and increase business,
according to Lee. He explains, “The logistical problems associated with the previous manual
system limited responsive work for Forrest to one regional area. However, the implementation
of COINS FM and mFM will enable job numbers to increase without the need to have additional
operatives, due to the way we can drag and drop jobs to an alternative member of the team. It
will also allow us to increase the volume and value of maintenance contracts we can take on
to the whole of the UK.”
Commenting on the ease of implementation, COINSmobile Chairman Ken Goulding said, “As an existing COINS
We can now provide better time slot
customer, mFM’s connectivity to COINS FM was already established for
allocation to operatives which in turn
Forrest. This eliminated the time delay and headache of other mobile offerings
means that delivery to tenants or
that would have needed to have integration work completed before achieving
customer service is improved.
full migration to the COINS system.”
The combination of COINS FM and COINS-mobile mFM is a significant
Lee Ebbrell, Forrest’s Head of IT
milestone in COINS’ overall strategy to facilitate mobile applications that
integrate with the COINS database and deliver value and efficiency to the
construction industry. Future projects include the introduction of text messaging to communicate a two-hour appointment
window to each tenant, helping to improve the service that COINS clients can provide to their customers.
THE NEWSLETTER OF
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Construction Industry Solutions
Cloud computing, the next stage in the Internet's evolution, provides the means through
which everything – from computing power to IT infrastructure, from applications and
business processes to personal collaboration – can be delivered as a service wherever and
whenever needed.
Organisations are attracted to cloud computing by the desire for a secure, resilient and scalable IT infrastructure
that lets them focus on running their core business, with predictable IT costs and minimal capital expense. Statistics
regularly show that up to 80% of IT budgets are tied up in routine maintenance – cloud frees up IT executives to think
and act strategically.
Focus on
core
business,
not IT
COINSCloud
COINS has invested in the latest technologies to deliver COINSCloud – a comprehensive private cloud platform that provides an enterprise-class solution to
its clients. Through COINS’ established AllianceOne partnership with Hewlett-Packard and strategic affiliations with Equinix and VMware, the COINSCloud
platform incorporates all aspects of the infrastructure, resilience, scalability, agility and on-going IT management and administration required to support
business-critical IT systems.
Flexible Service Models
COINSCloud offers a wide range of solutions to companies that are ready to explore the advantages of cloud computing, from the familiar COINS applications
to client-specific virtual private cloud solutions/IT platforms designed to deliver all a client’s strategic business needs. Options include:
Multiple configurations – rapidly deploy COINS Firstbase (best
practice ERP solution), customise COINS to suit specific business
needs, or run core business applications alongside COINS via
COINSCloud, from email through to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and
voice solutions.
Communicator – connect business applications, mobile devices
and external partners to core business services on one
common platform.
Disaster Recovery – COINSCloud DR-on-Demand offers a
comprehensive, cost effective range of disaster recovery solutions to
ensure business continuity.
Cloud BI – empower the organisation through the delivery of real-time business information,
with data extract and load services, analytics, reports, scheduling and delivery and more.
5-Step approach to cloud adoption
Expectations are high regarding cloud computing’s ability to deliver business value while reducing operating costs. Research demonstrates that a structured
migration approach consistently helps meet these high expectations. The COINS approach to cloud adoption focuses on understanding the requirements,
selecting the right cloud services, and clearly mapping out how to achieve the migration to the COINSCloud platform. The following five steps can help clients
capitalise on the best of what cloud computing has to offer while minimising risks.
Step 1: Strategic Review – gain a comprehensive understanding of the client’s business goals and objectives and how its IT strategy is aligned with those
goals.
Step 2: Evaluate Current State – analyse current processes and evaluate the existing IT architecture, flexibility, resilience and capacity to meet anticipated
demand.
Step 3: Cloud Readiness Assessment – gain an understanding of what and how to migrate and the value associated with such changes to derive clearly
defined objectives for the cloud strategy.
Step 4: Define Roadmap – outline the incremental steps to deploy or migrate target applications to a cloud-based service.
Step 5: Communicate – define the communication plan, content and distribution to ensure successful adoption of the changes across the organisation.
To find out more about COINSCloud and how to gain competitive advantage by adopting cloud technologies, please visit www.coins-global.com/cloud or
contact your account manager.
seven
Pasha Construction
to employ
COINS
ERP
Construction Industry Solutions (COINS) is pleased to announce that it recently reached
an agreement with PASHA Construction, one of the largest established companies in
the Republic of Azerbaijan, to implement its market-leading COINS ERP platform for
the construction industry.
Launched in November 2006, PASHA Construction has enjoyed phenomenal growth
over the past six years, to become a full service development and construction
company with a diverse portfolio of projects across retail, residential, office centres,
restaurants, hotels and large mixed use schemes. PASHA Construction is at the heart
of some of the most prestigious projects in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, which
was the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Grand Final and will be the
host city for the inaugural European Olympics in 2015.
Our vision is to bring all of
our processes close to
best-in-class standard,
thereby enhancing
transactional efficiency,
To keep pace with the rapid growth of the company, PASHA Construction is undergoing
a finance-led business transformation initiative.
strengthening our control
environment, and
delivering more timely and
Shabbir Fareed, Finance Director of PASHA Construction, states: “Our vision is to
flexible management
bring all of our processes close to best-in-class standard, thereby enhancing
reporting.
transactional efficiency, strengthening our control environment, and delivering more
timely and flexible management reporting. We believe that COINS will be a key
enabler in this extensive business transformation initiative. We have decided to stay
Shabbir Fareed, Finance
close to COINS Firstbase processes, as we believe that this reflects our vision of the
Director of PASHA
best-in-class benchmark for the construction industry. We will be investing time and
Construction
effort in COINS-Optix, to ensure that we map the result of this transformation. We
intend to fully utilise COINS workflow and mobile-working capabilities to deliver the productivity gains that we are
seeking.”
In a project scheduled across several phases, PASHA Construction will implement the full range of systems and modules
provided by the COINS platform. The initial phases will introduce robust finance, procurement and basic cost-valuereconciliation systems, followed by human resources, payroll, plant and equipment management and full project
commercial management.
Shabbir continues: "COINS Business Intelligence capabilities will provide timely and potentially real-time reporting to
all of our decision-makers. We liked the fact that COINS Firstbase processes cover the diverse range of businesses we
have, from property development to construction to apartment sales and lettings."
Commenting on the announcement, Nigel Cope, COINS Group Business Development Director, said: “We are absolutely
delighted to welcome PASHA Construction to the growing COINS construction and services global community. We are
looking forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship, in which we have plenty of opportunity to deliver value
to PASHA Construction's stakeholders.”
THE NEWSLETTER OF
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Construction Industry Solutions
Improving customer service and sales was a main driver in the decision of Air Masters Corporation to select COINS OA.
Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, Air Masters provides HVACR, building automation and controls, piping, plumbing,
and sheet metal fabrication services to clients throughout Missouri and Illinois.
Air Masters
selects COINS OA
John Rundquist, President of Air Masters, stated, “Mobile Technician
and Marketing are two new features that will be implemented, and we
see them as an opportunity to better serve our clients. For example,
Mobile Technician will allow the field to have direct access to customer
equipment and maintenance records while onsite.
Construction and service work are tracked on a single cost ledger within COINS OA and easily provide profitability across lines of business
and customers. This will eliminate the need to pull in and manually combine financial information separately from service and jobs.
John states that Air Masters sees features in COINS OA that will be a huge time saver for them, such as the ability to quickly change the site
to which a customer belongs without losing the equipment’s history at the site. “Other features that attracted us to COINS OA are the export and,
even more importantly the import, from Microsoft Excel to add and update data,” said John. “The project forecasting via spreadsheet provides a way
for our project managers to use a tool they are comfortable with and still have all of the information reside in the COINS database.”
“With several offices and more employees working from remote locations, I have been looking into the benefit of Cloud computing and business continuity
planning. Since COINS OA is web based software, it is allowing us to accomplish this by having our servers hosted at a data centre,” John stated.
COINS is looking forward to Air Masters Corporation’s implementation and working with them to bring their software
and infrastructure up to the latest technology.
COINS Middle East enjoys double-digit growth
Located in Dubai, Construction Industry Solutions Middle East (COINS Middle East for short) enables the region’s leading constructionrelated companies to run more effectively and profitably through a mixture of consultancy, software solutions and services. COINS Middle
East for short was established two years ago to meet the ever-increasing demand for COINS ERP solutions in the region. Since then, it has
enjoyed rapid expansion due to a number of significant new contracts and taken on extra staff, both new hires and internal transfers, to
deal with project management, implementation and training.
COINS Middle East has achieved double-digit growth in its second year of operation. Recent customer
wins include: Al Arabi Heavy Equipment Lease Company (AHEL), a significant player in the equipment
rental business; QDVC, a joint venture between Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company and Vinci
Construction; and Emrill, an award winning integrated facilities management provider in the United Arab
Emirates, one third owned by Carillion.
COINS has 21 full-time employees in Dubai, covering every aspect of the business from administration
and project management through to delivery and support.
Nigel Cope, a co-founder of COINS and Chief Executive Officer for Emerging Markets, heads up the Middle East operation. Nigel works
across teams, supporting and directing the staff.
As Chief Operating Officer of COINS Middle East, Paul Stewart-Smith is responsible for managing both the delivery and support teams
as well as engaging with all the COINS Middle East customers to ensure that they are getting the very best service possible. Paul is also
a member of COINS’ Global Product Development Committee and brings required Middle East functionality requests to this forum.
Business Development Director John Conmy looks after all sales and marketing activities. He directs and supports both the internal
sales team and any external suppliers for events and marketing. John also works closely with the delivery team on presale requirements and sales handover.
COINS Middle East is a great supporter of the Lighthouse Club, the construction industry charity that supports construction workers and their families in times of
hardship. They have sponsored various events together in both Dubai and Doha. COINS Middle East also sponsors the Construction Week Awards, which are held
each December.
nine
Market
trends
for Top 75
home
builders
The latest Housing Market Intelligence (HMI) Report, launched at this year’s
HMI Conference on 9 October 2013, states that the immediate outlook is bright
and that prospects have not been this good for a long time, even if the
improvement may only be temporary.
In 2012, the annual HMI report concluded that the industry has built a firm foundation for growth. For the
2013 report, builders reported that turnover, prices, production and profits were up. On this basis, home
builders and residential property developers look set to expand further and faster, albeit from a low base.
Buyer interest is up, house prices are rising faster and confidence in the housing market seems to have
strengthened. However, Help to Buy and low interest rates are time-limited. Moreover, a new government
in two years’ time could shift policy. Inflated house prices might be good in the short term, but they may
hinder the longer term healing of the market.
Across the board, the growth in turnover for the Top 75 was 14%, with the Top 25 showing most growth with
turnover nearer 15% and unit sales up by 13%. Operating profits in the Top 25 rose by more
than 40% with margins up an average of 2%, from of 8.6% to 10.6%.
It is also worth noting that the major
housebuilders say that a large proportion of the
recovery in new build prices has been due to a big
shift in the product mix, with firms building larger
homes on average. Flats now represent less than
one third of NHBC registrations. Production of social
housing has proved useful in maintaining output for
major home builders during the recessionary period
but the level has slipped back over the last couple of
years. This trend will probably continue as the demand
for open market home increases.
Figures also suggest that for home builders coming out
of recession, cost control has proved an extremely useful
weapon in improving margins. It has helped the majors in
holding costs down as a proportion of selling price, for
example with Persimmon at 59.2% in 2012 against 65.8% in
2009. Taylor Wimpey shows a similar pattern with its build
This is extracted from the 2013
HMI Report published by
costs put at 55.2% in the first half of 2013 against 60.9% in
the same half of 2010.
Housebuilder in association with
the House Building Federation.
Housing market data on factors constraining home builders show materials availability jumped as a
constraint in the second quarter, with 23% of respondents citing this as a concern as is the availability of
labour.
Recent trends see home builders acquiring more land and pulling more through their strategic landbanks.
This has seen the net landbank of permissioned plots rise by almost 3% in 2012. A rise of 20% in current
production would see landbanks return to the pre-recession level. Plot costs appear to be being held at 2025% of sale value.
It can be concluded that the data from the accounts shows home builders to be in a far stronger position
than they may have hoped for in the dark days of early 2009. However, not all firms have freed themselves
from recession. The market has favoured those in the south of England far more than elsewhere.
Unfortunately many of the props currently promoting growth are temporary. At some point the government
support will be withdrawn and interest rates and mortgage rates will rise. The questions now are when
and whether the industry will be sufficiently stable to accommodate the transition to a more normal market.
THE NEWSLETTER OF
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Construction Industry Solutions
COINS has revamped and reorganised its online supply
chain solutions. The new eBusiness division, headed up
by Barbara White, is responsible for a portfolio of
products serving the supply chain industry, including
COINS iPortal, e-Xact Online, COINS etc, COINS
eCatalogue, COINS PCards and COINS Probuild.
eBusiness plans for the future
Jane Wernick wins
First Women in
the Built
Environment
Award
COINS iPortal
COINS iPortal is an exciting new product from the
COINS eBusiness suite of solutions that is creating
quite a stir in the supply chain market.
It is a cloud-based, 24/7/365 selfregistration solution that helps
both
contractors
and
vendors (i.e., suppliers and
subcontractors) manage
some
of
the
major
processes involved in the
supply
chain,
whilst
ensuring compliance with
The brain behind the design of the Millennium
Wheel, Jane Wernick of Jane Wernick
Associates, won the First Women Award in the
Built Environment for 2013.
industry standards such as
PAS91.
The First Women Awards celebrates the achievements of
women across many industry sectors and seeks to
It provides management of prequalification questionnaire (PQQ) information collection (with
recognise female trailblazers. Jane picked up the award,
additional questionnaire design tools), performance assessments, 360° relationship
sponsored by COINS, at the ceremony in London on 12th
assessments, and supply chain collaboration.
June 2013 hosted by broadcaster Clare Balding.
It can accept data from other providers of subcontract/supplier approval solutions and it can
Jane is an innovator in the built environment profession and
also feed information directly into COINS ERP.
is renowned for coming up with inventive new ideas and
concepts. She was the first woman structural engineer to
COINS-etc & eCatalogue
be both an Associate and an Associate Director at Arup. She
Recent additions to COINS-etc’s eInvoicing solutions include: 1) attachments of invoices as
founded her own company in 1998, Jane Wernick
PDFs as well as supporting documentation for the e-invoice, for example timesheets, GRNs,
Associates (www.wernick.eu.com). She is also an
waste certificates, etc.; 2) PO Flip, creating the invoice from the PO; and 3) direct invoice entry
internationally renowned lecturer in structural engineering.
via manual input or Microsoft Excel® upload through the hub portal.
On winning the award, Jane said, “It was a great honour to
The COINS eCatalogue solution, in conjunction with our partner Science Warehouse, is
win this award. I am passionate about the contribution that
proving very popular in the Purchase to Pay community. It provides contractor benefits
engineers can make to the built environment. As the
through greater order accuracy and reduced processing costs when placing orders. The
founder of a small firm of structural engineers I felt very
electronic catalogue puts full, real-time product and pricing information at the buyer’s
proud to be part of such an amazing group of women, who
fingertips.
have been successful in such an extraordinary range of
business activities.”
e-Xact Online data services
e-Xact Online is the UK’s most comprehensive database for building materials, connecting
Five other candidates were shortlisted for the Built
manufacturers, distributors, builders merchants, specifiers and contractors.
Environment category: Pat Duggan, Balfour Beatty; Gill Riley,
GGR Group; Julie White, D-Drill Master Drillers; Sue Roaf,
Exciting plans for its online product data services will benefit all users. Over the next 12
Heriot-Watt University; and Barbara Jones, Straw Works.
months, e-Xact will introduce an improved user interface, better options for uploading and
updating data, expanded data feeds into merchant websites and trading partner systems,
For a complete list of the exceptional women honoured
and more automated checking of data quality. Better data on website activity will also be
with First Women Awards for 2013, please visit
available, so suppliers can review website hits and downloads of their product information.
http://fwa.realbusiness.co.uk/2013-winners.
eleven
COINS OA
10.27 &10.28
The most recent versions of COINS OA - 10.27 (released in May 2013) and 10.28 (December
2013) include many new and streamlined features. Here are some highlights; please visit the
Releases Notes section of the COINS website Client Area for detailed lists of enhancements
and corrections.
• Site Daily Timesheets - Crew/gang functionality.
• Update of hire rates for stock, assets and kits using a spreadsheet.
• Ability to record multiple Customer Care contacts (e.g., owners or tenants) over
• Site store stock locations allow the tracking of material on site by quantity and
time.
location.
• Document Management features new scanning client; also allows access to
documents throughout the plant hire lifecycle.
• New Commodity/Trade/Plant Codes Workbench.
• Workflows can be designed and viewed as a diagram.
• New scheduling features in Facilities Management allow real time scheduling,
showing updates from mobile apps as they occur, and advance planning of
vehicles and multiple operatives. Also, addition of new Facilities Maintenance
stock transfer workbench.
• Semantic layer for COINS reporting improves building of reports.
• Popup alerts provide information and warnings while allowing user to continue
working.
• Option to bulk-update house type specifications and cost heads.
• Support for the SEPA standard for electronic credit transfers in Euros.
• Streamlined batch processing with options to post (or print) within the batch,
from the batch summary.
• New VAT Workbench plus improvements to VAT configuration and processing
for HMRC.
• COINS OA pages use standards-compliant HTML and JavaScript, supports new
• Support for international banks.
features, offers choice of blue or grey style sheet.
• New cross-ledger statement of account for suppliers, subcontractors and
clients.
• Bill of Quantities procurement plans in Gantt chart format.
Progress 11
Upgrade required
• Detailed Land Appraisal cash flow calculated at any level.
• CVR workbench can show plot information in a matrix view.
• Plot forecasting for part exchange buy-in and sale-on and second charge
(shared equity) schemes.
After the December 2013
• Further support for UK Payroll Real Time Information.
release of COINS v10.28, the
• Production of Irish Payroll starter and leaver information files for upload to the
next planned release is v.11.01,
ROS website; inclusion of Local Property Tax.
currently scheduled for May
• A new interface integrates COINS with the CONCUR expenses system.
2014. This release will require
• Stock transactions can use catalogue and shortcut codes.
PROGRESS Open Edge 11.0.
• Enhanced Charge/Invoice Comparison Report.
• Web Catalogue allows contract and WBS to be specified as the basket is loaded.
In COINS, “favourites” are links you can use to open COINS functions quickly from any module
home page. Users set up and organise their own personal favourites, so each user will see a
different list on the home page. For example, a favourite could link to a frequently used function
or open a specific record. You can set up favourites for several different modules to save on
Hints and Tips:
Using COINS Favourites
changing modules to get to them. When you click on a favourite, it will open in a new window.
Adding a favourite
To add a favourite, display the screen that you want to link to – this can be a menu-level function
or a screen at a deeper level, such as the detail screen of a single job. Click the Add to Favourites
button
- one of the global shortcuts at the bottom of the screen. Enter a descriptive name
for the link. When linking to a deeper level screen, tick the Save Page Options box to save the
specific settings that were applied to the screen, like filter, sort order and tab selection. Click the
Forward button
to save the link.
Updating or deleting a favourite
Maintain your list of favourites using the Favourites tab, which is accessible via User Preferences
(click the
global shortcut) or by clicking the Maintenance
button in the Favourites
section of the home page. You can open the record to change the description or specify that the
shortcut should only appear on the home page for a specific module. To delete a favourite, tick
the box next to the record and click the delete button
. Deletion is permanent and cannot
be undone.
THE NEWSLETTER OF
twelve
Construction Industry Solutions
Steve Jones was recently appointed Global Product Director for COINS. Here he talks about his new role and his chief priorities
for the future of the COINS product.
Q. How long have you been with COINS?
A. I’ve worked within COINS for over 14 years, first as a Project Manager, then heading up the Implementation Team and latterly overseas
assisting the US office with COINS OA implementation. Since I moved into the IT industry from the construction industry, I have been passionate
about understanding the products I deliver to clients. I therefore invested time being very hands on with the software and know the COINS
product pretty well.
Meet
Steve
Jones
Q&A with
our new
Global Product
Director
Q. Is this a new role within COINS?
A. Yes it is. I was asked by the Governance Team to use my extensive knowledge of COINS to help bring together a global product direction,
which resulted in this new role being created. The purpose is to develop and maintain the company’s product strategy for the core COINS
products, as well as ensuring the delivery of a product development plan on a global basis.
Q. How will you operate on a global basis?
A. I will work closely with the Regional Product Directors (RPDs) to ensure that the product strategy and portfolio meets the requirements of
their existing customers and market. Together with the RPDs I will prioritise development and then approve the product roadmap and content.
This will provide the platform to determine what and how to innovate. I will also work together with the R&D, Sales, Delivery, and Support
teams to make sure that the COINS product is a success in every aspect.
Q. What will you bringing to your new role?
A. I bring extensive knowledge of the COINS product and experience with its implementation to our clients across the globe. More importantly,
having spent time looking at COINS from the user perspective, I can now empathise with their day-to-day challenges.
Q. What will be your priorities in terms of product development?
A. Well, it’s a very exciting time for COINS. Going forward there will be much more emphasis on user experience - we are currently working
on a whole new way of presenting COINS to the users to make their experience easier and more enjoyable. For instance, we have already
started pushing data to the user, akin to how social media is delivered, and incorporating notification icons into COINS to alert the users to the
completion of specific tasks. And in release 10.28 we move our web interface into “standards mode” to provide compatibility across browsers.
Q. Is there a plan for a global development of mobile products?
A. There is a huge opportunity with mobile technology for capturing data early and therefore helping clients get more value out of their COINS
system. Opportunities will intensify as construction site connectivity increases. We are also working on how we deliver the COINS experience
on an iPad and other tablets or mobile devices. For instance, this could provide senior managers with more convenient access to workflow
tasks.
Q. What do you do to relax?
A. As I enjoy a challenge, I’ve recently been renovating a semi-derelict 17th century thatched cottage in Devon. I’m a qualified carpenter, so
I’ve been putting the old skills to use, although I’m a little rusty. I’m also passionate about sailing, so in the warmer months I enjoy sailing up
and down the south-west coastline as well as occasionally taking part in races and regattas.
thirteen
New faces at COINS
Jose Garcia Ben
Dhruv Bhagat
Usman Ramzan
Tony Starr
Scott Vaughan
The COINS team in the UK continues to grow, with changes to the Application Support, Delivery and Consultancy Teams.
Jose Garcia Ben returned to COINS in November as a Senior Application Support Analyst, a role he held with COINS from 2003 to 2012 before joining SITA UK as
a Business Applications Support Consultant. Jose’s vast COINS knowledge will be used in the areas of Financials and Procurement. He will also be working as
a mentor to Junior Analysts in the team.
Dhruv Bhagat has been working with the Application Support Team since July as a Trainee Application Consultant, to strengthen and broaden his experience
before he moves to the Contracting & FM team as a Financial Consultant next year. His previous role was with the Rank Group as a Financial Assistant. Prior to
that, he had extensive experience with both COINSplus and COINS OA as an Account Payable Supervisor with Lend Lease.
Usman Ramzan joined COINS in August as an Application Support Analyst, specialising in Financials. His experience lies in the area of Accounting and Finance,
with previous roles as an Administration Manager with Matalan and Trainee Accountant at Bracknell Forest Homes, a not-for-profit housing association.
Tony Starr also joined COINS in August, working as an Application Consultant in the House Builders Consultancy Team. An ERP specialist with over 20 years
professional experience, Tony has worked in COINS-related roles for some of our largest clients, including Balfour Beatty, Taylor Wimpey and Morgan Sindall.
Prior to his work within the construction industry, Tony spent 20 years in the Armed Forces fulfilling various management roles in HR and Finance.
Scott Vaughan, currently an Application Consultant with Support team, is gradually transitioning over to the Delivery team between now and the end of the year.
Scott joined the Application Support Team in June 2012. Prior to that, he worked for several years as a Business Analyst with Crest Nicholson plc and earlier at
“K” Line Europe.
Introducing...
Bob Childs
Larry O’Brien
Client Relationship Director
Business Development Director
Bob Childs works with the Account
Management Team to develop and maintain
relationships with COINS clients, ensuring
that our products and services are
appropriately promoted and that clients’
current and future needs are met.
Larry O’Brien leads the COINS UK sales team,
focussing on sales activities that support COINS’
preferred model of working in partnership with
clients as a full service provider.
Bob has many years of
experience working for vertical
market software companies,
operating in the construction
industry and retail. He spent
the last six years as CEO for a
software company based in
South Africa.
Larry has a background in both software
solution sales and solution delivery. He was
originally a consultant and then
project manager for ERP solutions
before moving into sales. Larry
has worked for both systems
integrators and ERP providers
and spent the last six years as
Sales Director for a facilities
management software author.
THE NEWSLETTER OF
fourteen
Construction Industry Solutions
More than a quarter of the world’s
population lives without access to
electricity. In rural parts of sub-Saharan
Africa this rises to more than 90% of
households, according to World Bank. Rural
poor families that live on less than $1 per
day must rely on expensive, hazardous and
polluting fuel-based sources of energy for
lighting and cooking.
Coast to Coast
for the
COINS Foundation
At the finish
C2C4CF
Solar initiative to power schools
Congratulations to all who took part in the Coast
to Coast 2013, including teams from VINCI,
Osborne and COINS. This cycling challenge ran
over three days, from 18th to 20th October.
Participants cycled a total of 130 miles from
The COINS Foundation solar energy initiative, in
West to East, from Workington across England
partnership with NanoFab Tools, seeks to provide
to Tynemouth.
PEAS schools in Uganda with an off-grid solution to
electricity and make solar solutions sustainable. The
COINS Foundation has supported PEAS in building its
sustainable network of secondary schools in Uganda
Roy Kruger from VINCI commented “Everyone
pushed themselves to the limit, so at some point
even the fittest people struggled.”
and Zambia over the last six years and will continue to
support the growing network via off-grid solar
installations, starting with Ngora Secondary School in
Uganda.
This challenge has raised almost £3,500 for
COINS Foundation. If you would like to donate,
please visit
http://www.justgiving.com/COINSFoundation.
Solar energy is a renewable clean energy source which
works by converting sunlight into electricity for a
multitude of applications, not just lighting. Off-grid
solar installations offer excellent opportunities for
development, since they can bring electricity wherever
the sun shines, backed-up by storage batteries for use
after dark. The greater access to electricity is expected
to lead to the growth of business opportunities and
employment, since local shops and companies will be able to stay open longer. It will also enable
improved communications by powering radios, televisions and computers.
NanoFab Tools will provide the technical expertise initially, with the long-term goal of transferring
the majority of work to a Ugandan solar installation company. NanoFab Tools will act also as an
accelerator of learning, developing and delivering lesson plans for PEAS schools and possibly a
university lecture series as well.
Paul Holmes and Matt Bell from Osborne
For PEAS schools, the solar energy project would run as an Income
Generating Activity (IGA), much like the poultry projects and school
farms already in existence at some PEAS schools. The benefits of solar
energy as a sustainable, renewable energy source for the PEAS
network extend beyond financial savings. As a learning and education
tool, the solar installations will give students and local communities a
unique, hands-on opportunity to learn about energy conversion, energy
efficiency and the electrical consumption of different appliances.
Additionally, solar energy brings about health benefits – as well as making
the schools safer for students.
Visit www.coinsfoundation.org to watch Susan Opok, Managing
Roy Kruger (VINCI) & Tim Allen (COINS)
Director of PEAS Uganda, talking to COINS Foundation about
social enterprise, high quality education, and partnering with
COINS to roll out solar energy across their Ugandan schools.
fifteen
COINS supports inclusive child development centre
November saw the opening of the first Widad Inclusion Initiative’s facility in Dubai, the Widad Center, an accredited, alternative
learning and vocational programme supported by COINS Middle East and the COINS Foundation, which has the
objective of achieving charitable status and self-sustainability by 2015.
Widad is a female Arabic name encompassing love, family, relationships and affection. The Widad
Inclusion Initiative is a collaboration of ideas between co-founders Jasmine Swiel and Nicole Fiorentino.
The Widad Center aims to provide an affordable, quality, inclusive, community, pre-vocational and
vocational learning and working environment for children of all abilities, including those with special needs.
This method of inclusion ensures that all children and their parents gain a greater understanding of the issues
A spo
to
Paul S f gardenin
g
tewa
rt-Sm for
ith
surrounding special needs and, in doing so, encourages a more inclusive and supportive society.
COINS Middle East became involved when COINS Global Group Chairman, Larry Sullivan and Nigel Cope, CEO
e
itiativ
ion In e Swiel
s
lu
c
in
d In
Wida nders Jasm entino
r
u
co-fo Nicole Fio
and
Emerging Markets, met Nicole during Larry's first lecture tour of the UAE where he talked about the work COINS
Foundation was doing in inclusive education in the UK and the establishment of Cookie Bars as a social enterprise.
Nicole was looking to create her own education initiative and wanted to have a Cookie Bar as part of the programme.
The Widad Center will initially take children from early years through to Grade 5 and can accommodate up to
120 children in class sizes of 10 or less. Children will also participate in running the on-site Cookie Bar when
it opens early next year.
Nigel Cope said, “COINS Middle East was actively engaged in developing the business plan for the
he
g on t
orkin nd
w
e
p
u
ro
Co
Nigel door playg
in
Widad Inclusion Initiative and supported Nicole, Jasmine and their team in gaining a licence from
the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA). We also helped in the negotiations for the property and the
Well s
om
Well d eone’s got
to
one W
endy do it!
Wu
provision of furniture. We were also delighted to introduce Walid Al Hashimi, CEO of Sharjah Holding (COINS’ first local
customer in the UAE back in 2009) to Nicole and Jasmine; he has since become the Widad Inclusion Initiative’s leading local sponsor.”
COINS Middle staff was also keen to help. Many rolled up their sleeves to help renovate and clean the building, assemble furniture and help Jasmine’s
husband Justin and other parents to construct the indoor playground.
Funding
COINS Middle East and the COINS Foundation provided start-up funds for the Widad Center,
supplemented by other donations and tuition fees from parents. The long-term aim is to establish the
Widad Inclusion Initiative as a registered charity in the UAE, which will require the support of additional
local Emirati sponsors.
As a social enterprise, the Cookie Bar at the Widad Center will provide vocational training for students
while helping the Widad Center become financially independent. As is the case in the UK, COINS Middle
East will encourage local companies to sign up for regular cookie orders – there is already plenty of
In early 2014, COINS will roll out a new, cloud-based system to underpin its client support and services.
The existing HEAT system will be replaced by Remedyforce during the last week of February. Watch your
mail and email for more details, including training dates and how to register.
sixteen
Construction Industry Solutions Ltd,
COINS Building, 11 St Laurence Way, Slough, Berkshire SL1 2EA
T +44 1753 501000 E info@coins-global.com
Designed and produced by
interest from COINS clients in the region.