Knowledge management software portal

Union Square Software's 'Workspace' system provides a central knowledge base enabling 650 users to capture, store and retrieve project information in 'real-time'.

Fitzpatrick, one of the UK's leading multi-disciplinary contractors with a turnover exceeding GBP400 m, is implementing a new web-based information-sharing portal from specialist construction software author, Union Square Software.

The contract is valued in the region of GBP270,000 and Workspace will be rolled out across Fitzpatrick's four main divisions - Building, Civil Engineering, Highway Services and Rail - allowing a total of 650 users to integrate their working practices and share project and contact information in 'real-time'.

Founded in 1921, Fitzpatrick now successfully operates in a wide range of sectors, illustrating its standing within the construction industry.

The company won the 500+ staff category in the Best Place to Work in Construction Awards 2007.

In wanting to implement this success into every aspect of its organisation, Fitzpatrick desired a technology system that would reflect good internal processes, by storing all information in a single central repository and allowing all divisions within the company to access it.

The improvement in knowledge and information management is a key component in delivering greater value to their customers.

Chief Technology Officer of Fitzpatrick, Melanie Nurse, comments on current working methods, saying, "At present each of our divisions have evolved to meet the needs of their customers, storing and saving documents differently to one another".

"This may work well for each division, but it can make it difficult to track down documents that may only be available to part of the business or an individual".

Melanie Nurse continues, "We needed a system that could join the business together and make data more widely available".

"Union Square's software, Workspace, is designed with the construction industry in mind and as such, we have the capability of moulding the software to our systems and the way we want to work".

"Our confidence in the system and Union Square has been further strengthened by visiting existing users and seeing for ourselves the full capabilities of Workspace".

Melanie Nurse continues, "We like the way that Workspace enables organisations to quickly adopt and deploy the system".

"Implementation is currently in progress; we know that the full effects of the solution will not be instant but we are extremely confident that over the next few months it will grow into a fully integrated electronic document management system and corporate database".

"Our vision is for it to be flexible and easy to use, helping us to save time and money across many areas of the organisation, and adding value to our projects".

Melanie concludes, "We have an excellent working relationship with the team at Union Square".

"They are knowledgeable, and have a very good understanding of the construction sector".

"Workspace will meet the current and future needs of our business, and our customers".

"Workspace is designed specifically for construction companies and, for us, it is the best product on the market in terms of price, functionality and ease of use.".

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