Imagine if you were told that a new software platform could save you 40% of the time you currently spend on administrative tasks at work. What could you do with the extra time? That's the intriguing question that many within the US Army Corps of Engineers may ask themselves when a new construction management platform is released to the company.
The Technology Management Office, or TMO, a branch of the Construction Management Innovation Office within USACE Headquarters, is working hard to develop and deliver a new platform for construction management. The new platform will be designed to promote a more efficient, collaborative work environment by streamlining and modernizing current construction management processes.
The new construction management platform will replace the Resident Management System, or RMS for short, which is the platform currently used by USACE and its contractor partners. RMS is the program through which USACE and contractor partners communicate with each other during the course of a construction project.
By replacing RMS with a new, more modern platform, TMO hopes to streamline how USACE projects are completed by improving collaboration between the entire project team including external partners. This, in turn, would improve workflow efficiency related to the entire construction management process.
“To me, one of the really cool parts of this project is that it's not just going to be innovating the things we deliver, but the process by which we deliver projects,” said Alexandra Henderson Connors, construction management technology modernization manager, who works out of Kansas City District in Kansas City, Missouri.
A relatively new branch of the Construction Management Innovation Office, TMO is still in the early stages of design and development for the new construction management platform. The replacement platform has an estimated release date to the USACE enterprise in 2025. The work done by the Kansas City District TMO will have long-lasting benefits for the entire enterprise and our mission.
But replacing RMS is only the tip of the iceberg for TMO. The team will continue to lead projects and oversee initiatives focused on increasing construction quality and efficiency.
“The platform is really the ground level that allows us to bring in all these other innovations … it's the first step to being able to continue to innovate … and then we can start doing all these other really cool things,” Henderson Connors said.
Long-term, the Construction Management Innovation Office and TMO have a plan to continue to innovate by focusing on construction management technology, research and development. Innovating now and into the future, USACE aims to remain competitive with the private construction industry.
TMO hopes its innovations will strengthen USACE partnerships across the country and around the world, maintaining its reputation as a trusted federal partner. Focusing on the intersection of people, process and technology, modernizing the process by which USACE accomplishes its mission will serve to strengthen current partnerships and build new, lasting partnerships in the future.
“These systems will showcase USACE's commitment to keeping pace with technology that works for project delivery personnel, not against them,” said Darrick Godfrey, senior construction engineer at USACE Headquarters.
While the prospect of strengthening and establishing new external partnerships is an added bonus, USACE management recognizes that improving construction management processes is critical to the mission and hopes its dedication to industry expertise will attract new talent and retain existing talent.
“If we are open to new ideas, exploring ways to find new processes and technologies that will improve tried and true USACE processes … there is no limit to where our digital transformation journey will lead,” Godfrey said, ” and we might just have fun doing it.”
For more information about a career with TMO or USACE, visit Careers and Employment with the Kansas City District (army.mil).
