The aim is to slash the £1m a year that Sainsbury's designers spend on printing artwork and distributing it by post or courier.
JS Data Stream, as the system will be called, will go live on 1 August. Although it will not be compulsory, Jim Woolcott, senior project manager for Sainsbury's, says that its consultants will be "encouraged" to use it. One form this encouragement will take will be apparent in September: Woolcott will be visiting them to discuss fee reductions.
Internet development
Using the Internet as a distribution tool is nothing new. Collaborative working on the web has been used on one-off projects for some time. The difference with JS Data Stream is that the client is pushing the system – and that those not using it will be gradually priced out of the market.
JS Data Stream was developed in conjunction with IT consultant Visual Technology. A limited-access site on the Internet will store all the drawings. Consultants will be given a password that will enable them to access relevant information, and to amend drawings.
The system also registers when a drawing is sent and when it is read. It is then easy to monitor who has seen what information. George Stevenson, chairman of Visual Technology, explains: "When a drawing has been issued, it is shown on the system. This puts pressure on designers to do it on time. On the other hand, designers get cheesed off when they issue drawings that aren't looked at."
Woolcott adds hastily: "This isn't a Big Brother tool – it's there to be used."
Apart from monitoring who has seen what drawing and reducing postage and printing, JS Data Stream will hold project data after the building is completed. The designs can then be modified and re-used on other projects. "We redesign from a blank piece of paper now," says Woolcott. "But if you can take data from one job to the next, that's a real benefit."
JS Data Stream has been piloted on a Sainsbury's store at Bourne in Lincolnshire, designed by Sheffield-based architect Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson. HCD partner David Peel describes the initiative as "brilliant". For him, one of the greatest benefits was the ability to distribute drawings around the design team without having to rely on the post or couriers.
Another enthusiastic advocate is Nick Fresson, IT manager with construction manager Schal. The firm is working on two other Sainsbury's projects where JS Data Stream is being piloted: at Richmond in London and Castlevale in Birmingham. Schal used a similar system at Gatwick Airport where it was one of BAA's framework contractors.
Fresson likes the scheme for its potential savings and ease of use. "We've even demonstrated the system using a laptop and a mobile phone. It isn't recommended with a mobile phone," he adds, "but you can do it in an emergency."
Easy access
Technically, the system is simple. All you need is Internet access, an ISDN line and the relevant software. But not all firms are technologically up-to-date, and initial investment can be substantial. Peel says that Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson had to spend £18 000 to get up and running on the Sainsbury's system. It paid £6500 getting the whole practice hooked up to the Internet, and bought several AutoCAD 14 licences at £3500 each. The rest went on installing the ISDN line and training.
However, Peel points out that most of these costs, such as connecting to the Internet, are one-off set-up charges. "For a practice that already has Internet access, that won't be a problem," he says. "And for the next projects, that cost isn't there."
Woolcott says the system is not compulsory, but Sainsbury's' partnered consultants will be hit with fee reductions whether they use it or not. These fee reductions will initially affect partnered design consultants, construction managers and contractors, then Woolcott will look at subcontractors and suppliers. But he adds that the extent of the fee reductions will depend on the size of the job and the number of drawings involved.
Peel and other design consultants are resigned to the reductions. Many see it as part of a trend that has been happening for some time. Peel says: "It will focus our attention on making sure we do the job efficiently and do the job we are paid to do. There will be savings and in nine months to a year, we will have a better feel for how it is working."
The fee issue aside, Sainsbury's is committed to developing JS Data Stream beyond being just a means of sending drawings around the design partners. In conjunction with Visual Technology, it wants to take advantage of object technology so that projects can be modelled in 3D on the Internet. The two firms are working with the International Alliance for Interoperability to see how this can be developed. There are also plans to set up a video facility so that real-time images of the site in progress can be accessed on the system.
Popular system
Sainsbury's is not the only major client investigating the potential cost benefits of using IT. Marks & Spencer's store development group's CAD manager, Paul Clark, is about to prepare a business case for a project-based strategy similar to JS Data Stream. Clark expects to find 10-15% cost savings on postage and printing and to knock time off the overall contract by running such a system. "The incentive to use IT to full efficiency is there," he insists.
Consultants at the Sainsbury's briefing meeting on JD Data Stream aired concerns about how to upload drawings and that unauthorised users should not be able to tamper with the system. No one questioned the fee reductions.
Woolcott asked them to spread the word about JS Data Stream. "We are not trying to screw you into the ground. We want to make you more profitable. I am hoping the gentlemen here will suggest to other clients that you are considering working this way, because we can't do it alone. Other clients have to come on board."
