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Review

From CAD User AEC Magazine  Vol 22 No 9 - SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

A Document Management system, designed for Architects, that’s simple yet effective!

Are Document Management systems too top-heavy for architects? Do they attempt to do too much - most of which isn’t needed except by project managers? The smaller contractor or individual architectural practices don't need the expensive, all encompassing solutions that are out there. They just need something that will enable them to share drawings with their colleagues in a more controlled way.

One of the probable reasons was explained to me by Bob Leung of Woobius, who spoke of a major Government contract he worked on that had around 30,000 drawings to contend with. It needed a powerful system to manage such a quantity - but users had a love-hate relationship with the software they were using. The feeling was that it was specifically designed for the contractor, but was overly complicated and involved multiple procedures to download files.

Bob felt that it did not reflect the needs of the architect. It wasn't until he joined Make Architects, though, that he was able to act on his misgivings - and with their assistance, and the help of Daniel Tenner, set about developing a DM system purely for architects and smaller construction companies - Woobius!

How did they settle on a name like Woobius? Well, it was felt that the endless loop of the Mobius strip had certain affinities with the software they set out to develop. They started out with a very simple solution - which proved to be popular outside the company as well, thanks to word of mouth and viral marketing!

BOTTOM UP

Woobius is an easy-to-use, web-based DM solution, based on the ubiquitous email system. Architects register with Woobius online, set up their first project, and then invite whoever they want on to the system, so that they can start passing them documents.

To encourage its use, the first 200Mb of project space is free. After that, a nominal fee is paid per month for each Gigabyte used. The beauty of this is that architects who do a lot of free work prior to being awarded projects do not have to buy into expensive systems to share their work. Woobius is actually more about sharing information than recording it, which is often the focus of larger document management systems. It concentrates on usability, rather than functionality. That’s not to say that it lacks the tools that architects needs - rather it achieves simplicity by being anything but simple. Woobius automates the documents that architects, and contractors, send back and forwards to each other.

There is no hierarchy of access. That's not an issue - collaboration is built on trust. When a project is on the system, any member of a project can view all documents. If privacy is an issue between the architect and the customer or supplier, relevant documents can be sent direct. Revision levels are handled, though - which is an absolute necessity. Every time a file is issued with a similar file name to one on the system, the name is recognised and the revision level is automatically upgraded - populating the index. Once a drawing has been placed on Woobius, all members can be informed by email - or not! Once informed, project members can pick up drawings, locating them on the browser with any associated documents, and download them.

THIS IS A HISTORY TREE!

We talk about trust, which in large part is down to the fact that everybody knows that everything they do in Woobius is recorded. Each activity is available for recall at the click of the History button. You don't need sign-offs, approvals and so on, as once a drawing has been uploaded there is no way you can say you haven't received it! If an architect has made a mistake the evidence is there for all to see - including contractors, who have the evidence to prove legal liability if they need it! This does appear to mirror the way architects prefer to work, as evidenced by the number of companies that are currently checking Woobius out. They don't have to learn new systems and can continue to work the way they always have done - but in a more automated fashion. And they have access to a dashboard on the screen that keeps them up to date with everything that’s happening to their documents.

The future? Woobius is still looking at the way architects prefer to work. They know that they need to be able to look at multiple documents simultaneously. Moern graphic tools, already available, show walls of images, allowing you to zoom in and focus on any one. Substitute drawings, and the architect can build a virtual slice in his head of a building. That's the way to find problems that lay hidden over multiple pages. Simple but effective. www.woobius.com

Review

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