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Project Information Management (PIM) is critical for the successful delivery of architectural sign projects, and there is a lot of project information to manage: sign message schedules, sign location plans, sign type specifications, construction documents, conceptual drawings, client communications, etc.The biggest problems with architectural sign projects generally tend to be with product quality and information management. While much attention is paid by sign companies towards addressing the product quality issues, too often PIM is not given the attention it merits. Part of the reason for this is that until now any solution to the PIM problem has been unavailable or too costly. Identia Online is the first purpose-built cost-effective PIM tool for architectural sign projects.In order to grow your company effectively, correct and efficient PIM will be more important than ever. You cannot afford to have projects slowed or derailed by the inability to manage the important details of each sign. A robust, easy to use, and globally accessible information platform will be necessary in order to accomplish your business growth goals.
Identia Online is a great tool to help with take-offs and estimating. Instead of using paper plans and a highlighter, create a project in Identia Online, load the location plans, and start placing markers!Use the "Add Marker" button to place markers on the plans. Create one or more sign types to organize the markers. If you wish, add sign messages based on information from the plan. When you are finished, print out the sign schedule PDF and use the summary page to get a count for each sign type. Later, you can flesh out the details of the sign schedule, or export the data as an Excel file.
Sign projects rarely fail because of poor type kerning, but I know from hard experience that they routinely self-destruct as a result of poor documentation and ineffective communication. At the heart of an effective signage documentation package is the Sign Message Schedule. Here are 5 pitfalls to avoid when compiling your sign schedule.1. Too much or too little data. You want to be like Goldilocks here and get it "just right". Some sign schedules don’t contain enough information to be useful, while others contain far too much. The sign schedule is part of a package of information that also includes sign location plans, sign type specifications, and drawings. Use the various components of the package to your benefit. Unique sign type identifiers can act as a reference between sign specifications and the sign schedule, and unique sign numbers link between the sign schedule and the sign location plan. In this way all the pieces of documentation work together, and you can avoid cramming sign type specifications onto the sign schedule, or displaying the entire sign message on your location plan. Too much data on any given piece of the documentation generally results in confusion, not clarity. Conversely, too little information in your sign schedule does a disservice to the fabricator, installer, and most importantly, the client. At a minimum, an effective sign schedule should contain:- Sign Number: differentiates individual signs and can be used to identify specific installation locations.
- Sign Type designation: references the constructions specifications for each individual sign.
- Quantity: defines the quantity for identical signs.
- Sign Message section: contains the actual text, and other graphic content that is to appear on each individual sign.
- Notes section: provides special instructions or information that pertains to an individual sign.
Sign message schedules for complex and large projects can also incorporate additional types of information such as level designations, building names, or project phase indicators. This additional data can be helpful in managing large sign message schedules.2. Inaccurate data. This is pretty obvious, but if you want accurately fabricated signs, you need an accurate sign schedule. Reminds me of a conversation that I had with a sign buyer and a sign product manufacturer about the importance of accurate sign schedules. The sign buyer said, "What’s the big deal? You know what we want. So what if not every ‘i’ is dotted and not every ‘t’ is crossed?". The sign product manufacturer responded, "That’s fine, as long as you don’t mind if the signs we fabricate are missing some dotted i’s and crossed t’s." The point is that ultimately the quality of your sign schedule has a direct effect on the quality of the fabricated product. Leaving it up to the fabricator to figure things out will lead to errors, changes, and lost time and money. Save everyone headaches and provide an accurate sign schedule.3. Inconsistency. This is related to the accuracy issue I just discussed. All sign projects have stakeholders that must be informed and engaged. This requires that the sign schedule be available in a form that is easily read and reviewed. This review can be aided by displaying your messages in a consistent way and adopting standard conventions. For example, present the sign messages so that they are capitalized, punctuated, and formatted, as closely as is practical, to their appearance on the actual sign. In the case of multi-column signs this is not always possible, but let that be the exception to a well-followed rule. Also, be consistent in the presentation of non-text sign messages. For example, if you need to indicate the presence of a graphic symbol, and you choose to do this by putting a descriptive phrase such as "Male Toilet Symbol" with brackets or parenthesis, [Male Toilet Symbol], then follow that format consistently throughout your sign schedule.4. Inflexible format. Death, taxes, and changing sign schedules — all certainties. Trying to create sign schedules in a word processing program is a recipe for disaster. At the very least, create your sign schedule in a spreadsheet program where you can easily sort and rearrange your data. Better yet, use a database or a purpose-built program like Identia Online to manage your sign schedule, and make changes faster and easier. 5. No linkage to sign location plan. The big disadvantage to creating your sign schedule in a spreadsheet or database, and then doing a sign location plan in a drawing program, is that the two pieces of documentation are not linked together. A change, or addition, in one often needs to be reflected in the other. On large projects this can lead to a lot of time wasted spent checking and rechecking sign schedules and location markers. How often have you asked yourself "Am I sure that every sign on my sign schedule is reflected on my location plans, and am I certain that every marker on my plans corresponds to an entry on my sign schedule?" Using a single software tool — such as Identia Online — to create both your sign schedule and sign location plan saves time and headaches.
In the current issue of "Sign & Digital Graphics", John Bosio (associate principal at architecture firm RMJM and director of MERJE, the firm's EGD practice) writes about how to create a donor recognition program. Identia Online can be a valuable tool for managing donor recognition programs, as there is lots of vital information to track and organize (names, corporate identities, class years, etc.). Also, this information often requires many levels of detailed review. Using Identia Online's project information management features makes this process easier and alleviates many of the issues related with donor recognition programs.
Click here to read the article.
At a recent job meeting, I had to report to the contractor’s site trailer for a final review of the sign schedule and sign location plans for a very large high school. It was daunting to contemplate flipping back and forth through 22 location plans and a 90 page sign schedule to find the scattered signs in question. Then I thought of taking just a laptop so I could review all of the documents at the meeting using Identia Online. A quick call to the contractor to confirm that they had Wi-Fi in the trailer and I was all set. I decided to take a colleague with me - the person who had actually created the sign schedule. Being knowledgeable about the plans and the sign types, she could quickly scroll thru to the location in question, while I did the talking. She zoomed in on the plan so that it was large enough for everyone to see on the screen. Location markers were moved around, some signs were deleted, and some text was revised – right there at the meeting. The fire marshal wanted stand pipe ID signs to be added and the architect could look over our shoulders and show us exactly where to place the markers on the plan. It went incredibly fast, and it was great to arrive at the meeting with just a slender laptop case, not burdened with armloads of binders and rolls of drawings. At the end, the senior project manager complimented us on how organized our presentation was.
Last weekend we released three exciting new and improved features in Identia Online. These new features include a redesigned set of filters for the Project List, a Copy Rows feature in the sign schedule, and improved tools for doing take-offs and project programming.For more info on these features, please see the release announcement.
"What about backups?"This is a question that is often asked when we are conducting demos of Identia Online. Sometimes there is some confusion between "backups" and "versioning". The short answer is that Identia Online conducts backups but has no versioning.We back up our database nightly to another server as part of our disaster recovery program. In addition, any newly uploaded files (plans, My Storage files, etc.) are backed up to a third server. Therefore, if there is a critical server malfunction with our primary application server that requires recovery, we can restore the entire system back to the previous day’s data backup. These backups are really intended to protect your data in the event of catastrophe. We do not systematically do any account level backups — or versioning — for individual subscribers. In terms of your data, what you see on the site is what you get. This means that you cannot revert back to a version of your project’s data from the previous night.This versioning is very complicated to do technically in a database application such as Identia Online. It’s also why Identia Online does not have an Undo features. Both of these features are nearly impossible to implement in an online database-driven system. However, the advantage an online system is that your data is always up to date and current. You don’t have to worry about what version of the data you are looking at. Versions can sometimes be a blessing and a curse.One of the things that we are exploring is giving subscribers the ability to backup their data to their own servers and systems. This would provide any additional level of protection knowing that your data was backed up on your own system as well as ours. We will update you on any developments as we explore this area more thoroughly.Finally, we realize that unintentional mistakes do happen with software. If you do find that you have mistakenly deleted an entire project, or committed an equally significant mistake with your data, please do not hesitate to contact us immediately. We may be able to recover and salvage your data.
Some time ago I was challenged by the blunt-spoken CEO of a company with whom I was negotiating a strategic partnership to answer a simple question:
He asked: What do we need you for?
The question was confrontational and provocative. It nagged at me during my flight back to Boston and forced me to figure out what our company had that was of real value in the marketplace. In a surprisingly short time I concluded that the most valuable asset we possess is a clear understanding of the process by which architectural sign programs are designed and implemented. A review of this process reveals a characteristic common to all sign programs: multiple stakeholders have a need to create, share, and review loads of information. Stakeholders include building owners, sign companies, architects, designers, general contractors, and product manufacturers. The information includes drawings, sign messages schedules, location plans, specifications, and so on. It was pretty easy to jump from a need to share information to the concept of a website that would facilitate and organize the storage and exchange of that information.
The moral of this little story is not about insight or creativity. It is about the importance of listening carefully to questions, even when they are a little hostile. It is also about trying hard to answer questions honestly. Reflecting back, I have wondered why the concept did not occur to me years ago. I am sure that without the question, Identia Online would not exist today.
Project Information Management (PIM) is critical for the successful delivery of architectural sign projects, and there is a lot of project information to manage: sign message schedules, sign location plans, sign type specifications, construction documents, conceptual drawings, client communications, etc.
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