Construction and engineering projects involve multiple teams reviewing and approving plans at different stages. One organization faced delays, inefficiencies, and confusion due to a reliance on casual email exchanges for plan reviews and approvals. With no clear system to track comments, revisions, or sign offs, plans often stalled, creating costly delays.

To address this, XPERTECHS developed an automation solution that transformed the review process, making it easier to submit, track, and approve plans while providing flexibility for future improvements.

The Problem

Engineers would submit project plans through scattered email chains, making it difficult to track progress, approvals, and revisions. The lack of structure led to confusion, delays, and frustration for both engineers and reviewers. Key issues included:

• Multiple email chains for a single plan, leading to lost or missed comments.
• A lack of visibility into the status of reviews, especially when different groups were involved.
• Bottlenecks caused by delays in reviewers responding or providing feedback.
• Difficulty tracking which revisions had been made and approved.

The Solution

XPERTECHS created an internal app to serve as a centralized platform for managing the plan review process. Key features of the app include:

Plan Submission Form: Engineers submit project plans through a structured form, including details about the project, the project manager, and supporting documents like PDFs.

Admin Queue View: Administrators and reviewers now see all submitted projects in a clean, organized interface, complete with file locations, comments, and statuses.

Review Management: Reviewers can track assigned plans, approve or deny submissions, and leave detailed comments—all within the app.

Feedback Log: A consolidated comment log stores all feedback in one place, eliminating the confusion of scattered email threads.

Automated Notifications: When a review is complete, the system automatically notifies the submitting engineer with a summary of approvals, rejections, and comments, keeping everything clear and actionable.

Key Outcomes

Centralized Management

With everything in one place, email clutter has been eliminated, making project management more efficient. Reviewers can see the project’s progress, comments from other groups, and relevant files in one location.

Faster Turnaround

By removing bottlenecks and automating notifications, the time to complete plan reviews has significantly improved. Reviewers can focus on their tasks without worrying about lost files or unclear processes.

Improved Communication and Transparency

The consolidated comment log and status tracking ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page. Engineers receive timely, clear feedback on their submissions, reducing frustration and errors.

Scalable and Adaptable

The app’s design can accommodate additional workflows or review groups, making it scalable for future needs.

Applying Automation to Other Industries

Challenges like scattered data, inefficient approvals, and lack of visibility aren’t unique to construction and engineering. Similar automation solutions can address inefficiencies in other industries. Here are some potential applications:

Accounting and Financial Services firms can automate review processes for financial reports or audit documentation, ensuring compliance and reducing delays. Dashboards can track status and approval history, making oversight easier.

Law firms can streamline legal document review, contract approvals, and compliance checks with automated workflows, reducing errors and ensuring faster turnaround times.

Healthcare organizations can improve internal review processes for medical compliance documents or new procedures, ensuring all necessary approvals are obtained without delays.

Manufacturing companies can use automation to manage engineering change orders (ECOs) or product quality reviews, centralizing documentation and tracking approvals across teams.

Nonprofits and associations can streamline grant review processes by consolidating feedback, tracking progress, and reducing delays in approvals.

Government contractors can improve the review and approval of project bids or compliance documents by centralizing communication, maintaining audit trails, and ensuring faster decision-making.

Faster Approvals and Greater Efficiency with Automation

By automating the plan review process, XPERTECHS replaced an inefficient email-based system with a structured app and real-time tracking. This solution reduced delays, provided staff with clear visibility into review progress, and ensured timely approvals. It also serves as an example for how businesses in other industries can address similar challenges by transforming manual workflows into streamlined, data-driven operations.

Business Process Automation Expertise

Not all managed IT service providers offer business process automation, but XPERTECHS has a dedicated team of engineers 100% focused on working with clients to create and implement automation solutions. If you’re ready to up your game by leveraging technology to improve operations and drive efficiency, we should talk.

Learn more about business process automation solutions from XPERTECHS.