Insights

When construction delays occur, a project’s success can depend on a contractor’s ability to accelerate and recover from these changes and to communicate with stakeholders and project executives. In this session, join Zach Wotherspoon, planner and scheduler at Gilbane, and Seve Ponce de Leon, Senior Director of Product at PMA Consultants, as they share how acceleration and recovery are vital to Gilbane’s success and how PMA is working to bring them game-changing software solutions. This session includes a live demo of the latest software developments and updates on the product roadmap.

Gilbane primarily uses NetPoint to develop their baseline schedule, starting at a high level with extended-duration activities to put together a Level 1 schedule. Through scheduling workshops with necessary stakeholders, they then utilize NetPoint to build the client’s portion of the project or a specific phase with the subcontractor. Additionally, the software allows them to perform push and pull plans.

Another way that Gilbane uses NetPoint is to perform schedule scenarios. This enables clients or other project stakeholders to visualize the delay that a decision or impact may be having on the project schedule. Especially with the use of GPM, the display is oftentimes more understandable than other scheduling software. For example, while using NetPoint, you can overlay the original plan with a scenario that may impact or delay the project, creating a simple and effective way to show how a permit delay or extension can impact the critical path. This also allows you to print on one page while still effectively showing all necessary details and ensures that there is connectivity to your master/contract schedule, which is a common challenge with other scheduling software.

Seve Ponce de Leon

Seve Ponce de Leon leads product management for innovation and software at PMA Consultants. He has more than 10 years of experience, including user research, design, testing agile methodologies, product strategy, planning, scheduling, and risk management. Seve earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Zach Wotherspoon, Gilbane

At Gilbane, Zach leads the Midwest Scheduling Department.  He has 19 years of experience in the Engineering and Construction market, 17 of them spent with Gilbane.  Zach also leads the company’s Scheduling Peer Group.  He is a LEED-accredited professional.   Zach earned a Bachelor of Science from the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.  Zach’s passion is focused on building high-quality schedules during the Preconstruction phase of the project and managing schedule risk during the Construction phase.