Getting a lock on massive documents

Leigh Jasper takes document management to the construction industry. Picture / Richard Robinson

Inquiring minds want to know: When you're involved in prison construction, are you secretly hoping it's a growth industry?

"No, not really," laughs Leigh Jasper, chief executive of document management firm Aconex. But with contracts for the development of three new correctional facilities in New Zealand, Aconex is making the most of existing demand.

The Melbourne-based company's main product is an "online library" system that customers can use to manage their documents. While the system handles simple Word or Excel documents, it is aimed at construction firms and their often-massive computer-aided design files.

A typical project, Jasper says, will see an architect initially create between 2000 and 5000 documents. More are created when tasks are subcontracted out, and still more when there are revisions.

The system allows firms to upload their documents to the internet via Aconex's servers based in Melbourne and London. The documents can then be accessed from anywhere.

The system has landed Aconex some big clients. Australian construction giant Multiplex has used Aconex on the construction of the Emirates Tower in Dubai, and on Beijing's new Olympic stadium.

Multiplex is also using Aconex for its Sylvia Park development, a new urban centre planned for Auckland.

Fast-food chain McDonald's is using the firm's service for facilities management in Britain and Australia (New Zealand will switch over soon).

The Department of Corrections started with one project, liked what it saw, and has since signed up for two more projects.

Aconex is working with Mainzeal on a men's facility at Spring Hill, south of Auckland, and the Otago correctional facility near Dunedin. It is also involved in a women's facility for the Auckland region with Hawkins Construction.

While Jasper is not hoping for a crime wave to prompt calls for more prisons (and thus more business), he does hope the corrections deal will lead to other social infrastructure projects, such as hospitals.

The construction industry in Australia and New Zealand, he says, is primed for the technology.

"It's traditionally seen as an old industry, with hard hats and bricks, but the adoption of technology is quite stunning," he said.

"You've got to become efficient in the way you use those resources. It's a very pragmatic industry that adopts technology if it helps them."