LCOR Incorporated
LCOR Incorporated is a fully integrated real estate investment, development, and management company specializing in large-scale, mixed-use development. Over its 40-year history, LCOR has applied its comprehensive expertise to more than 300 large-scale mixed-use projects. LCOR’s residential and commercial property management division oversees more than 10,000 multifamily units, 8 million square feet of commercial space, and a substantial mixed-use real estate development pipeline in its core Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.
THE CHALLENGE
Few companies, regardless of industry, can survive if they don’t embrace the concept – and practice – of process improvement. LCOR Incorporated fully grasps this concept and works hard at honing all its operations to a fine edge. Consequently, when a detailed analysis of LCOR’s project scheduling procedures revealed that some improvement was in order, the company was eager to address the situation immediately.
“Our job as project owners is to be proactive and get ahead of issues,” stated Pasquenza, LCOR’s Director of Development and Construction. “To do that, we need accurate information in a timely manner so in the case of a problem, we, along with our GCs, can course-correct while we still have the opportunity – before the problems are beyond repair.”
Schedules for LCOR projects are provided by the general contractors that LCOR enlists. In the past, they were subsequently analyzed by schedule consultants for potential delays or roadblocks. But in the spirit of constantly upgrading their procedures – both internal and those executed by outside sources – Pasquenza began searching for alternate approaches.
THE SMART SOLUTION
The search brought Pasquenza to SmartPM, a cloud-based project controls platform proven to enhance schedule quality, assess risk, review performance, and control project outcomes.
“SmartPM performs a comprehensive analysis of each project update and puts the most accurate, relevant schedule analysis at our fingertips instantaneously, and does it cost-effectively,” Pasquenza stated. “This lets us have real-time discussions with the GCs whenever we have an issue in the field that needs to be tackled. We don’t need to just ‘trust our gut.’
“And if a project starts to go off course, SmartPM can quickly identify the trouble source and help our GCs get the project back on track.”
The result is that LCOR has seen a significant improvement in the GCs’ scheduling abilities. In fact, GCs not only see where the scheduling problems are, allowing them to recommend or take corrective action; they also become better at creating the initial schedules, as any recurring mistakes can be highlighted and eliminated. And it provides LCOR project managers with the data they need when they meet with a GC about an issue.
Pasquenza has high praise for the platform’s Quality Checker.
“The Quality Checker gives initial schedules a letter grade based on various criteria. But it also tells you which factors led to the lower grades, whether it’s too much float, missing logic ties, whatever. This helps contractors improve their performance in a very short time.”
For Pasquenza and other executives who may not wish to dive into the nitty-gritty detail, features like the Executive Dashboard – which provides a quick, easy-to-understand snapshot of each project’s overall schedule health – are a welcome addition.
“By not allowing potential issues and problem areas to slip past us, we save enough money to more than justify the cost of the SmartPM platform.”
THE RESULTS
“By not allowing potential issues and problem areas to slip past us, we save enough money to more than justify the cost of the SmartPM platform,” Pasquenza said. “What’s more, we’re able to identify the critical-path issues and focus on those immediately while putting the less-critical matters on the back burner.”
Pasquenza further explained that because each day of work has a cost, each day saved has an ROI. So, for example, if a project is 35 days late, that’s 35 days of rent that the company would not be receiving for the space.
SmartPM has had an impact on the investment side as well. Beyond existing real estate and active projects, LCOR provides investment opportunities on the front end of new and upcoming projects. However, gaining buy-in requires the investors to have a high level of trust in LCOR’s performance.
“Our investors want to be assured they’re going to earn a certain return on a project,” Pasquenza emphasized. “Achieving that return means that we need to hit both the budget and the schedule. SmartPM helps us reach both on virtually every project, which has ultimately translated to a history of solid returns that makes our investors more comfortable.”
The bottom line is, LCOR’s use of SmartPM not only reaps benefits for the company, but it also helps improves the performance of the GCs on whom LCOR depends.
“SmartPM helps us reach both [budget and schedule] on virtually every project, which has ultimately translated to a history of solid returns that make our investors more comfortable.”