THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: August 27, 1999 02:03 PM Friday; Rod Welch

Called Denis at Kwan Henmi on Com Metrics.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Pier One Project with ABM Properties, Port of SF, and Nibbi Bros.
3...Communication Metrics Must be Specified Like CPM Scheduling
4...NSF Participation Provides Crediblity Despite Lack of Experience
5...Stateholders Need Experience to Understand Common Administration
6...SFIA Projects May be Amendable to Specifying Common Administration


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CONTACTS 
0201 - Kwan Henmi                           415 777 4770 fax 5102
020101 - Mr. Denis Henmi; Executive Vice President

SUBJECTS
Commercial Partners for Phase II Funding
Design Support, Engineering Management
Concurrent Engineering, Links Easy to Follow
Pattern Language
Kwan Henmi, PM Support - HTML
Project Management HTML Forms
Front End Investment Avoids Crisis with SDS
Investing Time for Deferred Reward Hard Sell, Learning
Common Administration

1311 -    ..
1312 - Summary/Objective
1313 -
131301 - Follow up ref SDS 30 0000, ref SDS 28 0000.
131302 -
131303 - Denis recommends against working with AMB on the Pier One project. He
131304 - feels Com Metrics needs to be specified as a business practice,
131305 - similar to CPM.  We need opportunities to present this method in a
131306 - credible way to stakeholders.  The NSF proposal might provide a basis
131307 - for researching Common Administration on construction contracts. SFIA
131308 - may be open to this, based on review in May of Communication Metrics.
131309 -
131310 - Submitted ref DIT 1 with link to this record and explanation of Common
131311 - Administration on 990328. ref SDS 15 9641
131312 -
131313 -
131314 -
131315 -
1314 -
1315 -
1316 - Discussion
1317 -
131701 - Pier One Project with ABM Properties, Port of SF, and Nibbi Bros.
131702 -
131703 - Follow up ref SDS 30 9852.
131704 -
131705 - I mentioned the flyer we got at the Golden Gateway on work at Pier 1
131706 - by the Port of Oakland, and asked Denis if he has worked with Jennifer
131707 - Sobol, 415 274 0548, who is designated as the project manager for the
131708 - Port?
131709 -
131710 - Joe Mazzetti, 415 863 1820, represents Nibbi Bros, the contractor.
131711 -
131712 - Denis does not know Jenifer.  He explained the Port is not managing
131713 - the project, and has minimal impact on daily operations.  AMB Property
131714 - Corp is the developer, and Nibbi Brothers is the General Contractor.
131715 - AMB is slow in making payments, KH has not had good experience with
131716 - this firm.
131717 -
131718 -
131719 -  ..
131720 - Communication Metrics Must be Specified Like CPM Scheduling
131721 -
131722 - Denis feels Communication Metrics needs to be specified as a business
131723 - practice, similar to specifying CPM, in order to encourage front-end
131724 - investment in good management.  He explained that architects gained
131725 - market acceptance when legislation mandated professional credentials.
131726 - The law mandates front-end investment in good design, regardless of
131727 - whether managers want to do a good job, or feel that "architecture" is
131728 - a "foreign" term.  Denis reported on 960424 that Communication Metrics
131729 - could not be used on an SFIA project because it is a "foreign term."
131730 - On 960913 the Corps of Engineers issued a contract for Communication
131731 - Metrics, and on 970328 published a report with a scope of services. On
131732 - 971007 the goverment issued another report that Communication Metrics
131733 - saves $M of dollars, and on 981027 a follow up report confirmed that
131734 - front-end investment in good management saves money.
131735 -
131736 -      [Today, sent letter to Dave Bouncristiani, Esq, about specifying
131737 -      Com Metrics. ref SDS 31 3222]
131738 -
131739 - On 950202 adding management support for communication, to supplement
131740 - cost and schedule management, was presented at a professional seminar.
131741 - ref SDS 1 0333
131742 -
131743 - Communication Metrics, however, remains a "foreign term." Unlike,
131744 - Widows 98, Internet, email, wordprocessing and other methods that have
131745 - gained widespread use despite being new terms and having no record of
131746 - saving money, Communication Metrics is resisted, largely due to fear
131747 - of accountability reported on 980405. ref SDS 10 5065
131748 -
131749 - On 970818 Max Wideman cited ignorance and preference for crisis
131750 - management prevent front-end investment to improve communications
131751 - ref SDS 9 1897
131752 -
131753 - On 960105 Max Blodgett at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed
131754 - specifying Com Metrics in contracts, ref SDS 5 1008, which aligns with
131755 - Denis' recommendation today. ref SDS 0 3025
131756 -
131757 - How then can we arrange to have Communication Metrics specified, as
131758 - Denis proposes?
131759 -
131760 -     On 961206, Max Blodgett approved extending use of Communication
131761 -     Metrics in the San Francisco District, ref SDS 6 0001, but on
131762 -     961226 the District Engineer would not support the initiative.
131763 -     ref SDS 7 0549  On 970624 the District Engineer reported a belief
131764 -     that Communication Metrics is not cost effective, but did not cite
131765 -     evidence. ref SDS 8 7388  On 981027 District Counsel reported with
131766 -     certainty that Communication Metrics saved money. ref SDS 13 7315
131767 -     Despite this evidence, on 990615 the District Engineer, again,
131768 -     refused cost savings. ref SDS 20 1980
131769 -
131770 - Common Administration may be one application, as proposed to HQ USACE
131771 - on 990328. ref SDS 15 9641  This would not require any particular
131772 - organization to improve their internal management methods.
131773 - Communication Metrics would be applied as a common resource to manage
131774 - information, similar to surveying.
131775 -
131776 - On 990419 Dave Buoncristiani, Esq, at Thelin, Reid and Priest, who
131777 - represents Bechtel and other major firms, noted advantages of Common
131778 - Administration for architects, contractors and agencies. ref SDS 16
131779 - 9420
131780 -
131781 - On 990506 Jim Lovo at HQ USACE recommended Com Metrics to the manager
131782 - in charge of partnering. ref SDS 18 8820
131783 -
131784 -
131785 -  ..
131786 - NSF Participation Provides Crediblity Despite Lack of Experience
131787 - Stateholders Need Experience to Understand Common Administration
131788 -
131789 - We discussed today the need to expose decision makers on the owner's
131790 - side to the advantages of specifying Communication Metrics, possibly
131791 - under a partnering program of Common Administration.
131792 -
131793 - The National Science Foundation proposal, ref OF 4, provides
131794 - credibility of a research project to discover how technology can save
131795 - money, time and frustration for owner's, design professionals, and
131796 - contractors. Experience with the Moscone Convention Center Expansion
131797 - project shows the potential for eliminating mistakes, as indicated by
131798 - the record on 980929. ref SDS 11
131799 -
131800 -
131801 -  ..
131802 - SFIA Projects May be Amendable to Specifying Common Administration
131803 -
131804 - Denis explained Kwan Henmi is doing a lot of school work now, which
131805 - is difficult to introduce better management methods.
131806 -
131807 - Another idea would be to discuss this with Jason Yuen at SFIA.
131808 -
131809 - Jason has called a few times about Com Metrics and the NSF proposal,
131810 - e.g., on 990622. ref SDS 22 0001  He has been frustrated trying to
131811 - find a way to use this method, as related on 990505. ref SDS 17 0778
131812 - It might be that while direct approval to use Communication Metrics by
131813 - SFIA staff requires senior approval, Jason may be able to approve use
131814 - of this method in the specs for a particular project, as Denis
131815 - suggests today.
131816 -
131817 - Jason reported on 990505 that SFIA did not want to try Communication
131818 - Metrics becasue the expansion program was going pretty well, and they
131819 - did not want to change "everything." ref SDS 17 1798  It was explained
131820 - that SFIA would not have to change anything, becaue Communication
131821 - Metrics adds "intelligence" to make everything work better.  Jason
131822 - indicated at that time on 990505 that "attitides" need to change in
131823 - order to improve management. ref SDS 17 4732
131824 -
131825 - Perhaps Denis could discuss with Jason at an appropriate time,
131826 - specifying a program of Common Administration on a new project, as
131827 - part of a National Science Foundation research effort to evaluate
131828 - using technology to support management.
131829 -
131830 -
131831 -
131832 -
131833 -
131834 -
131835 -
131836 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"