Chip Eng Seng: leveraging GanttPRO to power BIM and VDC across large-scale construction projects
"When we first chanced upon GanttPRO, we thought, 'Wow, this could beautifully complement our current tool.' But as we explored it further, our excitement grew as it proved to be far more than just a supporting platform."
A story about how GanttPRO evolved from a simple timeline viewer into a driving force for managing large-scale Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) workflows.
Company overview
Company: CES Engineering & Construction Pte. Ltd. / Chip Eng Seng Contractors Pte Ltd (Members of GRC Group)
Roles interviewed: Stanley Chia, Head of BIM/VDC
Project types: large-scale, multi-million-dollar construction projects
External pressures: high cost of errors and rework, multiple stakeholders involved, delivery deadlines
Summary
Company Background
What does your company focus on?
Chip Eng Seng is a premier construction firm with projects ranging from infrastructure to building works. The BIM department of the Building division, driven by a core team of about 30 professionals, manages up to eight multi-million-dollar initiatives. Stanley Chia, Head of BIM/VDC, describes how GanttPRO supports each stage, from project award and building information modeling procurement to VDC coordination and final As-built tracking.
“The planning stage is absolutely critical for us to make construction error-free. Our projects typically span up to four years, involve multi-million-dollar budgets, and require coordination across numerous stakeholders. So our primary goal is to minimize risks and eliminate rework as much as possible from day one.”
What started as a supporting tool eventually became a core part of how we approach planning and workflow management
Struggle
How did your approach look before GanttPRO?
Before GanttPRO, the team relied on a platform with a strong focus on scope organization. While it offered a decent overview of project components, it lacked a real sense of timeline and did not make scheduling clearly visible.
"When we first chanced upon GanttPRO, we thought, 'Wow, this could beautifully complement our current tool.' But as we explored it further, our excitement grew as it proved to be far more than just a supporting platform."
Solution
GanttPRO’s work breakdown structure is the functionality Stanley and his team rely on most. In a dynamic construction environment, they needed a tool that let them easily update schedules, restructure tasks, and forecast future progress rather than just track past data.
“We like the flexibility to be able to change the breakdown of the activities, the parent level, the sub-level, setting milestones to highlight the most significant parts.”Daily scrums serve as the center of operational reporting. GanttPRO provides a clear view of workload planning and each individual’s scope, helping standardize progress reporting across the team and making it easier to track, share, and understand work.
“The workload view is where we get a bird's-eye view of every single resource. We can instantly see how tasks are distributed, especially in relation to time, capacity, and current project status.”In addition to standard fields, the team also creates custom ones which helps to tailor things to specific needs and personalize them.
“We use custom fields to look at the revision that we are talking about on a particular activity which also makes us realize that the tool is working.”
