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Documents Under Control
Facilities managers are benefiting from a new Professional Documentation System (PDS) offered by The Farnsworth Group. Because of this web based system they do not have to think much about how to use the clickable, web-based system.
That's because of the two years of work done by a development team lead by Senior System Architect Jim Conigliaro of Northwoods Software. As more and more project owners began requiring digital PDS functionality of their engineers and architects, Farnsworth and Northwoods set out to develop a system that would offer greater ease of use, and allow non-technical staff to search and even add information to the powerful database application by visually interacting with project diagrams. The system is simpler to use than competing systems – and according to Farnsworth Software Development Coordinator Chad Grindle is light years ahead of the PDF-based solutions Farnsworth had traditionally relied on.
PDS displays the component-information view of an air-handling unit. Details include physical data, user manuals, contact information and links to all systems that incorporate the component.
For each building, floor and room in a facility, the PDS holds an information page with a photo and a list of all components. Choosing a component and clicking Go takes the user to a detailed information page for that component.
A view of a facility's compressed air system. Microsoft Visio diagrams are associated with building systems and include hot links so that clicking any of the components in the diagram takes the user to the detailed information page for that component.
The new PDS:
§ Gives Farnsworth's facilities managers and operator clients a visual, web-based interface with their entire infrastructure maintenance system.
§ Is unique in that it integrates with Microsoft Visio, so software already in common use allows maintenance staff to access and add information.
§ makes Farnsworth group one of only two firms nationwide offering a clickable PDS interface.
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