December 2022
Have you heard about our Training Meet-Ups? It’s a time to see how you can use AWP for your job. We demonstrate a little something from each of our modules (CRL, Construction and Materials) as well as something for everyone who uses AWP.
Get a sneak peak into AWP! If you are interested, you can join us. Sign up on WorkDay for our next event.
Wednesday, December 7
10:00-11:00 a.m.
This one-hour Training Meet-Up will be in Teams. Watch as we go through the training exercises onscreen. Walk through it on your own computer and ask questions as we demonstrate. All questions about AWP are welcome!
If you have taken a Training Meet-Up previously, click on "View Course Again" and then click on "Retake Course" to select the date of the offering you want to enroll in.
Don't miss the fun! Ensure you have access to the AWP DEV site and that your password works in advance of the Training Meet-Up. We don't want you to be locked out during the practice session. (External users will not have access to the DEV site but can still attend the event to watch and learn.)
AGENCY VIEWS
We’ve been waiting on the edge of our seats for Amendment 2 to be processed and approved for Infotech (ITI) to begin development on the agency views. As of November 30th, last minute changes have been approved by DOJ and the document is being routed for signatures!
What does this mean? We have agency views ready and are waiting for Infotech to begin, but we have many more requirements to finish, and agency views still to provide. These agency views give ODOT a template to design our own components for AWP. Watch for workshop opportunities presented by David Dobson and Eric Burns. We have 2 months to get these done to be prepared for the pilot. Your hard work is paying off!
PILOT
Amendment 2 approval impacted the date of our pilot kick off. The good news is the deployment date is still on target for October 2023. The pilot is scheduled to start March 6th and complete April 12th. We are working to get approval on pilot projects as soon as possible.
ITI staff will lead a 3-day virtual training workshop just prior to the start of the pilot for the selected ODOT staff, Primes, and Subcontractors who will be entering data into the AASHTOWare Project Hosted Test site.
Pilot staff, such as inspectors, QCCSes, REs, and AREs, will rotate into an onsite workshop area. We are trying to reduce the impact to the daily work that also needs to be completed. ITI will be onsite at the materials lab for data entry that comes from headquarters. A breakdown of logistics is in process, including the days and hours for each of the pilot groups to participate. Once we have the document finalized in the next few weeks, we will share the information.
Keep in mind…what’s in it for me (WIIFM)??
- If the project selected was originally run by your office, you have the chance to get into AWP and be an early adopter (pssst…that gives you superpowers).
- You get to see what works and what needs to be tweaked to make this tool work for you!
Still don’t know how AWP can help you at your job? Here are some more ways we’re working to improve our business process. See what will benefit you!
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Payments – We’ll have more control over our funding subjobs. AWP keeps track of how many dollars are put against a subjob and can tie that to limits so that we don't overcharge on a subjob. This is currently tracked manually. AWP makes it automated.
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OJT/Apprenticeships – AWP tracks On the Job Training (OJT) and Apprenticeship programs across all contracts. This gives us an accurate account of the pay percentages and graduates.
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Payroll – Certified Payrolls will take much less time to verify. The Contract Admin Specialists will be able to review payroll data all in one place.
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Office of Civil Rights – With AWP, you will be able to tell when DBE subs are onsite working by viewing the daily work reports.
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Construction & Materials – In AWP, you can find daily work reports (DWRs) in multiple ways. You can search by the inspector who submitted, or you can search by all DWRs on a specific contract, by day, by a range of days, and by many other parameters that you can determine.
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Inspectors - Each inspector will have their own DWR for the work they observe. AWP will not exclude an inspector from entering information with overlapping times, dates, stations, etc. This will also help with the review of quantities specifically for payment.
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DWRs - Currently, general daily progress reports are not visible to other inspectors or the RE office until uploaded to Doc Express or seen through a PDF. In AWP, DWRs in draft status are immediately viewable by other inspectors and the RE office so the data becomes more accessible. We could still have multiple DWRs in one day. The RE office will be reviewing each DWR for each inspector, but a report can be run on the information on a specific day, for example, to examine the work observed by multiple inspectors in a time period as a whole report.
Do you have a cool WIIFM in AWP that you want to share? Contact Sue Herring!
If you have any questions, please send them to AWPAdmin@odot.oregon.gov.
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Have you ever had an old car that you’ve had for a long time? A car that has developed a “character”? You continue to fix it and keep it going. However, it becomes more and more unreliable, and you finally make the decision. You need to buy something newer, safer, and more dependable. It’s a difficult, somewhat stressful, decision. But you know the time has come.
This is where ODOT found itself when we began considering AASHTOWare. Many of our systems were old or duplicated the work of other systems. The Central Materials Laboratory currently uses an antiquated laboratory information management system which was developed in the early 1990s. If it was a car, it would be a model T! Reliable and cost effective when first implemented, it is no longer equipped to run on today’s highways.
AASHTOWare, while not perfect, offers the ability to move not only the Central Materials Laboratory, but the Agency as a whole, into the 21st century. And, while the decision can be stressful to move on from our current familiar systems with the personalities they have developed, which we have loved and hated at the same time, the time has come. It is not without challenges and frustrations, but in the end, it is the right decision and will allow us to operate more smoothly and efficiently on the highways of today and the future.
We’ve worked for years with familiar, but aging programs to store our Construction data. Many of those systems repeat information. Often, they are disconnected from each other. Valuable time and resources are wasted entering or searching for data.
AWP offers a solution. It provides one source of truth that can be utilized to create valuable reports and share information throughout the Agency. Systems to be replaced with the implementation of AWP C&M and CRL are listed below. Which ones do you use?
- Qualified Products List (QPL): Currently paper to Access database
- Contract Payment System (CPS): Currently paper to mainframe
- Lab Information Management System (LIMS): Currently paper to COBAL
- C-Service: Database created and run by one staff member
- CRCT: Civil Rights Compliance Tracking which has reached expiration of support
- Processes
- Tools
- Ability to run reports
- Construction contract data in one unified database
In our next newsletter, discover the people of APOST!
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We are happy to share that Vanessa Baker, ODOT e-Construction program manager and one of the APOST project managers, was awarded the ODOT Agency Outstanding Service Award at the Fall Forum in October.
We celebrate the impressive work Vanessa has accomplished with the e-Construction program in general and APOST specifically, her team members and the bridges she builds with other units, groups and agencies, internally and externally.
Vanessa has a remarkable and positive impact on her project teams and co-workers, encouraging us to reach the e-Construction vision. She helps people develop and perform as highly as possible while maintaining an eye on the prize of completing established goals.
With everything we are doing with our e-Construction program, Vanessa participates in or pays close attention to the progress of our teams and each individual to assure that all succeed. She considers decisions carefully to determine the best course of action to produce success. She listens to the viewpoints of others on her team. She trusts our expertise and values our experiences as well as our ideas.
Vanessa fosters inspiration and innovation. With the general stress of modern living, having a team that is supportive and encouraging is invaluable. We are a stronger team and more productive despite these current day pressures because we are valued by our project manager.
Congratulations, Vanessa!
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Working within a role is one of the great parts of AWP. You select your role and you have the access that you need to complete your work. You don’t have to look through “unnecessary” components and fields to complete your job. You see what you need.
Roles are not specific to a module. Your role allows you to move between modules if your job requires it. For instance, if you work as a CAS, you will work in Construction for your role. You will also have some responsibilities in Civil Rights & Labor, but your CAS role will work there, too.
Every person working in AWP will have a role. Some will have several roles depending on their responsibilities. We’ll set you up. And, if your responsibilities change or grow, we’ll get you into the role that will give you the proper for access.
Shout out to Scotty Guernsey, Infotech Liaison from Vanessa Baker, AWP Program Manager: Shout out to Scotty for digging in with subcommittees to review roles. He led the groups in great discussion on the need for the role, possibility of combining roles, and determining any missing roles. Then, provided great notes in the minutes for everyone to access. This was a big undertaking! Thank you for your continued strong work!
Shout out to Darcy Hesselgesser, ODOT OCR Field Coordinator: Thank you for stepping up as a subject matter expert with crossover knowledge between your CAS and OCR experiences to review training material that affects both areas.
Shout out to the Quals & Labs Subcommittee from Jaclyn Elmes, Infotech Liaison: We have a great team! I am so confident in your abilities to review our procedures.
Shout out to Jim Gunter, ODOT Pavements Unit from David Dobson, ODOT Subcommittee Lead: Jim has contributed an incredible amount of time and energy working on material data sets for the Global Acceptance subcommittee. We completed earlier than expected due to the efforts of our volunteers!
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Questions? Comments? Interested in becoming a team member?
Check out our website at https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Construction/Pages/AW-Construction.aspx
Want to know more about APOST? Subscribe to The APOST Times.
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