McConnell Dowell invests in tech to deliver its infrastructure and building pipeline of projects

Leading construction company McConnell Dowell has announced a major technology investment to transform the project delivery of its infrastructure and building portfolio.

The landmark agreement is with leading Australian technology provider and ASX100 company, TechnologyOne and ensures that McConnell Dowell is at the forefront of modern construction technologies to power its pipeline of more than 80 projects globally.

McConnell Dowell has over 60 years history in delivering critical infrastructure across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, and Southeast Asia. Current major Australian projects include the nation-shaping Inland Rail project in Victoria, the innovative Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro project in Queensland, and Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania's largest ever transport project. Overseas projects include major metro rail works in Singapore, and significant water, wastewater and social infrastructure projects throughout New Zealand and the Pacific.

In what is a major transformation project, McConnell Dowell will use TechnologyOne’s market-leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution to support its 3,000-strong staff and to better manage projects globally across its key operational hubs.

For TechnologyOne, the partnership with McConnell Dowell included its newly released Solution-as-a-Service (SaaS+) offering for construction. SaaS+ is a first-of-its-kind offering that will provide the civil construction company with a streamlined implementation process at a single yearly fee, drastically reduced implementation timeframes and costs while improving customer satisfaction.

The technology upgrade includes all project management functions such as finance, procurement, subcontract and plant management, providing the tools to enable active performance management of projects in one platform. This timely and accurate data will be essential to boosting productivity and supporting project delivery.

Dale Morrison, Chief Operating Officer at McConnell Dowell, said the decision to partner with TechnologyOne was made based on the wide range of capabilities the solution had for the construction industry.

“This investment is an absolutely critical part of our digital transformation strategy. It will provide us with clarity and accuracy in assessing the performance of our project portfolio. Given our geographical footprint, we will have a unified core construction platform that incorporates emerging technologies while allowing team members to access key data anywhere, anytime, from any device.”

“As McConnell Dowell rolls out the SaaS solution globally, it will streamline data management and migrate key finance and project management tools into one solution that will be used throughout the business. This adds to our project delivery capability.”

“Partnering with another Australian leader was important to us. With TechnologyOne having a strong Melbourne presence, where McConnell Dowell’s head office is based, this allowed us to engage directly with their team at any time.”

TechnologyOne’s CEO, Ed Chung said this is another milestone partnership in the civil construction industry for TechnologyOne, after the recent partnership with Queensland’s BMD Group.

“We are looking forward to working with another powerhouse within the construction industry, supporting them to deliver important infrastructure projects globally,” said Mr Chung.

“We have seen traditional ERP implementations too often have high costs, lengthy timelines and low success rates. As leaders in the tech industry, we wanted to change that. Our SaaS+ approach is centred around our ‘Power of One’ philosophy, leveraging our deep industry expertise to provide our customers a quicker time to value.”