Our client Momentum Structural Engineers is an award-winning civil and structural engineering practice, who have worked on some of the most distinctive structures in the country - from the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, MK Gallery, to various Olympic venues and temporary demountable structures such as Garsington Opera. They are a lateral-thinking, pragmatic, clever practice, offering services internationally from simple, economic solutions to solving complex technical problems in large-scale projects.

Our marketing team caught up with Mike Hutchison, Director at Momentum Structural Engineers to reflect on 1 year working with us.

When remote working came into place, Rapport3 helped communication and collaboration between staff. Mike explained, “It has been 1 year of getting used to a new system, which has been a steep learning curve but we are getting there. Throughout the covid period we have improved the way we work. Both of our offices were quite separate in many ways, but through covid we have connected with the other office more using Teams, Zoom and Rapport3. Having a unified system between the two offices has helped bring both offices together.”

“Logistically it has been difficult for both of the offices to meet up once a month but now it's possible to catch up and see what everyone is up to.”

How Rapport3 helped overcome existing problems

When answering how Rapport3 has helped overcome their existing problems, Mike explained, “we picked Rapport3 because we had lots of systems that worked on their own but needed a joined up system. It was taking a lot of time to jump between systems, and it became very clear we needed to centralise information we had in different places.”

To ensure they maintain their high standard of work they are renowned for, our client took on the project costing module. This provides them with detailed plan-by-grade options and workstage probability factors, helping them each the engineering project on the likelihood of winning speculative parts of the job, whilst also showing them the best opportunities.

How Rapport3 transformed their invoicing

Mike explained, “we do a mix of big and small projects, and keeping on top of all the invoicing and where we are in the project was getting out of hand before. Whereas the system now ensures our project managers for each project can manage their own fees and invoice work.”

Mike also commented, “using Rapport3 has improved how autonomous people are with their invoicing as they can invoice their own project once they've finished.”

Managing our team with the HR module

“We have not yet fully used the skills matrix but the admin and HR team have found it useful. It has meant all our information including staff phone numbers and photos are now in one place whereas before this was all over the place. This has helped new starters as they can see who they need to speak to and people’s roles in the company.”

Looking to the future with Rapport3

“We have not fully utilised Rapport3 yet as we phased the way it was brought in. Currently we are using the main system, and are looking into integrating our accounts system Xero with Rapport3. Our next step would be looking at the QA module in more detail, and how we can use this to coordinate with our QA systems”

Utilising reporting to overcome challenges and support our projects 

“We are still getting to grips with what the different reports do, but our reporting is currently done monthly. Our previous financial tool was based on work in progress but this report system is based on billing plans, so it's different in monitoring workload and how projects are progressing.”

“Previously problem projects wouldn't get flagged up as quickly and invoicing was late, whereas now we can flag problem projects quicker and start to do something about this sooner rather than later. We can also ensure we are invoicing on time and speaking to clients about additional fees.”

When asked how the reporting has been used throughout different areas in the company, Mike commented...“Keeping track of what's going on in the office has been easier. The diagram showing who's at the office is great as we can programme and plan things around absences and parental leave better. It has helped with managing people's time off.”

Have you seen any impact on profitability, or even a return on investment, since using it? 

“Project leaders have taken on more ownership for doing all the invoicing on time. It's made us more conscious of the amount of time people are spending on projects. We are more conscious of overspending on problem projects, which is one of the keys to making a profit.”

How have you found the customer service experience?

“The team we were dealing with were really helpful throughout. There were a few problems during the initial setup with data as there often is with large projects, but whenever there was a problem it was generally resolved quickly by the Cubic Team.”

Assessing the flexibility of Rapport3

When asked how the flexibility of Rapport3 has helped, Mike commented..“It has definitely helped us. Teaching everyone how to use it in the same way so we are all doing the same thing and adjusting the way we work to suit different sized projects we are working on.”

We are thrilled to be working with such a well respected structural engineering practice in their work, and look forward to helping them grow even further.

If you are interested in seeing how our software works, please book a free, no-obligation demo with our team.