To initially select your working project, go to Project Management > Select Working Project
Select the job that you want to use by clicking on the underlined job name
This will open a menu specifically for the project. Not all of these options may be available for your job – it depends on other settings.
The Communications Management Workbench will show you the communications log for this job
The communications log contains a number of different communication types. These include RFIs, Submittals, Transmittals, Meeting Minutes & Actions, Task lists, Punch lists, Issues lists, Daily Reports, Drawings, Drawing Sets and Other Communications. These different forms of communication can be linked and in many cases one type can be generated from another.
For example you may have an issue which leads to an RFI, which is then discussed in a meeting. Once the issue has been resolved the details finalized with a transmittal.
Most communication types can have a “due date” or a completion date associated with them. The “open items” tab will show you all items that have not yet been completed. Use the filters at the bottom of the screen to control what items you see in this screen.
NOTE: This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every interaction between every communication type. In most cases the linking processes are the same, so once this has been covered for one communication type it will not be re-covered in another.
RFIs
RFIs are Requests For Information. They are used to record, for example, questions that you may ask a client or points that you may wish to clarify.
To raise an RFI, go to the RFI tab on the Project-specific Communication Management Workbench, and click Add.
The RFI Details section of the RFI screen allows for the actual question to be asked:
The reference number field at the top of the screen will be blank when the new record is created. This number will be auto-populated when the record is saved.
Enter a description of the RFI (which will be used when viewing lists of RFIs) and enter the full question or clarification in the “Question” field.
The RFI may automatically default to be from you, but this can be changed if you need to.
The suggested answer can be used to give an indication of the format or level of detail that you are expecting as a response to the RFI.
You need to address the RFI to a particular individual, as specified in the “To” field. You can type in their name or use the lookup to select this person from a list. However the person that you enter here needs to have been entered into the personnel workbench or entered as a contact for a company.
The RFI Status section of the RFI screen gives information on the importance and status of the RFI:
The specification section can be used to identify which part of the job the RFI is related to. This may not be relevant if you are not using specification sections.
The “Status” of the RFI, the “Importance” of the RFI, the “Impact” of the RFI and the “Type” of the RFI are all used to help categorize the RFI. The options that you chose are selected from pre-defined lists.
The contents of these lists, and the entries that are selected when you create a new RFI, are all controlled by your company. So see your administrator if you think there is something missing from any of them.
The “Open Date” field defaults to the date that the RFI was entered into the system. This can be overwritten if necessary.
The “Due Date” (which needs to be entered) is used to track RFIs, and there are reports & inquiry screens that show any overdue RFIs.
The bottom of the RFI screen provides information on the Schedule, Drawing, and Cost impact that this RFI will bring, and may not be applicable to all users:
Once you have entered these details, use the save icon in the lower right corner to save the information.
Upon saving, from the Communication Management Workbench, select the hyperlink of the new RFI to view the full details.
From here you can use the various tabs to store more information about the RFI. These extra tabs are common to all communication types, so while they are discussed in the context of an RFI here, the process is also valid for submittals, transmittals, and the like.
Once you have received an answer to your RFI, you can close the RFI. To do this you will need to change the “Status” to “Closed”. When you do this, today’s date is added to the “Closed Date” field, but this can be overwritten if required. This should only be done when you have all the information that you need.
The Revisions Tab allows you to update and maintain revisions to the RFI. When you update any "versioned" fields on a revision marked as Current, the corresponding fields are updated on the RFI Details tab screen.
The Log Tab shows you a history of changes that have been made to the RFI. Any changes that you make to the RFI will automatically be recorded on this tab. You can also add additional information by using the “Add” icon and writing your own notes.
The Copies To Tab allows you to send courtesy copies of the RFI to desired contacts.
To add people to this list just use the “Add” button, and then either select the user from a lookup or type their name directly into the “name” field. Click Save when finished with the line.
The Documents Tab has a drop-down menu that appears when you hover over with the mouse:
Browse Documents will simply show all of the documents attached to this RFI. Click the hyperlink to view the document.
Linked Documents will show ALL documents that are attached to any item in this project. You can hyperlink into the item via its reference number, if applicable, or the document itself, via the description hyperlink.
Upload Documents will bring you to the standard COINS document upload screen, and allow you to attach new documents to this RFI.
The Linked Tab also has a drop down, which appears with a mouse hover:
All Linked Items will show all of the other communication items that link to the Project that this RFI is attached to.
Additionally the specific types of communications are listed, and any linked items can be viewed on a type-by-type basis.
RFI Actions
There are many actions that you can apply to this newly created RFI, via the main communications screen, once an RFI has been selected.
All actions work in the same way regardless of if they are run from this Actions list, or from the Options Menus on the individual tabs
Create Change Request from RFI – this action automatically creates a PCO change request
Print RFI - allows you to print and/or email a formatted copy of the RFI in PDF format. The layout of the printed RFI is completely configurable, so the example that you see may not look like the example in this guide.
When you select to print an RFI you are taken to the screen below, which will look familiar to any Coins ERP+ user, as it is based on the main printing Output Options tab.
Choose the form that you wish to use at the top of the screen – there may be just one form available.
If you want to email the RFI then select the “email” checkbox. If not, then uncheck this box, and the document will get added to the report queue in the usual way.
If you do want to email the form then you can add text into the “message” field. It is possible to build templates that pre-populate text for an emailed RFI. If such a template exists, select the HTML checkbox.
Using the Email Attachments tab, you can add any of the previously attached project documents to this email.
Once you are happy with your selection options, use the Next button to launch the print and/or email.
Email RFI documents – performs the same emailing functions of the previous action, without printing
You can also choose to email any documents that are attached to the project, by using the Attachments Tab
Once you have emailed the documents, a journal is automatically created against the RFI to record that the documents were sent. You can see the journal in the Linked Documents list for this RFI. Below, you can see the log from the print/email, and then the email:
Create Task - Tasks are used to create lists of things that must be done on a job. You can create a task as an independent item (which will be covered in more detail later), but this action creates a task from an RFI.
The description of the task will default to the code & description of the RFI – this can be edited if required.
The task needs to be part of a task list, selected by a drop down menu. Task lists are set up against specific projects.
The status, importance, and impact of the tasks are used to help categorize the task. The options that you choose are selected from pre-defined lists.
The task will need to be assigned to a person, and the default is the user who creates the task. You can override this via the lookup or by typing the person’s name into the “Assigned To” field.
The Due Date is used to track the task, and it can be flagged if overdue.
Once the task has been saved, then an action will be created on the assigned person’s activity workbench. See the “task” section below for more detail.
Create Transmittal from RFI - You can also create a transmittal from an RFI. This is used to create a formal record recording that the RFI has been sent. To do this use the “create transmittal” action – details of the RFI will automatically populate the transmittal screen. More details on transmittals are given in the next section.
Transmittals
A transmittal is used to formally record that a communication has been sent. A transmittal can be created from any of the other communication types as described above, or it can be created from scratch. The cover sheet for the transmittal can also be generated automatically.
To create a transmittal from scratch use the Add button on the transmittals tab:
Fill out the appropriate information:
The “Delivered by” field lists all possible delivery options.
The transmittal will default to being sent from the user that created it. This can be overwritten.
The transmittal needs to be sent to a person. This person can be selected via the lookup or entered directly into the “To” field.
The “from” and “to” addresses will be populated based on the “from” and “to” fields, although these can be overwritten if required.
The reasons for the transmittal can be selected by checking the appropriate boxes.
If an acknowledgement is required for the transmittal then check the “acknowledge” box and add a due date if you have one. Once the transmittal has been acknowledged you can reopen the transmittal and enter the acknowledgement date.
Once you have saved the transmittal, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created Transmittal, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Copies To”, “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the RFI section above.
The Items Tab is unique to transmittal and is used to record the items that were attached to the transmittal (if any). To record items that were included in a transmittal, use the Add button and enter the details. Don’t forget to save the record before you leave the screen.
Transmittal Actions
There are some actions that you can apply to this newly created RFI, via the main communications screen, once a Transmittal has been selected.
All actions work in the same way regardless of if they are run from this Actions list, or from the Options Menus on the individual tabs.
Print Transmittal - You can print a transmittal in the same way that you can print an RFI
The layout of the printed Transmittal is completely configurable, so the example that you see may not look like the example in this guide.
When you select to print a Transmittal, you are taken to the screen below, which will look familiar to any Coins ERP+ user, as it is based on the main printing Output Options tab.
Choose the form that you wish to use at the top of the screen – there may be just one form available.
If you want to email the Transmittal, then select the “email” checkbox. If not, then uncheck this box, and the document will get added to the report queue in the usual way.
If you do want to email the form then you can add text into the “message” field. It is possible to build templates that pre-populate text for an emailed RFI. If such a template exists, select the HTML checkbox.
Using the Email Attachments tab, you can add any of the previously attached project documents to this email.
Once you are happy with your selection options use the Next button to launch the print and/or email.
Email Transmittal Documents – performs the same emailing functions of the previous action, without printing
You can also choose to email any documents that are attached to the project, by using the Attachments Tab
Once you have emailed the documents, a journal is automatically created against the Transmittal to record that the documents were sent. You can see the journal in the Linked Documents list for this Transmittal. Below, you can see the log from the print/email:
Submittals
The Submittals Tab allows you to set up and maintain submittals for this project. During the construction process, many items must be submitted, approved, and purchased for a project. Project managers typically keep this information on a spreadsheet, but they can instead replace this spreadsheet through the use of submittals.
To create a submittal, use the Add Button on the Submittals Tab of the Communications Management Workbench
Fill out the appropriate details:
The source is the person representing the company who is presenting the submittal – e.g. if the submittal is coming from a subcontractor, the source will be the contact in the subcontractors.
The responsible party is the person responsible for approving the submittal.
The status, importance and impact field are all used to help categorize the submittal. The options that you chose are selected from pre-defined lists.
The “Open Date” field is the date that the submittal was created
The “Job Required Date” field is the date that a response is required by if the job is to proceed without delay.
The “lead time” fields are used if the submittal will need to be fabricated before it is sent in. These do not need to be used unless they are relevant.
The “Response Due” field is used to record the date that a response is expected by
The “closed Date” field is used to record the date that the submittal was closed.
Click Save when all information has been added.
Once you have saved the submittal, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created Submittal, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Copies To”, “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the previous sections above.
The Revisions Tab is unique to Submittals. There can be a number of versions for any given submittal. These are controlled via the Revisions tab.
To create a new submittal revision, use the Add icon in the revisions tab.
Select the new revision status from the selection box, and if required add the new submitted date or the new submittal received date.
When the revision is saved you will see the “Current Revision” field on the details tab has been updated
Submittals can also be grouped into packages. This allows you to group a number of submittals and submit them in one package. Approval of the package by the client will lead to approval of all submittals included in the package.
To group submittals into a package, first you need to create the package. You can do this from the “submittal packages” tab
Use the Add button to create a new Submittal Package
Once you have created the submittal package, hyperlink in the record and go to the Submittals tab. You can see all submittals in the system when the filter reads “All”
To allocate the submittal to the package, highlight the submittal and use the “add to package” action.
Submittal Actions
The printing and emailing of the Submittals is almost identical to those steps laid out above. Please see those previous sections for reference.
All actions work in the same way regardless of if they are run from this Actions list, or from the Options Menus on the individual tabs.
Send Transmittal - allows you to send a transmittal created from the submittal directly. Applying the “Send Transmittal” action immediately opens an “Add new Transmittal” page, as previously described. The transmittal information is initially taken from the submittal but can be overridden if required
Issues
The Issues Tab of the Communication Management Workbench is used to record any potential issues that may disrupt the project.
To add a new issue, simply click the Add button
Fill out the appropriate fields:
The “Subject” field is used to record the issue
The “Responsible Party” field is used to identify who is responsible for responding to the issue
The “Status”, “Importance”, “Impact” and “Type” fields are all used to help categorize the issue. The options that you chose are selected from pre-defined lists.
The “Open Date” field is the date that the issue was created
The “Closed Date” field is the date that the issue was closed
Once you have saved the Issue, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created record, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Log”, “Copies To”, “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the previous sections above.
Issues Actions
The emailing of Issue Documents, creating a Task, and Sending a Transmittal is almost identical to those steps laid out above. Please see those previous sections for reference.
All actions work in the same way regardless of if they are run from this Actions list, or from the Options Menus on the individual tabs.
Create Meeting - you can create a meeting as a response to the issue that has been raised. More details on the creation of meetings will be given in the meetings section below
Meetings
The Meetings Tab allows you to track those multiple project meetings and who attended them, create follow-on meetings and to ensure that work gets done by allocating actions from those meetings to people. Meetings can be created from some of the other communication items, and can also be created from scratch.
To create a new meeting, use the Add button on the Meetings Tab.
Fill out the appropriate details:
The type of meeting is selected from a list of options.
The subject of the meeting, the date of the meeting and the start and end times must be entered.
The frequency of the meeting should be selected from the drop-down list.
Click save when finished.
Once you have saved the Meeting, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created record, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Copies To”, “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the previous sections above.
Attendees Tab is used to record who was invited to the meeting
To add an invitee, use the Add button at the bottom of the page.
Either select the invitee using the lookup or type their name directly into the “name” field.
You can record if they actually turned up by using the “attended” checkbox.
Click Save when done
The Meeting Items Tab is used to record to-do items from the meeting, and who was allocated those items.
To create a new action item use the Add button at the bottom of the page.
An action item will create a task against the person who has the action item allocated to them. This can then be tracked.
A single action item will create an action line against the person who has had the action item allocated to them for this meeting only. No task will be created, but the action item will be included in the minutes of the meeting.
A recurring action item will create an action line against the person who has had the action item allocated to them. No task will be created, but the action item will be included in the minutes of every meeting that is created as a follow-on to the original meeting.
The item numbering will be done automatically.
The subject that you enter will become the subject of the task that is created.
The “Closed Date” field is the date that the action item was closed
The action item needs to be assigned to a person. You can select this person via a lookup, or type in the person’s name directly into the field.
When the action item is saved then a task is created in that person’s activity workbench. This can be used to track progress on completing the task.
Meeting Actions
The emailing of Meeting Documents, and the Printing of Meeting Minutes is almost identical to those steps laid out above. Please see those previous sections for reference.
All actions work in the same way regardless of if they are run from this Actions list, or from the Options Menus on the individual tabs.
Create Next Meeting - Once you have created an item there is an option to create a follow-on meeting
Our example meeting was setup as monthly, and so the Next Meeting was auto-created for the same date in the next month, using the same info from the first meeting.
Hyperlinking into this newly saved meeting shows that the Recurring Action from the previous meeting has been replicated here.
Daily Reports
Daily reports are used to record & document the day-to-day events that happen on site. When the entry of these reports is important to smooth business operations, and their submittal is mandatory, reports can be run to identify which jobs have not submitted Daily Reports. These reports can be scheduled to run automatically and can be automatically emailed to senior staff highlighting the lack of a daily report.
To create a new daily report use the Add button on the “Daily Reports” tab.
Fill out the appropriate details:
Location: A job may have more than one location and each location may be required to submit a Daily Report.
The weather & temperature fields can just be approximate.
The fields in the “details” tab are controlled by the way that the system has been set up, and so the screen you see may have different fields to the screen below.
Click save when all data has been entered.
Once you have saved the Daily Report, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created record, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Copies To”, “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the previous sections above.
The “Labor” tab allows you to record approximate labor usage for the day
Use the Add button at the bottom of the page to create a new entry.
Choose the “trade” from the pre-defined list.
Enter “Qty”, the number of tradesmen, & the Hours they worked save the record.
Note – this information is currently just stored as memo data and is not used to populate any other tables in COINS such as timesheets or plant timesheets.
The Subcontract, Equipment, and Material information can be added to this Daily Report in the same way
Daily Report Actions
The emailing of Daily Report Documents, the Printing of Daily Reports, the sending of a Transmittal and the Creation of an Issue are almost identical to those steps laid out above. Please see those previous sections for reference.
Journals
There may be communications or notes not covered by any of the above communication types. You can record these by adding a journal via the Communications Tab
To add a journal, first select a journal type from the selection box and then use the Add icon on the Journals screen, found under the Communications Tab of the Communication Management Workbench.
The list of journal types is controlled by your company, and so if you want to use this feature to record an activity that is not listed then talk to your system administrator.
Here we’re recording the receipt of a document.
Once you have saved the Journal, and via the Communications Management Workbench hyperlinked into the newly created Journal, you will see a number of other tabs which relate.
The “Documents” and “Linked” tabs work exactly as described in the previous sections above.
You can use the “Recipients” tab to set up and maintain a list of recipients for the journal entry.
Use the Add button at the bottom of the page to create a new entry.
Fill in the name of the Recipient, and their role; most likely, Copies To.
Click save when complete.
Task Lists
Task lists are used to plan future activities, and to track progress as those activities are completed. Each task needs to be assigned to a person – that way you know who is responsible for what and can easily check to see how they are getting on with their lists.
Tasks can be auto-created from a variety of different places within Project Management, but can also be created from scratch. However before you create a task you need to set up at least one task list. You can have as many task lists as required, and they help to subdivide the tasks.
On the Lists Tab, click on the Task List option on the drop down menu and click Add.
Fill out the details:
List Code: Unique code for this list
Prefix: If you enter a prefix in this column, it overrides the task number prefix from the PT/TSKCODE parameter.
Recurring: whether this is a recurring task list
Interval: If you checked the Recurring field, you are prompted to select how often the task list should recur, such as Day, Week, Two Weeks, etc.
Template: if many lists will have similar tasks, Task List Templates can be used
Start Date, End Date, Next Due Date
Assigned: the contact person receiving the list
Click Save when all details have been entered
To add a task to a task list or to check on the current status of tasks go to the Tasks Workbench, under the “lists” tab:
Please make note of the “Task List” selector at the bottom of the screen. Make sure that this is filtered to the correct task list or to All Task Lists. If you have created a task and cannot see it then double-check that you’re looking at the right task list as sometimes this is hidden below the bottom of the screen.
Use the Add button to create a new task and fill out the appropriate details
First choose the correct task list on which this task should appear.
Then add details of your task. You can create tasks for other users as well as for yourself.
Add a due date when the task is due – this will be used to check if the task is overdue.
The “Status”, “Importance” and “Impact” fields are all used to help categorize the task that is created from the action item. The options that you chose are selected from pre-defined lists.
Click Save when complete.
Once you save the task, a task is also created on your/the user’s activity workbench, which can be accessed via the icon at the top of any page.
You can complete the task here via the Activity Workbench.
And it will automatically complete the task here:
Other Tabs and Reports
Once you have entered all of this data into the system there are a number of different ways to track progress; the simplest and most obvious is via the Open Items Tab.
This tab shows you all items that have been created against a job but have not yet been completed. This includes action items, issues, RFIs, submittals, tasks & transmittals – basically anything with an “allocated to” and “due date” field.
You can filter this list by use of the filters at the bottom of the screen – you can limit views to only those items allocated to you, to only overdue items and can also filter by item type.
Clicking on the underlined hyperlinks will drill down into the item.
You can also use the Project Dashboard to get a graphical overview of current project status. The colors denote the age of the different items. The items displayed on this chart can be setup with Dashboard Configuration.
If you click on one of the bars, you can drill down to see the information broken up into more detail
Below you can see open RFI’s, by level of impact. A mouse hover shows the percentages of the different impact levels.
Finally, there is a small number of reports that can be run for some of the various communication types. They show the details of each of the communication types, with the question and answer, and list any items linked to them.
