Estimate of Time and Cost Savings Using CMART on Large Projects

One of the primary reasons that Parametrix developed the software was in response to client cost, schedule and project management issues that we found invariably occur in large-scale environmental impact efforts.  In providing the following example, we directly considered our experiences and budgets in projects, calculating labor costs for traditional approaches, and the resulting labor savings that clients could experience from using CMART on a large or controversial project in the following areas:

Organization and Management
We conservatively estimate reducing set up time by half when using CMART
Increasing efficiency and consistency, and reducing chances for errors that occur during assemble, catalog, delineate, assign, maintain and track, and then replicate and send out individual packages of comment letters to all responders once assignments were made.  CMART also provides additional levels of quality control and management to clients to review and update assignments and progress on responses continuously during the project development process.  Initial setup for comment responses for a major project can be 200 hours.  We conservatively estimate reducing these hours by half, or approximately 100 hours.

Comment Response
On average, using CMART reduces effort in the response and review process by about 20%
Efficiency gains for each comment responder by having all comment letters and comments needing responses prepared or reviewed, easily accessible on their computer desktop, and providing automated search access for similar comments or responses.  We estimate an average reduction of 20% in effort for responders, and similar or greater efficiencies for reviewers.  Using the example of 3 iterations, this equates to an estimated savings of 200 hours.

Preparation of Review Drafts 
CMART provides for significant savings in time to prepare review drafts
Reducing word processing and project coordinator time to prepare each review draft for distribution to client reviewers, savings are substantial for this effort (80 hours per review round and 200 hours for a three-review cycle).  Quality is also improved by allowing reviewers to see comments and responses side by side in finish quality, from the first review round to the camera-ready version.

Word Processing and Project Coordinator Time (document assembly)
Document assembly time can essentially be cut in half with CMART
Reducing the time it takes to prepare the final PDFs of comment letters and responses side-by-side (+/- 100 hours for a large EIS).  This is highly conservative as this does not incorporate the process and time it takes for leads to review the document for quality assurance prior to release.  This assembly process can take up to a month for large EIS’s and we estimate this time at one to two weeks with the application of CMART.

Total Savings
Ignoring any efficiency gains from client staff and an overall improvement in quality control, the total labor savings is in the above large EIS example is estimated to average well over 600 hours.  At an average billing rate of $100/hour, the labor savings could well exceed $60,000.  In addition, the automated tools in CMART reduce the costs that can occur due to later revisions in project approach or other factors that can require late occurring changes to responses.  Another way clients have articulated this benefit is to take the potential savings and reinvest that money back into the project to achieve improved quality of responses.

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