Systematic digital evaluation increases the quality of projects

Aarsleff Rail wants to become better at sharing experience and knowledge on often complex and long-term projects, optimizing processes, and reducing errors.

”It is in Aarsleff Rail's DNA to focus on continuous optimization. But while it can be relatively easy to make an excavator dig a few percent better, optimizing the errors that will inevitably occur in large projects like ours can be much more difficult. On the one hand, it can be difficult for skilled employees to admit mistakes openly, and on the other hand, we have lacked a tool for sharing knowledge about errors and the underlying causes.”

- Claus Dam Christophersen, section director at Aarsleff Rail

After an internal idea competition in Aarsleff Rails, where one of the winning projects was about better and continuous evaluation of projects, Context& was chosen as a partner to realize the idea.

The solution was a new web app that collects data and experiences from Aarsleff Rails' many projects in one place. In the Project Learning app, all projects are evaluated in four phases: the offer to the customer, the handover to the contractors, the actual execution of the task, and the final handover to the customer.

The app was developed in close collaboration with Aarsleff Rail and is built on Microsoft Dataverse as the backend, with a user-friendly and elegant frontend designed by design agency Little Studio.

"We have gotten an effective tool where we can collect data and share knowledge in all phases. Now, we can continuously and systematically improve the processes that are in the construction process - from the initial offer to the final delivery to the customer. This can give us an even higher construction quality, a better economy, and most importantly; an even greater job satisfaction and well-being for our employees."

- Claus Dam Christophersen, section director at Aarsleff Rail

Context&'s solution enables Aarsleff Rail to systematize the collection of data and experience from projects to a much greater extent so that the individual project manager has a better overview of their and others' projects. This has given Aarsleff Rail a solid foundation for optimizing processes during a project and from project to project.

The Project Learning app now keeps track of project managers' experiences by continuously measuring ten parameters, including collaboration, work environment, economy, and sustainability. The project manager is asked to explain the underlying reason if a lower score is recorded on one or more parameters. Not to point fingers or assign responsibility but to spot patterns, improve processes, and resolve issues. At the end of a project, the app also ensures that the proper knowledge is passed on so that colleagues can benefit from it in the future.

"The solution has turned out even better than I expected and is beautiful and easy to use. Context&'s employees have been sharp and always well prepared for our many meetings along the way, which is something we appreciate at Aarsleff Rail. We now have an agile solution that allows us to make all the evaluations we want and can build on to share even more knowledge in the future."

- Claus Dam Christophersen, section director at Aarsleff Rail