A good performance measurement system must be stable, reliable and future-proof

A performance measurement system (PMS) falls under the automation section. Software that can be used to demonstrate within a project that the client's specified requirements are being met. The fact that not all PMSs perform equally well themselves is experienced experimentally on a regular basis in the infrastructure sector. Often sky-high costs have already been incurred by then and one has to limp along with software that may have to serve for 30 years.

Thus, it is of utmost importance to choose a PMS that is stable, reliable and future-proof when taking on a project. Soltegro has been building software for major industries for years and has been dedicated to perfecting performance measurement systems. We speak with Director Hans de Man and Manager of Systems Engineering Franc Fouchier, about the PMS software the company develops.

Validated work

Fouchier opens the discussion, "Most projects are pre-financed. Per month, contractors receive a fee in return, provided it can be demonstrated that the requested performance has been met. So if performance is poor or lacking in demonstrability, no payment is made. A PMS is then indispensable and is inextricably linked to contracts and invoicing. Since payment is involved, the software must be validated. For that reason, our PMS software is validated by independent auditors."

It's time for a generic PMS

Because no project is the same, each PMS may be seen as customized. De Man says: "That's where you see the problems arising with various software developers. There is no manual for writing a PMS. Often the development of the PMS for a specific project involves trial and error, the software is delivered full of 'bugs,' and at the end it has cost an unnecessary amount of money. And continues to cost money because the PMS fails from time to time during the course of its use."

Soltegro has now more than earned its spurs in the world of performance measurement systems. "For example, in 2014 we built the PMS for the Limmen Lock, then for the Beatrix Locks. After several more projects, we asked ourselves if we couldn't define the common denominators between projects and build a generic PMS based on that. A PMS that is layered and fully configurable according to the variable requirements per project. That starts with the difference between wet and dry projects," said De Man. And so it happened. Sluis Eefde is now the first project to start working with the generic PMS developed by Soltegro. "This not only saves costs, but also guarantees stability and reliability," adds Fouchier.

The three-layer model

Fouchier outlines the construction of the generic PMS: "We talk about the three-layer model. The first layer is the generic part, built by us based on the common denominator we found in each project. The second layer asks whether the project is wet or dry, so that's where we distinguish between ground, road and hydraulic projects. The third layer is specific to the individual project. There you can enter the variables that are not generic."

Future-proofing

A PMS must last from project inception to end of maintenance phase (The PMS software Soltegro supplies has links to the maintenance system). This can be as long as 30 years. In this, Soltegro uses the same principle as Windows updates. Fouchier: "We use 'state of the art' techniques to build the software. This allows us to implement changes in a short cyclical manner in a controlled manner. For example, a patch that is necessary for the application to function properly with operating system updates. Because of the generic approach, we solve this with one patch that is rolled out across all instances of the PMS software. The user doesn't have to worry about that. We can do this because the architecture choices for the software are made in the generic part, the first layer. This allows a PMS to grow with the evolution of the operating system."

Finally, we talk about ease of use and security. De Man: "We only work in the Cloud. Contrary to popular belief, this is more secure than working on local servers. It's good for scalability, backups, validation and it makes software updates easier. So working safely, working collaboratively and working in a controlled way are guaranteed factors."