Nialli Inc., a SaaS collaboration company, has announced two additional applications, Nialli Design Planner and Nialli Workspace, to complement Nialli Visual Planner, its digital pull planning tool for construction projects. This suite of applications supports digital transformation of the end-to-end design and planning cycles of construction and engineering projects, modeled after the Lean Construction Institute’s Last Planner System (LPS).

Nialli Design Planner is used in the preconstruction phase of a project. Its weekly format and commitment tracking functionality helps teams know what everyone is doing and when a task needs to be completed. Drawings and documents, such as PDFs and PowerPoint, are stored and viewed in Nialli Workspace where notes, inking and other collaboration tools are available for comments and contributions that typically take place in a Big Room environment. When the project is ready for construction, Nialli Workspace is used alongside Nialli Visual Planner for project materials such as safety training, meeting presentations and project reviews.

The full Nialli suite can be used by all project stakeholders on any device and from any location, providing the flexibility of having any combination of co-located and remote participants during planning sessions. The applications can also be used on large interactive surfaces, such as the Nureva Wall, to replicate the paper-based big wall experience that is familiar to many design and planning teams.

With a digital process, items can be updated on the spot, with all data being captured for in-depth analysis and for driving improvements. No transcription is required.

“Since launching Nialli Visual Planner, we have been thrilled by customer reaction to the benefits of digitizing a portion of the Last Planner System in a way that is easy to understand and adopt,” said Nancy Knowlton, Nialli’s CEO. “With the introduction of Nialli Design Planner and Nialli Workspace, we now have a suite of applications that support the full design and planning cycle of construction and engineering projects, from initiation to closure.”

Nialli Design Planner

Nialli Design Planner is a design and preconstruction visual planning tool that helps keep teams on time and on budget. 

Plans

Projects can have many different plans, depending on their size and complexity. 

• In each plan, users can set up the calendar, create lanes to represent working areas and identify teams or disciplines by color. Dependencies or predecessors can be set between activities across lanes. If things change, individuals can add, edit or rearrange activities.
• Milestones can be added manually or imported from an Excel file. Sub milestones or decision points can be identified by color.

Adding Groups and Users

Once a plan has been created, groups (disciplines) and team members can be added individually or imported from an Excel file.

• Groups can be assigned a color for quick identification.
• User permission levels can be set to view only, view my group, edit my group, edit all or as a plan administrator.

Parking Lot

The parking lot is a placeholder for activities not yet placed in the calendar, speeding up the planning process by ensuring everyone can prepare for the planning meeting in advance. Details, such as expected completion date, person responsible and requirements for task completion, can be added. Digital tags can then be pulled from the parking lot to the committed date and lane.

Dependencies

Stakeholders could view dependencies or predecessors and not be caught off guard by mounting delays. Identifying a predecessor can be generated by simply dragging a connector to a previous activity. Dependencies between independent tasks and across lanes can also be set. When a task becomes at risk, red visual cues prompt attention.

Constraints

Constraints to getting work done can be added to individual activities or to the constraint log. Constraints are tracked to ensure that they are addressed. Visual alerts identify if a constraint is causing a delay.

Generating Reports

Reports provide data on the progress of a project, helping teams see trends.

• Activity tags are given a status as done or not done and why.
• Real-time reports are available, including the percent plan complete (PPC) and reasons for variance.

Nialli Workspace

Nialli Workspace is a visual conversation solution that helps teams collaborate and contribute on construction and engineering projects. Users can add and store artifacts, project-related documents, export data for future analysis, mark up drawings, create templates and initiate conversations by enabling contribution by team members. Nialli Workspace is available in Windows and browser versions. It can be deployed in local, on premise and cloud environments and leverages industry-standard authentication and encryption.

Sections

Workflow-based areas of a workspace have workable sections.

• Sections can be created with custom colors or backgrounds for a specific purpose. This allows navigation between content parts of the workspace.
• Documents such as a safety sheet or templates can also be imported and used as a background.

Notes

A digital version of sticky notes is editable.

• Note color and size, text size and adding a hyperlink are editable.

Groups

Groups can be created, providing the ability to group notes and images.

• Groups can be set to have specific-colored notes, auto expansion and snap to grid.

Titles

Enter comments or a headline in the workspace.

• Titles can be different sizes and colors.

Connectors

Create dependency or logic ties between objects.

• Connectors can have different styles, color and direction to assist in visualizing relationships between items.

Drawing and Writing

Two types of ink are available.

• There is an acetate layer in each section for mark ups or thoughts that can be erased or left as a record of a conversation. The ink does not stick to the objects.
• When viewing a PDF, inking controls can be used to mark up a document. The ink will be saved in the document when exported as a new PDF.

Import

Insert images and documents including PDF and PowerPoint materials.

• Images can be moved and scaled as needed.
• PDFs can be marked up with permanent ink.

Sharing

Invite guests in view only or edit mode.

• See who is currently working in a workspace.
• Chat with members and guests via Teams integration.

QuickShare

Enables contribution to a workspace by both members and guests.

• A QR code can be scanned to enable anonymous contribution of camera pictures, images or notes to a group that has been set up to receive content.
• A link can also be used to contribute from a browser on a PC.

Deployment

Leverages industry-standard authentication and encryption.

• Deployed in the Microsoft Azure AD environment.
• Integrates with SSO schemes.

Nureva Wall

The Nureva Wall gives teams the large horizontal space they need to visualize their project designs and plans, spark simultaneous conversations and updates.

The Nureva Wall is 7.5-in. (2.29 m) wide and combines a high-definition ultra-short-throw projector with a projected capacitive multitouch surface to create an expansive interactive working space to display entire phases of work and the connections and relationships to other work.

Typically, multiple Nureva Wall systems are installed side by side to allow for a more expansive project view. The Nureva Wall system is not required to be used with the Nialli suite.

Gestures

Gestures have been designed for use on large interactive surfaces and displays, to both speed user adoption and remove waste associated with the traditional analog methods of the Last Planner System. For example, a simple two-finger twist of a card will change the status of a card to ‘done’, shown with a line through the card. Multiple groups can be updated simultaneously.

Pricing and Availability

Multiple pricing plans are available for Nialli applications.