CASE STUDY

Systems Implementation and Integration

Client
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

For a number of years, the New Orleans Aviation Board has been undergoing a significant transformation of the physical facilities at the airport. This transformation has involved completion of numerous large scale capital projects covering virtually all aspects of the airport's operations. Because of the magnitude of the projects underway, the Aviation Board has also relied heavily on both external and internal staff to process and manage the flow of paperwork related to this program.

This flow of paperwork included items such as contracts, change orders and amendments, request for information, budgets, funding requests from outside agencies, bond issues, payments to contractors and consultants, and closeout documentation for each of the projects.

Following the events of Hurricane Katrina, the capital facilities program at the airport, the staff resources of the airport were reduced significantly, which has placed a burden on the efficiency of the program.

In order to compensate, the Aviation Board commissioned GCR to automate and streamline, as much as possible, the flow of information related to the capital facilities program. A complementary objective is to provide significant transparency into the information which is generated through the capital facilities program for senior management.

A second primary objective is to improve reporting of DBE activity at the airport, with a corresponding view by management of activities which occur by contractors, architects, engineers, and others providing services at the airport.

This will all be accomplished through the expanded use of existing information technology systems, as well as the implementation of new management system modules, and integration of these systems so that data is shared effectively.

This program is comprehensive in its scope, and will involve most aspects of the airport's operation. The project includes several phases, as follows:

• Implementation of GCR's Airport IQ AIRPortal
  Under this phase, GCR is implementing its AIRPortal application for use by all service providers to the airport to enter and manage their DBE quarterly reports. This system allows reporting by contractors, architects, engineers, consultants, concessionaires and rental car companies, as well as those subject to DBE procurement reporting requirements.
  
  
• APM Implementation and Integration with Ross Accounting
  This phase includes implementation of new APM modules and establishment of integration between the airport's accounting system and GCR's Airport Project Management (APM) system. The additional modules include follows:
  
  
  • CIP Development
    
    
  • Grant Reconciliation
    
    
  • FAA Drawdown
    
    
  • Project Management
    
    
  • Capital Management
    

• Integrated DBE Reporting
  Four distinct and unique system elements will be deployed in this phase, as follows:
  
  
  1. DBE Certification Database
     
     
  2. Automatic DBE Calculations for Concessions
     
     
  3. Payment Spread for DBE’s
     
     
  4. FAA DBE Reporting
     
     
• Payment Spread by Airport Service Provider
  In this phase, functionality will be provided which allows contractors and consultants to input the spread of Board payments to their subs (including DBEs). This function will allow airport contractors and consultants to go online and spread payments made to subcontractors, which then feed the DBE program.
  

• Management Portal
  Under this phase, GCR will deploy the informational/management dashboard which summarizes all relevant information into a logical and summarized view. This portal will allow executive staff to view summary information on agreements, revenues, airline activity and cargo, and capital facilities program, including project schedules and expenditures, DBE utilization, and critical upcoming activities.