During 1989 Davy Mining, Ltd. (Tunnelling Division), selected a project management software package for its estimating and contract departments from the large number of 'off-the-shelf' systems that are available on the market. As staff acquired competence in use of the basic program they found that they required more advanced features than were provided by the original package. Initially, employees of Davy Mining-who are mining engineers rather than computer programmers-made minor alterations to the package themselves. However, it became obvious from an early stage that the desired modifications could not be achieved by simple editing. Discussions with the supplier confirmed that the software could be customized, although this would require a rewrite of several sections of the original package. At the time Davy Mining did not have sufficient expertise in house, so a specification and contract were placed with the supplier to make major changes to the standard package. These consisted, essentially, of modified screen display formats and customized graphics reports. The project management package is used to prepare tender programmes; to convert tender programmes to contract programmes; to monitor the progress of contract programmes; to modify a contract programme to suit a variation; and to administer the contract. The commercial advantage of using the package is that these operations can be completed more quickly by fewer personnel.
