The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence, which works to maximise in the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK.
The multi-million-pound Helios project has seen the relocation of Dstl’s capabilities to Porton Down over a number of years. The most recent opening in this programme of works was the £30m Energetics Analysis Centre (EAC), which was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Cambridge in October 2020. This particular specialist centre provides Dstl with world-class science and engineering capabilities to provide a defence against energetic or explosive materials and protect against terrorist and criminal threats.
The six facilities delivered so far have been leading up to a brand-new, £100m chemical weapons defence centre, which is currently under construction.
How did Sypro help?
The programme of works undertaken are technically, very complex, due to their nature, meaning that further development and change in design was experienced throughout each project. The single, central platform streamlined this change management process, promoting collaboration and providing the all-important single version of truth to keep the whole project team on track throughout the complex process.
Contract Manager assisted with management reporting throughout the works, helping to coordinate and report updates across the team easily and effectively. This further promoted collaboration and strong working relationships across the delivery team, which have proved crucial to the successful delivery of such complicated works.
After being introduced to the software by Pick Everard, the client also really believed and understood the powerful value a single management platform can bring to capital works projects and now uses it across many of its capital projects with other construction service providers.
“Sypro’s software has been absolutely fantastic for us for our work with Dstl. NEC contracts are all about collaborative working and Contract Manager is geared towards enabling that collaboration while promoting a single version of the truth.
“We’ve had great feedback from across the whole project team on how it has made the administration of a technically complex programme of works much more streamlined and manageable. We also found the training modules invaluable, helping to onboard the whole project team in an easy and user-friendly manner.”
Lance Hodges, Strategic Account Director for Dstl at Pick Everard
