Aphex Update: December 2021

Get clued up on the most recent Aphex update - not one, but two of the largest improvements to our software, ever.

...Oh, and I guess we should mention our brand new Field app is now in limited beta too?

Today, we're launching our shiny new and improved Insights app. Rebuilt from the ground up to unlock access to real-time performance, with a focus on empowering everyone - Managers, Planners and Engineers alike - to instantly understand what actually happened on site.

Teams don't just want to know what the top delays are, or what the success rate is. It's a no brainer - to inform the decision making process, you also need to understand the why, the who. And you need access to the most up-to date information, right away.

It just makes sense. People should have immediate access to the Insight that exist for their project, and the reports should be ready when you are. Every time.

So, what's new with Insight 2.0?

Five new and re-imagined analytics reports

Automatic, ready to go, and updated in real-time with every. single. change. the team makes to the plan.

• Production Control (Overview of Performance, Delay Concentration and Delay Root Cause)
• Variance (Variance Overview and Key Tasks) Bonus - now completed Key Tasks can be removed from the visible data set 🙌
• Labour & Plant (Resource Demand)
• Material (Material Demand)
• Task Status

And, coupled with the flash new reports, we've introduced new ways to tailor charts with advanced filtering and custom timeframes. Those of you who've been around for a while will be stoked to hear it's now also possible to filter by 'Delay Reason' 😎 Tell me more!

Access Control

Sometimes, it's not practical for all information to be on-show to everyone. New layers of access control allows the team to be connected to real-time performance data, with the confidence that each person can only see what they need to.

• 'Standard members' of an Organisation can now access Insight for each Aphex Project they have a role on
• Appointing a user with the new Organisation role of 'Analyst' allows access to Insight for all Aphex Projects, company wide, without having to grant any Organisation Admin permissions.

Dive deeper

Seamless access to underlying data. Expose the work that is directly contributing to the reports and insights. Supporting teams to finally answer that elusive question; "What are the tasks are causing this delay?" 🤔  

• Immediately receive a detailed breakdown of all information behind a chart. So, go ahead - build a specific view, play with the timeframe and filter down to specifics. Then, see all work powering the dataset. Trace things right back to each individual Task or Subtask. Open any of these Tasks (without having to leave the Insight app) to learn who's responsible and discover the primary cause, the root issue.
• Or, in one click, export the very same raw data in a CSV download. Use this as an easy communication tool, or to help establish a record of delay.

Sharing

• We like to keep things simple, so Project teams can now share the live reports between each other just using the URL. The magic? The viewer will be linked directly to the exact report, with the exact filters the sender applied (permission dependent).
• Take an instant snapshot of any chart to capture the exact configuration (timeframe, filters etc) downloaded in PNG image format.

OK, what else is new?

Aphex Field (limited Beta)

In other exciting news, today we're releasing our site collaboration app, Aphex Field, into limited beta 🤩 Now, let everyone on the project contribute to hitting planned goals.

Field is a personalised daily and weekly work plan app, and it's a major step in our goal to empower everyone on a project to understand their work and how it fits into the bigger picture.

We see that planning today happens in separate bubbles - three distinct silos. Planners, Engineers, Site Teams each plan work, but the outputs of which are almost entirely incompatible with each other. Our belief at Aphex has always been eliminating these silos and connecting everyone to the real plan results in better plans and less "work about work".

Not only can teams distribute and communicate Aphex plans project wide, but we're now supporting delay tracking straight from the field. Right from the people delivering the work. So, for a small taste of what's to come, Site Foremen using Aphex Field can:

• Access their daily work plan
• See what new permits may need to be completed
• Request their engineer to book an inspection
• Confirm if their work is on track (or not!)
• And, record why this work slipped

Can't wait? Existing Aphex teams who are keen to be included in the limited beta can register their project to be on the waitlist here.

Task Activity Log

From the moment a Task is created, we’ll record every edit, update or change. Instantly see all users who took action, understand precisely what they did, and find it stamped with the exact time they made the change (down to the very second!) Straight on the Task itself. There’s no more hiding around here…

But wait, there's more!

One thing's for sure - as we expand Aphex to facilitate project wide collaboration, it's clear there’s no such thing as a one size fits all ‘user’. Some people require digging around in the details and others are screaming “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!“. Now, users can set the appropriate level of access to their plans.

Organisation Roles

• New role of 'Limited Member'. Now, people in Site Teams can hold the Project Role of 'Field Reporter' to access the Aphex Field app (for reduced or no cost).

Project Roles

• New role of 'Field Reporter.' Field Reporters can be Assigned to work to drive their daily plans in Aphex Field.
• Updated role of 'Contributors' - Editors are now Contributors. Learn more here.
• Retired role of 'Viewers' - any existing Viewers will be migrated to 'Contributors'.

Task Permissions

• New attribute of 'Assigned To'  - tasks have owners, subcontractors and, now, assignees. Users can be assigned planned tasks, enabling multi-user collaboration across Planner and the upcoming Field app.

Package Permissions

• New attribute of 'Assigned To' - like Tasks, Packages can be assigned to users so they automatically inherit any work added to the Package.
• New rules - Teams can share Packages so that multiple Contributors can collaborate and contribute work into the same Package.  Learn more here.

(Don't panic!) For a seamless transition - any users planning work in Packages they don't own today, will inherit Shared Ownership so that your existing Packages remain available to you 😇

Plans

Our Aphex Field app is included inside each of our three plans.

• Starter (free forever 😏): Communicate plans to the field with 'Read Only' access to Aphex Field
• Professional: Full access to Aphex Field & 50 Free 'Field Only' (Limited Member) licences
• Enterprise: Full access to Aphex Field & unlimited 'Field Only (Limited Member) licences.

Thank you and goodnight!

At AphexHQ, we’re over the moon! A mountain of these changes were based on feedback and comments from users, our community - all of you!

The upshot? With such clear vision of the daily obstacles you’re faced with, we’re inspired to be curious in our approach to build better tools, better solutions and (hopefully) make your life just that bit easier.

So, thank you. Please don’t ever stop sharing your ideas! Tell us, show us, sing us a song - I promise we’re listening.

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...and that's it! For now.. 🤫

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