Automating Project Site Set-Up for Capital Projects
Overview
How a global manufacturer replaced hours of manual set-up work with a fully automated process that takes under 90 seconds
Industry: Building Materials & Insulation Manufacturing
The Client is a global manufacturer of insulation and building materials, running a constant stream of capital investment projects across its factories and business units worldwide. Every time a new project is approved, it needs its own secure online workspace where the project team can store documents, drawings, and approvals in an organized, easy-to-find way. Project details start out in the company’s project management system and are passed automatically into the process that builds this online workspace.
The Challenge
Before this system was built, setting up a workspace for a new project meant real, manual work: someone in IT had to create the site, build out the folders by hand, copy the right categories and labels onto documents, and set up the right people with the right access – all before the project team could even upload a single file. As the number of projects grew, this caused the same problems again and again:
- Slow, manual set-up: Setting up a new project site took hours, and teams had to wait on IT before they could get started.
- Inconsistent structure: Folder layouts, labels, and views were never quite the same from one project to the next, which made it hard to search and compare information across projects.
- Manual, error-prone permissions: Deciding who could see or edit what was done by hand for every single site, which sometimes meant people had the wrong level of access, or had to wait for it to be fixed.
- No central visibility: There was no single place that reliably listed every project site that had been set up, so leadership had no easy way to see or check on all active projects.
- No audit trail: There was no dependable record of what had been set up, when, or whether it had worked – if something went wrong, fixing it depended on someone remembering what happened.
- No self-service growth path: If a project team needed a new type of folder partway through a project, there was no proper way to request and approve that – it usually meant raising an IT ticket and waiting.
Solution
TechTiera designed and built an automated system that takes a newly approved project and turns it into a fully ready, properly organized online workspace – with no manual IT work involved – in under 90 seconds.
1. Instant, automatic site creation
As soon as a project is approved, the details are passed automatically into the system, which builds the new site right away. It first checks to make sure a site for that project doesn’t already exist, then creates the right type of site for that kind of project. All of this happens using a secure digital sign-in method behind the scenes, so no passwords or shared secrets are ever stored or exposed anywhere in the process.
2. The same organized structure, every time
Document folders, categories, and labels are all built from one shared, centrally managed list of project types and document categories. This means every project gets the same well-organized set of folders and labels, in the same order, applied the same way – right down to correctly handling folder names with special characters like apostrophes. If the company wants to change how folders or categories are organized in the future, that master list is updated in one place – nobody needs to change how the system itself works.
3. Automatic access and team set-up
The right groups of people are automatically given the right level of access – full control for site owners, editing rights for project members, and read-only access for visitors – at both the site and folder level, with no manual set-up required. If a project also needs its own Microsoft Teams space, that gets created automatically too, with the correct person already set as its owner.
4. Reliability and a full written record of every run
Every step of the process is designed to safely try again on its own if something briefly goes wrong, so nothing ever gets duplicated or left half-finished. A complete, timestamped record of what happened is saved automatically for every single project set-up, whether it succeeded or failed, and every new site is logged in one central place – giving the Client a single spot to find, browse, and check on every active project site.
5. A simple, self-service way to request new folders later
Project needs change after a site is up and running. A simple online form lets project teams request new folder categories at any time, choosing from an approved list. A manager reviews the request and can approve it, reject it, or approve just part of it – and once approved, the new folders are created automatically and the person who asked for them is notified. A simple dashboard lets approvers see every request and its current status at a glance.
How It Works
From a project team’s point of view, the process starts and ends with a project being approved — everything else happens on its own, in the right order, every time.
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Request received | The approved project’s details are sent automatically into the system and checked to make sure everything needed is there before anything else happens. |
| Site created | The system checks that the site doesn’t already exist, then builds the right type of site for that kind of project. |
| Folders set up | Document folders, labels, and views are built out automatically from the shared master list — with several folders being set up at the same time to save time. |
| Access applied | The correct groups of people are given the right level of access, at both the site and folder level. |
| Logged & registered | The new site is added to the central list of active projects, and a full written record of the set-up is saved for future reference. |
What This Runs On
In everyday terms, the system is built from a few straightforward pieces working together:
- Automated set-up service: A cloud-based automation service carries out each step of building the site, running securely without needing anyone to sign in manually.
- Familiar Microsoft tools: Sites, document libraries, folders, and permissions all live in the company’s existing Microsoft 365 / SharePoint environment.
- Self-service request forms: Project teams use a simple online form and approval workflow to request new folders after a site is live, with no IT ticket needed.
- Secure behind-the-scenes sign-in: Sign-in between systems is handled with secure digital certificates, so no passwords or secret codes are ever stored or exposed.
- One master list, not scattered rules: One shared, centrally managed list of project types, folder names, and document categories controls how every site is built — so changes are made once, in one place.
- Connected to existing systems: The system is connected directly to the company’s project management software, so nobody has to re-type project details anywhere.
Who Benefits
Project teams
The moment a project is approved, the workspace is ready. There is no ticket to raise and no wait – the team can start uploading documents and collaborating the same day, with the right folders and the right access already in place.
IT administrators
IT no longer spends hours on repetitive, manual site set-up. The system handles every step automatically and does it the same way every time, freeing IT capacity for higher-value work instead of routine requests.
Document controllers
Every project site follows the same structure – the same folders, the same labels, the same categories – so the team always knows where things belong, and information stays easy to find across every project.
Senior leadership
Every active project site is visible in one central place. Leadership can see what has been set up, track status, and rely on a full record of every request – reducing risk and giving a clear, up-to-date picture of the whole project portfolio.
Business Outcomes
- Dramatic time savings: Setting up a new project site dropped from 2–4 hours of manual work to under 90 seconds – a 78% improvement.
- Consistent set-up, every time: Every project site is built the same way, with the same folders, labels, and access rules – removing the inconsistency that used to make comparing projects difficult.
- No more waiting: Project teams have working access – the right folders, the right labels, the right people – from the moment the site is ready, with no waiting on access requests.
- Dependable and easy to check: Every set-up automatically retries if something briefly goes wrong, and a full record is saved for every run, giving the Client a dependable history to check back on.
- Easy to update, without rebuilding anything: New project types, folder categories, or access rules are added by updating a shared list – not by changing how the underlying system works.
- Self-service, without losing oversight: Teams can request new folders themselves after a site goes live, without an IT ticket, while a manager still reviews and approves every request.
Before & after
| Dimension | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
Set-up time | 2–4 hours of manual work | Under 90 seconds, automatic |
Team experience | IT ticket, then a wait | Site ready right after approval |
Structure | Varied by whoever set it up | The same for every project |
Access | Set up by hand | Applied automatically, correctly |
Visibility | Hard to find all active sites | One central, searchable list |
Record-keeping | Relied on memory | Full written record, every time |
Growing later | Needed an IT ticket | Self-service request, still approved |
Why TechTiera
TechTiera brings together Microsoft 365 expertise, document and records management experience, and business-process automation know-how. This combination means the team can address not just the automation itself, but also how information is organized, kept secure, rolled out, and supported over the long run.
- Microsoft 365 set-up and management: Setting up and managing SharePoint, Teams, email, and related Microsoft 365 tools and security settings.
- Easy-to-use automation and forms: Building simple online forms, approval flows, and automations that are easy for non-technical staff to use.
- Document and records management: Organizing documents, folders, and approvals so information stays easy to find and easy to govern over time.
- Process improvement: Understanding current ways of working, mapping out a better process, and building and rolling out the improvement.
- Global delivery: Local and international teams supporting organizations that operate across many countries.
- Ongoing support: Ongoing day-to-day support, improvements, monitoring, and help when something needs fixing.
Conclusion
By combining automatic site creation with a simple self-service request process, TechTiera gave the Client a way to set up every project workspace quickly, consistently, and with a full, dependable record of what happened. What used to take hours of manual, inconsistent work now happens entirely on its own – from an approved project to a ready-to-use, correctly secured site, in well under two minutes, every time.