At international airports, capital project success hinges on more than construction progress—it depends on financial precision, cross-department coordination, and the ability to manage hundreds of moving parts without disrupting daily operations. For finance and project teams alike, success means faster invoice approvals, real-time cost visibility, and workflows that scale with the complexity of modern infrastructure programs.
For an airport that moves over 25 million passengers a year through a single runway, delays are never an option, especially when it comes to capital project approvals. San Diego International Airport needed a better way to manage costs, coordinate across departments, and maintain control over a growing portfolio of infrastructure projects.
Success meant more than system consolidation; it meant faster invoice processing, real-time visibility, and seamless migration from outdated tools. By implementing PMWEB as an owner-focused platform, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (SDCRAA) eliminated project downtime, streamlined capital workflows, and cut invoice approval times by more than 50%.
Objectives
- Replace the legacy project management system (Prolog) with an owner-centric solution
- Migrate data from active and historical projects without disrupting operations
- Reduce approval timelines for progress invoices and other cost workflows
- Standardize project controls across internal departments and external stakeholders
- Enable scalable growth of capital projects through an integrated platform
The Solution
PMWEB was selected as SDCRAA’s centralized project management solution after an extensive review process. Key to its selection were PMWEB’s modular flexibility, built-in cost control tools, and ability to support the Authority’s owner-focused project delivery model.
The implementation included:
- Full deployment of PMWEB Cost Management and Project Management modules
- Custom forms to reflect SDCRAA’s internal workflows and approval chains
- Integration with JD Edwards (E1) to align capital planning and financial reporting
- Migration of 35 active and historical projects from Meridian Prolog with no loss of access
- Division-based configuration to support phased user rollout across departments
Implementation Approach
To minimize disruption and accelerate adoption, SDCRAA and PMWEB’s implementation team used a phased rollout strategy:
- Migrated 35 legacy projects using a structured data mapping and validation process
- Delivered “just-in-time” training aligned with each department’s go-live date
- Staggered onboarding by division to balance support needs and system readiness
- Configured automated invoice workflows to replace manual routing and review
- Integrated with E1 to maintain continuity in financial tracking and reporting
- Established reporting templates to ensure consistency across projects and programs
Collaboration
The success of this transition was rooted in collaboration between SDCRAA’s capital project teams, finance staff, and the PMWEB implementation team. Stakeholders were engaged early to define workflow logic and align approval paths with organizational roles. Field teams, internal departments, and contractors participated in user-specific training sessions designed to accelerate comfort with the system and reduce reliance on email or manual tracking. The phased rollout enabled hands-on feedback and ensured that issues could be resolved in real time, resulting in a smooth, zero-downtime transition to a more powerful and transparent project control environment.
Results
- Reduced progress invoice approval times by over 50%
- Migrated 35 active projects from Prolog with no disruption to users
- Onboarded teams from multiple divisions using targeted training and phased rollout
- Enabled automation of invoice workflows with consistent approval logic
- Eliminated email- and spreadsheet-based tracking in favor of real-time reporting
Benefits
- Centralized system for cost and project management across the airport authority
- Faster approvals and streamlined capital cash flow
- No downtime or data loss during legacy system migration
- Standardized workflows and clearer accountability
- Scalable platform ready to support long-term growth in infrastructure investment
