For instance, in the past, when RPM wanted to purchase glass jars for storing materials, it would take as many as 25 calls and as long as four months just to identify the right supplier offering the jars at the right price. With Optiva, RPM is able to get an immediate view of all suppliers, what it has bought from them recently, and the prices paid for those materials. That information is updated with every purchase. As a result, RPM can avoid the excessive prices sometimes charged to less-knowledgeable customers, and Hoogenboom expects "significant" savings in RPM's purchasing expenses. "It's as obvious as the day is long that we're going to make better decisions," he says.

SAVING TIME IS SAVING COMPANIES MONEY. Timex Corp. didn't used to be in much of a hurry when it came to designing new products. But two years ago, the privately held watchmaker began using Framework Technologies' ActiveProject Web-based collaboration tool in hopes of slashing its product-design cycle. After a lengthy trial period, the company has graduated from uploading CAD files for Web-based viewing to true collaboration backed by messaging, document-version control, and workflow monitoring. "Within the last six months, we've really expanded our use of it, because the Internet infrastructure is getting better," says James Jackson, Timex's engineering-systems manager.

Jackson and his staff use ActiveProject for designing new products such as high-end fashion watches and global-positioning-system-linked athletic timing devices. Product-development cycles have been cut by up to 40%. Along the way, they're saving the costs associated with printing and mailing CAD designs. But adoption hasn't always gone like clockwork. For a company that's long depended on sequential product development, giving everyone access to the same information at the same time required a major shift in how people work, Jackson says. As employees discover how much faster they can get their hands on information, they're learning how to get involved. "You want the guy in manufacturing to have input into the design," Jackson says. "That's the point of collaboration."

Technology consulting firm PSC Group faced a different time-sensitive collaboration challenge in November. To win the bidding for rival Carlson's Application Business Unit, PSC had to act fast, since Carlson wanted the transaction closed by the end of the year, giving PSC 24 working days to seal the deal. The company had been using IBM Lotus Software's QuickPlace online workspace application for working with clients, but it hadn't used it to bring together people who didn't already have a relationship.

The company used a QuickPlace forum to manage the document-approval process, which included an audit trail and event notification, so PSC could have lawyers and accountants -- billing by the hour -- visit the online site only when they were actually needed, PSC president Andrew Lauter says. QuickPlace also saved PSC thousands of dollars on postage. Ultimately, PSC landed the deal. And as the only company that met the deadline, Lauter says, it paid a lower price than it expected. The company is now using QuickPlace to manage its next acquisition.

When Bechtel Corp. took the lead role in the development of a $4 billion petrochemical plant, it needed to work with 23 companies -- suppliers, subcontractors, and five joint-venture partners -- as well as local governments and regulatory agencies, all spread across 12 countries. The engineering and construction company relies on its customized collaborative environment, built with technology from Citadon Inc., to manage the project. The document-handling component, which gets the most use, gives 800 registered users secure access to an array of engineering drawings and schedules, redline changes by project leaders, and any other documentation related to the project. Tools such as messaging, chat, document-sharing, and conferencing round out the real-time collaboration workspace.

More than 25,000 documents adding up to 13 Gbytes of data have been posted on the project site since it was launched a year ago. A template lets Bechtel set up requirements for those who need to review and approve changes to a document, and that's cut anywhere from 30 minutes to three days from the time it takes to field a request for information and get an answer. By enabling the clients, suppliers, subcontractors, and partners to collaborate on project documentation, Bechtel is slashing days, even weeks, off cycle times on document approval, preventing schedule slips that can mean millions of dollars in inflated costs.