1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT & ITS BOTTLENECKS
DANIYAL ALTAF
PTE/ROU P
PROJECT MANAGEMENT & ITS BOTTLENECKS
A CASE STUDY OF RO PROJECT
SEPTEMBER 04, 2015

2. What is a project? Definition: Projects end in only one of two ways:
“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.”
The temporary nature of a project means that it has a definite beginning and ending
Efforts that have no defined end date or definition of “done” are not projects, they are on-going operations!
Projects end in only one of two ways:
The project’s objectives have been reached
The project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met, or when the need for the project no longer exists.
What is a project?

3. REVERSE OSMOSIS PROJECT
Reverse osmosis unit was a sublet project in order to make it easy to manage.
Project assigned on the basis of two types of contracts
Lump sum contract
Unit Price contract
REVERSE OSMOSIS PROJECT
(1) A lump sum contract is used for engineers who are hired to do a specific job or project for an agreed fixed sum. This type of contract often pertains to projects that are simple in scope and have little or no chance of altering while the project is underway. (2) The unit price contract is used for engineers and construction workers who are using large quantities of items to construct or build something. The contract is based on the estimated quantities of items required to complete the project, along with unit prices of each item. 

4. Bidding is an offer (often competitive) of setting a price one is willing to pay for something or a demand that something be done.
Bids were requested by contractors
Different companies were both technically and commercially evaluated.
Upon evaluation, the approved contractor was called for contract signing.
Contract defines the scope of the project which the contractor is bound to complete.
Lump sum contract – HYDROTECH Engineering & SIEMENS
Unit Price contract (with contingency) - DESCON Engineering
(4) ____... Any requested job outside the scope incurs additional costs. Any extra work must be incorporated in the scope to prevent unexpected costs later on.
Find out the type of contract assigned to NESPAK and KSB

5. Project attributes A project: Has a unique purpose. Is temporary.
Is developed using progressive elaboration.
Requires resources, often from various areas.
Should have a primary customer or sponsor.
The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project.
Involves uncertainty.
Project attributes
Progressive Elaboration: Progressive elaboration is a continuous iterative process of refining and further detailing the product characteristics based on more detailed information and insight that becomes available as the project progresses. Generally applied to scope and estimates, it results in more detailed and well-defined scope and estimates.

6. Project Management: “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet the defined project requirements.”

7. Advantages of using formal project management
Better control of financial, physical, and human resources.
Improved customer relations.
Shorter development times.
Lower costs.
Higher quality and increased reliability.
Higher profit margins.
Improved productivity.
Better internal coordination.
Higher worker morale (less stress).
Advantages of using formal project management

8. Phases of a project Projects are normally broken down into “phases”
Ease of management
Planning
Control.
Phases of a project
Project Initiation
Project Planning
Project Execution
Project Closure
A project phase is a collection of logically-related project activities that culminate in the completion of one or more deliverables.
These phases are also commonly called “work streams”
Project phases are typically completed sequentially (waterfall) but will overlap in many project situations
Project phasing allows the project to be segmented into logical sub-sets for ease of management, planning and control.

9. Project execution phases

10. Common Trends Along The PM Lifecycle
The cost of changing the project scope or final project outcome increase significantly over time
Costs and staffing levels start low during initiation, increase rapidly during planning and execution and tail off as the project draws to a close
The amount of risk and uncertainty will decrease over time
The acceptable range of budgetary uncertainty should decrease over time

11. The triple constraint of a project
Every project is constrained in different ways by its:
Scope goals: What work will be done?
Time goals: How long should it take to complete?
Cost goals: What should it cost?
It is the project manager’s duty to balance these three often- competing goals.
any project that cannot be successfully completed within the project constraints is a failed project.

12. Key elements of Project Management Framework
TIME
COST
SCOPE
Key elements of Project Management Framework
QUALITY
9 knowledge areas:
Scope management, Time management, Cost management, Quality management, HR management, Communication management, Risk management, Procurement management, Project integration management HR
PROCUREMENT
COMM.
RISK

13. Performing organization
Person
Performing organization
Lead the team
Project Objectives
Project Manager
Assigned by to
“The Project Manager is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.”
responsible for

14. Project Manager Responsibilities & Competencies
Leadership
Team Building
Motivation
Communication
Influencing
Decision Making
Project Manager Responsibilities & Competencies
Political and Culture Awareness
Negotiation
Trust Building
Conflict Management
Coaching
Leading Without Direct Authority
Project Managers accomplish work through the project team and key stakeholders
Successful Project Managers balance knowledge, experience, ethics and a number of interpersonal skills:

15. 15 Project Manager job functions
Define scope of project.
Identify stakeholders, decision-makers, and escalation procedures.
Develop detailed task list (work breakdown structures).
Estimate time requirements.
Identify required resources and budget.
Evaluate project requirements.
Identify and evaluate risks.
Prepare contingency plan.
Identify interdependencies.
Identify and track critical milestones.
Participate in project phase review.
Secure needed resources.
Manage the change control process.
Report project status.
15 Project Manager job functions

16. Suggested skills for Project Managers
Coping skills
Flexible
Creative
Patient
Persistent
Technology skills
Experience
Project Knowledge
Leadership skills
Sets Examples
Provides vision (big picture)
Delegates
Energetic
Team-building skills
Shows Empathy
Motivates
Promotes Esprit De Corps
Organizational skills
Plans
Sets goals
Analyzes
Communication skills
Listens
Persuades
Communication skills: Listens, persuades.
Organizational skills: Plans, sets goals, analyzes.
Team-building skills: Shows empathy, motivates, promotes esprit de corps (meaning: pride in belonging to something).
Leadership skills: Sets examples, provides vision (big picture), delegates, positive, energetic.
Coping skills: Flexible, creative, patient, persistent.
Technology skills: Experience, project knowledge.

17. PM tools & techniques Project charters Scope statements
WBS cost estimates and earned value management
Gantt chars
Critical path analysis
PM tools & techniques
Insert cost excel sheet photo in this slide

18. Bottlenecks In this presentation: Neck of the traditional bottle
Causes of bottlenecks
Effects of bottlenecks
How to avoid?
How to handle?
Neck of the traditional bottle
In project management:
any point of congestion within an organizational system that hinders the flow of work across the various processes that make up the system.
Bottlenecks

19. In simple terms, it is a resource whose capacity is lower than the demand placed on it.
lot of work in progress
Queues
increase in the overall project life cycle time and project cost.
Identification:
by a detailed analysis of the processes involved within the organization (system).
(2) The inefficiency caused by the workstation leads to a …___

20. Primary causes Resource inefficiency Outdated technology
Lack of resources
Improper communication
Breakdowns
Poor maintenance schedule
Primary causes
(1) Efficiency is generally related to the rate at which time, effort and cost is properly utilized when undertaking a task. A resource, which can be a machine or a human, is said to be inefficient when its output is below the universally accepted rate of production (optimal output) of the resource.
(2) When technologies are not updated, it becomes difficult for organizations to keep up with industry growth. Most organizations then start working the outdated resources harder, which often leads to bottlenecks within the project execution.
(3) lack of a necessary resource : e.g. technical person at an important position resigns and it is impossible to find a replacement immediately.
(4) proper communication is necessary for the success of any project.
PMgr. uses 90% of his time communicating during a project.
can lead to bottlenecks
(5) Unavoidable situations
Machine breakdowns, staff members falling sick, or unforeseen situations, such power outages, accidents and storms
Planning for such unforeseen circumstances in risk management
Case study of break downs at RO: (1) swinger concrete conveyer vehicle maintenance issue. Belt broke during operation. Another swinger was on standby but so unfortunately, the belt of that swinger broke too.
(6) Lack of a proper maintenance culture would lead to unplanned breakdown

21. Case study – bottle neck at RO project
Change of system to compensate for time
Case study – bottle neck at RO project
The system of UG HDPE pipe was initially designed to be contained inside an open channel. However due to time constraint, it was later decided to directly bury the pipe since making concrete channels required leaning, formwork, steel fixing and finally curing. If we had followed the initial design, it would have been practically unfeasible to work on the rest of the foundations, intermediate drain pits, laying of grounding cables and of course the finished floor until the channels had been ready.
Hence through this strategy we avoided a bottleneck.

22. Case study – bottle neck at RO project
Delayed material delivery
Case study – bottle neck at RO project
2nd shipment delivered 15 days before…
3rd shipment delivered just one day before completion date
The RO plant shipment was delayed by 37 days while as per our time constraint we had only 90 days to complete the construction. So it was a significant bottleneck that we had to solve. Therefore the management decided to priorities jobs. Our 1st priority was the jobs essential for commissioning of the plants. All other jobs were given a lower priority.
1st priority to jobs essential for commissioning of plant

23. Lessons I learned through observation and common sense.
Do not expect to achieve mechanical tolerances in civil works. Be practical.
Design and fabrication drawings should be completed in all respects
Lessons I learned through observation and common sense.
Explanation (1): Achieving very close tolerances is impossible, and trying to stick to it, while it will not be a problem for assembly or other operations, creates a bottleneck. (2) and be checked by experienced engineers and technical personnel who have sufficient experience in the relevant project.

24. Effects of bottlenecks
In a project environment, the following are the main effects of bottlenecks:
Reduction in overall production efficiency
Increased backlogs
Increased cost of storage
Constraint challenge

25. Reduction in overall production efficiency1
Efficiency is the rate at which time, effort and cost is properly used
Example: Spindle machine working at 50%. All other machines will produce at a lesser rate to compensate for reduction in efficiency of spindle machine. As a result, overall production efficiency reduces to 50%.
Reduction in overall production efficiency

26. Increased backlogs of work2
Increased backlogs of work
As project managers, what we should strive for is process efficiency and optimization, not maximization.

27. Increased storage cost3
This is very common in the manufacturing environment where goods are produced.
Development of production philosophies such as lean manufacturing and just in time production.
Increased storage cost
(1) A bottleneck in a production system as stated earlier would lead to an increased stock of the work in progress. The work in progress ties down your resources in an unusable state where returns cannot be generated from them. There would then be the need to store these resources, which would create the need for additional storage space.

28. Solving bottlenecks in a project environment:
Series of steps
Problem Identification (Process analysis)
Aim for overall process improvement not individual station efficiency
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Schedule and maintenance
Technological improvement
Solving bottlenecks in a project environment:

29. Problem Identification (Process analysis)1
Problem Identification (Process analysis)
The first step in solving bottlenecks is to determine their cause.
Duty of a project manager – permanently solve the problem

30. Quick pointers that can help identify bottlenecks:
The easiest way to identify the root cause is to conduct a critical process analysis
Quick pointers that can help identify bottlenecks:
processes that take the most time
processes with the most rework
Processes which the staff complains the most about
(2) While these signs do not confirm the existence of a bottleneck, they act as warning signs that should never be taken for granted.

31. Case study – Problem at RO project
Communication gap between client and contractor
Remedy advised: Make sure up-to-date drawings are being used on site
Case study – Problem at RO project
Lots of rework (example) Explanation of the whole scenario: I along with an Executive were on a routine visit. On a random basis, we asked the contractors’ lead fabricator to show the drawings. What we found was that the revision mentioned on the drawing never existed. It was never forwarded to the contractor by client. The drawings showed incorrect angular orientation of the nozzles. The hole for 20” manhole had been already cut out of the shell plate, but the flange was not yet welded. So immediately we had the job stopped while we resent a finalized revision of the drawing to be fabricated. This was surely going to become a significant bottleneck if it were not identified at the right time. Though we were a little late, but late is better than never.

32. The systematic steps that are required in process analysis are:
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
…Process analysis
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
IDENTIFY BOTTLE-NECK
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM
PROCESS DEFINITION
The systematic steps that are required in process analysis are:
The final aim of process analysis is _______...
The aim of process definition is to identify the individual processes that make up the system, define their boundaries (input and output) and determine what activities are carried out in the process.
The process flow diagram is a simple tool used in showing the interrelationship between various processes in a system. It shows how the output of a process affects the input or output of another process and is a good visual tool for analyzing the effect of a process on other processes.
The bottleneck or most probable bottleneck is the process with the lowest capacity. While one of the processes would definitely have the lowest capacity, it does not automatically mean that it is a bottleneck. A process becomes a bottleneck if it produces below the required project or organizational output. The process with the lowest capacity, even though it’s not a bottleneck, will most likely become a bottleneck when the organization decides to improve its overall efficiency.
 A process consists of a series of activities. Once the bottleneck process has been identified, a more critical analysis would help identify the exact activity that causes the bottleneck. Bottlenecks can be caused by events as small as not assigning the right person to replace papers in a printer, or as big as total machine failure.

33. System improvement, not individual process improvement2
Always aim for a holistic system improvement instead of a part or process improvement.
The challenge with individual process improvement is that while they often improve the particular process, they do not have an effect on the overall system.
Let’s not forget: the output or efficiency of a bottleneck would determine the output or efficiency of the overall system.
System improvement, not individual process improvement
Explanation (1): Another way to prevent bottlenecks in project organization is to ____ …
(2): It is not uncommon for organizations to improve a part of a system such as delivery service, marketing or spraying as in the manufacturing example that we have been using ____...

34. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it3
This quote applies to bottlenecks: if it is not a bottleneck, there’s no need to improve its efficiency.
Doing so would only cause your organization to incur more expenses.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Explanation: (1) Many of us are familiar with the saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  ________ …
(2) but will not improve output of the system

35. Schedule and maintenance4
Schedule and maintenance
Lack of a proper maintenance schedule or wrong timing for maintenance can lead to a bottleneck.
Explanation: While this is true, proper scheduling and maintenance is one of the most effective ways of preventing bottlenecks in projects. Proper maintenance helps in preventing avoidable breakdowns and unforeseen challenges that could result from the lack thereof.

36. Technological improvement5
Sometimes the technology we have can no longer compete with the modern standard, automatically causing a bottleneck.
If it is just a process that requires technological improvement, then it is a bottleneck and can be treated in isolation.
Technological improvement
Explanation (1): For example, it would be difficult for an architectural firm to meet with modern designs and deadlines if it still used manual drafting methods when the new technology in the industry is the use of computer aided designs. Similarly, it would be difficult for a manufacturing environment to meet its deadline if its processes are still manual while the general industry has moved to automation.
(2) but if more than one process requires technological improvement, then it should be treated as a complete system improvement.

37. Conclusion Project Management is not easy.
The devil lies in the details
Prevention is better than cure
Never take “Risk management” for granted
Detailed planning prevents bottlenecks
Drawings should be ready with the best possible detail
Conclusion
Add appropriate pictures

38. References: Project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)
Wikipedia
Google Images
Plant Project Engineering Guide book for Mechanical Engineers – CASTI
References: