Delivering operational excellence

ABB has just one aim in any power systems project: to deliver operational excellence at every stage - from initial sales enquiry through delivery and commissioning, to long-term service and warranty. That’s why, over the past five years or so, we have made some profound changes to the way we approach project management. We have effectively doubled the size of our delivery resources, improved existing processes, added new capabilities and created new functions. The key focus is now on achieving the closest possible match between our services and customer needs, and on changing our emphasis from selling systems to becoming a flexible, responsive partner that delivers projects on time, on budget and to the highest levels of safety.

The key driver behind these changes was the recognition that, while ABB has a long- established track record in the successful delivery of a wide variety of projects, there were times when we fell short of customer expectations. This was especially true when project quality and delivery schedules were eroded by inefficiencies on both sides, most often caused by difficulties in communication, definition of scope and a lack of consistency. So we have worked hard to put in place the right processes, resources and people to ensure that all our efforts are focused on understanding what customers need, meeting their expectations and knowing how they define success.

THE RIGHT PROCESSES

Possibly the greatest process change so far has been greater emphasis on our on-time of poor delivery, and measures have been put in place to record and identify problems and implement improvements. We have also introduced improved document control procedures.

THE RIGHT RESOURCES

In addition to the traditional elements of power systems project management - such as design, installation and commissioning, as well as site health and safety and quality management - ABB has added three new resources:

Control and protection

There was a tendency for this to be regarded as a separate, add-on element provided by another division, with an emphasis on individual projects. Now, the requirements for control and protection systems are integrated into the project right from the start, enabling the optimum, most cost-effective scheme to be developed and implemented in the fastest possible time.

Commercial management

For a smooth transition from contract agreement to site work, the project team works closely with both ABB’s tendering team and the customer during the early contract negotiations to establish a common baseline for the management of the project. This includes all aspects of the project scope, contractual commitments, budgets, targets and margins. The focus is on ensuring this flows down into ABB’s supply chain. In short, the project manager and supporting cast now play an active role in the negotiation process, to help develop the budget and to establish the schedule that they will be called on to deliver. The result is complete ‘clarity of expectation’ from the customer, ABB and our supply chain.

Civil engineering and construction

Civil engineering and construction is an often absolutely vital in ensuring its success. A major difference between ABB and its competitors is that through our own in-house civil engineers we are now able to introduce preferred civil engineering and construction contractors at the pre-contract stage. This enables us to call on their experience to develop the optimum approach to site clearance, foundation and piling work, access road construction, building works and so on -– effectively eliminating the cost uncertainty that can often cloud this part of the project.

THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Since 2000 we have ramped up our recruitment and training programme to ensure we have the right people in place, now and well into the future. Our roster of project managers has grown rapidly - it now stands at 27. And this growth has been reflected across the board in the other vital skills such as application engineers, planners, commissioning management and so on, resulting in an increase of over 50 per cent in our total delivery resources.

Because ABB is a global organisation, we have been able to bring in skilled and experienced people from around the world, with 15 nationalities represented in the various UK engineers and giving them the chance to become the project engineers of tomorrow.

As an integral part of our training and accreditation schemes, all ABB project managers have either achieved, or are working towards, PMP (Project Manager Professional) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

THE RIGHT TEAM

An important customer benefit of our expanded resources is that we are able to look at our skills matrix and carry out a competence assessment to identify the project manager and team that offers the best possible match to each specific project. For example, in 132kV projects, this team- building approach already enables us to provide a core of competence at every level. And the learning experienced gained on each project is not lost, but carried over to the next one.

The project managers provide the essential leadership for the project team. Their level of control over budgets, procurement, time- scales and site issues means that they are virtually running their own mini-business. However, every member of the team is encouraged to develop a good understanding with their counterparts on the customer side - planner talking to planner, engineer talking to engineer, and so on. This deep relationship enables us to understand problems and to find the best answer. Indeed, an increasing number of customers now actively come to us asking for solutions, so that we can help them well before an issue escalates into a problem.

THE RIGHT OUTCOME

In essence, our new approach to project management is aimed at increasing customer satisfaction by providing a framework for constant two-way communication, making the whole project process transparent so that ABB and its customers understand and respect each other’s expectations. Or in other words, it helps ABB to deliver operational excellence.