Project Tools

5.1 Organisation

The project manager can set up his project by defining how he will control the project.

Normally he will have interfaces either to his own client or superior, as well as the interfaces to the people working for him. The maxim of everybody having a boss is always the case, this has to be considered when drawing up the Organogram.

5.1.1 Organisation chart

This can be either a structure organisation or a matrix organisation. For a project the structure organisation is best with the Project manager being an overall lead. The matrix organisation is normally used in large organisations, which are working on several projects at the same time.

The diagram below gives a typical organisation of a feasibility design.

Project manager

Project Engineer

Client Project Sponsor

Project Quality Manager

Project Specialists

Materials CP Safety Environment Civil

Process Pipeline and piping

© Penspen Group Rev 1 16 The project team structure for a large project will have all of the non engineering disciplines reporting to the project manager these will include, procurement, planning &

schedule, expediting, accounts, secretarial etc.

5.1.2 Leadership

The position of project manager is not just a superior but a leader as well. There are many different styles. The four main ones are directing, coaching, supporting and delegating.

But this is the subject of a whole series of other lectures.

5.1.3 Quality Management

Many people use the quality management tools, they can be either just administrative to ensure that systems are in place and used or they can be technical with quality review to ensure that the best design have been achieved. But again this is the subject of a whole series of other lectures.

5.2 Simple FEED projects

For very simple early FEED studies a full project management system is neither needed nor required. Simple tools that can be used by project engineers to run projects in a cost-effective manner are much better. These include:

5.2.1 Cost Time Resources (CTR’s)

The Cost Time Resources (CTR’s) are a system of worksheets for defining work packages. The CTR’s are a simple form of work breakdown structures and used in small projects. They define the tasks the inputs required they work to be done he documents produced along with a cost and a schedule, all on one sheet per task. See Appendix A.

5.2.2 Document Control

Document control is by far the best measure of actual progress in a project. In the early stages of design it is difficult to know how the work is progressing. If the CTR sheets are used in conjunction with a document register and fixed percentage given to the stages that a document has reached. Then the actual measure of progress can be calculated.

5.3 Estimating

Project estimating covers a number of different areas. At the start of a project the engineer is always asked how much will it cost. For a typical type of transportation project including the pipeline compressors/pumps pig launcher receivers etc. The following estimate is used. This has to be changed with escalation but as a Rule of Thumb it works.

£15 per meter per Inch diameter This overall costs then breaks down into the following sections

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Section Percentage

Management 4%

Insurance 4%

Land & Legal 5%

Procurement 3%

Materials 30%

Construction 40%

Front End Design 2%

Detailed Design 4%

Contingency 8%

Table 5.1

5.3.1 Systems

The different types of advanced systems for cost estimating are all very specific to

different companies. Small companies use systems on spreadsheets while major systems such as Questor cost many thousands of pounds.

The cost estimate is not just a number but one with both contingencies and a measure of the risk factors normally express as a ± percentage.

5.4 Schedule 5.4.1 Gantt Charts

The Gantt chart or bar chart is the most commonly used method to define a project.

Produced by Henry Gantt during the First World War.

© Penspen Group Rev 1 18 5.4.2 Pert Charts

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) charts use a network format to describe a project. They use a statistical analysis to work out early start and late finish dates. They are only used on very large projects with large numbers of activities.

5.4.3 CPM

Critical path methods (CPM) these methods were set up to decide on the time vs cost to complete a project in a given timeframe. The differences between PERT and CPM has largely disappeared. Large systems such as OPENPLAN use these systems to good effect.

5.4.4 Schedule systems

All of the different systems are combined into most of the modern packages such as Microsoft Project, Primavera Project Planner and Open Plan. The system used is now dependent on the number of activities and the size of the project.

5.5 Resources

5.5.1 People Management

The management of resources is one of the most neglected areas of project management.

The staff on a project will in the end make it work. Good management of people is very important. Knowing who is doing what and what they have to do can be critical.

5.5.2 People Planning

The modern planning systems can handle resources this is be used to give a clear picture of what resources are needed. But engineering design has improved the time taken to perform a job has also fallen in the last few years. It is necessary for the Project Manager via his project engineers to be aware of the time it takes to undertake a task.

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