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Draft a Winning Team |
A new plant or expansion is not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about the people who will give it life and make it work. |
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By Hal Ettinger |
In the previous issue (NBR, April 2007) we talked about the basics of building a new printing plant or expanding or remodeling an existing facility. We reviewed the cost, time, distractions, and roadblocks—real and imaginary—that are an integral part of the process. And we said that although the company president or general manager may have the ultimate responsibility for the project, he or she should not try to go it alone, but should draw on outside professional help and inside expertise to make the project both manageable and successful.
The ideal way to undertake a project as mammoth as a new plant is to begin by assembling a project team, which can not only help share part of the substantial planning and execution workload, but also help guard against overlooking or short-changing the needs of any operational area.
We noted last time that just as every area of a printing plant has its own requirements and all must interface successfully to ensure a smooth and efficient workflow, so each group—Sales, Production, Accounting, Shipping/Receiving, etc.—must be represented and its needs considered during the planning of an expansion or new construction project. There’s no way to get the whole picture unless everyone’s point of view is explored. Then the project leader must find a way to
In this issue, we’ll take a closer look at how to set up a project team and ensure that it works smoothly to meet its goal of bringing to life (on time and on budget) a modern facility that improves production efficiencies, removes antiquated barriers to profitability, and takes future needs into account.
Share the Load
A critical first step in planning a new or renovated printing facility is for the company leader to set up a project team that will help him share the load of the project. If sharing the load is not your strong suit, remember that three things will happen if you try to it alone:
First, you will be taken away from your normal duties for an extended period of time. (How will this impact the company?)
Second, you won’t have valuable input from others to help in developing revised or new plant layouts.
Third, without input and support from others, the expansion will be yours and yours only. No one else will be able to take ownership, and ownership is critical in gaining acceptance of the initiative and ensuring that it works as planned.
In the previous issue we spoke about the importance of developing a team of professional advisers—planners, architects, construction companies, etc.—but the project team is a collection of staff, experts whose roles and responsibilities are vital to the success of an expansion project. Members of this team should come from various departments in the company and represent different work experiences (see sidebar), comprising both the office/administrative and production segments of the plant. Previous experience in building projects is not a pre-requisite for serving on the project team, but a thorough understanding of the individual’s work process is.
In assembling your team, consider that its primary responsibilities will be to:
Establish the project’s goals and objectives.
Provide project direction and implementation strategies (how to get from point A to point B).
Identify possible risks associated with an expansion and review the company’s vulnerabilities. (Often overlooked, this is a key function. Even with the most comprehensive and well-thought-out plan, things seldom go exactly as anticipated.)
Select outside resources to make the project happen, e.g., the consultants, architects, developers, and builders who will do the work.
Of course, as with any group project, team members need to work well together. Although varying points of view should be aired, distractions brought on by a clash of personalities will only damage the team’s overall effort and effectiveness. How well the team works together will set the tone for how other workers in the plant perceive the project’s progress and eventual outcome—and, often, how strongly they will support it.
Calling Signals
Every project team should have a leader who serves as its quarterback or signal-caller. This position is sometimes called project manager (PM), project director (PD), or contact person (CP), and is the driving force behind any successful project. Visionaries are important, but this person should not be someone who sees everything only from above 20,000 feet. It is imperative for the project manager to be a “worrywart” who will stay on top of project details and deadlines and ensure that it stays on time and on budget.
The project manager—the project’s personality and primary in-house contact—has overall accountability and must be able to work amicably with many different kinds of people, so he or she should be someone who is not only intelligent and experienced, but also articulate and personable.
"Previous experience in building projects is not a prerequisite."
After you have selected the internal project team members, the first order of business is to set up an organizational meeting to discuss a variety of administrative items, including how the team will gather and circulate information; who will be the project manager; when the team will hold project meetings; and what method will be used to record meetings, action items, and follow-ups? To prevent the rumor mill from spinning ahead of actual fact, it is important for management and the team to decide how and when to release information to plant employees.
After these administrative issues have been taken care of, the team should spend as much time as needed to develop project goals and objectives—what the company wants to achieve with the project. Management should explain thoroughly its project goals and desired outcomes, and each team member should outline his or her expectations.
It is important to spend as much time as needed on these initial discussions because they lay the foundation for the project. Being even slightly off at this stage will translate into being far off when you complete the project. To facilitate these initial discussions, ask each team member to answer the following questions before attending the first project meeting:
In order of importance, what three things you would like to improve in the company?
How would you rate these three things, from most practical to least practical?
In what project role would you be most productive?
Whom would you select as project manager?
What are your expectations for this expansion project?
How can the project team be most effective during the expansion?
One of a project team’s biggest assets is the perspective each member brings to discussions of possible risks and vulnerabilities it faces during and after a plant expansion, including production interference/delays; delivery failures; going over construction budgets, delay in start-up of new equipment; poor staff morale; and delayed or decreased billings.
Outside Help
One of the first and most important jobs the project team must undertake is finding the right outside resources—planning consultant, architect, construction company, etc. On the surface, selecting a consultant should not be too difficult; many team members and company leaders will know architects, consultants, construction companies, mechanical contractors and subcontractors—some may even be among the company’s printing customers and all will likely be happy to provide their professional assistance on a large project such as a new plant or renovation.
Unfortunately, competent and well-meaning as many of these companies are, they may not be the best choice for your project if they do not have specific experience in the printing industry. Before engaging any outside resource, the project team and company management must determine what role they want consultants to play and what responsibilities they should shoulder. Generally speaking, these fall into five primary areas:
Project quarterback, providing overall project leadership and coordination.
Technical expert, offering industry-specific solutions to project goals and objectives, and bringing another perspective to management’s or individual department’s preconceived ways of operating (often in the “how we’ve always done it” category).
Translator, putting ideas into drawings that will be understood by those in the construction trade.
Facilitator, ensuring that the project moves smoothly (on time, on budget, no disasters) through all development stages.
Scheduler, establishing project deadlines and meeting all project delivery requirements.
If these roles and responsibilities sound familiar, it is because they are very similar to those shouldered by the internal project manager. Both the primary consultant and the project manager must work together closely and amicably to be sure the project stages are advancing as they should or solving problems that arise along the way. An important criterion in filling both roles is that each can get along with the other.
"He should find a way to integrate often disparate department requests."
In our experience with printing projects over the years, we’ve found that one obstacle impeding the selection of a suitable project consultant is management’s perception that a building expansion is not rocket science and can easily be accomplished by using outside resources that are not knowledgeable about the printing industry—or, worse still, by calling on internal resources such as the company’s Maintenance Department and depending on his own know-how to handle it.
Unfortunately, when a new construction or plant expansion project is put into inexperienced hands—or those of someone who mistakenly perceives the printing business as light manufacturing or warehousing, a number of unpleasant consequences may follow, including cost overruns, scheduling delays, replicating an already bad workflow scheme, or using inappropriate materials.
A Final Word
Once your project team and outside resources have been selected, project goals set, and team member responsibilities assigned, the project is well on its way But one final word of caution: Building a new plant or renovating an existing facility across town while you continue to operate your existing business is complicated and time-consuming. But it is nothing compared with trying to renovate or expand an existing building in which you are still trying to run your printing company.
Major construction in an existing facility will force you to deal with such additional problems as dust and dirt (never a good environment for quality printing work), limited parking spaces, safety and security issues. In addition, as the project continues, you will likely have to contend with warehousing some work off site, trying to coordinate print jobs with various phases of the construction; dealing with local officials to obtain permits and Certificates of Occupancy; delays caused by weather-related problems; making daily, sometimes hourly, decisions about workflow problems, job spoilage, contractor manpower or equipment problems, inspection scheduling and rescheduling, and phone calls at any hour of the day or night related to the simple fact that construction is not an exact science.
A thoughtfully constructed internal project management team, industry-knowledgeable outside resources, and a committed company leadership will go a long way to taming the plant expansion beast and giving you the chance to get some sleep at night.
(This is the second installment of a two-part article. The first part appeared in the April 2007 NBR.)
Hal Ettinger is president of RBE Company, Lawrence, Kan., which provides project management, plant layout, and engineering design services exclusively to the printing industry. For information on NAPL Professional Services Group’s plant construction and renovation services, contact NAPL Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tim Fischer at (800) 642-6275, Ext. 6376, or tfischer@napl.org.
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