Importance of Project Management
GRC Planters - Project Management for Large Projects
The advantages of the use of GRC technology in making commercial grade planters and outside furniture for large construction projects is well known. Nevertheless, getting them made properly for the intended purpose and delivered to suit a large project’s specific site circumstances efficiently requires a certain amount of experience, planning, and management. From a generic perspective, this is no great revelation. However, the project management element that relates to the supplier’s side of a project is often underestimated and sometimes overlooked completely, particularly when there are customised elements involved.
All large construction projects have project managers to manage the different segments of a project and one of them will be assigned the responsibility for the landscaping including the delivery and installation of the required precast GRC elements. However, the site-based project manager will generally need more than an administration contact person at the supplier end to nominate the timing of delivery and do the invoicing. Supply and delivery are generally just not that simple when you take into consideration all the issues that relate to the completion and approval of shop drawings for custom designed elements, manufacturing scheduling to suit both the cash flow and delivery timing requirements for the project, transport logistics that need to correlate with the site’s construction project planning, the potential for unexpected off-site warehousing, and the practicalities associated with post installation defect management. Therefore, it just makes sense on large GRC supply projects, particularly if there are multiple custom-made elements involved, that the supplier should be expected to provide a project manager(s) for the same types of reasons that a project manager is required at the customer end.
A good supplier-end project manager will provide assistance and improved communication on the following issues: -
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Confirmation on sizing options – standard sizes, custom-made sizes and tolerances
Confirmation on finishing options – availability of colour processes and textures
Confirmation on waterproofing options – internal, external and integrated
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Coordination - of the preparation of shop drawings
Coordination - of the formal approval of shop drawings
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Communication – on progress
Staging – to ensure adjoining products match before they leave the factory
Product packing – to suit the site installation logistics with lifting equipment
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Coordination – to ensure deliveries align with the project installation plan
Organisation of unexpected off-site warehousing when required
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Defect management – nobody wants to admit it, but it does happen and must be managed
Sales, customer support, or business development staff can be great value in facilitating an order. We have very good ones in our business and so do a lot of our competitors. However, their focus is generally on the development of new opportunities not necessarily the management of current projects. However, from a practical perspective, having a delineation on the supplier side that clearly identifies a post-order project manager(s) for your project can provide better communication, a more controlled installation and a lot less stress.
Conclusion
If you are sourcing pre-cast GRC elements for a large project, it would be a good idea to ask who the “project manager(s)” is going to be at the supplier end and what responsibilities are assigned to that role. However, if there is not going to be one or he/she is going to be the same person that completed the sale in the first place, it may be worth reconsidering the supplier you have selected. The availability of supply side project managment for pre-cast GRC elements can be essential in making sure a project meets a specified hand-over date.