An important part of the B2E project team coordination effort is the company’s Project Director who is in charge of the overall flow of work within the company. It is the Project Directors’ responsibility to:
- ensure the clients’ time and budget targets;
- coordinate scheduling and other information for the client;
- select the design team and consultants;
- allocate manpower and other resources; and
- make certain that each project submission is complete and properly presented to the client.
B2E’s management approach for individual projects is highly successful because it involves principals, senior engineers and consultants from project start through completion of design documents and into the construction phase, if necessary.
At project start the Project Director is the primary point of contact with the client. In this way B2E is able to obtain a clear understanding of the clients’ design needs, including budget and time schedules. The Project Director then works closely with the Senior Member of the design team to ensure these criteria are met to the client’s satisfaction.
B2E incorporates management scheduling into each project to appropriate man-hours as necessary to meet the individual needs of each client. Preliminary construction schedules are coordinated with the client to determine lead times, estimated construction and completion dates for each system and system components. Detailed construction scheduling (program management) is performed using computer programs incorporating critical path construction management.
The following is an outline of a typical B2E project management process, which is designed to assure that the client receives the highest quality product on time and within budget:
- Project Director meets with client and user (if other than the client) to fully understand all of the clients’ requirements and to clarify any items in the scope of work.
- Project Director schedules a kickoff meeting with the senior design leaders to explain clients’ requirements and to clearly map out each discipline’s responsibilities.
- Project Director attends weekly meetings to review job progress and to ascertain that all of the clients’ requirements and subsequent changes to the scope have been incorporated into the design. Project Director also makes certain that all disciplines are adhering to time and budget requirements.
- Project Director coordinates with all disciplines before each submission to ensure that the client receives well organized, complete, accurate and fully coordinated construction contract documents.
- Coordination efforts are further enhanced by the fact that all work is drawn on AutoCAD. AutoCAD technicians integrate design elements from all disciplines into one cohesive package. In addition, the work of all departments is supported by a highly skilled and dedicated administrative staff.