Project management for new and restructured textile plants
Why a new or restructured textile plant needs a dedicated project manager: team, objectives, budget control — typically 4–5% of cost, saving about 20%.
White paper by Rovetex. The original paper is available as a PDF.
What is project management?
On average, every fifth or sixth year a company needs to build a new shed, or restructure an existing one, for extension or reorganisation.
Management often thinks this is routine work that the company’s usual internal resources can handle easily. That is not always true. Project management is a very specific type of work, involves a considerable investment, and requires specialised, experienced people to be carried out correctly and economically.
Project management coordinates all the operations needed to build or restructure a shed: design, purchasing of materials, civil works, erection of machinery and equipment, training of people, testing and start-up of the plant. Its task is to optimise all the resources of the project:
- people
- materials
- know-how
- financial resources
This is why it pays for management to appoint an outside project manager to carry out the project.
Rovetex is an international consulting company with specialised knowledge of the textile industry, and has performed project management for leading textile companies around the world since 1978. Rovetex typically charges about 4–5% of the project investment, while saving the client about 20% or more.
How it works
Rovetex supplies the client with the project manager, who is responsible for the whole project.
The project manager is supported by a project team, supplied — depending on the contract — by the client, by Rovetex, or partly by both. The team includes:
- the responsible company manager, as the project manager’s counterpart
- technicians for design, purchasing, planning, expediting, erection, training and start-up
- specialists for economic and financial control: project budget, budget control and payments to suppliers
Most of these specialists work for the project team only part-time. The project manager monitors progress and reports to the company manager weekly or every second week.
Basic concepts for designing a new plant
Rovetex’s basic concepts for designing a new plant are:
- checking the industrial process
- designing the correct material flow
- checking the number and qualifications of personnel
- checking raw-material and utility consumption (electricity, steam, gas, water, etc.)
- designing the connection to external utility supplies
- designing internal utility networks (steam, compressed air, water, etc.)
- designing electrical systems (power, lighting, telephone, IT, fire fighting, etc.)
- designing the right organisation of storage systems
- checking internal physical conditions: air temperature and humidity, fumes, condensation, noise, vibration, etc.
- designing external areas (loading and unloading, car parking, green areas, etc.)
- allowing for future extension of the plant
Project management by objectives
Rovetex project management works by objectives. This is a major advantage for the client, because Rovetex guarantees:
- the quality of the new plant according to the scope of the project
- the completion time according to the initial plan
- the cost of works according to budget
- the cash flow according to budget
These goals are achievable because Rovetex is fully dedicated to, and responsible for, the project.
Return on investment
The most common ways to calculate the return on an investment in advance are the payback period and ROI (return on investment).
When project management relies on internal resources, the forecast return often does not materialise because of:
- a wrong initial forecast
- delayed work progress
- cost increases
- failure to reach the expected efficiency of the new plant
Rovetex calculates the payback period or ROI according to the client’s wishes — and is responsible for achieving the targets.
Advantages for the client
- Quality of the new plant: the plant meets the scope of the investment exactly and fulfils the client’s requirements.
- Timing: the plant is completed on schedule, with no delay to the start of production and no additional financial costs.
- Cost of works: proper negotiation with suppliers and constant cost control deliver considerable savings.
- Cash flow: careful balancing of cash in and out against the initial budget avoids expensive stop-and-go works.