Project Management

Project Management

CEI performs Project Management either in a full capacity or in an assistance role to our clients own project managers.

Typical stages of project execution are:

Conceptualization Stage

Level of design detail - conceptual
Process criteria production rates identified
General scope of project is defined
Building areas identified with approximate size (no layouts)
Flexibly and growth objectives identified
Cost Estimate - conceptual
Project Schedule - conceptual

Preliminary Engineering Stage

Level of design detail - preliminary engineering
Process/packaging flow diagrams developed
Detailed scope determined (including not-in scope)
General equipment layout & elevation drawings developed
Outline specifications developed for equipment
Building areas programmed identifying type of construction and finishes
Milestone schedule developed - preliminary
Project implementation team with roles & responsibilities developed
Cost Estimate - preliminary

Our typical role includes:

•	Development of full formal RFQ's (Request for Quote) for competitive bidding of equipment and services

•	Bid analysis of quotes received to normalize the bids and distill them down to a logical comparison list

•	Scope and contract development / management

•	Project scheduling (vendors, manufacturers, client departments, project team)

•	Construction support services and cost control

The competitive bidding process is where our clients find they can best justify our services. We often save the client an amount equal to our fee when equipment and services are competitively bid through the use of our formal RFQ system. Also, formalizing this process often weeds out contractors and manufacturers that are not prepared to supply a high level of project management within their own team. This is an immense benefit to the project as it greatly reduces the chance of getting into the construction phase before learning that a vendor or contractor takes shortcuts, is disorganized, causes re-work and continually submits change orders for installation work. These are often the main contributors to projects running over budget.

We have taken on large projects for companies that could be categorized as "management systems intense" (a.k.a. bogged down in red tape) and are successful because we understand the corporate system requirements from our own past experience (capital vs. expense rules, cash flow budgeting, account management, corporate approval processes, etc.). CEI has an outstanding record for document control, project management standards, specifications development and high level process engineering. However, we are also capable of providing the kind of fast paced, effort driven, results oriented engineering services that are required by companies that don't necessarily want or need these intensive management systems. We can tailor our services to your needs on a project by project basis.

In addition to the above, we have developed many tools that are now integrated into our project management methods and engineering services. Some of these are constraint analysis of process systems to determine "bottlenecks", detailed cost control database systems, interactive electronic project documentation, etc.