Project Definition
Asset management is one of the major features of project management. Regular investment for asset management is necessary to multiply the growth of the company. Companies can build different warehouses, purchase new equipments for manufacturing the products and increase the efficiency of the assets. Therefore, the project of controlling large assets should particularly include hiring a team of experienced professionals for undergoing an integrated feasibility study of the asset management along with the economic evaluation and risk management. Management of large assets includes the cost balancing the total costs, opportunities and the risks associated with the strategy that are being used for achieving the organizational objectives. Management of large assets includes optimization of delivery of values along with the correct decision-making (Finnerty 2013). There are different tools for managing a large asset. Apart from this hiring the right person as a project manager is an integral part of project management related to large assets. The project manager will be responsible for planning and delivering the entire project. The tender document is to laid keeping in mind all the different phases and the works that are associated with the construction work that includes the management of large assets.
The project is justified as the scope and the requirements of the project are clear. The different areas of construction are to be identified along with the place of storing and accessing the assets. The project tender includes the detailed analysis of the project condition and the other project requirements, which includes the salary and wages of the project team and scope of the project process. The management of different resources and ensuring the resource availability in need is another major criterion of the tender document. The contract type for the project is chosen according to the project requirements.
The contract type that is recommended for this project is a cost plus contract. This is because it is very difficult to set a particular schedule for project management using large assets (Brandes et al. 2012). The cost plus contract includes the payment of the costs, purchases and the other expenses that are generally derived from the construction activity. It is subjected to the availability of the specific information about the certain pre negotiated amount between the owner and the contractor. This negotiation includes a percentage of the materials needed in the project and the labor cost of the project as well. The major advantage of cost plus contract is that the cost of the project is classified and the beginning of the project as direct or indirect cost. The owner will be responsible for putting a limit on how much the contractor is billing for the entire project work. The cost detailing is an integral part of a cost plus contract. The tender includes the details and the procedure of billing according to a cost plus contract. Furthermore it includes an option of modifying the scope of the project if required, which is impossible in the case of a fixed type contract.
Project Justification and the Contract Process
The appropriate project financing can be done by carrying out a proper feasibility study and the correct identification of the project requirements. Employing a team of project finance specialist is necessary for developing a proper project financing according to the project’s needs. Determining the feasibility of the project is another basic requirement of the project financing. Another important part of the project financing includes the identification of the different sources of energy that would be used in the project work related to the management of large assets. The final step of project management includes the application of proper risk mitigation approaches in the project management (Finnerty 2013). The proper planning of the unforeseen events that can possibly disrupt the project work helps in risk mitigation. These processes undergo three different phases, which includes the pre-decision phase, investment phase and the operations phase. The pre decision phase includes the process of feasibility study of the project while the second phase includes the investment in the planning and mitigating the risk associated with the project. The third phase is the operations phase that helps in developing a proper finance of the project by estimating the time, cost and labor needed for the project.
Project Condition: The project is subjected to the agreement of the different purchase orders, special conditions, owner policies and design standard. The contractors for the project work are needed to be chosen before the project execution. The contractor is responsible for the furnishing all the labor, material services, tools and equipments necessary for performing and completing the work within a scheduled time. The project tender has a detailed estimation of the tools equipments and the resources that will be needed for completing the project in a scheduled time. The liability of the contractor includes all the local state and federal taxes, license and permit fess apart from the pre development fee, utilities, hiring of the trailers, cost of vehicles, dumpsters, and the labor wages as well (Chin et al. 2012). With the successful validation of the tender, the project is in a condition to start its implementation work.
Project Team: The project team members are to be identified or chosen appropriately in order to implement the project successfully. The project team members identified for the project are listed below. The tender incorporates the estimated salary of the project team members as well. The project team members are –
- The project manager: Responsible for planning and managing all the project related works
- The Construction manager: responsible for managing all the construction works for the project.
- The contractors: integral part of the project management as the field work are managed and supervised by the contractor
- Sub contractors: responsible for managing the detailed construction works
- Project Stakeholders
- Project owner
- Project scheduler: responsible for estimating the detailed schedule of the project
- Safety Manager: responsible for ensuring the safety of the project team member and the workers
The identified team members hold an important part in this project. However, the project team is not limited only to these identified members. The project deals with the management of large assets and therefore it may include other team members well.
Project Financing
Project Process: The major project processes includes the management of the project communication process and resource management. Establishing a clear communication is necessary for delivering successful projects. Resource management is another primary criterion for delivering successful projects. A steady flow of the resources is necessary for proper management of the project related works and also helps in keeping a track of the different project requirements.
The expected project cost of the materials and labor associated with the project management for operators of large assets are listed in the following table.
Resource Name |
Std. Rate |
Project Manager |
$90.00/hr |
Project Workers |
$45.00/hr |
Construction manager |
$70.00/hr |
Construction Laborers |
$25.00/hr |
Sub contractors |
$50.00/hr |
Contractors |
$60.00/hr |
Business Analyst |
$80.00/hr |
Materials cost (estimated) |
$5000000 |
Equipments Cost (estimated) |
$1000000 |
Safety manager |
$60.00/hr |
Project Scheduler |
$55.00/hr |
Quality assurance manger |
$55.00/hr |
The requirements of changing project requirements are listed below (Stark 2015)-
- Although the scope of the project is clear, the change in the opinion or the possibility of the change in the scope of the project can be a cause of the change requirement of this project
- The changes in the regulation may lead to the arising of the project changes. The introduction of new regulations and legislations is a primary reason for which the project may under the change management.
- The changes in the requirement of the project or course of project action is another reason for the requirement of changes in the project.
- The change or loss of sponsorship of the project may led to certain project condition where change requirement is inevitable.
- The change in the strategy of project development or business is another major reason of change requirement.
- The need of technology update especially in the project that deals with the management of large assets is another reason for change requirement in the project.
Quality assurance and controlling the quality of the product is required for successful implementation of the project. A project should undergo regular quality check by implementing proper testing procedures for proper project implementation (Oakes 2012). The different requirements quality assurance and quality control in the project that deals with the management of large resources are discussed below.
- The project development phases should undergo thorough testing of the project processes and the procedures.
- Appointment of a proper quality control manager will be beneficial for supervising and assuring proper quality assurance of all the project related works.
- The different testing procedures should be performed on a routine basis for checking the quality of the product.
- Operational techniques for fulfilling the requirement of quality of the product are responsible for assuring the product’s quality
- Another major criteria for maintaining the quality of the product includes the supervision of the entire operational work by the supervisor and the quality control manager appointed for managing the quality of the product to be developed.
These are the basic requirement for quality control and quality assurance of the project under development. The tender should include the estimated cost of all the operational costs for the different processes of the quality assurance program identified above.
One of the major aspects of implementation of a successful project is document control. This includes the documentation of all the project works and the associated project plans. It helps in keeping a track of project progress and ascertains whether the said project is following a particular schedule (Winch 2014). A documentation manager along with a content writer can be appointed for documenting and archiving the entire project related works and documents. Document keeping reflects a planned approach of the project management.
The reporting of all the project related works is another criteria for defining successful implementation of a project. The project owner and the stakeholders associated with the project should have a detailed knowledge about project works and the project progress. The laborers and the subcontractors have the responsibility of reporting the project progress and the daily project works to the contractors. The contractors are responsible for submitting the detailed report of the project progress to his immediate higher officials, which includes the project manager and the construction manager. The estimated cost of the project reporting should be included in the tender as well.
Another major requirement for implementation of the project that includes operators of large assets is a thorough project supervision. It ensures that the project is being implemented according to the project plan. The responsibility of proper project governance is associated with the project and the construction manager.
The primary methods of dispute revolution include arbitration and mediation. Arbitration deals with dispute resolution outside the court while the mediation of dispute involves a single mediator who facilitates the discussion and resolution of the dispute. The tender should have estimated cost of the dispute resolution as well.
Every project requires proper safety standard and regulations for implementation of a successful project. The safety requirements associated for the project are listed below-
- The proper safety manual is needed to be designed and circulated among the workers
- The construction site is prone to different hazard and therefore thorough supervision of the work site by the safety manager is necessary.
- Different safety equipments should be provided to the laborers and workers of the construction sites. The workers should familiarize themselves with the hazards of the construction sites. The workers should be furthermore prevented from working without the safety equipments.
The tender should include the detailed cost of the safety requirements of the workers in the project site.
References
Brandes, T.T., Fernandez, P.B., Issa, P., Lee, V.Y. and Ma, L.J., Sprint Communications Company LP, 2012. System and method for project contract management. U.S. Patent 8,108,232.
Chin, C.M.M., Spowage, A.C. and Yap, E.H., 2012. Project Management Methodologies: A Comparative Analysis Participation. Journal for the Advancement of Performance Information & Value, 4(1).
Finnerty, J.D., 2013. Project financing: Asset-based financial engineering. John Wiley & Sons.
Oakes, M.G., 2012. Project reviews, assurance and governance. Gower Publishing, Ltd..
Stark, J., 2015. Product lifecycle management. In Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 1) (pp. 1-29). Springer International Publishing.
Winch, G.M., 2014. Three domains of project organising. International Journal of Project Management, 32(5), pp.721-731.