Business challenge
Secure timely delivery, on budget, of construction projects.
Optimize site margin on construction projects by implementing a standardized best practice “way of working” that will continuously improve over time.
Process
Together with a client team a thorough analysis was conducted to understand where improvements could be made and losses could be avoided structurally. The main conclusions of this analysis were that:
- Processes needed to be integrated.
- Performance (or lack of) should become more transparent.
- Responsibilities had to be clear.
- The organization needed to become a more performance driven and reliability focused.
- The newly designed and implemented process must be governed by a robust and comprehensive management system.
Operational Strategy & Transformation
The Operational Strategy targets resulting from the analysis then had to be translated into a Transformation plan that would determine how the ambition would be realized. This would also address culture and behavior, as “one way of working” is an ambitious target if not all stakeholders understand what it means in the same way.
Variable Cost Optimization
Calculation variances were significantly reduced due to improved collaboration between internal departments and project stakeholders.
Procurement Excellence
By implementing procurement best practices a differentiated procurement was developed. Roles and responsibilities were clearly defined between departments, and information sharing was timely, accurately and in a uniform way. An optimum balance was found (and agreed on) between central and local responsibilities which resulted in maximum purchasing power for the group as a whole.
Revenue growth
Based on facts a clear distinction was made between projects that were “good” for Van Laere (within their sweet spot of expertise) and which ones should not be addressed. As a result losses were reduced by not working on projects that were too far from the sweet spot. This understanding led to a significant in hit-rate (bids won) whilst the calculation margins improved.
Program and Performance Management
To manage the processes in a sustainable manor a robust performance management system was implemented measuring and steering a selection of key success factors on a weekly basis, so that deviations to plan were noticed in an early stage.
On construction projects timely delivery on budget was secured by implementing a standardized best practice “way of working”. This was gradually rolled out to all major construction sites.
Finally a “preparation and closure” process was developed and formalized in a management system to ensure preparation is done every time at the required level and with the required people, lessons are learned, preventable losses are identified and avoided in future, and best practices are captured and shared with all stakeholders.