{"id":1236,"date":"2019-01-06T17:37:36","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T15:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fractory.co\/?p=1236"},"modified":"2024-12-17T18:34:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T16:34:39","slug":"project-management-triangle-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/project-management-triangle-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Management Triangle – Balancing Speed, Cost and Quality"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the sidelines, project management might seem like an easy job. You just have to oversee others’ work. In reality, it requires certain experience and know-how to juggle between everything going on. Finding the optimal solution can be challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n Project management triangle<\/a> is a pretty well-known concept. In short, it states that an equilibrium point between cost, speed and quality is unattainable. Is it rather a myth or a fact?<\/p>\n Balancing those three sure is a difficult task. A good university education or experience of judging from the sidelines is not enough to succeed at it. At first, mistakes are inevitable. The basis for progress is the ability to learn from these mishaps.\u00a0The first lesson is careful planning.<\/span><\/p>\n You achieve nothing without thorough planning. It is important to bear in mind that just generating ideas does not equal planning. Planning takes those ideas and makes them work for a common goal. But first, you have to pinpoint the difficulties within the project to find the right path. In manufacturing, the difficulty comes from balancing time, speed and quality<\/strong>, a challenge that often involves considering both cost management and value optimisation<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Those, in turn, are comprised of a sub-set of interconnected factors. Let’s identify the key points together to make planning clearer and easier.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Assuring a quick service in manufacturing comprises different aspects.\u00a0The first is input<\/strong>. The project management process starts with it. What do the clients want? How do they want it? Where do they want it? Although your client may not have a clear vision yet, gather as much info as possible. The inputs give you a rough idea of the time required to provide a satisfying result.<\/span><\/p>\n The second component of speed is design<\/strong>. This is one of the key points with many connections – a lot depends on it. A good engineering design<\/a> may require more time from the engineering team but will eventually repay it many-fold in different ways:<\/span><\/p>\n The last component is\u00a0production<\/strong>. Each step in production takes time. The first is finding a supplier for materials. Not everything is always readily available. Next is cutting and bending. Do you have the right equipment for doing it all or should you outsource parts of it? Who can you trust? The same goes for welding<\/a>. The final steps are assembling and packaging. If everything is done correctly so far, these should not pose any further problems.<\/span><\/p>\n Production does not allow much flexibility. The last stretch is almost always a little hurried without time to spare. But one mistake can prolong that time from 3 days to 6. Of course, a lot depends on the workshop team. But their work is largely determined by what has been done previously.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Often times the success of your project is determined by its final cost. Where does the price derive from? Let’s take a look.<\/span><\/p>\n The most obvious answer is parts<\/strong>. Your construction is made of different parts and each of them has a production cost which depends on the manufacturer and the type of metal<\/a> used. This is how it is often seen. Let’s try another angle.<\/span><\/p>\n There is a better way to optimise costs. The culprit behind a hefty price tag is often a customer who does not find enough time for his engineers to work out an optimal design. It is way easier to cut the costs in the drawing room<\/a>, if you have a capable team.<\/p>\n Why is choosing the cheapest manufacturer a bad idea<\/a>? There is a reason for a manufacturer to offer low prices. Lower prices usually<\/strong> mean lower quality. Of course, taking risks is a part of project management. At times, your usual partners cannot offer competitive prices or lead times and you have to turn elsewhere. Finding someone trustworthy is not always easy.<\/p>\n The second price point is labour<\/strong> costs. This applies to both your employees as well as to the employees of your outsourcing partner. A common misconception is hiring people for little money and saving through that. There is no real value in choosing a cheap workforce.<\/p>\n One good engineer or welder, who admittedly requires better pay, can justify the costs better than hiring a plethora of amateurs. Ingenuity is not laying around for free. However, having knowledge on your team can help to reduce your overall expenses through better solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n The final element is infrastructure<\/strong>. Your production facilities have to support the workers. Illogical layouts and uninformed workers result in lessened efficiency. Similarly, poor documentation can lead to misunderstandings that increase costs, this could be avoided by using an online form<\/a> to create clear policies or contracts. Everything should be readily available and near working spaces. Having a know-it-all supervisor who directs his workers towards tools is an old-fashioned way. The headless employee who spends half of the day wandering around the warehouse<\/a> is wasting time and money. And the fault does not lie with him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first bit in quality is\u00a0know-how<\/strong>. It applies to both your and your partner’s engineering\/production team. A project manager has to find good people who know what they are designing, while keeping production methods in mind. The manufacturing must have competent production engineers who understand the needs and how each material should be handled.<\/p>\n Mechanical properties of materials<\/a> matter when laser cutting<\/a>, bending<\/a> or welding them. The people responsible for those operations need to be aware of the specifics of materials and production methods to ensure good quality.<\/p>\n Planning<\/h2>\n
Speed<\/h2>\n
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Cost<\/h2>\n
Quality<\/h2>\n
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