Setting up of a new industrial plant
Managing and structuring the new plant project to ensure its successful execution
Context & Objectives
An aerospace equipment manufacturer, which provides services to airlines, wants to build a factory in Asia to serve its customers in the region. It has asked Emerton Leadership for support in managing and structuring the project to ensure its successful execution. In particular, it wants to hire an interim manager to determine which equipment to transfer from Europe, identify the equipment that needs to be purchased in Asia, and organize operator training. The objective is to guarantee the same level of service in Asia as in Europe, while optimizing equipment costs.
Mission
The main objectives of the mission are as follows:
- Structure, plan, and coordinate the project.
- Collect all the information needed for the factory's equipment.
- Organize the key stages of the project and anticipate any deviations.
- Coordinate the commissioning of equipment and the transfer of personnel or recruitment for the start-up,
- Provide assistance with local hiring and ensure skills development, with the priority being to train and stabilize the hired personnel.
The Manager is selected based on the following profile:
- A highly experienced project manager who has already been involved in the installation of greenfield factories in Asia,
- Able to organize cross-functional coordination between industrial contractors, project managers, and local service providers,
- Demonstrated leadership, organizational skills, and ability to deliver results,
- Experience in recruiting and coaching production teams in an Asian country,
- Good English language skills.
Results
The assignment lasted 13 months. During this period, the interim manager will oversee the entire process of transferring, purchasing, and receiving equipment, followed by training operators in Europe.
After a quick overview of the project and a detailed tour of the factory to fully understand the processes, technologies, and their specificities, the Manager first focuses on defining the project management tools according to the categories of equipment and work to be planned. He then notes a lack of project culture within the company, little interaction between departments, and teams that tend to view the project as an additional burden. There are numerous budget overruns, and the purchasing plans need to be reviewed and the equipment specifications optimized. Communication with suppliers also needs to be improved. He will have to cancel some of the planned equipment purchases and tighten costs. The equipment is received in Asia without any notable incidents.
The manager tackles the training plan. Operators are trained in Europe and specific upgrade plans are launched. Mentors are identified according to the types of machines and trainees are audited at the end of the process before returning to Asia.
The factory starts up as planned, in line with the schedule and quality commitments to customers, and obtains the required certifications.
