Project management of backup power generators for a data centre in Ireland
Scope
RJDP provided expert project management support for a critical power generation project, involving twenty 3 MW and one 720 kW diesel generators. These generators were vital for maintaining uninterrupted operations at a major high-capacity data centre in Ireland. RJDP’s supporting role was tailored to meet the project’s unique requirements, from generator design to customer handover on site.
Challenges
Intense scrutiny: The project was subject to rigorous examination by end-customer appointed third-parties, resulting in numerous, often unsubstantiated, issues ranging in severity.
Scope agreement: There were ongoing contractural scope discussions and technical documentation approvals during project execution which increased project delivery risk.
Controls: There were no actively maintained risk or issue registers.
Process delays: Commercial change orders were stalled due to insufficient substantiation.
New supplier challenges: There was an escalation of quality and design issues following the introduction of a new product supplier.
Our approach
Objective independence: We maintained our independence, ensuring our decision-making and advice was objective, data-driven, and solutions-focused.
Custom solutions: Our project manager implemented custom databases tracking risks, issues, and document approvals. Regular database reviews with stakeholders supported the prioritisation of resources and agreement of task ownership and delivery.
Strategic scope management: We recognised the importance of quickly closing all ongoing contractural scope discussions during project execution. We were instrumental in achieving this by
providing decisive recommendations on stalled contractual items;
leading collaborative workshops with the client, suppliers, and end-customer teams;
maintaining a solution-focused dialogue and appropriate escalation levels.
Stakeholder alignment: We ensured a common language was used throughout the project and that consensus between stakeholders was secured and logged e.g. we developed a scope charter for several critical project phases, helping clarify language and deliverables.
Issue controls: We quickly realised the high-level of scrutiny on the project, its propensity to increase the number of unsubstantiated issues raised by third-parties, and the risk this had on our client’s perceived performance. Our response to this was to
rigorously log, index, and prioritise all raised issues;
validate concerns against agreed specifications and documentation;
lead targeted workshops to identify issue resolutions and dismiss unsubstantiated claims; and
collaborate with supplier quality teams and engineers to ensure issue recurrence was mitigated by logging and deploying lessons.
Data-driven conflict resolution: We employed our fact-based approach to resolve conflicts, leveraging project data to guide stakeholder consensus.
Proactive supplier management: We managed the swift resolution of new supplier challenges by leveraging our established relationship with key decision-makers, setting up workshops, and leading effective communication.
Change order effectiveness: We consulted with suppliers to acquire substantiation for commercial change orders to support end-customer teams with their commercial approvals. We also shared feedback on the change order process with the client’s management team to support future projects.
Benefits
Effective tracking: Our documentation tracker was praised for providing useful insight into the weekly performance of documentation approval process, allowing stakeholders to prioritise their workload.
Scope risk mitigation: We made a significant contribution to the closure of open contractural scope items, mitigating the risk of project changes; sharing several conclusions and recommendations with the client to support future scope alignment processes.
Issues tracking and closure: Our comprehensive issues register and its capabilities was welcomed by key stakeholders on project and provided instrumental in supporting the prioritisation or resources and rapid closure of issues.
Quality improvements: Our team’s focus on evidence based issue tracking and closure, and the identification and sharing of lessons, resulting in a notable reduction in defects per unit when compared to previous projects. This was formally acknowledged by the end-customer, supplier quality team members, and influential stakeholders.
Quick conflict resolution: Our data-driven and solutions-focused approach ensured amicable challenge resolution, safeguarding project scope, improving perception, and reducing risks.
Change order effectiveness: By collating substantiation for change orders we improved the likelihood of their approval, reducing commercial risk to the project.
Summary
RJDP’s engagement in this large-scale power project underscored our expertise in clear communication, quality oversight, and agile responsiveness. Our strategic approach, conflict resolution skills, and custom methodologies not only delivered high-quality results but also expanded our knowledge base, setting new benchmarks for future project management challenges.
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