Project Management

The ultimate aim of the Project Management System within Elma-Mektron is to ensure that all parties, internal and external to the business, are able to obtain accurate project status information in a timely manner. The end result being that our customers receive the product they expect, at the time they expected to receive it, within the agreed budget for the project.

Contract Review
The Project Management Team looks after the customer's and Elma-Mektron's requirements, from the point of order placement, when the Sales Team formally hand over responsibility for the project. Senior managers in all departments are notified of all new sales orders by circulation of a Sales Order Notification, which clearly identifies the product that has been ordered, sale price and delivery requirements. The Planning Sheet also outlines any special requirements or points to be notified by specific functions within the business, i.e. Engineering, Production, Procurement or Administration. Within two working days of receipt of the any order, Project Management reviews the requirements with the Engineering Department and then lays down the Project Activity Plan.

Project Activity Plan
The Project Activity Plan defines the critical milestones and reviews associated with each project, the resource allocated to the milestones and is used to monitor the progress towards meeting the requirements of the project. The Project Plan is also used to raise alarms relating to issues that may affect any feature of the product, be it cost, time-scales or performance.

Customer Interface
The Project Management Team provides a single point of contact for all customer and internal enquiries relating to open orders as well as delivered product. Elma-Mektron prides itself on its customer-facing attitude, and wherever possible, we allow access to all of our staff, in order to answer any of our customer's demands, at any time. The Project Management Team provides the focus for these communications as well as keeping the record of the requirements and communications within a central area. Wherever possible we encourage our customers to use the Project Management function to track progress of the project and disseminate any questions or change requests within the business.

Communications
The key to keeping all projects on target is to ensure a clear and efficient path of communication, between all interested parties, and the Project Management Team aim to provide the focus for this. Communication, internal and external, relating to any order, or for that matter quotation, is logged against the project as an attachment within the Axapta system. Where possible a copy of the communication is stored in the sales file relating to the order, giving a permanent record of all communications relating to the order.

Dependencies
Throughout the life of the project, customer and internal dependencies that may affect the project, are logged and tracked within the Project Activity Plan by target completion date. These are used to ensure that the project's critical milestones stay on track in line with the Project Plan. An Initial Dependency list will normally be produced following Contract Review, and will be communicated to the customer along with an Order Acknowledgement.

Post Sales
Any post-sales enquiries are normally handled in the first instance by the Project Management Team and are then past to the appropriate department for actioning.

• Best use of resources, capacity utilisation
• More accurate project costing
• Reliable delivery dates
• Higher quality management information in all business activities

• Better intelligence and improved management of business opportunities
• More accurate information leading to better efficiency
• Less project risk through better inter-departmental co-operation

• Higher customer satisfaction, through better information and service
• More reliable, accurate and efficient tendering
• Greater confidence to WIN more complex and more valuable projects
• Improved competitiveness with faster delivery times and better prices
• Keep Elma-Mektron as the market leader

• Supply chain relationship management
• Master Planning
• Project production management
• Inventory management
• Purchasing
• Fully enabled for EDI / XML e-commerce order processing and invoicing