Steve Beeler

You have a goal…I have a way to get you there.

Project Management

Plant Rearrangement

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Successful companies are faced with significant changes while moving up the growth curve. A plant rearrangement and/or relocation is often required to add capacity. It is a big undertaking to move everything and everybody while maintaining production. Here are three tips for a successful plant rearrangement:

Plan and communicate. A complete plant layout of the “new” plant is essential. Better to find out that there is not room for everything in AutoCAD than after the physical moves have begun. A Gantt chart to document move sequence and timing is equally essential. Again, it is better to have thought through the move sequence before getting painted into a corner. To obtain buy in, allow time in the planning process to socialize the new plant layout and timing plan. The more input, the better.

Identify risks. Effective project management mitigates risk.  Besides moving equipment and people around, what else must happen for the rearrangement to be successful? Integrate these parallel actions into your rearrangement Gantt chart. Is a key supplier’s JIT/JIS implementation aligned with the plant rearrangement timing plan? It won’t be unless that risk is actively managed.

Provide slack. A little slack in floor space, people, and time will minimize problems. Extra floor space will reduce the (inevitable?) probability of moving something twice. If new equipment is coming in, a staging area (whether in the plant or at a nearby warehouse) will be required. Overtime will be needed to build ahead before production cells are moved. Build some slack time into the Gantt chart to absorb delays and the otherwise unexpected. Bringing in an experienced project manager can provide the fractional leadership to pull everything together.

These three tips are a good start towards planning a plant rearrangement and/or relocation. Need help with a plant rearrangement or other operational challenge? Click HERE to reach out.

Plant Rearrangement

Event Management

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What makes an event a special project management challenge? Everything has to be ready in the first minute! In automotive, there is a “Job One” date when the first car rolls off a new assembly line. After Job One, production ramps up as problems are solved. In event management, there is no such luxury. When the gates open, it is go time.

I recently completed a two-and-a-half year adventure in the planning and organization of Formula Ford’s 50th anniversary celebration at Road America. The FF50th was a very complex five day event with a full slate of racing and off track activities The FF50th was not perfect but it was pretty good.

FF50th Group Photo
A timeless image of an historic occasion (courtesy Jay Bonvouloir)

Here are some keys to successful event management:

First, write a business plan that paints a picture of the event. Thoroughly think through the who, what, where, when, and why. I outlined the FF50th business plan. Outlines are easy to edit and can be read quickly by busy people. Eleven headings fully scoped the FF50th: Objectives, Where and When, Sanctioning Body, Leadership Team, Car Eligibility, Driver Eligibility, Race Groups, On-Track Schedule, Surprise & Delights, Communication Channels, and Budget.

Next, start thinking about the how. That’s where the “traditional” project management tools come into play, first a Gantt chart followed later by a punch list. The timing plan should pull decisions as far forward as possible to provide more slack time for all the little details. Remember: an event has a hard deadline…get ready for it!

Event Management Gantt Chart
FF50th Gantt chart

The Gantt chart defines blocks of work and timing at a “big picture” level.  The punch list gets into the nitty gritty of who and when at the task level.  It is also a good place to capture decisions and other project data.  The Gantt chart is updated infrequently.  The last revision to the FF50th’s Gantt chart was made eight months out.  One the other hand, the punch list changes about every time something happens.  In practical terms, that means daily (more on this below).

FF50th Punch List
First page of FF50th punch list

With the picture painted and a work plan taking shape, the next step is to recruit people to work on the event. No doubt the right people are the single most important key to successful event management (and anything else I can think of, for that matter). Find people who will start with your picture and then surprise you daily with something better.

The last key to successful event management is a new project management trick that I learned while doing the FF50th. About six weeks out, the world was spinning just a little too fast for my punch list…all the little details! To slow things down, I drew up a short list of twelve deliverables that had to be done right and on time. Then frequently during the day, I reviewed the list asking a simple question: Is there something that I need to do NOW to make this deliverable happen? If the answer was yes, then that e-mail was written or that phone call was made right then and there.

Event Management Short List

The short list eventually grew to nineteen deliverables. Even so, the world slowed down and the “must haves” all fell into place.

So there you have it, an event management road map. Now go out there and deliver an epic event!  Click HERE to let me know how you are doing.

Fractional Leadership

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Some time back, LinkedIn suggested that I connect with someone who described herself as a Fractional CEO. This title caught my interest. A Google search led me to a series of articles on fractional leadership. To my great surprise, I discovered that I am ahead of a curve that I did not know even existed.

Fractional Leadership

Fractional leadership is a simple concept. Fractional implies part of a whole. In this context, full-time for a limited duration or part-time over a longer time horizon. Leadership requires vision, perspective, organization, inspiration, accountability, etc.

I found aspects of fractional leadership in most if not all of my case studies.  At one end of the time horizon, I provided daily (including weekend) boots-on-the ground project management for a manufacturing plant rearrangement that spanned seven months.  In another case, I worked part time for two and half years to organize and deliver an event, the FF50th.

At established companies, fractional leadership is an effective solution during periods of transition: a new product or IT systems launch, a plant relocation or rearrangement, an ISO registration, an opening of a new sales territory, integrating an acquisition, the unexpected exit of a key executive, etc. Fractional leadership can quickly and cost effectively fill a transitory mis-match between skills and resources.

Startups and emerging growth companies are excellent candidates for a fractional leadership solution. A fractional operations engineering expert can provide technical direction, supervision, and business acumen until cash flow catches up.

I merely discovered, and did not invent, fractional leadership. Here is a link to one of the better articles that I found:

Kimberley A. Whitler: “The Outsourced Executive: A Growing Leadership Staffing Solution” (Forbes)

Fractional leadership is a nimble, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to a full-time hire and my preferred client relationship. If fractional leadership is a potential solution to your business challenges, please click here to start a conversation.