Management Services

FLOWLEAD’s project management process is modeled after the Project Management Institute project model using the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). We are a member of PMI and have invested in PMP (Project Management Professional) certification for key FLOWLEAD staff.

Project Planning, Budget Control, and Cost Tracking

We manage projects from a few hours in duration to programs lasting years and in excess of hundreds of thousands of man-hours. To accomplish this, we have adopted and developed a variety of methods that offer scalability to meet our clients’ business needs, including:

• A three-level planning process, which tracks and reports planned progress, earned value, and expended budget and reports this data at periodic intervals
• Detailed coordination and progress tracking tools for discipline leads and the FLOWLEAD project manager
• A scope-change control and tracking mechanism, whereby requested additions and changes in project scope are routed through a scope definition, cost estimation, client approval, and project budget modification process

Quality Assurance/Control

The fundamental purpose of quality management processes, in particular as it applies to project delivery, is the mitigation of risk to achieve optimum business results. FLOWLEAD’s project methodology is based on the concepts of risk analysis and specification-verification driven quality management. This approach drives us to adopt innovative methods of identifying challenges, develop engineering solutions to meet those challenges, and verify that the end result meets the need.

Every one of FLOWLEAD’s customers has specific requirements for issuing and receiving project documents. Often, there is the added complication of interfacing with vendors, EPCs or other 3rd party engineering consultants as part of FLOWLEAD’s project scope. Managing all incoming and outgoing documents correctly is vital to project success and requires established processes and procedures that meet the needs of the project and also comply with the customer’s requirements.

Our Document Management team assists FLOWLEAD’s design teams in meeting the challenges of their projects’ document control needs, managing the receipt and issue of all documents transferred between FLOWLEAD and our customers, vendors, EPCs or 3rd party engineering consultants. Documents are issued and received to FLOWLEAD’s established standards that also conform to the specific requirements of the project and customer reducing project risk through conformance to established document control standards, procedures and industry best-practices. Document Management takes responsibility for quality, timely and cost effective document and records management, and follows industry-standard best practices while maintaining the flexibility to conform to the specific needs of the project and customer.

FLOWLEAD’s approach to construction management focuses on managing the interface between the FLOWLEAD design team and the construction contractor, with a specific attention to the nature of the construction activities and the risks these activities present to a process facilities operation.

Whether the project is new construction in a “green field site”, or a closely integrated revamp or control system migration in an operational facility, FLOWLEAD has the experience to manage construction activities to ensure the final product meets technical and commercial requirements, and that all documentation is produced to demonstrate it.

We’ve developed a comprehensive system for construction schedule and progress tracking. It identifies and arranges individual construction scope items in a manner suitable for identifying completion of construction activities, tracks execution of construction QC, and provides turnover documentation for commissioning. This system leverages our commissioning database application, which integrates with our other design database applications to ensure consistent and accurate data through the project life cycle.

One of FLOWLEAD’s greatest value-added approaches to engineering services is our ability to assume overall program and portfolio management responsibility for large Electrical, Instrumentation and Control programs and portfolios involving multiple projects over long periods of time. This approach involves collaborating with our clients to develop execution strategies, create plans and to execute a number of projects, both sequentially and concurrently, thereby maintaining and leveraging resource consistency, common systems, tools and techniques. By achieving a greater understanding of our clients’ long-term goals, FLOWLEAD can ensure continuity in resources and provide greater consistency and efficiency in overall project management and delivery. This ultimately translates into a higher value service offering to our clients.

FLOWLEAD’s methodology for completing the Corporation’s projects can involve creating an over-arching program execution approach that defines how FLOWLEAD will manage and execute the projects for the life of the program or portfolio. The first major deliverable for this type of program is the program management plan (PMP), a guiding document that is shared with all members of the Corporation’s and FLOWLEAD’s project teams tasked with executing projects within the program or portfolio. This document will provide standards for project completion and maximize knowledge and execution continuity with all resources over the life of the program or portfolio.

It is common for organizations with projects or capital programs to leverage specialized automation organizations in a main automation contractor (MAC) contracting strategy to ensure seamless system integration and consistency within their control and information system environment. Engaging an automation-focused MAC early in the project design stages can help to ensure that technology is effectively leveraged and there is strong communication and integration across all parties to remove overlap and redundancies in scope, identify gaps in accountability, and ultimately provide an automation system that meets the project’s specific needs and decreases project risk.

As a specialty automation contractor, FLOWLEAD is frequently in a MAC role working in a collaborative fashion with process and mechanical EPC organizations, vendors, and trade contractors. We have successfully served in this role in all of our key market sectors.