It is widely accepted that for the efficient delivery of projects with sound management of costs and scope, a common and well-understood project delivery process needs to be in place. This process must be fully supported at each level of the organisation.
Beca AMEC employs a Structured Capital Planning process that encompasses the full range of decision-making processes required from a project’s initiation phase to its final execution. A “Toll Gate” system applies, whereby a set of criteria is determined for passing each gate in the project, and identifies the key stakeholders and personnel involved in getting to the gate and making the final decision to proceed.
Particular attention is paid to the early project stages, such as project initiation, pre-feasibility, feasibility and developing a business case. Viability of a project must be established as early as possible. This will help facilitate the most efficient use of project and area staffing, as well as financial resources.
The system involves the implementation of Front End Loading (FEL) principles. FEL provides the tools for addressing the key components necessary for making development decisions. An agreed number of pre-requisites are completed before a gate is reached, and a number of standard criteria are set out for the decision-making process at each gate.
In practice, this employs two key strategies:
- adequate resources
- staged process.
By providing the correct resources at the early stages of a project, timely and well-grounded business decisions can be made. A number of experienced staff must be involved in the development of capital cost estimates and market analysis, determining the fit with overall business strategy, and assessing the impact in areas such as infrastructure and site development.
The staged Toll Gate system requires that a thorough project evaluation is undertaken at major points in the process, making sure the project justification can be honoured. Decisions to either proceed or defer are made at these major milestones.