Situation
Garfoot Project Services was approached by a pharmaceutical device company to provide project management support for the replacement of a box palletiser system.
Challenge
An existing palletiser system was reaching the end of its life and many of the components were already obsolete and failing. The system was also used on a shift rota between two packing lines feeding out boxes of liquid filled bags. A solution was required to replace the palletiser with a modern design, capable of supporting both packing lines simultaneously to further improve production on the site.
Additional challenges included:
- GPSL was brought in after completion of the design phase, however the URS had not yet been finalised.
- The site was production critical, meaning downtime of the system was extremely tight.
- Existing control systems were not fully understood or documented making integration difficult
Solution
The project product was to be a dual cell robotic palletiser. This modern design provides the customer with the required product throughput and enabled production to automatically palletise two packing lines simultaneously.
GPSL would need to utilise change management principles and adopt a strong process of collaboration, communication and coordination to bring the design into line with the URS as well as reworking the project finances which would almost certainly need to adapt to the new requirements.
Using previous experiences, GPSL ensured the right contractors were brought in to provide support for the removal of the existing system in a timely yet safe manor. Planning would be to the hour, creating a seamless handover from production to the PM for carrying out the strip-out and installation works.
Results
The project proved to be very tough for all involved, partly due to the expectations of the customer clashing with the expectations of the supplier. Conflict resolution was key throughout and GPSL were able to deliver a working system which is now providing the customer with the benefits they were looking for.
The nature of this project made it very fluid and the ability to embrace change was a key aspect of its success. Whilst the early stages did not necessary allow for adequate time, cost and resources, GPSL were able to minimise the impact of change to an acceptable level.
