Company Announcement - A smart and accurate work breakdown structure, budget and schedule can cut 5% to 10% off a project’s final installed cost because key performance criteria can be simply and effectively tracked and controlled, says John Dixon, Project Manager at SNC-Lavalin. With its keen understanding of project management in an African context, including flagship projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Malawi. SNC-Lavalin is well placed to offer this expertise and know-how to its clients.

“We have carried out various studies and executed projects in the iron ore, copper, gold, and rare earths market sectors. One of the challenges facing projects in Africa in general is that some of the players are not really convinced of the advantages of the project management discipline, and its criticality in effectively managing risk and opportunity on their projects,” Dixon says.  “SNC-Lavalin’s global experience and know-how can help mining clients in Africa remain competitive by implementing the latest project management and control methodologies and software.

Dixon warns against the misperception “that too much money is being spent on project management and controls. I think that is false economy. Certainly everyone is moving towards ‘leaner and meaner’. However, what you can save by cutting back on project management and controls is minuscule in the context of the entire project.”  Compromising on this aspect can and often does materially increase the remaining portion of the initial capex investment by incurring lengthy delays, spiralling contractor claims or realisation of other risks.” The ratio of management to engineering man-hours, as well as the relative contributions of the various engineering disciplines can vary widely from one project to another. “It is vital that the specifics of each project are well understood and considered when establishing project schedules and budgets in order to facilitate effective monitoring and control throughout the project lifecycle,” says Dixon.

A major challenge is educating operational management within the mining industry as to the benefits of project management and controls. “There is a great deal of work to be done in upfront planning and structuring of a project so as to render it eminently controllable. Operational focus is often more immediate and situation driven, whereas project focus tends towards consideration of a wider set of success criteria in a somewhat more measured and structured approach.” Dixon adds: “More is being expected a lot faster, and the engineering project houses have to continually streamline their approach to execution within the constraints of established workflow processes and discipline. Leveraging low-cost procurement and high-value engineering centres to support optimal and cost effective delivery of projects are two of SNC-Lavalin’s strengths in that regard.”

Another area of concern is the level of appreciation for multi disciplined peer reviews, engineering verification and professional sign-off on designs prior to implementation and after construction. A half-hearted approach and commitment by owners and contractors towards these key reviews and responsibilities can have potentially dangerous consequences. “It should always be remembered that engineers carry a legal responsibility to ensure that their designs are implemented faithfully, irrespective of whether they are appointed to oversee construction activities themselves or not.

“Within SNC-Lavalin, project managers have a corporate responsibility to formally attest on a regular basis that this is actually taking place within their projects and raise alerts and propose remedial action when deviations occur. Often the appreciation for such discipline at the coal face is low, being perceived as restrictive or even counterproductive. It is one of the important roles of the project manager to ensure that the key players on the client’s team are appropriately educated in this regard,” Dixon says.

He points out that supply chain management and logistics in Africa do not present insurmountable problems. “It needs to be dealt with early on in the study phase by tailoring design to avoid having to transport large complex items that can be easily damaged. We look at engineering for simplicity of construction, which often means modularisation and containerisation. Bolting components together, rather than on-site welding, can materially reduce construction time and cost.”

Looking to the future, Dixon says that the mining industry in Africa continues to offer opportunities. “I think that while this year we will still have to tough it out as an industry, particularly in South Africa, the fundamentals of mining projects in Africa in general remain lucrative and we have pretty much graduated from the school of managing the risks in the challenging environments in which they are developing. We have a high degree of flexibility, creativity and tenacity that we can bring to bear in the delivery of effective project management solutions in Africa.”

SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 40 other countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100 countries. www.snclavalin.com.

UNDERSTANDING PROJECTS IN AFRICA PIC 01: SNC-Lavalin’s global experience and know-how can help mining clients in Africa remain competitive by implementing the latest project management and control methodologies and software.

UNDERSTANDING PROJECTS IN AFRICA PIC 02: SNC-Lavalin’s keen understanding of project management in an African context includes flagship projects such as Katanga Mining’s Kamoto Copper Company expansion project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UNDERSTANDING PROJECTS IN AFRICA PIC 03: SNC-Lavalin focuses on engineering for simplicity of construction, which often means modularisation and containerisation.

UNDERSTANDING PROJECTS IN AFRICA PIC 04: The fundamentals for mining projects such as Katanga Mining’s Kamoto project in the Democratic Republic of Congo remain lucrative and continue to offer opportunities, according to SNC-Lavalin.