A manufacturing PMO faces myriad challenges in its day-to-day work. A modern Project Portfolio Management solution can simplify operations, providing greater visibility, improved resource management, and risk mitigation, writes Sophia Edwards and Alexandra Story
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Introduction: The Challenges of Managing Manufacturing Projects and Portfolios
The manufacturing industry is vast and complex, with an intricate web of projects running simultaneously across different departments and locations. Many manufacturing companies struggle to manage these projects efficiently, leading to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and an inability to make informed decisions quickly.
For project management offices (PMOs), the introduction of a modern project and portfolio management (PPM) solution for manufacturing can promise to solve these challenges. However, the journey to implementing such a solution can be daunting.
This blog post explores the key challenges faced by manufacturing PMOs before implementing a PPM solution and outlines how such a solution when well implemented can address those pain points, ultimately simplifying project management and improving visibility, resource planning, and risk management.
Common Pain Points Before Implementing a Manufacturing PPM Solution
1. Lack of Visibility Across the Portfolio
One of the most significant challenges faced by PMOs in the manufacturing sector is a lack of visibility into their entire project portfolio. Often, project managers rely on a mishmash of outdated tools such as Excel spreadsheets, Google Docs, or homegrown systems that provide fragmented views of projects. Without a unified solution, PMOs cannot see the status of multiple projects in real-time, which leads to confusion, poor decision-making, and inefficiency.
For instance, many clients reported that they had difficulty tracking all their projects’ progress, leading to missed deadlines and overlooked issues. The absence of a centralized dashboard to view ongoing initiatives is a common cause of inefficiencies and missed opportunities for optimization.
2. Poor Resource Management
Another critical challenge in the manufacturing sector is the difficulty in managing resources effectively. Companies often lack insight into their current capacity, leading to overburdened staff, idle resources, and suboptimal allocation of personnel. In many cases, project managers are unaware of which team members are overloaded or have bandwidth to take on new projects.
For example, before implementing their manufacturing project management software solution, many of our customer organizations were managing their project resources via Google Docs or custom-made systems. These systems lacked the functionality to offer a clear view of resource capacity, making it nearly impossible to plan effectively for future projects or even assess ongoing workloads. This resource management nightmare can cause delays, hinder productivity, and ultimately lead to project failure.
3. Inadequate Risk Management
Manufacturers often face unpredictable risks, such as supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, or changes in regulatory requirements. However, many companies have no comprehensive way to track and manage these risks. Without a central risk register or real-time risk visibility, issues can go unreported, causing delays or costly consequences that affect the overall portfolio’s performance.
Without a centralized system to manage risks, project managers rely on informal communication methods such as emails or status meetings to report risks and issues. This manual process is prone to errors, leading to a reactive rather than a proactive approach to risk management.
How a Manufacturing PPM Simplifies Project Management
An effective manufacturing project management software solution is designed to address these challenges and provide manufacturing companies with an all-in-one solution that streamlines project and portfolio management. Let’s explore some key functionalities that can make a PMO’s life easier.
1. Enhanced Visibility with Program Structure
A PPM solution enables manufacturing PMOs to organize and configure their project portfolios in a way that is both intuitive and functional. With a clear program structure, projects are categorized based on their natural position within the business, making it easier to locate and track them. PMOs can monitor the progress of all projects from a centralized dashboard, providing visibility into each project’s status, resource allocation, financials, and risks. This visibility empowers decision-makers to take timely action and adjust strategies to optimize portfolio performance.
For example, a manufacturing client of Cora’s moved from chaotic project planning with Excel and Outlook to an organized, unified platform in Cora PPM. They now run their project meetings directly in Cora, ensuring everyone has up-to-date information at their fingertips.
2. Effective Resource Management
One of the most valuable capabilities of a PPM is its resource management functionality. With Cora, PMOs can track current resource capacity in real-time and plan for future needs more effectively. The solution includes comprehensive workforce management capabilities that allows teams to visualize who is working on what, ensuring there are no resource shortages or over-allocations.
Using Cora’s strategic capacity planning capability, for example, manufacturing companies can get a clear view of their team’s capacity, enabling them to make more accurate resource planning decisions. This feature also allows PMOs to simulate “what-if” scenarios, helping them foresee potential issues before they arise.
3. Centralized Risk Management
With a PPM, risk management is streamlined and more accessible. The solution offers a centralized risk register that consolidates all risks into one place. PMOs can easily monitor project risks, view their status, and track mitigation actions. Dashboards give stakeholders a quick overview of risk exposure across the entire portfolio, enabling them to address issues proactively rather than reactively.
For example, project managers at Cora’s manufacturing clients can quickly access a project’s risk register or risk dashboard, eliminating the need to chase down project managers for risk updates. This enhanced visibility helps mitigate risks before they escalate into problems, leading to fewer project delays and a more agile organization.
Best Practices for a Successful Manufacturing PPM Implementation
While a PPM offers significant improvements to project management in the manufacturing sector, its successful implementation requires careful planning and strategic considerations.
1. Establish Existing PMO Practices
Before implementing any manufacturing project management software solution, it’s essential for a manufacturing company to have some established PMO practices in place. This foundation will reduce the need for extensive organizational change management (OCM), which can add complexity to the implementation process.
The key to a smooth transition is ensuring that PMOs and key stakeholders understand the existing workflows and how Cora will enhance or replace them. Implementing Cora PPM without a solid understanding of existing PMO practices can lead to confusion and delays.
2. Allocate Dedicated Resources
A successful PPM implementation requires a dedicated team to manage the process. Companies should assign internal resources with the capacity to support the project’s needs. Having the right people in place is crucial for ensuring the solution is properly configured, customized, and adopted by all teams.
Additionally, it’s important to provide ongoing training and support to ensure users understand how to use the PPM effectively.
3. Adopt a Phased Approach to Implementation
A phased approach to a PPM implementation is recommended for reducing time to value and ensuring user engagement early on. By breaking the implementation down into smaller, manageable phases, PMOs can ensure that each phase is completed successfully before moving on to the next one.
This phased approach also allows for early wins, which can drive user adoption and help the company build momentum towards full deployment.
4. Use the PPM Software for Your Implementation
To boost adoption and drive familiarity with a PPM, it’s highly recommended to use the same tool for the implementation process. Often, organizations choose a different tool to manage the implementation, which creates a disconnect.
By using Cora to manage the implementation, users can start working within the system right away, becoming more comfortable and confident in using it. This approach helps avoid negative perceptions and ensures a smoother transition as teams are already familiar with the system when it goes live across the organization.
Measuring Success: How PPM Transforms Project Management in Manufacturing
For manufacturing companies, success in implementing a PPM is evident when users actively engage with the system and the data analytics it generates is used to drive decision-making.
1. Increased Visibility and Control
The first and most noticeable change after adopting PPM is enhanced visibility. Manufacturing PMOs gain a comprehensive view of all their projects, from individual tasks to portfolio-level financials. This level of transparency enables better decision-making and ensures that projects stay on track and within budget.
2. Improved Financial Management
Cora PPM offers robust financial management tools that help manufacturing companies keep track of their project budgets and forecasts. By integrating financials directly into the project management workflow, companies can quickly spot revenue leakage, track costs, and ensure projects stay within budget.
3. Streamlined Communication and Reporting
With all project data stored in a centralized system, communication between teams becomes more efficient. Reporting is simplified, as project managers no longer need to consolidate data from multiple sources. Instead, Cora generates real-time reports and dashboards, allowing decision-makers to stay informed and respond quickly to issues.
Conclusion: The Future of Manufacturing Project Management
Implementing a PPM solution like Cora can transform the way manufacturing companies manage their projects. By addressing common pain points like lack of visibility, poor resource management, and inadequate risk tracking, Cora PPM offers a comprehensive solution that brings significant improvements to day-to-day operations.
With careful planning, strategic implementation, and ongoing support, manufacturing PMOs can reap the benefits of a modern project management system that not only streamlines processes but also drives overall business success.
About the authors
Sophia Edwards, Project Manager at Cora Systems.
Alexandra Story, Program Manager at Cora Systems.
Further Insights
Learn more about Cora Systems Project Portfolio Management Software
Tune into our most recent Project Management Paradise Podcast episodes available on Spotify and Apple
