IET’s client had recently undertaken more than 25 initiatives spanning the entire supply chain to improve service, quality and profitability with its largest customer. The person overseeing these initiatives also had another 25 projects for a different part of the business and other responsibilities too. The client had to be sure that valuable resources were being directed to achieve real business results in a timely manner, but the key individual could not give these initiatives the attention they needed.

The client enlisted IET to provide project management oversight for these initiatives and to focus resources where they could make a difference. After surveying the various projects and the tools that were being used by individual leaders to manage their projects, IET’s management engineer instituted a standardized project plan and timeline format that project leaders could easily maintain. In addition, IET developed a one-page “Project Portfolio At-A-Glance” summary that indicated key status and performance data on each individual project.

IET’s engineer maintained close contact with project leaders through one-on-one conversations and weekly project update conference calls. When projects began falling behind, the client was alerted so corrective actions could be instituted in keeping with proper chain-of-command and company culture.