Supply chain projects involve managing the flow of goods and services from suppliers to customers. They require careful planning and coordination of resources, such as people, materials, equipment, and information. How can you allocate resources effectively for supply chain projects? Here are some tips to help you optimize your resource management.
Before you start allocating resources, you need to have a clear understanding of what your project aims to achieve and what deliverables you need to produce. This will help you identify the required resources and their availability, as well as the constraints and risks that may affect them. You can use tools such as a project charter, a work breakdown structure, and a project schedule to define the project scope and objectives.
Lo más relevante son tres cosas: Primero la selección de proveedores de calidad y con proveeduría alterna, si fuera posible. Segundo establecer tiempos de entrega y cantidades aproximadas. Establecer un buen stock de margen de seguridad y monitorear los riesgos asociados, para ajustar los stocks
One thing I found very useful in this process is starting off, "boldly". This means, not being daring and open to possibilities. There are always multiple approaches to solving a problem. Clarity of deliverables and SMART objectives help to one focused. I found the following questions useful in this exercise. 1. Which is the best option as per best practices? 2. What are the uniqueness of the organisation? Can best practices fit or do we need to moderate them? 3. What other options are available? 4. Which is the most desired? 5. Which is the most cost-effective? This is critical for profitability. After joggling all these together for each deliverable, then comes crucial question, What is my backup plan? What if?
Once you have defined the project scope and objectives, you can estimate how much and what type of resources you need for each task and activity. You can use techniques such as expert judgment, analogous estimation, parametric estimation, or bottom-up estimation to calculate the resource requirements. You also need to estimate the costs of acquiring and using the resources, such as labor rates, material prices, equipment rentals, or transportation fees. You can use tools such as a resource breakdown structure, a resource calendar, and a cost baseline to estimate the resource needs and costs.
I always find that at the beginning of Project resource allocation cost, is hardly a consideration. Usually, it ends up being a show stopper even for big organisations and results in a waste of time and effort often because the entire process has to begin all over again. To avoid this pitfall, I always propose that Project Managers should plan resource allocation with the best case and worst case scenarios in mind and present this upfront in budgetary sessions. Contingencies should be included in the final budget. Many projects hit the brick wall in organisations due to lack of proper cost consciousness. Project management is for efficiency and profitability, not just for the sake of the project!
After you have estimated the resource needs and costs, you can prioritize and balance the resource allocation according to the project priorities, dependencies, and deadlines. You can use tools such as a network diagram, a Gantt chart, or a critical path method to visualize the project sequence and duration. You can also use tools such as a resource histogram, a resource leveling technique, or a resource smoothing technique to optimize the resource distribution and avoid overallocation or underallocation. You can use tools such as a risk register, a contingency plan, or a change management plan to deal with potential resource issues or changes.
One way that works for me is the constant questioning of agreed procedures with the clause "What if". I found that this contigency approach always ensures a project manager does not keep missing and extending deadlines. Although I am very positive minded, I have found that being pessimistic with people meeting deadlines and have a back up plan has always made project deliveries less cumbersome. Thing happen!... life happens!
Throughout the project, you need to communicate and collaborate with the stakeholders who are involved in or affected by the resource allocation. These may include the project team, the suppliers, the customers, the sponsors, or the senior management. You can use tools such as a stakeholder analysis, a communication plan, or a feedback mechanism to identify the stakeholder needs, expectations, and preferences. You can also use tools such as a project management software, a collaboration platform, or a reporting system to share the resource information, updates, and issues.
Finally, you need to monitor and control the resource performance and make adjustments as needed. You can use tools such as a performance measurement baseline, a variance analysis, or a earned value analysis to compare the planned and actual resource utilization, costs, and outcomes. You can also use tools such as a performance report, a dashboard, or a lesson learned document to track the resource progress, problems, and solutions. You can use tools such as a corrective action, a preventive action, or an update request to improve the resource efficiency, quality, and satisfaction.
Monitoring and tracking progress looks very simple, but can be daunting at times. I find simple dashboard in colors of red, amber and green, updated in a near real time basis; to bevery useful triggers for early onset of interventions. In practice, this process is not as simple as it looks. Most deliverables can only be correctly marked "finished" or "in-progress". The challenge is in matching "How much progress?" with time gone. There are alot of subjectivity that goes into progress reporting and these could be misleading at times. This is where the leadership abilities of the project manager comes into play. Trust is important for the team to open up and give honest feedback. Incentives for timely deliverables can also be useful.