Building a substation is a unique project, and one that needs a lot of experience and knowledge. To successfully finish a substation project on time, the electric construction and technology company must follow rigorous guidelines and protocols to ensure both the timely completion of the substation project, and also the health and safety of the workers as well as the environment.
Substation Project Management
The professional substation project management team must adopt strict procedures and tools to make sure that all critical path activities are carefully followed. As part of this, the project team will consist of personnel representing all stakeholders in the substation project, each with clearly defined roles and responsibilities which all parties understand. Each member will be accountable for results.
As part of project management of a substation, risk and vulnerability scenarios are anticipated and tracked, with assessments delivered regularly. Contingency plans should be in place to deal with problems as they arise, and each member of the team should be aware of their role in these plans.
To make sure that the substation project is completed in a timely manner, it is critical to bring the project management team together to discuss activities before problems arise, so as to not sacrifice quality or schedule.
Communication
To make sure that your substation projects finish on time, communication is key between all parties, with a contact person appointed on the project management team who will interact with all parties, including clients, landowners, governments and municipalities, and other utility companies.
Within the project management team, communication should be encouraged so that all concerns are addressed before larger problems occur.
Engineering and Design
The engineering and design of different types of substations should be run in accordance with state-of-industry techniques to ensure that the best and most current ideas are being included, but this should not dissuade the engineers and designers on substation projects from wider thinking, or out-of-the-box solutions.
During this period, while all design and engineering activities take place under the direction of the project manager, other events can be done on a parallel schedule to make sure that the substation project is completed as quickly as possible.
To accelerate the substation project as much as possible, “turn key” construction methods should be used whenever possible, to avoid having to reinvent the wheel.
Supply Chain Management
A member of the project management team should oversee supply chain management to find the best procurement strategies for both material and construction contracts. The supply chain manager should work with contractors to make the decisions on balance between cost and speed. Goals should be set in both budget and scheduling that are all agreed on so that the supply chain manager can be empowered to make these decisions.
Conclusion
The overall success of substation projects and their on-time completion will come down to having proper project management that will communicate accurately, that will properly organize and optimize supply chain, and that will engineer and design the type of substation that is required to meet the requirements of the client in a safe, optimized, and technically proficient manner.
