Category: Events (page 5 of 5)

Strategic Project Management in Action

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The Constructing Excellence in Yorkshire and Humberside seminar series completed its first series with a deep insight into the IUK Infrastructure Routemap and some great case studies of strategic project management in action.

Addleshaw Goodard kindly hosted the event which was attended by 35 professionals from the sector and again attracted interest from both East and South Yorkshire. Facilitated by TCC, the presentations from Professor Denise Bowyer of Leeds University, Neil Yates from Yorkshire Water and Jon Oldridge of Tata provided the delegates with a thorough understanding of the way in which projects are able to use the Infrastructure Routemap as a way of creating alignment and dealing with complexity in projects, and noting that half of project failures are down to cultural and corporate differences and lack of trust. Denise presented on the use of the tools in associated with the routemap to drive understanding across delivery teams, and establish any gaps.

Neil explained that the AMP5 programme had recognised early on the need for strategic planning and how in the Capital Out Performance group, setting joint strategic objectives, producing a clear commercial strategy, and collaboration facilitated by co location had all led to much improved and more effective decision making.

John Oldridge had observed on their key rail projects how collaboration and co location had also enabled cultural change leading to a focus on ‘one goal’ allowing such things as ‘designing safety in’ and noting that the  ‘prize is in delivery’

About Constructing Excellence Events

Each of our events seeks to bring in support from the various Institutions and professional bodies involved in the sector, please contact us if you have ideas for the programme or would like to get involved. We have been working on the next series which will commence on the last Wendesday in January with ‘Youth Excellence’ including presentations from Alison Watson of Class of Your Own and Rob Wolfe, Construction and Housing Yorkshire, taking us from classroom to apprenticeships and thereby shaping the future of the Industry. ‘Regulation Excellence’ in February will feature update in both planning and building regulations, finishing in March with a presentation fully supported by RICS Yorkshire and featuring an insight into the QS approach in Australia.

Developed by Centre for Knowledge Exchange part of the Leeds Metropolitan University this exciting new programme aims to provide a regular focus and deliver  on the most important and relevant aspects of the construction and property sector. Based on a breakfast seminar slot on the last Wednesday of each month, the series aims to bring construction leaders and practitioners together for networking and collaboration around a themed topic on each occasion.

“Talk Construction” and Design Management Seminar

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The Constructing Excellence in Yorkshire and Humberside seminar series continued today with its follow up event to the inaugural presentation on design held last month with RIBA with Design Management. The Centre for Knowledge Exchange team at Leeds Metropolitan University were delighted to welcome John Eynon, CIOB Ambassador and Author of “The Design Manager’s Handbook”, alongside Dr Andrew Platten Associate Dean at Leeds Met covering a CIOB themed and supported presentation.

Delegates packed the room at DLA Architectures’ office in Leeds centre and were treated to two presentations chaired by Cliff Jones, Senior Policy and Performance Manager  for Procure21+ at the Department of Health in Leeds.

Andrew who had kindly stepped in to cover the duties of Eddie Tuttle who was unable to attend did a sterling job of the presenting the CIOB’s current main initiative ‘Talk Construction’ which is to be held In London on 25/26th November http://www.talkconstruction.co.uk/. He asked the seminar group to consider not only attending the event but also to provide a context for its legacy here in the region and in particular the questions being posed by CIOB:

  • What are the biggest issues affecting your business?
  • What do you think about Construction 2025?
  • Results of this research will form part of extensive regional survey to members and results announced at the conference

Andrew invites all involved to either contact the CIOB through the website above or via a.platten@leedsmet.ac.uk

John’s presentation focused on the principles of the Design Management which includes the management of all project related design activities, people, processes, and resources and which enables the effective flow and production of design information. Using a  “Four step process” John noted that failure to properly address the project needs and brief fully before contract award would have a major impact on the management of risk throughout the build and handover stages.

The next event on  27th November sees an infrastructure themed event supported by ICE and focusing on best practice project management with keynote speaker Denise Bower of Leeds University and member of the Construction Industry Strategy Advisory Council, Yorkshire Water. For further details and booking information please visit the Centre for Knowledge Exchange (CKE) website here

About the Constructing Excellence Seminar series

Developed by the Centre for Knowledge Exchange, part of Leeds Metropolitan University, this exciting new programme aims to provide a regular focus on the most important and relevant aspects of the construction and property sector. Based on a breakfast seminar slot on the last Wednesday of each month, the series aims to bring construction leaders and practitioners together for networking and collaboration around a themed topic on each occasion. Each of our events will seek to bring in support from the various Institutions and professional bodies involved in the sector.

New programme of Constructing Excellence in the region, kicking off with a look at Design

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Constructing Excellence in Yorkshire and Humber kicked off its new programme for its Autumn series today, attended by some 30 construction professionals from across the Leeds City Region.

Developed by Centre for Knowledge Exchange part of the Leeds Metropolitan University this exciting new programme aims to provide a focus and deliver on the most important and relevant aspects of the construction and property sector. Based on a breakfast seminar slot on the last Wednesday of each month, the series aims to bring construction leaders and practitioners together for networking and collaboration around a themed topic on each occasion.

The series was ably kicked off today with a Design themed seminar which included a presentation on RIBA’s new Plan of Work 2013 from John Orrell Group Director of DLA Design in Leeds (and part of the authoring RIBA review group for the Plan of Work) and from Rob Charlton, Chief Executive of _space Architects a look at the opportunities presented to maximise design value through Off Site Construction techniques. John noted that there had been no real change made to the RIBA Plan of Work since its creation in 1963, but with the changes brought in by the use and management of data in the construction process and the drivers noted in the Government Construction Strategy in 2011, updating has been necessary to ensure that the Plan of Work incorporates sustainable design principles, provides a structure to support and embed BIM, allows full team integration yet provides the necessary flexibility needed (particularly around planning and procurement).

Rob presentation noted how the tension between price/value and ‘good’ design, sometimes gets misinterpreted (to the point where some London Schools cost more than an Acute Hospital), and how standardisation in a fully thought through design can deliver huge savings and fantastic value for money. Much of the thinking in this respect relies on the latest approaches to design and construction processes as well as learning from other industries such as Automotive and Aerospace where there have been huge step changes in design and productivity.

Chaired by Don Ward, CEO of Constructing Excellent who made a great gesture by visiting Leeds for this event from London, the event marks the start of a much needed platform for discussion and views relating to the construction industry, which CE (Y&H) hopes to fulfil with its programme over the coming year.

Each event will seek to bring in support from the various Institutions and professional bodies involved in the sector. The next event on 30th October is themed around the CIOB with a presentation on their Talk Construction initiative from Eddie Tuttle at CIOB HQ and John Eynon CIOB Ambassador and Author of “The Design Manager’s Handbook”. 27th November sees an Civil Engineering themed event focusing on best practice project management with keynote speaker Denise Bower of Leeds University and member of the Construction Industry Strategy Advisory Council.

Procurement is a process – buying is an output

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HEA STEM: Procurement Frameworks; Learning and teaching issues and solutions for contemporary practice

Over thirty delegates from a cross section of academia, post graduate part time students, construction professionals and client organisations (NHS) were brought together at a HEA STEM funded workshop to explore the learning and teaching issues surrounding Procurement, with a focus on the importance of employer engagement and real life case study evidence leading to better engagement and enhanced student experience in Higher Education .

The seminar was focussed on Procurement Practice in the construction industry. The academic members of staff presented their real experiences of procurement practice from an SME perspective whilst leading professionals offered their contractor and client side perspectives on procurement practice with an excellent case study presentation of by the Olympic Delivery Authority as an exemplar case study of best practice procurement. 

The event started with an overview of the HEA and potential funding streams available and continued with the academic perspective of procurement practice within the construction sector with evidence from both cutting edge sme research and engagement to practitioner case study presentations from the Olympic Delivery Authority and the NHS Procure21

David Woolley acting as the chair for the seminar, guided delegates through a series of presentations encouraging and facilitating debate and discussion. 

The Procurement Conference  examined the issues in procurement and construction in particular and how this might better inform Higher Education’s approaches to supporting new graduates and post graduates in this ‘post Latham and Egan reports’ world. 

To do this practical research and exemplar case studies were presented to inform debate and discussion. Research included examining the actual experience of tier 2 & 3 suppliers in framework bidding and exemplar cases studies included the remarkable Olympic Park Construction Project presented by Head of Procurement on the programme Paul Dickinson from the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Cliff Jones demonstrated the principles he’d employed in the delivery of the NHS’s Procure21 approach.

What was clear is that the team working and supply chain integration proposed by Latham and Egan have enjoyed much support and variability in execution. A variance that sees world class examples like he Olympic programme and some efforts more reminiscent of what went before and inspired the White papers in the first instance. 

This discussion made the challenge and content required of Higher Education more clear. Partnering and supply chain perspectives it seems need to include the fundamental principles that lead to those contractual behaviours and not simply new (however clever) processes. 

Much was suggested around negotiation development and in particular the development of interest based negotiation (a problem solving approach) rather than positional bargaining which might be making the situation worse. 

Advantages accruing from integrated supply chain initiatives, so called “intelligent procurement” place great demands on disparate interacting teams to work collaboratively together and put in contract arrangements that facilitate that.  Clearly suggesting this becomes a consultative negotiation and not a “one person buys something” activity. 

Holding on to that idea in a testing project requires much understanding and a broader strategic perspective. It was agreed that the content of Higher Education courses in these professional areas needs to include: collaborative problem solving; interest based negotiation; strategic perspective; supply chain management principles. 

This learning from this HEA workshop will be taken forwards in the form of a collection of resources for both Academics and Student audiences which will be available to be accessed online This event formed part of a Higher Education Academy Special Interest Group which has been set up with specific outputs to deliver :

–       Develop practionner case studies of best practice on Frameworks/ Procurement Practice

–       Gather resources from the Procurement seminar and post online as resources for both lecturers and students (video footage Procurement Frameworks; Learning and teaching issues and solutions for contemporary practice  Video )

–       Create an online open Knowledge Exchange platform for the sharing of best practice and information (Via Linkedin and CKE Procure Blog  )

Outputs form this Special Interest group will be presented to the Higher Education Academy towards the end of July. We will look to continue the work of this Special Interest Group with continued support from academics and practionners across the UK , with regular thought pieces to be published online around the theme of Procurement Best Practice to be used as a resource for students , academic staff and construction professionals .

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