Key success factors of a “turnkey” project
The industry is a constantly evolving sector. It is subject to many standards but also to permanent innovations in terms of technologies and materials in order to advance towards a greener and more sustainable industry.
The first laws relating to the energy transition for green growth are now in place to regulate the industry for a gradual reduction of non-compostable or non-biobased single-use products.
There will therefore be changes in the industry to offer sustainable and eco-responsible alternatives, exponentially increasing the need for skilled labour.
New production lines that are increasingly profitable and respectful of the environment, this is the strategic challenge for our customers today.
They seek to develop their production sites by integrating new rapid and efficient lines, with an increased productivity coefficient and the use of new materials limiting their impact on the environment.
This is how requests for “turnkey” projects have grown significantly.
A single objective: to meet the needs of machine manufacturers (OEMs) who seek to have new production lines installed by qualified experts within a limited timeframe and at a controlled cost.
“Turnkey” projects
These are activity packages defined between our customers and our teams, ranging from installation to technical acceptance of complete lines, single machines (integration) or machine modifications. Turnkeys are packages with included services, known as the “scope” and excluded services, called the “out of scope”.
A titre d’exemple, en 2020 SOCAPS a installé deux lignes complètes de bouteilles en verre aux Philippines. Ces lignes ont nécessité 6 semaines de travail pour plus de 80 intervenants sur site. Nous sommes intervenus de la matière première à l’emballage, du dépalettiseur au palettiseur en passant par les remplisseuses et les pasteurisateurs.
For example, in 2020 SOCAPS installed two complete lines of glass bottles in the Philippines. These lines required 6 weeks of work for more than 80 workers on site. We were involved from the raw material to the packaging, from the depalletizer to the palletizer, including fillers and pasteurizers.
Turnkeys at SOCAPS
At SOCAPS, turnkey projects have been deployed for 4 years to meet the demands of our customers. 90% of these projects concern customers in the food and beverage industry, most of whom are located in remote, risky or difficult to access places. They last an average of 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the flow of materials, and concern the installation of a complete line (excluding start-up). In this context, SOCAPS supports its customers to facilitate the movements of its technicians and install the lines as soon as possible. We have an internal trip planning system that optimizes trips both in terms of time and costs.
To complete our areas of expertise, we can call on partners depending on the projects to locally rely on recognized suppliers for lifting equipment, welding, supply of components, etc.
In 2020, SOCAPS worked on a project to refurbish an automated pallet storage system for a customer in the logistics sector. This project located in the Netherlands required the intervention of 2 technicians over a period of 20 days, under extreme conditions, as the lines were located in a cold storage warehouse at temperatures recorded at -28 ° C.
Currently, two turnkey projects are underway in India and Egypt. These projects concern the installation of complete PET lines for various machine manufacturers in the food industry.
SOCAPS works on these sites thanks to its global network of members available in more than 50 countries, in most cases locally.
As demand for these types of projects is growing, we expect our activity to double in 2021.
All these projects are managed by Vincent Delarue, our Technical Director.
After starting his career at “SIDEL” in 1997, where he carried out several international missions (in Mexico, Japan, Austria and France), Vincent Delarue worked at “Plastipak” as a PET blow molding expert, Project Director then Plant Director. He then held the position of Managing Director at “TecPack” before joining SOCAPS.
Since 2017 Vincent Delarue has held the position of Technical Director and Blowing Expert at SOCAPS and he is based in Mer in the Center-Val de Loire region of France where the SOCAPS workshop is also located.
His technical and international background has allowed him to build up a solid experience in complex projects such as “Turnkeys”. His experience is key to the success of our Turnkey projects
The success of a project is preparation
80% of the success of a project lies in its preparation, the remaining 20% concerns communication, which is essential throughout the duration of the project and between all parties.
Preparation
Poor project preparation and leads to a failed project. Take your time to detail and check point by point all aspects of the project: organizational, technical, financial and structural.
At SOCAPS, we have built a process in order to best prepare our offer.
Even before submitting an offer, we carry out a rapid analysis of the project, allowing us to assess the possible risks (human and financial) for all parties
This quick scan consists of two documents:
- The « RFQ » (Request For Quotation)
List all the information concerning the client’s project in 4 categories:
- General customer and project information
- The types of machines concerned
- Production information
- Definition of the scope of the intervention (scope limits)
- The GO / NO GO matrix
From the RFQ and discussions with the client, we enter the information in a “GO / NO GO” matrix that we have created in order to know whether or not we are going to cost the project.
This matrix is made up of 3 categories, in order of importance:
- Health and safety risks
- Technical risk
- Commercial risk
After entering all of this information, the matrix (weighted according to the various importance criteria determined by our team of technical experts) will indicate whether or not we should quote the client’s project.
This step avoids the congestion of our costing structure in order to build offers only for projects where we can meet the requirements set by our customers and which we think we can win.
The team
Next, build a strong and cohesive team that matches the technical needs of your project. A good team is made up of qualified experts on the technologies used but also communication experts who know how to relay information.
At SOCAPS, we make a point of building up teams of recognized experts.
We meet the most comprehensive intervention needs through our network of specialists:
Site Managers, Project Managers, Training Experts, Process Experts, Laboratory Experts, Design Engineers, Automation Engineers, Field Service Engineers, Safety Officers, Mechanics, Electricians, Electrotechnicians, Welders, Pipe Fitters, Riggers, Machines Experts (blow molders, fillers, aseptic,etc.).
Our response teams are made up locally by our recruitment experts and our sales representatives in conjunction with the teams who will assign the right people to the project.
The site manager will also have a central role in this project. He will need to be experienced and that you have confidence in him for him to explain to you in detail the progress of your site.
Finally, organize your project with the client and agree on the strategy to adopt. For your site to be successful, you need to know how it is progressing. Together, build an organization that works for each of you, making sure to check in weekly to maintain the same level of information.
Communication
Communication is a key element in the success of your project. You must have real trust between all your interlocutors: the client and your team.
The transparency of each of the project stakeholders is essential to avoid any information asymmetry. So start the project with a kick-off meeting and make sure everyone has the same level of information.
Why have you ensured that your stakeholders are equipped with quality information transmission? Because they are your eyes, ears and hands on this project.
Be close and in constant communication with your site manager who will provide you with rigorous daily reporting to follow the progress of the site. This reporting must include the progress of the project, any problems encountered, the out-of-scope operations carried out and an analysis of the costs incurred and planned.
A good site manager is a project manager who understands the objectives of the project and who communicates at the right time. He prepares his site, he is rigorous in his reports and in the transmission of information between OEMs, the end customer and SOCAPS, he anticipates problems and communicates them as soon as possible to be able to solve them quickly and coordinate the teams accordingly. daily needs on site.
Reports are essential in the monitoring of the site to know the progress, control the costs and the time involved. It is therefore important to validate the actions that have been taken. Have the customer validate all the interventions carried out and the steps completed, whether these are actions included in the package but also actions that were not included in the scope.
At SOCAPS, we are developing internal communication tools in order to improve the monitoring of our projects remotely and in real time.
Be precise in the drafting of “out of scope” actions, list them as well as the additional costs incurred.
In a few words
There will always be unforeseen events in your project because not everything is predictable. But if you have integrated the “unforeseen” variable into your offer, both in terms of time, human and cost, then you will be able to control your budget.
The winning recipe therefore lies in the rigor and organization of your project, prepare yourself and communicate!