So that owners and contractors can benefit from these emerging practices and technologies, Texas A&M’s Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, in partnership with the Project Production Institute, is offering education and certification in Project Production Management (PPM) and its enabling digital technologies.
The current project management framework focuses on what needs to be done by who, and when. Rooted in administrative activities, it forms the basis for contracting, contract administration, scheduling, reporting and coordination. At the same time, it ignores how work will be done or production of the work – the very element that creates value.
This results in a significant gap which can only be closed by understanding how to design and deploy production aspects of a capital project across engineering, procurement and construction. Capital projects are unrecognized production systems that can be modeled, optimized and controlled as such, enabling companies to reduce cost, shorten schedules and ultimately deliver predictable results. Production thinking opens many decisions that project leaders need to make that are not seen through current methods.
To that end, Texas A&M University and TEES-EDGE, in partnership with the Project Production Institute (PPI), is offering continuing education to Reinvent The Way We Build. This program will enable participants to understand the benefits of adopting Project Production Management (PPM), its methods and technologies along with the underlying scientific principles.
The program starts with Next Gen PM to ground participants in the basics. Following that are a series of courses that can be taken individually or, for those wanting to develop application skills, a capstone project with mentoring from TAMU/PPI in their chosen area of specialty.
Texas A&M University’s Continuing and Professional Education group will issue Professional Development Hours (PDF) or Level 1 IACET-certified Continuing Education Credits (CEC) for all courses.
In addition, specialty courses will be offered as demand grows. These could include topics such as production system modeling, concurrent engineering, project risk analysis, etc.
After completing the Introductory Course and a Specialty Course, participants can go deeper by doing a Capstone Project on an actual project within their organization over 6 months with mentoring provided by TAMU/PPI. Successful completion of a capstone projects results in the participant achieving a Specialty Certificate. Successful completion of 2 Specialty Certificates results in a PPM Master Certificate.
Project Production Management (PPM) is the future of capital project development and execution. PPM methods are adapted from the same science used by manufacturing to drive lower cost, predictability and much improved cash flows. Understanding this underlying science and the methods using project production methods is vital for successful project delivery.
– Gary Fischer, Chevron (ret.), PPI Executive DirectorCapital projects are unrecognized production systems that can be modeled, optimized and controlled as such, enable companies to accurately predict outcomes, deliver both cost and schedule reliably and improve competitiveness. Production thinking presents many decisions that project leaders need to make that are not seen through current outdated methods. This two-day introductory course enables participants to grasp fundamental production management concepts and principles. Participation in this course is a prerequisite for any of the following courses.
WHEN:
May 21, 2024 - May 22, 2024 (sold out)
November 11, 2024 - November 12, 2024
WHERE:
EnMed Building, 1020 Holcombe Blvd
Houston, TX 77030
INVESTMENT: $2,500
Engineering creates the basis for all subsequent work. It must be done with technical quality, in sequence and generate deliverables that meet the needs of suppliers, fabricators, constructors and operators. Engineering frequently fails to deliver on these fundamental objectives. Workflows not understood, priorities out of sync with project needs, designs that are not tailored to the constructor’s methods and the struggle to rapidly replan and reprioritize when things go wrong all contribute to the lack of performance. This two-day course will enable participants to understand the engineering methods needed to generate the flow of work to optimize project performance.
Next Gen Engineering and Construction
Specialty Course
WHEN: November 13–15, 2024
WHERE: EnMed Building1020 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030
INVESTMENT: $2,500
The effectiveness of which fabrication and delivery of materials is managed is a major factor in performance of capital projects. If materials are made or delivered too early, unnecessary cost, use of cash and risk increases. If made and delivered too late, labor stands idle, increasing cost and duration. Often, procurement often focuses on purchasing and commercial issues while ignoring supply flow.
Suppliers and fabricators are selected based on the best price with no consideration of the implications on production of the work. Suppliers’ production systems are hidden behind the curtain and rarely exposed to the project decision makers. During this two-day course, participants will gain understanding of modern supply chain practices and technology along with how effectively deploy them on a capital project.
WHEN: November 07–08, 2023
WHERE: EnMed Building1020 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030
Construction is where the rubber meets the road living with or compensating for everything that has gone wrong up to that point. Naturally, experienced construction teams anticipate trouble and attempt to protect themselves from this variability by providing early required at site dates for materials, demanding engineering deliverables well before they are needed and getting an early start on any construction activity.
Far too often cut steel or start site prep is done prematurely before it can be sustained with engineering and materials. Projects often fail to maintain the sequence of work that is needed to support commissioning and start up. Instead, priorities are set based on what each contractor believes is best for them. During this two-day course, participants will gain understanding of modern construction practices and technology along with how effectively use them on a capital project.
Next Gen Engineering and Construction
Specialty Course
WHEN: November 13–15, 2024
WHERE: EnMed Building1020 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030
INVESTMENT: $2,500
Choose from the following course options:
PROJECT PRODUCTION INSTITUTE
Kristin Buettner
kbuettner@projectproduction.org
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ivan Damnjanovic
idamnjanovic@civil.tamu.edu