Introduction
Project managers are essential to the success of tasks being completed in their company. This indicates that when organizing a project, the manager ought to be conscious of the project’s objectives and ensure that all parties agree. Businesses in today’s economy are under pressure to reduce costs and boost production despite unforeseen setbacks and difficulties. A capable and creative project manager should manage a company’s high-profile projects since this will increase the organization’s chances of success and longevity.
Best Practices
The project manager (PM) should first create a team to oversee the supply chain. The task of this team will be to be certain that the supply-chain strategy and the overall business plan are complementary. The group will also take down any internal obstacles to a deliverable that could be present. To provide any information that may be relevant to upcoming initiatives and strategies, the team will also keep a channel of communication open between the supply chain and the business side. The team will also manage the supply chain to ensure that it has leaders with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, the capacity to think strategically, and a focus on value generation.
Secondly, PMs can make use of technology to their advantage by evaluating the current technology, establishing any necessary updates, and reviewing the changes. The IT department should configure the system to our company’s needs to accomplish the overall business objectives. The system administrator will set up the software to analyze the entire purchasing and consumption process to calculate the total cost of ownership for the managers (Kashyap, 2, p. 123). Upper management and the distribution network can then choose whether or not to give value a higher priority than price.
Moreover, creates suitable control levels, and reduces hazards. Having policies and procedures in writing will help to ensure that all staff follow them. Ensure the firm’s rules are balanced so there are not too many and production gets slowed down by the controls put in place to prevent theft, fraud, and other problems. A company’s procedures for risk mitigation should take numerous aspects into account, starting with recognizing all potential threats (Kashyap, 2, p. 130). Next, ascertain the likelihood that the threat will materialize. The third step is to assess the financial impact on the business, should the risk materialize. Lastly, determine dangers that require the most monitoring and protection.
Three Key Challenges
The supply chain faces several difficulties, including unplanned product and logistics delivery delays. These difficulties occur when a corporation purchases commodities necessary for the project’s operation but delivered slowly due to unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances (Tseng, 3, p. 146). The issues include unfavorable weather, purchasing difficulties, and potential political repercussions. Different shipping timelines for items, mainly if they are imported, could potentially be the reason for this. As a result, the project manager and the project are challenged by this issue; thus, managers need to be aware of it and be ready. In addition, poor warehouse management is one factor that can be to blame for these delays.
Another problem that could present difficulties for the project managers is the supply chain’s use of employees with low or no qualifications. Talented employees have been challenging to recruit in the supply chain in recent years. Some employees do not fit in with their profession, which makes job management difficult (Tseng, 3, p. 151). Additionally, because there are so few outstanding supply chain specialists, it is expensive to hire them; as a result, their market worth has increased. The manager must be able to recognize and select individuals who have the aptitude to complete the tasks assigned to them, optimize, and lower supply chain costs. Unqualified employees will mess up the supply chain, and the project will suffer.
Furthermore, the technology’s high cost makes it an obstacle that supply chain leaders may choose not to use. Technology will increase supply chain expenses because most managers try to lower operational costs. The cost may increase due to the need to modify the technology to be consistent with the supply chain or because of the cost of purchasing and sustaining the software (Tseng, 3, p. 159). The supply chain management’s efficacy would suffer due to the project managers’ reluctance to take technical risks. In addition, technology is costly because the business must buy new gear and software, establish new infrastructure, and hire experts to apply it in the supply chain. The risks associated with the technology, like hacking and data breaches, may also be a concern for leaders. As a result, supply and chain management will be prone to error since the organization would track and provide services manually. Companies should instead look for affordable, secure, and effective technology. This illustrates how technology may have an impact on both the project and the supply chain.
PMBOK Help to Project Managers
The majority of project managers have recently promoted individuals, which necessitates the need for fundamental principles that will enable them to have an edge in their field. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a manual that gives project managers analytical guidelines. The guideline might assist them in obtaining the resources required to organize high-profile undertakings. The resources needed include labor, capital, and time.
PMBOK divides projects into five stages, which include initializing the project, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. Notably, it provides the expertise the project manager needs to identify the necessary resources accurately. The five steps represent the project life cycle, and the initializing stage is where the project managers can define their function and the issue they are working to resolve (Alwaly, 1, p. 82). This entails locating the project’s resourceful stakeholders.
The project manager can use the initial stage to integrate everything. In addition, the breadth can be evaluated throughout the planning stage. This indicates that the supervisor can create a project plan specifying the required resources using the book as a guide. This will entail determining the workforce needed to carry out specific duties. These details are shown in the plan’s job breakdown structure. The project schedule will show the time needed to complete the project. The budget will inform the manager of the project’s operating expenses.
The manual explains how such a manager will deal with the money, including how to create a budget by calculating how much each subtask will cost separately before adding them together. The manager learns about procurement specifics and tips for managing the buying and providing activities in this book. Outstandingly, the definition of human resources includes information on how people will be looked at during the project (Alwaly, 1, p. 84). The book also demonstrates how to manage risk by demonstrating how the manager will recognize, comprehend, and evaluate the risks in their projects. Along with managing stakeholders who are interested in or involved in the project, this is equally important.
Conclusion
Implementing the best supply chain management strategies is a terrific way to start for any firm. Leader companies know that orders, whether for the customer, new product, or replenishment, must be fulfilled completely, accurately, and on time. Reliability is an essential component of best-in-class supply chains, thus, this must be carried out consistently. These top businesses know the importance of employing best practices for managing international supply chains. At the end of the day, every corporation wants to be successful and have a lasting impact on the market.
Sources
Khaled Alwaly. 2020. Factors affecting the application of project management knowledge guide (PMBOK® GUIDE) in construction projects in Yemen. p. 82-84. Web.
Abhishek Kashyap. 2022. Investigation of the critical success factors in the implementation of the lean industry 4.0 in manufacturing supply chain: An ISM approach. p. 123-130. Web.
Ming-Lang Tseng. 2019. A literature review on green supply chain management: Trends and future challenges. p. 146-159. Web.