WHY MLR?

Full-time project planners have productivity of only about 20%!

Projects utilizing critical path method complete 15% faster than those that do not!

Why choose MLR?

There are several reasons why engaging MLR is the best option.  These are:

  • Lowest cost – Hiring a full-time project planner is time consuming and costly in terms of the upfront hiring expenses and the salary. You can save the hassle of getting through this ordeal with MLR.
  • High quality – MLR banks on the extensive experience of its owner in the project planning and scheduling field having previously worked in the Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. MLR brings together the best practices the world has to offer to deliver quality results.
  • Fast turnaround time – As mentioned, MLR cuts short the time needed to hire a full-time project planner. Aside from that, doing things efficiently goes a long way in saving time and efforts accomplishing the same tasks.  That is central to how MLR operates.  And this also applies to you.  You can focus on your core business while MLR takes care of your project planning and scheduling, or other project management requirements.

Wait!  Low cost and high quality do not normally go together, not to mention fast time.  How is this possible?

Let’s examine and point out the obvious.  MLR is a start-up company.  It has yet to build its credibility nor reputation in the industry.  Thus, the leverage is on your side as far as the cost of the service is concerned.  In the quality aspect, again, there is no available backing nor testimonials yet from a reputable client.  This is something to behold but at ZERO costs and risks from your end.  I, as the owner of MLR, have been in the corporate world long enough to know the superior quality of the works I deliver and the efficiency on how they were produced.  In fact, I’m going as far as to guarantee that MLR will not be charging you if you are not satisfied with the works.  The priority of MLR is to satisfy its customer and, hopefully, build a lasting relationship in the process.

 

Okay, let’s slow down a bit and understand why I would outsource, say, the project planning and scheduling services to MLR instead of doing them in-house?

Bringing in an external party for project management services that has the expertise in the area can greatly contribute to the organization in controlling costs that would otherwise go to hiring full-time employees.  This would enable firms to maintain the number of internal staff just enough capable of immediately taking on new project opportunities that might come along (Outsourcive 2019)[1].  By outsourcing project management or its functions, firms would be able to efficiently utilize resources to pay only for the service when needed, avoiding maintaining the resource even during the off-peak periods (Venter 2000)[2].

[1] Outsourcive 2019, Outsourcing Project Management – What’s Behind the Decision?, <https://outsourcive.net/2019/03/07/outsourcing-project-management/>.
[2] Venter, J.J. 2000, ‘The Relevance of Outsourcing in Construction Project Management Companies: A Literature Study’, University of Stellenbosch.

Well, our organization is used to hiring full-time project planners.  Why should we change this and instead get MLR to do the planning tasks?

Being a project planner or a planning engineer takes more than just having the skill in using a scheduling software tool such as the Primavera P6.  The tool itself is complicated enough to use and it takes time and experience to get a full understanding of its functionalities and become effective – not just to serve as a “window dressing” to, perhaps, fulfill the contractual requirement, rather than serving their intended purpose – that is, manage and control the project.  Project planners are abound in the market but finding a competent one?  Now, that is a challenge.  I have gained my expertise in the planning and scheduling space through more than 15 years of professional experience, and this is what MLR does offer.

Say, we proceed of hiring instead a project planner.  Would we be better off?

The hiring process takes time.  You may need the services sooner and that is something MLR can be of real advantage.  Assuming that by a stroke of fortune, you found a “real” project planner.  Then, you got to the better end, right?  Wrong.  Buziak (2008)[1] presented his findings on the number of hours spent by an experienced planning engineer (with at least 10-year experience) to a number of projects a consultant made to its small contractor clients in the Gulf Coast.  The work that project schedulers do are front-loaded spending 350 hours for the year.  That is just under 18% productivity considering a 2,000 hour-year!  That’s a lot of savings for the company.

[1] Buziak, J.P. 2008, ‘The Problem With Hiring A Scheduler’, AACE International Transactions, p. 9.

The cost of staff managing projects is just a fraction of the overall project cost.  So, why bother?

True. The cost to manage a project is just a fraction of the total overall project cost especially for large-scale ones, not to mention, the financial implications of completion delays.  Moreover, globally, completion delays are not uncommon in construction projects (Alkass et al. 1995[1]; Arditi & Pattanakitchamroon 2006[2]; Braimah 2013[3]; Zaneldin 2006[4]).  In Australia, large projects take 20% additional time of the scheduled completion and cost an average of 80% more than the original budget (Agarwal, Chandrasekaran & Sridhar 2019)[5].  However, according to LePatner (2008)[6], projects utilizing critical path method in scheduling completes buildings 15% faster than those that do not.  Now that is a substantial cost savings not to mention possibly avoiding costs from liquidated damages.  And these cost savings can only be made possible with a qualified project planner on-board such as from MLR.

[1] Alkass, S., Mazerolle, M., Tribaldos, E. & Harris, F. 1995, ‘Computer aided construction delay analysis and claims preparation’, Construction Management and Economics, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 335-52.
[2] Arditi, D. & Pattanakitchamroon, T. 2006, ‘Selecting a delay analysis method in resolving construction claims’, International Journal of project management, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 145-55.
[3] Braimah, N. 2013, ‘Understanding construction delay analysis and the role of preconstruction programming’, Journal of Management in Engineering, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 04014023-1-10.
[4] Zaneldin, E.K. 2006, ‘Construction claims in United Arab Emirates: Types, causes, and frequency’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 453-9.
[5] Agarwal, R., Chandrasekaran, S. & Sridhar, M. 2019, Imagining Construction’s Digital Future, McKinsey & Company, <https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/imagining-constructions-digital-future>.
[6] LePatner, B.B. 2008, Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America’s Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry, University of Chicago Press.

Our company and projects are not even remotely near Sydney (Australia) where MLR is located.  So, how are we gonna be collaborating?

One of the things that Covid-19 has changed is the societal behaviour which has shifted in favour of remote working arrangements.  The technology was able to catch-up and MLR would be able to deal with your needs working remotely and communicating through Teams or Zoom, for instance.

So, how can we proceed getting the services of MLR Project Management & Consultancy?

Please get in touch in the mobile number or e-mail address displayed on this page.  We can go from there to discuss and clarify your requirements and to eventually commence with the service provision.