I moved into my first operations management position when I realized I could have a greater impact on the performance of the group by developing the group than I could have as a process engineer and individual contributor. Similarly, although usually retained to provide technical support for my clients, management issues often limit the effectiveness of my technical support. This need to resolve the management issues within a client’s engineering group drove my first foray into engineering management consulting.
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Engineering Management Experience
My own management experience includes production supervision of the fermentation department in a large fermentation plant and management of a technical services group comprised of scientists and engineers at a biopharmaceutical toll manufacturing plant. This latter group was responsible for technology transfer of the clients’ processes into the manufacturing plant. I have also managed a pilot plant and the process development group at a startup biotechnology company. More recently, I worked for consulting engineering companies as a lead process engineer on a number of major manufacturing plant design projects.
Management Consulting Approach
While recognizing that successful management includes a social sciences component, my approach to solving management problems is primarily derived from my training and experience as a process engineer. When designing a new plant, the process engineer starts with a flow diagram and a material and energy balance. These document the required amount of product, the sequence of steps, the time in each step, and all of the material and energy inputs required to make that product. It is implicit in these designs that (unless designing a nuclear power plant), the principles of conservation of mass and conservation of energy apply.
Management of any organization is no different, and for any number of work products from a group, each will require a certain amount of human resources to accomplish. This seems to be a simple enough concept, but many managers fail to put this into practice. They often try to accomplish more projects in a given amount of time than they have available resources. This inevitably results in delays in completion, a poor quality work product, or both, with more time consumed to rework the work product to correct the deficiencies (no one has the time to do it right, but they somehow find the time to do it over again). My first approach as a manager or management consultant is to make a list of all projects with timelines and estimated resource requirements to complete (in other words, simple resource-loaded project schedules).
Once we have a complete list of all resource requirements, we can start to determine if the available resources match the required resources. If not, we can prepare a training program or new job descriptions for development and recruitment of the necessary staff. There is also usually a need for an honest conversation with senior management to help them recognize and address limitations of the group and prioritize projects.
Sometimes, opportunities for automation to improve productivity are identified. Often, this analysis will also identify areas where company policies and procedures are lacking or confusing. These deficiencies can result in inefficiencies in executing projects that, if resolved, may improve the overall productivity of the group. Where a company does not have resources to develop these policies and procedures, I have taken on the role of developing first drafts for them.
The following is a list of my management consulting-related projects.
Projects
Engineering Group Organizational Development Plan
Confidential Client Responsible Care Policies