Physical Science, Measurement and Instrumentation, Management and Education, IEE Proceedings A

The management of three very different major projects was examined at a meeting of the Engineering Project Management Forum: in particular, the problems of meeting the time, cost and quality requirements. The 920 MW Hwange Power Station in Zimbabwe commenced construction soon after the period of UDI, and problems included the conveyance of material over 1760 km from the coastal ports, and securing quality requirements while satisfying the Government´s insistance on maximising local content. The main thrust of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank´s project for a headquarters building was on the Architect´s insistance on exceptional quality, involving a process of product development. The cramped site was logistically critical, for the delivery and storage of material. In both these projects, the requirements for quality raised the levels of certain skills in each country. The third project, in the UK, for Nissan´s plant at Washington, was contracted on the basis of ´design and manage´, within a short timescale, and an onsite team of architects, engineers and four Japanese from the client, who were concerned that good industrial relations be achieved on the site. A comparative analysis of the main factors in the three projects was developed.