Monitoring and controlling design process using control charts and process sigma

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish a means to control the design process in engineering organization that produce engineering deliverables for construction projects. The intended control is to deliver construction packages on time and within budget while controlling productivity of engineers and support staff involved in the design process.

Design/methodology/approach

Control charts have been used to monitor design progress and for auditing business processes, process adjustments and to alert for action to rectify a schedule risk. Management has benefited from control charts to fine‐tune operations ranging from bid proposal processing to final design delivery stages and to identify and prevent employee time waste in addition to tracking and forecasting design performance for efficient resource allocation.

Findings

These techniques helps in controlling development of engineering deliverables on budget and in detecting areas of low performance early enough for suitable corrective actions. Project six‐sigma has also improved as project progress advances; from 0.92 at 10 percent project phase to 1.74 at 90 percent project completion.

Research limitations/implications

Future, research shall cover multi‐discipline project performance and other project management processes, like bidding, design development, design review, and project close‐out.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates means to control design process in organizations dealing with construction projects like oil and gas, petrochemicals and power projects. Delays in the design process may cause adverse impact in downstream projects phases including construction, procurement, start‐up, production, and further affects business strategies and plans. Control charts and six sigma process levels helps delivering design projects within constraints.

Citation

Eldin Adam Hamza, S. (2009), "Monitoring and controlling design process using control charts and process sigma", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 358-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/14637150910960611