The Leela Palace Chennai in Formation

Courtyard Water Feature

The Seaside Garden and Water Feature

Courtyard Water feature with Flame Feature

Longstay Suite Water Feature

The Receiving Area

Receiving area with  Circular Fountain

Water Wall Cascade with Tree of Life

Entrance and View of Pavilion

The Podium in Pan view

Fire Pond at Podium

Aerial  view of Podium

Grand Staircase

Artwork Flowers

Implementation of Work Flow - Planned for Previous Company ETA ASCON Leisure

Implementation of Work Flow planned for ASCON Leisure

Objective:

Enhance currently existing systems and work flow by implementing the following:

1.      Follow Pre-defined Work Flow (To be brought under ISO Audit and Certification)

2.      Dedicate resources for functions with specific job responsibilities.

1.      Classify Departments.

2.       Define required job roles.

3.      Assign responsibilities to each department and to individual job roles.

3.      Define Information Flow Methods

a)     Use of Emails in Intra Office Communications. The usage of Emails to be extended to Customers and Clients having Internet Connectivity thereby reducing effort and material cost involved in preparing and sending enquiries, quotations, reports etc.

b)     Email IDs to be assigned to all job roles involved in the work flow. Site Staff to be allocated Work Stations (PCs) for correspondence checks, project details and updates.

c)     Project details related to Project Plan, Materials and Schedule to be made available on a Common Folder or Shared Hub.

4.      Monthly and Quarterly review Meetings

a)     Monthly meetings to review and revise work plan and labor requirements-Required To-Planning/Execution Depts.

b)     Quarterly meetings for Planned Work/actual work; planned and achieved turnover- Required To -Planning/Commercial/Collections Depts.

c)     Quarterly meetings to reconcile turnover and Actual expenditure-Required To -Commercial/Collections/Accounts Depts.

d)     Quarterly meetings to Reconcile Material Usage and recover balance material from Completed Sites- Required To- Accounts/Stores Depts.

Benefits on following a Systematic Work Flow

The following benefits can be realized on following a systematic work flow

·         The key to information related to projects or issues are found at a single point of contact or a department at respective stages of a projects work flow.

·         Optimized usage of Resources – Human, Material and Equipments

a)     Avoids repetitive work by various functions on the same job such as sending enquiries, follow ups including effort by Site Execution personnel on the same job.

b)     Reduces material and energy usage required in efforts such as photocopying and the expenditure involved in stationery materials such as paper, cartridges, pins, markers etc.

c)     Information on projects is stored and references can be used for identical projects thereby saving time and effort.

·         Functions assigned to job roles being specific leads to intensive working capabilities and improving TATs (Turn Around Time)

·         Avoiding information contrast and ambiguity on all fronts such as project details, project status etc.

·         Easily determine project status and prepare any contingencies.

·         Easy tracking and follow ups on persisting issues

·         Targets can be set and methods to achieve set targets can be planned.

·         At the close of a project, a project review helps to focus areas requiring improvement and impending issues.

·         When work flow and process systems are robust Expansion Schemes can be planned and challenging projects can be executed.

·         Employee recognition and reward based on effort

Description of Flow Chart

The flow Chart is a graphical representation and needs to be read with the supporting document. Given below is description the symbols used

Symbol	Description
	Any Process or Activity
	Document by Email, Soft Copy or Hard Copy
	Direction of Work Flow
	Repetitive Communication of Information until finalization
Color Fill in the Boxes	Departments Tendering/Costing Planning/Project Coordination Commercial/Collections Marketing Accounts Stores/Purchase Execution Design/Drafting Action by the respective departments

The Various Stages in Detail

1.      At the award of a project and after subsequent negotiations a Job Master ^# is prepared by the Tendering/Costing Department (TC).

2.      Two related data sheets, List of Materials^# and Quantity of Materials^# are generated from the Job Master by the Tendering/Costing Department (TC) and sent to the Design/Drafting Department (DD) for verification.

3.      The Project Value and Details are incorporated into the Budget Plan^#  by the Commercial/Collections (CC) Dept.  and Work Plan^#  by the Planning/Project Coordination Dept (PP). The existing turnover is revised as and when New Projects are finalized.

4.      The DD Dept. verifies the quantity of materials and item specification, according to the design drawings and concept.  Currently, the focus areas would be the following:

¨       MEP items in Swimming Pools and Water Features

¨       Tiling area in Swimming Pool Projects

¨       Tiling area in Hard landscaping

5.      The DD Dept. passes the Quantity of Materials^# to the Execution Dept (EXE), which checks the material quantities according to site conditions. Currently, the focus areas would be the following:

¨       Piping Lengths and pump room locations for Swimming Pools and Water Features

¨       MEP items in Swimming Pools and Water Features

¨       Tiling area in Swimming Pool Projects

¨       Tiling area in Hard landscaping

The various items and quantities are also clarified with the Engineer. If there are any variations related to quantities or specification of items as in Type of material, Manufacturer, Origin etc. the changes are notified to the TC Dept. and DD Depts.

(1)   Variation Claims are prepared by the TC Dept. and raised to the Contractor/Engineer.

(2)   Upon confirmation necessary changes are made in the Job Master.

(3)   Revised List of Materials^#  and Quantity of Materials^#  is prepared and passed on to the PP Dept.

6.      The PP Dept.  prepares the Material Approval Submittals and gets the approvals from the Engineer.

7.      As per obtained approvals the Material Approval Schedule^#  is prepared in correlation with Work Program and the requirements passed to the Stores/Purchase (SP) Depts.

8.      The Stores/Purchase (SP)Depts. prepare the LPO/Work Order and deliver the materials as per site requirements.

9.      The EXE Dept executes the work on site and passes the details of work done to the TC Dept.

10.   The TC Dept. prepares the Invoice either on work completed. If work is not completed the following actions are taken:

a)      Invoice is raised, based on bills of delivered materials.

b)     Correspondence sent to Contractor/Engineer on the status

11.  The Payment Certificate is collected by the EXE Dept and handed over to CC Dept.

12.  The Accounts Dept. in correlation with the CC Dept. verifies and Cross check the budgeted and actual expenditure. The budget is revised and the revised Budget plan^# and Work Plan^# is prepared.

Note:

Some Tasks such as Variation claims, Work Programs are subject to change and will be a repetitive process until sanctions are obtained. Major part of the Materials although will be placed for procurement and the Materials subject to Variation Claims will follow on at later stages as and when Variations get approved. This is commonly attributed to Hardscape projects involving large areas.

The Work Plan^# proposed as per internal budget needs and the Work Program as per Project Requirement need to be iterated as per need. The variance between internal Work Plan^#  is and the Budget plan needs to be kept as minimum as possible.

Follow Link below to Original Document which will also display Embedded Graphical Images:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByjZuOtVQZSRWHFpWlJVVFNRYWs/edit


Warning:
Copying and Infringement not allowed. Reproduction in any form not allowed without prior written permission

Swimming Pool Construction - Analysis Report ( Designed for Previous Company ASCON Leisure)

" For the Good of One and All,I Pray let all Projects succeed, those intended to benefit Humanity and Preserve God created nature"

Analysis of workflow at ASCON Leisure with Special Focus on Swimming Pool Works

A Report

(Dedicated to the ASCON Leisure Team)

 Some Graphical Images and Process diagrams can be viewed using the link below:

Process Report Dec 2008

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Analysis of workflow at ASCON Leisure with special focus on swimming pool works – A Report.

Objectives:

The objective of this analysis is to establish a process that will

• Ensure smooth flow of headworks in various projects
• Envisage a stable system, that will stand alone and complete the process even if  one of the components is disturbed
• Yield better utilization of resources both men and material
• Establishes a stress free working atmosphere
• Enhances customer satisfaction levels, thereby boosting our brand image
• Strengthens and broadens our capabilities, to handle large scale and special projects that require higher degrees of technical and professional competency.

All of the above points put together increase the turnover and gross profit that is generated.

Distribution of Projects:

The entire year can be divided into four quarters as conventionally done in most companies.

• Quarter 1(Q1) – Months January to March
• Quarter 2(Q2) – Months April to June
• Quarter 3(Q3) – Months July to September
• Quarter 4(Q4) – Months October to December

The duration of a quarter is approximately 90 days which is a comfortable duration to complete all works in a swimming pool.

The spanning of projects are covered in detail after the pre-tendering and post-tendering stages are explained.

Once a project is fetched by the Marketing department two stages are imminent;

1. The Pre-tendering stage and
2. The Post-tendering stage

Pre-tendering stage:

The pre-tendering stage follows a process where a proposal for bidding a project is prepared. It attains importance because various areas of a project are studied in detail by the Design and Execution departments. The grey areas of a project are located and feasibility studies conducted.

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The work flow in the pre-tendering stage is represented below

 

Job roles of the departments during pre-tendering stage in brief:

1. Marketing Dept obtains the initial set of drawings and specifications and submits to the Design department after discussions with the Project Execution department.
2. Design department prepares the design according to specifications, communicates with the Project Executions in case of queries and passes it down to the Q.S department.
3. Q.S department carries out estimation and prepares a quotation.
4. Both the design and the estimation are handed over to the Project Execution department, who will study the project in detail. The files are cleared and handed over to the Marketing Dept., who will now bid for the project.

N.B: The Project Executions department is involved in three steps so that even at this stage ambiguities can be ruled out.

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Post – tendering Stage:

Following a successful bid the project will pass through the post tender stage.

Job roles of the departments during post-tendering stage in brief:

1. The project details with changes if any are handed to the Q.S Dept., who verify the quantities and make changes wherever necessary. Material quantities are submitted to the Stores Department. The quantities estimated and other details parallely reach the Planning and Proj. Co-ordination department.
2. The Planning and Proj. Co-ordination department prepares the Project plan, the Materials Approval Schedule, the Materials Procurement schedule, the Workforce requirement, Machinery requirement and supplies the details to the respective departments i.e., the Stores and the Project Execution Departments.
3. Stores Department procures the materials as per procurement schedule in conjunction with the Purchase Department and also dispatches the material to Project sites.
4. The Project Execution Department will execute the work and report progress of activities at site to the Project Planning & Co-ordination Dept. Any contingencies are immediately reported and plans worked accordingly.

There will be several packets of information that will be required when work is passed down between the various departments and also when cross checks happen. At this stage this can be facilitated through checklists and forms that will contain the information that each department requires from the other. But once an intra-office communication system is established information can pass to each other in the form of e-mails e.g., Lotus Notes system.

The ultimate control on the work flow will rest with the Planning and Project Co-ordination department in association with the Project Managers/Engineers.

The Spanning of Projects across a Year

Swimming pool projects that have been finalized are fit into any of the four quarters after studying the various implications such as:

1.      Client requirement

2.      Priority based on project value

3.      The magnitude of the project

4.      Priority based on site conditions such as readiness of site, distance of site, spanning of sites in a particular area.

5.      Resources – men and material available at disposal

The distributions of projects across the quarters are discussed in detail by a core group that will include the Divisional Manager, Commercial and Marketing Managers, the Project Managers/Engineers.

In tune with the work flow represented by the flow charts a project can also be divided in the form of phases.

Different Phases of a Project:

1.      The time difference between the planning and execution phase will be three quarters.

2.      The time difference between the approval phase (material, shop drawing approvals, no-objection certificates, municipality clearances etc.) and execution phase will be two quarters.

3.      The time difference between the procurement phase and the execution phase will be one quarter.

For example, if a project is finalized and the planning takes place in Q1, the approvals take place in Q2, the procurement of materials in Q3 and execution happens in Q4 which is thereafter followed by snag fixing and maintenance till end of warranty.

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The phases in detail:

1.      Planning Phase: The project is handled by the Design, QS and Planning & Project Co-ordination departments in association with Projects Execution Department as found in the flow chart found in the post-tendering stage.

2.      Approvals Phase: The approvals are obtained for materials, shop drawings, clearance certificates, lab tests and other mandatory requirements pertaining to project needs.

3.      Procurement Phase: The materials and machinery are procured as per requirement and dispatch to project sites facilitated.

4.      Execution Phase: The project is executed.

5.      Maintenance Phase: Snags if any are fixed and maintenance carried out.

Apart from the above briefing there are various details and inputs that can be provided by respective departments to get the process in motion. In addition, the forms and checklists can be prepared according to requirement.

Notes in general:

·        After close of each quarter, reconciliation meetings can be held to study the usage of men and material by comparing the planned and actual efforts employed.

·        The establishment of a Planning & Project co-ordination department.

·        The availability of a stacking area for materials especially Civil (cement, sand, steel and other) for various projects in a quarter will remove the time lag experienced in obtaining materials.

·         Requirement of our own transport vehicles for moving men and material.

The report is just a small step in going forward in establishing a robust system and development of the division. The contributions from the various departments are greatly anticipated in building the entire framework. Hope this happens with our earnest efforts in building a closely community and successful team.

  

Prepared By:

Winston N. Fernandez

Copies to: Mr. Hussain Baig, Mr.T.K.Chandra, Mr.Suvid Kale, Mr. Abdul Razak, Mr.Syed Zaiullah, Mr. Srinivasa Rao, Mr. Sasi Kumar, Mr. Richard Yap, Mr. Elijah Christie.

Warning:
Copying and Infringement not allowed. Reproduction in any form not allowed without prior written permission