Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. Traditionally, project management includes a number of elements: four to five process groups and a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project management processes will be used.

 

Stuart Maher has undertaken project management activities on a variety of projects, from short term assignments associated with informing strategic decision making to long term multi-disciplinary construction projects delivering new infrastructure.  Projects include:

 

Crossrail Paddington Station

West Coast Route Modernisation – Unit Cost Review

 

Design management is concerned with the integration of design into management and vice versa. It is an approach whereby organisations make design-relevant decisions in a market and customer-oriented way as well as optimising design processes. It is a comprehensive activity on all levels of business performance that effect design, from the front-end feasibility / optioneering to the execution of design. Design management ensures that the various disciplines that contribute to the delivery of a design are provided with the necessary controls and direction to produce a coordinated design in accordance with a defined programme and budget that meets the client’s requirements.

 

Stuart Maher has undertaken design management activities on a number of major multi-disciplinary projects, including:

 

Crossrail East and West Surface Routes

Jubilee Line Extension – Westminster and Waterloo Stations

 

 

Project engineering provides the link between the project manager and the technical disciplines involved in a project with the project engineer often acting as the primary technical point of contact for the customer.  A project engineer's responsibilities include schedule preparation and resource forecasting for engineering and other technical activities relating to the project.  The project engineer has extensive knowledge of the engineering standards that govern the design and construction thereby ensuring that the finished article achieves the required quality.  Project Engineers manage project team resources and training and develop extensive project management experience and expertise. When project teams are structured so that multiple specialty disciplines report to the Project Engineer, then two important responsibilities of the Project Engineer are inter-discipline coordination and overall quality control of the work. 

 

With particular expertise in civils / permanent way design and installation, Stuart Maher has provided project engineering input to a number of multi-disciplinary railway and construction projects, including:

 

Channel Tunnel Rail Link (High Speed 1) (Track on approaches and into the platforms at St Pancras)

Edinburgh Waverley Remodelling

Thameslink – Blackfriars Station

 

 

Construction management addresses the detailed planning, implementation, commissioning and delivery into use of construction projects adopting techniques that are geared to ensuring that the client’s requirements are met throughout the construction period. 

 

While there are links to project and design management, the emphasis is very different and the consequences of poor construction management can be significant in terms of cost, time, safety, quality and the environment.  Construction management professionals recognize the responsibilities that are associated with the implementation phase of any scheme and apply their experience to ensuring that issues, such as those that might arise through poor design, are identified early so that the construction activities can remain on programme.

 

At Stuart Maher, our construction management professionals have acquired many years of experience delivering multi-disciplinary construction and railway projects, examples of which include:

 

Crossrail

Thameslink

Tunnel Cooling Programme

 

 

Project Development encompasses the whole life cycle of a project, from its initial inception through to its completion. The process of developing a project can be split into distinct phases:

 

• Initiation – the identification of a need to do something to achieve a specific objective.
• Planning – the development of the idea from feasibility to detailed deign to establish the scope of work, cost, timing and delivery arrangements to achieve the objective.
• Production – the execution of the scope of works to deliver the objective.
• Monitoring – the validation that what has been delivered achieves the desired objective.
• Closeout – the formal completion of the project.

 

Stuart Maher has significant experience of all phases of the project development process and is able to provide input at any or all of the above stages to suit its clients’ requirements. Examples of projects where we have provided project development services include:

 

Crossrail Production of reference designs for the east and west surface routes.

Crossrail Track alignment development for the central tunnelled section of the route.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link (High Speed 1) Track approaches and into the platforms at St Pancras

West Coast Route Modernisation Monitoring of the delivery of the required outputs

LU SSL Upgrade Programme End State Track Layout

 

 

Commercial management can be described as the identification and development of business opportunities and the profitable management of projects and contracts, from inception to completion.

 

Commercial management within an organization is applied at both policy and transactional levels. Commercial policies relate to the rules or practices that define how business will be conducted and the standard terms under which external relationships will be conducted. Many of these policies are reflected in the terms of any contract in which the organization engages. At a transactional level, commercial management is applied through the supply chain and the procurement of services to ensure compliance with business goals or policies and to understand or manage the financial and risk implications of any variations.

 

Through its practical management and technical expertise SML has demonstrated an ability to provide a valuable contribution to the development of strategic programmes that deliver cost savings whilst maintaining and improving performance.  Working with existing project teams, SML provides a catalyst for nurturing new and innovative ideas and the tools to develop the new ideas into tangible action plans that enable cost savings to be realised.

 

The services that SML can provide include:

 

• Review of procurement and supply chain strategies
• Auditing of actual cost and development of cost reduction strategies
• Development of cost management and forecasting
• Risk and contingency management
• Value management
• Dispute avoidance and resolution techniques

 

 

Contract management activities can be broadly grouped into three areas.

 

• Service delivery management ensures that the service is being delivered as agreed, to the required level of performance and quality.
• Relationship management keeps the relationship between the two parties open and constructive, aiming to resolve or ease tensions and identify problems early.
• Contract administration handles the formal governance of the contract and changes to the contract documentation.

 

All three areas must be managed well if the arrangement is to be a success. Good preparation and the right contract are essential foundations for good contract management and the arrangement must be flexible enough to accommodate change.

 

Through its involvement in managing large railway projects worldwide, SML has acquired a wealth of experience across a broad range of construction contracts, including:

 

• Professional Services – NEC and bespoke forms (e.g. Network Rail, LU) for survey, design (single and multi-disciplinary), project/programme management and construction supervision.
• Construction – NEC, ICE Conditions, FIDIC and bespoke forms (e.g. Network Rail, LU).
• Alliancing – Bespoke forms aimed at formalizing a collaborative approach to delivering a project. Normally operates in conjunction with a construction or professional services contract.
• Framework – Bespoke forms, normally zero value, aimed at establishing the terms and conditions that govern work instructed on a “call off” basis

 

 

Systems Integration, or Systems Engineering, is the task of ensuring that a project correctly identifies the requirements that it has to meet and then delivers those requirements as safely and efficiently as possible.  It provides evidence that the requirements have been met and other evidence necessary to deliver assurance to clients and regulators that the project is safe, operable and maintainable.

 

Various disciplines are brought together to deliver an integrated system, including requirements engineering, interface management, reliability and maintainability analysis, safety engineering, and human factors. 

 

SML can bring all these disciplines together and combine them with a deep understanding of railway engineering, maintenance and operations to help clients deliver safe, integrated systems supported by the necessary assurance evidence to gain approval from operators and regulators. 

 

We are experienced in applying the various applicable international standards, including EN50126 and the Yellow Book. 

 

We have worked on major, complex projects where the challenge of developing an integrated solution to deliver tough performance targets has to be met.  Through our intelligent and pragmatic approach we have helped our clients bring these projects to a successful conclusion. 

 

 

Signalling is fundamental to both the safety of a railway and its capacity to carry traffic, yet often it is a source of problems and delays to projects. This is because of a lack of understanding of the basic principles of signalling and a failure to apply those principles effectively.

 

SML can provide engineers who have spent many years working on signalling systems around the World and therefore understand the capacity and limitations of the available technologies. We are particularly experienced in the application of novel systems in the UK environment, often a source of delay and cost increase. Our approach has led to the successful introduction of new technology without these problems.

 

We can assist in the development of safety cases and other documentation for product approval, production of procurement specifications, management of suppliers, review and acceptance of designs and other documentation.

 

Our engineers are particularly skilled at understanding complex technical issues and managing the associated risks. We are able to distil the real risks and issues down to a form where they can be understood by non-signalling managers and hence de-mystify what is often seen as a black art!

 

 

Our staff provide a complete permanent way design solution for any track layout from very simple to the most complex.

Track alignment designs can be carried out by regression analysis using INRail or MXRail. Alternatively traditional hallade curve realignment methods can be used.

 

The SML Team are able to design Switches & Crossings (S&C) from first principles, if required, as well as using CAD and specialist track design software such as Bentley INRail and MXRail.

 

We have the capability to design in bullhead, flatbottom, (inclined / vertical & NR60) including setting out on site and in the pre-assembly depot. We are also able to design two-leveling schemes for S&C as well as the design of S & C Components (Baseplates/Blocks) for non-standard arrangements.

 

Design models and drawings can be supplied in dgn, dwg or dxf formats.

 

 

Computer Aided Design (CAD) involves the use of computer technology for the production of designs and associated documentation, such as drawings. Through the utilisation of bespoke software it is possible to generate design solutions and to represent them in both 2D and 3D formats. CAD Management focuses on managing and tracking the creation, change and archive of all information related to a product. The adoption of appropriate CAD quality standards ensures consistency in the quality of the designs that are produced and a common understanding for the purposes of sharing information across disciplines and organisations.

 

SML has acquired extensive experience of CAD design and management on the many multi-disciplinary construction projects with which it has been involved and specialises in the application of CAD using Microstation and Bentley Railtrack software.