Microsoft Project 2002 keeping military moving

Microsoft Project 2002 has been proven in anger by ABRO, the UK preferred armed forces supplier for equipment overhaul, upgrades and repairs, at its Bovington, Dorset site, which looks after equipment ranging from Challenger tanks to motorbikes and small arms. It’s now being rolled out across the company’s eight UK sites. It’s the first large scale implementation in Europe, and ABRO says it’s already been able to improve performance measures on lean manufacturing initiatives, and seen quantifiable benefits. On one of the first repair programmes handled using Project 2002, it achieved a 50% cut in WIP (work in progress), reduced work space clutter and improved cash flow. ABRO went for the beta version of Project when it was being changed from a MoD (Ministry of Defence) agency into a commercial entity, mandated to compete for contracts in the emergency services, utilities and industry sectors. The firm needed to re-engineer its management systems to improve efficiency and specifically cut WIP, while also maximising resource utilisation and increasing flexibility for the commercial industry sector. ABRO, which handles around 375,000 repairs per year on more than 13,000 product lines generating income in excess of £200 million, says it now expects to take on more new work outside the military, without adding to its 2,700-strong workforce. ABRO project manager Bill Moore says the firm had been using earlier versions of Project for many years, but moved to 2002 because of its web browser access and support facilities. “Browser access … makes it simpler for everyone, including team leaders on the shop floor, to see the latest schedule information and enter progress updates,” he says. We all have the same clear picture of what is happening in the business, making collaboration across and between sites much easier.” Beyond this, he says better reporting, as well as easier analysis of capacity and workload, are allowing workshops to be better optimised so that, for example, bottlenecks like paint shops and test facilities, can be managed better. Results to date show shorter lead times, better delivery performance and reduced overtime. Moore also reports savings in the IT department, since a single installation of Project 2002 Server supports all eight sites, providing access to facilities via Windows Terminal Services and browsers – and thus cutting hardware and admin support costs. He says the firm is now achieving “the best possible balance between the requirement to respond quickly to unpredictable requirements from the military and the need to offer very competitive prices and delivery dates in the commercial sector.”