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Project Management to Drive a Manufacturing Transition in Pharma

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The supply chain team of an F200 pharma company embarked on a major initiative to transfer manufacturing of products across cell and gene therapy from a commercial site to a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), to develop, manufacture, and commercialize therapies in clinical trials and in-market. After a traditional consulting firm supported the first phase, the client wanted to exit the consulting engagement and own the transition internally. However, the client needed significant program management support to manage the transition effectively.

Business Talent Group (BTG) provided three skilled talent to step in quickly and help drive the transformation:

Program leader: A hands-on McKinsey, Accenture, and Booz project manager who had previously led multiple supply chain and manufacturing initiatives and had served in PMOs across industries including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, B2B services, telecommunications, and technology

Two skilled project managers: Both highly technical PMs, one with deep experience in life science regulatory affairs and logistics, and the other in business analytics, product management, and risk mitigation

Over the course of the project, the talent ensured tracking of 20+ workstreams, including:

• Critical path analysis based on fully integrated cross-functional project plan development
• Generation of project plans and insights based on customized project analysis and scenarios
• Development of custom visuals and analytics detailing critical path
• Internal and external coordination

Value: Three project managers with strong technical skills and functional experience to parachute into a key transformation

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The Lean Post / Articles / Lean Management Case Studies Library

Lean Management Case Studies Library

By Chet Marchwinski

May 16, 2014

Learn how a variety of businesses and organizations used lean management principles to solve real business problems. We’ve arranged the examples in 16 categories to help you find the ones right for your environment.

Lean Management Examples from a Variety of Businesses

The following case studies of lean management principles in action show you how a variety of real businesses solved real business problems under diverse conditions.

We’ve arranged the stories in 16 categories to help you find the examples you need. There is some overlap. For instance, a “Lean Manufacturing” case study may also appear with “Privately Held Companies.”

Lean Manufacturing

• Logistics, Supply Chain, and Warehousing
• Lean Material Handling
• Job Shops (Low-volume, High-mix Manufacturing); Tool and Die
• Lean in Government
• Lean Healthcare
• Lean Accounting
• Lean Construction
• Lean in Office and Service Processes
• Lean in Education

Problem Solving

Pull Systems

Culture Change

People Development

Privately Held Companies

Maintenance

Many of the executives who took part in these transformations are interviewed in LEI’s Senior Executive Series on Lean Leadership . After reading the case studies, be sure to get their personal perspectives on leading change. (Feel free to link to this page, but please respect the copyrights of LEI and journalists by not copying the articles.)

Are you doing something new or notable in the practice of lean management? Let us share what you learned with the lean community. For more information, contact LEI’s Director of Communications Chet Marchwinski at cmarchwinski at lean dot org

Thrustmaster Turns Around

Learn how Thrustmaster of Texas successfully adopted lean thinking and practices to make sustainable improvements in a short period of time, and how other manufacturers of highly engineered, low-volume products can follow their lead using the Lean Transformation Framework.

Lean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer

SunPower’s lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North by combining lean principals with those of the “circular economy” to launch what it is calling a CLean Transformation.

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle” After a medical device maker took a hit to margins to fight off global competition, it rebuilt them by lifting its lean operating system to a higher level and keeping it there with a “golden triangle” of sustainability.

Followup Story:

Manufacturing Balancing Act: Pull Versus ERP

In this follow-up to “Sustain Your Lean Business System with a ‘Golden Triangle,’” a case study about Phase 2 Medical Manufacturing, the company needs warehouse space to keep pace with sales growth spurred by the lean transformation. Instead, it expands a pull system by connecting the plan-for-every-part database that underpins one-piece flow production with ERP, typically associated with big batch production.

Cultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner If you are in the “appreciation business”, you have to live it in your own workplace. For O.C. Tanner that meant a lean transformation had to show the company appreciated and wanted people’s problem-solving ideas. Here’s a report on that effort, including what worked and what didn’t.

Lean Partnership with Dealer Network Helps Vermeer Reduce End-to-End Inventory on Top Sellers

A lean transformation had taken heavy-equipment manufacturer Vermeer away from batch manufacturing, but batch ordering by dealers was delaying how quickly they got equipment like brush chippers. Learn how it  began converting its domestic industrial-line distribution network to lean replenishment, improving service to end customers and improving cash flow for Vermeer and its dealers.

Herman Miller’s Experiment in Excellence At Herman Miller, the lean management effort helps it build problem solvers as well as world-class office furniture. And as this case study shows, lean practices also helped it weather a brutal recession.

Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation Rigorous problem solving creates basic stability in a machining intensive facility.

A Journey to Value Streams: Reorganizing Into Five Groups Drives Lean Improvements and Customer Responsiveness An approach to creating a value -stream culture centered on autonomy, entrepreneurialism, and lean principles.

Change in Implementation Approach Opens the Door at EMCO to Greater Gains in Less Time A relatively quick, intensive project accelerates the rate of improvement and creates a showcase facility for spreading lean concepts.

Creating the Course and Tools for a Lean Accounting System A lean accounting implementation fills the frustrating disconnect between shop-floor improvements and financial statements.

For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving After taking a lean tools approach to change, management re-organized the transformation around problem solving and process improvement to create a culture that engaged people while boosting performance.

Knife Company Hones Competitiveness by Bucking the Status Quo An iconic family-owned company turns to lean manufacturing to reduce costs by at least 30% to keep its U.S. operations open.

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies with Tools and Dies After a failed first try at just-in-time production , a company transforms tool maintenance, design, and fabrication to create a solid foundation for a second attempt.

Seasoned Lean Effort Avoids “Flavor-of-the-Month” Pitfall A look at how one company’s approach to what new tools it introduced, in what order, and how it prevented each new technique from being viewed as a “flavor of the month” fad.

Shifting to Value-Stream Managers: a Shop-Floor Revolution Leads to a Revolution in Plant Organization

Two years into a lean transformation, the low-hanging fruit has been plucked and progress has started to slow. Read how a Thomas & Betts plant recharged the transformation and reached higher levels of performance by using value-stream managers to span functional walls.

Using Plan-Do-Check-Act as a Strategy and Tactic for Helping Suppliers Improve

At Medtronic’s Neuromodulation business unit, the plan-do-check-act cycle is used on a strategic level to guide overall strategy for selecting and developing key suppliers as well as on a tactical level for guiding lean transformations at supplier facilities.

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Logistics, Supply Chain, and Warehousing How a Retailer’s Distribution Center Exemplifies the Lean Precept “Respect for People,” and Reaps the Benefits

To make sure training engaged and resonated with people after previous attempts at a lean transformation faltered, LifeWay matched lean management tools and principles to its Bible-based culture and language.

Lean management case study series: Lean in Distribution: Go to Where the Action Is!

Starting with daily management walkabouts and standard work , this distributor had laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come, just two years after its first kaizen workshop .

Putting Lean Principles in the Warehouse

Executives at Menlo Worldwide Logistics saw an opportunity to leapfrog the competition by embracing lean in its outsourced warehousing and receiving operations.

Lean Thinking Therapy Spreads Beyond the Shop

A company expands the lean transformation from the shop floor to international distribution, domestic shipping, and product development.

Sell One, Buy One, Make One: Transforming from Conventional to Lean Distribution

Large inventories to cover fluctuations in demand once characterized Toyota’s service parts distribution system — but no more. Here’s how one DC made the switch.

Material Handling

Following Four Steps to a Lean Material-Handling System Leads to a Leap in Performance

Creating the critical Plan for Every Part was one step in a methodical four-step implementation process to replace a traditional material-handling system.

Low-volume, High-mix Manufacturing; Tool and Die

The Backbone of Lean in the Back Shops

Sikorsky managers apply the lean concept of “every part, every interval” (EPEI) to level the mix in demand and create flow through a key manufacturing cell .

Landscape Forms Cultivates Lean to Fuel Growth Goals

With single-item orders 80% of the time, a low-volume, high-mix manufacturer decided single-piece flow cells were the best way decided the best way to add new products without having to constantly reconfigure production.

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies with Tools and Dies

After a failed first try at just-in-time production, a company transforms tool maintenance, design, and fabrication to create a solid foundation for a second attempt.

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

The “ inventory ” of mail already is paid for, so moving it faster doesn’t improve cash flow as in lean manufacturing. But Canada Post discovered that traditional batch-and-queue postal operations could benefit from lean principles.

Lean Thinking in Government: The State of Iowa

This story examines a kaizen event at a veterans home and more broadly at the lean effort in Iowa government.

Lean Thinking Helps City of Chula Vista with Budget Crunch

Goodrich Aerostructures’ Chula Vista plant introduces city government to lean thinking and practices so in order to maintain municipal services without resorting to further cuts in the workforce.

Using Lean Thinking to Reinvent City Government

Grand Rapids, MI, turns to lean principles to consolidate operations, eliminate wasted time and effort, and streamline to improve productivity while providing the quality of service that residents want.

Transforming Healthcare: What Matters Most? How the Cleveland Clinic Is Cultivating a Problem-Solving Mindset and Building a Culture of Improvement

The Cleveland Clinic reinvents its continuous improvement program to instill a problem-solving mindset and the skillset to solve everyday problems among the clinic’s thousands of caregivers.

View from the Hospital Floor: How to Build a Culture of Improvement One Unit at a Time

In order to do more and improve faster, the Cleveland Clinic is rolling out a methodology for building a “culture of improvement” across the 48,000-employee hospital system as this followup to the above story shows. Here’s how it works according to the people making the changes.

Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste

Dentistry is a job shop that Dr. Sami Bahri is out to improve fundamentally for the benefit of patients through the application of lean principles.

Lean management case study series: Pediatric Hospital in Tough Market Pegs Growth to Lean Process Improvement

Lean improvement projects at Akron Children’s Hospital have saved millions of dollars, increased utilization of expensive assets, and reduced wait times for patients and their families.

Lean Design and Construction Project an Extension of Lean Commitment at Akron Children’s Hospital

Input from nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, and patient parents heavily influenced design decisions..

“Pulling” Lean Through a Hospital

A thoughtful rollout of lean principles in the ER and eye-opening results created a “pull” for lean from other departments.

Best in Healthcare Getting Better with Lean

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, stresses to doctors that the lean effort is aimed not at changing the moment of care, the touch moment between doctor and patient, but the 95% of the time when the patient is not in the doctor’s office

Fighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes

Cross-functional team design and implement a lean process to dramatically increase the number of patients with brain and bone metastases receiving consultation, simulation, and first treatment on the same day without workarounds or expediting.

Massachusetts General Looks to Lean

A proton therapy treatment center, for many adults and children the best hope of beating cancer, applies lean principles to increase capacity.

New Facility, New Flow, and New Levels of Patient Care: The wait is over for patients at the Clearview Cancer Institute in Alabama

Physicians and staff have tirelessly reengineer processes and patient flow to eliminate as much waiting and waste as possible.

The Anatomy of Innovation

At a hospital in Pittsburgh, the emerging vision for the “hospital of the future” is described as giving the right patient, the right care, at the right time, in the right way, all the time.

Creating the Course and Tools for a Lean Accounting System

A lean accounting implementation fills the frustrating disconnect between shop-floor improvements and the financial statement.

Knife Company Hones Competitiveness by Bucking the Status Quo

An iconic family-owned company turns to lean manufacturing to reduce costs by at least 30% to keep its U.S. operations open.

Office and Service Processes

The “inventory” of mail already is paid for, so moving it faster doesn’t improve cash flow as in lean manufacturing. But Canada Post discovered that traditional batch-and-queue postal operations could benefit from lean principles.

Lean Landscapers

At an Atlanta landscaping company, lean practices are making inroads into a service industry in unusual yet fundamental ways.

LSG Sky Chefs Caters to New Market Realities

Business at airline caterer LSG Sky Chefs dropped 30% when airlines cut flights after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Sky Chefs responded with a rapid launch of a lean initiative.

leveraging Lean to Get the Oil Out

Aera Energy LLC, a California oil and gas company,  relies on lean principles to improve key processes, including drilling new wells, repairing existing ones, and maximizing the number of barrels of crude pumped each day.

Columbus Public Schools Use Process Thinking to Improve Academic Achievement.

Columbus, OH, public schools, experiment with lean tools and process thinking to remove wasteful activities that don’t help them help students learn.

Lean Inroads into Alabama Academia

How the University of Alabama in Huntsville integrated lean concepts throughout its industrial engineering curriculum.

Linking Lean Thinking to the Classroom

Value-stream mapping is one of many activities included in the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS), an academic program designed to link high-school classroom learning to the skills needed in college and business.

Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation

Rigorous problem solving creates basic stability in a machining intensive facility.

For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving

After talking a lean tools approach to change, management re-organized the transformation around problem solving and process improvement to create a culture that engaged people while boosting performance.

Toothbrush Plant Reverses Decay in Competitiveness

The rapid introduction of a lean system, beginning with just-in-time production and pull, helps a highly automated Midwest plant fight off overseas competition by reducing lead times and inventory while augmenting the plant’s advantage in service.

A Journey to Value Streams: Reorganizing Into Five Groups Drives Lean Improvements and Customer Responsiveness

An approach to creating a value-stream culture centered on autonomy, entrepreneurialism, and lean principles.

Making Lean Leaders — Ariens internship program develops lean and leadership skills

Besides making snow-blowers, mowers, and string trimmers, Ariens Co., of Brillion, WI, makes lean leaders.

Starting with daily management walkabouts and standard work, this 84-year-old, family-owned distributor laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come, just two years after its first kaizen workshop.

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle”

After a medical device maker took a hit to margins to fight off global competition, it rebuilt them by lifting its lean operating system to a higher level and keeping it there with a “golden triangle” of sustainability. You’ll recognize two elements of the triangle right away: visual control and standardized work . The third, accountability management or a kamishibai system, is probably less well known but just as critical.

Cultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner

If you are in the “appreciation business”, you have to live it in your own workplace. For O.C. Tanner that meant a lean transformation had to show the company appreciated and wanted people’s problem-solving ideas. Here’s a report on that effort, including what worked and what didn’t.

Lean Thinking in Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Takes Wing at FedEx Express

A major check that used to take 32,715 man-hours was cut to 21,535 hours in six months. That translated into a $2 million savings, which dovetailed with the company’s emphasis on reducing costs during the recession.

Construction

Input from nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, and patient parents heavily influenced design decisions—from incorporating emergency room hallways that protect the privacy of abused children to the number of electrical outlets in each neonatal intensive care room.

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A continuing education service offering the latest in lean leadership and management.

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About Chet Marchwinski

Chet has been a humble, unwashed scribe of the lean continuous improvement movement since books by Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo first hit North America in the 1980s. At LEI, he contributes to content creation, marketing, public relations, and social media. Previously, he also wrote case studies on lean management implementations in…

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Top 20 Project Management Case Studies [With Examples]

Project management case study analyses showcase and compare real-life project management processes and systems scenarios. These studies shed light on the common challenges that project managers encounter on a daily basis. This helps project managers develop effective strategies, overcome obstacles, and achieve successful results. 

By leveraging project management case studies , organisations can optimise their operations by providing insights into the most effective approaches. With effective implementation of these case studies, strategies, and methodologies, ensuring successful project completion is achievable.

Criteria for Selection of Top 20 Case Studies

The top 20 case studies are selected based on significance, impact, challenges, project management strategies, and overall success. They provide diverse insights and lessons for project managers and organisations.

1. The Sydney Opera House Project

The Sydney Opera House Project is an iconic example of project management case studies as it faced multiple challenges during its construction phase. Despite facing leadership changes, budget overruns, and design failures, the project persevered and was completed in 1973, a decade later than planned. The Opera House stands as a symbol of perseverance and successful project management in the face of humankind.

2. The Airbus A380 Project

The Airbus A380 Project is a project management case study showcasing the challenges encountered during developing and producing the world’s largest commercial aircraft. The project experienced massive delays and impacted costs of more than $6 billion, with several issues arising from the manufacturing and delivery process, outsourcing, and project coordination. 

However, the Airbus A380 was successfully launched through carefully planned project management strategies, delivering a world-class aircraft that met customer expectations.

3. The Panama Canal Expansion Project 

The Panama Canal Expansion Project serves as a compelling case study, illustrating the management’s encounters in expanding the capacity of the Panama Canal. The project included multiple stakeholders, technological innovations, environmental concerns, and safety challenges. 

4. The Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project

The Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project serves as a project management case study of a large-scale underground tunnel construction project. It successfully addressed traffic congestion and was completed in 2007. The project was completed in 2007, with numerous hurdles delaying progress like complexity, technology failure, ballooning budgets, media scrutiny, etc.

5. The London 2012 Olympics Project

The London 2012 Olympics Project stands as a successful project management case study, showcasing the management of a large-scale international sporting event. This project involved the construction of a new sports infrastructure, event logistics and security concerns. The project was successfully accomplished, delivering a world-class event that captivated the audience.

6. The Hoover Dam Bypass Project

The Hoover Dam Bypass Project was a construction project in the United States of America that intended to alleviate traffic from the Hoover Dam by building a new bridge. Completed in 2010, the bridge spans across the Colorado River, connecting Arizona and Nevada and offers a safer and more efficient route for motorists.

7. The Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project

The Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project is a case study example constructed in San Francisco, California. Its objective was to enhance the bridge’s resilience against earthquakes and aftershocks. Completed in 2012, the project included the installation of shock absorbers and other seismic upgrades to ensure the bridge’s safety and functionality in the event of a major earthquake.

8. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Project

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Project is a massive case study that intends to connect Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau with a bridge-tunnel system of 55 kilometres. Completed in 2018, the project required massive funds, investments and innovative engineering solutions, providing a new transport link and boosting regional connectivity.

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9. The Panama Papers Investigation Project

The Panama Papers Investigation Project is a global case study of journalistic investigations into offshore tax havens. It involved leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm. Coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the project resulted in major political and financial repercussions worldwide, garnering widespread media attention.

10. The Apple iPhone Development Project

The Apple iPhone Development Project started in 2004, aiming to create a groundbreaking mobile device. In 2007, the iPhone transformed the industry with its innovative touchscreen interface, sleek design, and advanced features. This project involved significant research, development, marketing, and supply chain management investments.

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11. The Ford Pinto Design and Launch Project

The Ford Pinto Design and Launch Project was a developmental project intended to create an affordable, fuel-efficient subcompact car. Launched in 1971, because of its fuel tank design, it became infamous for safety issues. The project was rigged for ethical and safety concerns, lawsuits, and recalls.

12. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response Project

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response Project was a response to the largest oil spill in US history, caused by an offshore drilling rig explosion in 2010. This crisis response project utilised a waterfall project management approach, where the project team followed a pattern of planning, executing, monitoring, and closing phases. 

13. The NASA Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster Project

  The NASA Challenger Disaster Project was a tragic space exploration mission in 1986, resulting in the loss of all seven crew members. Extensive investigations revealed design and safety flaws as the cause. This disaster prompted NASA to address decision-making processes and improve safety cultures.

14. The Three Gorges Dam Project

  The Three Gorges Dam Project was a large-scale infrastructure project developed in China that aimed to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yangtze River. Completed in 2012, it encountered environmental, social, and engineering challenges. The dam currently offers power generation, flood control, and improved navigation, but it has also resulted in ecological and cultural consequences.

15. The Big Dig Project in Boston

The Big Dig Project was a transportation infrastructure project in Boston, Massachusetts, intended to replace an old elevated highway with a newer tunnel system. Completed in 2007, it serves as one of the most complex and costly construction endeavours in US history. Despite facing many delays, cost overruns and engineering challenges, the project successfully improved traffic flow and urban aesthetics but also resulted in accidents, lawsuits, and financial burdens.

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16. The Uber Disruptive Business Model Project

  The Uber Disruptive Business Model Project was a startup that introduced a new ride business model that disrupted the taxi-cab industry by connecting riders with drivers via a mobile app. Launched in 2010, this project required innovative technology, marketing and regulatory strategies and faced legal actions and ethical challenges related to labour, safety, and competition. Uber has since then dominated the market with its ride-sharing business plan.

17. The Netflix Original Content Development Project

The Netflix Original Content Development Project was an initiative created to launch its original content for its platform. This launch by the online streaming giant in 2012 was a huge success for the company. The project required huge investments in content creation, distribution and marketing and resulted in award-winning shows and films that redefined the entire entertainment industry’s business model.

18. The Tesla Electric Car Project

The Tesla Electric Car Project was a revolutionary project that aimed to compete for its electric vehicles with gasoline-powered vehicles. The project required a strong project management plan that incorporated innovation, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement, resulting in the successful launch of the Tesla Roadster in 2008 and subsequent models. Tesla has one-handedly revolutionised the entire automobile industry on its own. 

19. The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis Management Project:

The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis Management Project was a case study in crisis management in 1982. The project required quick and effective decision-making skills, stakeholder communication, and ethical leadership in response to the tampering of Tylenol capsules that led to deaths. 

20. The Airbnb Online Marketplace Platform Project  

The Airbnb Online Marketplace Platform Project was a startup that created an online platform which connected travellers with hosts offering short-term rental accommodations in flights. The project required innovative technology, user experience design and stakeholder management. Airbnb’s success has led to the disruption of the hospitality industry and inspired many other project case study examples of sharing economy platforms.

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Future developments in project management.

Future developments in project management include all the insights on the increased use of artificial intelligence, agile methodologies, hybrid project management approaches, and emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility, along with many more developing ideas that will address the evolving market innovations. 

Key Takeaways from the Case Studies

The project management case study examples illustrate real-life examples and the importance of project management in achieving project success. The cases show the use of innovative technologies, tools, techniques, stakeholder engagement, crisis management, and agile methodologies. 

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Capturing the true value of Industry 4.0

In the past five years, a select group of companies have started pulling ahead in their efforts to implement Industry 4.0 across their manufacturing networks . Leading manufacturers are now realizing significant value from data and analytics, AI, and machine learning (ML). However, a large majority remain stuck in pilot purgatory, struggling to capture the full potential of their transformation efforts or deliver a satisfactory return on investment.

While digital transformations are notoriously difficult to scale up  across networks of factories, the pressure to succeed is intense. Companies at the front of the pack are capturing benefits across the entire manufacturing value chain—increasing production capacity and reducing material losses, improving customer service and delivery lead times, achieving higher employee satisfaction, and reducing their environmental impact. Scaled across networks, these gains can fundamentally transform a company’s competitive position.

With so much at stake, manufacturers are putting significant time and money behind their digital transformations . These investments are paying off for some, but most remain unable to scale successful pilot programs or fully leverage new tools and technology to see meaningful returns.

This article explores some of the common pitfalls associated with digital transformations and how a more strategic and value-driven approach could help manufacturers in the race to get ahead.

Delivering value across every area of the factory

The digitally enabled factory of today looks very different from the leading factory of ten years ago. Advances in data and analytics, AI, and ML—and the array of technology vendors in the market—mean manufacturers can choose from hundreds of potential solutions and tech applications to improve their ways of working.

Implemented successfully, these solutions deliver irresistible returns. Across a wide range of sectors, it is not uncommon to see 30 to 50 percent reductions in machine downtime, 10 to 30 percent increases in throughput, 15 to 30 percent improvements in labor productivity, and 85 percent more accurate forecasting (Exhibit 1).

While digital transformations are notoriously difficult to scale up across networks of factories, the pressure to succeed is intense. Companies at the front of the pack are capturing benefits across the entire manufacturing value chain.

Digital transformations are revolutionizing all aspects of manufacturing, touching not just processes and productivity but also people. The right applications of technology can lead to more empowered decision making; new opportunities for upskilling, reskilling, and cross-functional collaboration; better talent attraction and retention; and improved workplace safety and employee satisfaction.

Customers see the impacts through reduced manufacturing lead times, right-first-time launch management, and improved customer service and complexity management. And, of course, there are the win–win advantages associated with reduced environmental impact, made possible through lower emissions and reduced waste and more efficient energy, water, and raw-material consumption.

These productivity, process, and people improvements are not easy to accomplish—especially across a network of individual manufacturing sites, each with its own site leadership, IT infrastructure, and workplace culture. It is not uncommon to hear of companies achieving impressive results through pilot programs at one factory site only to find themselves unable to replicate these local wins across their network.

This was the situation at a global industrial company. Facing a considerable ramp-up in demand—volume more than doubled over just three years, which translated to producing more than 50 million additional parts—the business embarked on an ambitious digital transformation at one factory. The goal was to increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by ten percentage points and reduce product unit costs by more than 30 percent.

The project delivered: the factory was admitted to the Global Lighthouse Network , a World Economic Forum initiative, in collaboration with McKinsey, that recognizes leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The site started welcoming external visitors to showcase its transformation. But despite this achievement, it was unclear to the company how to take this local success story and replicate it across other sites.

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The common pitfalls of scaling digital transformations.

There are five common reasons why manufacturers are not succeeding on this journey.

Siloed implementation. By pursuing digital transformations as a theoretical exercise, many companies unwittingly set up independent delivery teams that are decoupled from business leaders, site operations, manufacturing excellence, and central IT. Others focus too much on replicating a single site experience, failing to appreciate wider network complexities.

Failure to adapt. By deploying a one-size-fits-all approach, manufacturers miss the opportunity to build in the customization and adaptation needed to leverage the unique circumstances, culture, and values of separate factory sites.

Analysis paralysis. Performing a full and deep up-front analysis of an entire network can leave a manufacturer out of steam before a transformation can get off the ground. Instead, robust, accurate-enough insights can be gleaned from a well-developed extrapolation methodology.

Technology-driven rather than value-driven. A technology-first rollout means that solutions are deployed without a clear link to real value opportunities, business challenges, or capability requirements. The result: undermining crucial buy-in from the people charged with making deployment work.

Letting the ‘perfect’ defeat the good. By waiting until a fully fledged, ideal-state data and IT/OT (information technology/operational technology) architecture is defined and implemented before rolling out Industry 4.0 solutions, manufacturers lose out on the shorter time-to-impact made possible through a proven and pragmatic minimal viable architecture.

A technology-first rollout means that solutions are deployed without a clear link to real value opportunities, business challenges, or capability requirements, undermining crucial buy-in from the people charged with making deployment work.

Three company archetypes join the race

Manufacturers playing catch-up to the leading companies generally fall into one of three company archetypes.

The cautious starters. These companies are investigating how to begin their digital-transformation journeys. They need help to identify the full value that Industry 4.0 can bring to their business and to develop a network-wide strategy and deployment road map.

The frustrated experimenters. These companies have started experimenting through pilot programs with some successes. However, they find themselves deploying technologies without a clear understanding of how to achieve financial ROI.

The ready-to-scalers. These companies are deploying solutions and technologies but remain unable to maximize the returns or scale at pace across their networks. They need to recalibrate by focusing on how to capture the full benefits of Industry 4.0 or how to accelerate rollout to respond to shifts in business and customer needs.

Slowing down to go fast

No matter where a company falls on the spectrum of archetypes, there is great value in slowing down and regrouping around a new, more targeted strategy aimed at maximizing the value of a digital transformation.

An important lesson from the few organizations that have succeeded in scaling digital innovations is how they started their impact journey. Before jumping headfirst into procurement and deployment, the leading companies spend time identifying the full potential of Industry 4.0—pinpointing high-leverage areas across the manufacturing value chain—and architecting a laser-focused digital-manufacturing strategy and deployment road map.

The first phase of this approach includes a network scan to identify the value at stake and a priority list of technology use cases, taking into consideration data, IT/OT, and organizational maturity. An accompanying road map can then build on this groundwork, defining the deployment strategy and targeted sites for initial rollout, followed by a network-wide rollout plan to reach scale.

Taking the time up front to perform a network scan to find opportunities for big wins and quick wins can create significant momentum for a digital transformation. As manufacturing sites begin to capture financial and operational value—not to mention the benefits associated with improved organizational capabilities, workforce satisfaction, customer service performance, and environmental impact—these returns can create a virtuous feedback loop where programs become self-funding and initiatives translate more quickly into competitive advantage.

Scaling success

It is this methodology that underpinned the approach taken by the industrial company mentioned earlier. Following its lighthouse success, the business needed to understand how and where to invest to maximize returns across its network. By performing a network scan on a subset of its manufacturing value streams across more than a dozen sites, it identified five sites that together represented around 80 percent of the value at stake. Further, it found that ten out of the 17 identified use cases for technology accounted for 75 percent of the potential impact.

With a sound value-capture deployment strategy in place, and after structurally investing in the required capabilities, the company was able to replicate the network scan approach across the rest of its manufacturing network and scale to other business areas. A senior stakeholder in the company said: “We essentially wrote the playbook for how to scale this into our other sites and are making great progress in these places—not only across our downstream production network but also within our upstream production sites, leveraging digital to reduce human interventions and increase compliance.”

Focus on real business needs and current performance challenges, and follow a “strengths upward” approach, building on solutions that have already worked well at individual sites and can be rolled out pragmatically across the network.

In another example, a global consumer company had been piloting digital innovations in a number of business units for some time, but with few ideas achieving much impact beyond the individual line or site. Company leaders recognized the need to clarify which digital solutions could contribute to overall business needs and priorities, and where to focus transformation efforts to implement solutions at scale.

Following two months of up-front analysis focused on eight prioritized sites from a network of more than 40 factories in Europe and North America, the company realized that about 20 sites accounted for 80 percent of the total savings potential. It also identified a prioritized portfolio of digital solutions, with about two dozen use cases having relevance across the entire network, and a dozen identified as “no regrets” priorities.

Crucially, the process has enabled the company to understand the level of readiness of its data and technology infrastructure and the investment required in technical, managerial, and transformational capabilities. The company came out of the two months with an aligned and value-oriented road map for rolling out a digital transformation across its network. The plan integrated both digital and traditional lean or Six Sigma improvements, accounted for resources and technology requirements, and reflected a clear strategy for building capabilities at scale. The company went on to deploy at scale across multiple sites, pursuing more than $100 million of identified savings.

The seven golden principles for getting the best out of Industry 4.0

Whether manufacturers are starting out on their digital-transformation journeys—or recalibrating their approach after false starts or failed attempts—the approaches adopted by leading companies point to seven golden principles for scaling a successful digital transformation.

Communicate well and often. Establish an effective engagement plan and regular communication with critical senior stakeholders, site leaders, and a cross-functional core team.

Lighthouses reveal a playbook for responsible industry transformation

Be specific. Focus on real business needs and current performance challenges, and follow a “strengths upward” approach, building on solutions that have already worked well at individual sites and can be rolled out pragmatically across the network.

Segment, select, and syndicate. Segment the manufacturing network and select representative sites for an up-front network scan. Syndicate the extrapolation methodology up front to indicate how focused insights will be scaled to derive a networkwide analysis.

Formalize the value at stake. In each assessed site, describe the actual value at stake by linking the most applicable Industry 4.0 solutions or use cases with current digital readiness, data availability, and IT/OT architecture.

Develop a three- to five-year vision for the network. Describe the total value at stake from prioritized bundles of use cases to align business leaders on the ambition, and form a compelling change story  for the broader organization. An engaging visual representation of the key solutions can help to engage the broader organization with the vision (Exhibit 2).

Design a digital-manufacturing road map. Develop a prioritized rollout plan with a clear scaling strategy and articulation of the value to capture over time, integrating enablement of data and IT/OT architecture as well as resourcing requirements, capabilities, and change management.

Syndicate the vision and secure leadership buy-in. Circulate the business case and requirements with key stakeholders, aiming for a clear mandate from top leadership and close engagement on target setting and execution from site leaders.

Whether stuck in pilot purgatory or under mounting pressure to demonstrate returns, companies can become dispirited and discouraged. However, by taking just one or two months to slow down and develop a robust manufacturing strategy and deployment road map, companies can accelerate their Industry 4.0 transformations and chart a clear journey forward for the next few years.

Ewelina Gregolinska is an associate partner in McKinsey’s London office, where Rehana Khanam is a partner and Prashanth Parthasarathy is a senior expert; Frédéric Lefort is a partner in the Gothenburg office.

The authors wish to thank Søren Fritzen, Sven Houthuys, Regis Peylet, Mikhail Razhev, and Hariharan Vijaykumar for their contributions to this article.

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Manufacturing Operations Management for Smart Manufacturing – A Case Study

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Industry 4.0 was introduced early in the last decade. That introduction spawned related concepts like “Smart Manufacturing” and digitalization, as well as a proliferation of digital manufacturing technologies for supporting systems. The industry experienced widespread puzzlement over how to apply these concepts in practice and which roles “Manufacturing Executions Systems” play and will play in this context.

This paper outlines the change from classical Manufacturing Execution System (MES), with a focus on manufacturing execution including data collection, to monolithic Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) with an extension of the functionality regarding quality management, planning inclusive scheduling and a collaborative MOM, which stands out from its predecessors through broad horizontal integration and cloud applications.

These parameters lead to an evolution of the Collaborative MOM towards a MOM for Smart Manufacturing, which harmoniously combines, controls and regulates the interaction of technologies such as IIoT, RAD, AI, Edge Computing, Cloud with the MOM functions and therefore enables new production systems like a cyber-physical production system (CPPS).

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This work was carried out with the knowledge and experience gathered from the project “Road to Digitalization” (R2D), which was supported by the Bavarian state ministry of economy, media, energy and technology and several companies.

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Meyer-Hentschel, M., Lohse, O., Rao, S., Lepratti, R. (2020). Manufacturing Operations Management for Smart Manufacturing – A Case Study. In: Lalic, B., Majstorovic, V., Marjanovic, U., von Cieminski, G., Romero, D. (eds) Advances in Production Management Systems. The Path to Digital Transformation and Innovation of Production Management Systems. APMS 2020. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 591. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57993-7_11

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• Success Stories

Actalent's Project Management Team Gets Multi-Site Plant Expansions Back on Track

This case study showcases Actalent’s wide range of expertise and capabilities: from project management, construction management and EHS programs to manufacturing, mechanical, and electrical engineering solutions.

Results at a Glance

Actalent resolved the client's biggest project concern in two months, more than 3 million hours of combined safety among all employees and consultants, implemented solutions to mitigate waste and delays, client profile.

A U.S.-based producer of pet food and pet products.

Market Overview

Forever seeking ways to improve production and speed- to-market, manufacturers in almost every industry are also contending with an ongoing lack of materials and equipment availability. Due to that scarcity, each manufacturer’s mission to avoid downtime and gain efficiencies thus becomes all the more critical yet challenging.

Also scarce is the skilled talent required to sustain growth in the face of these challenges.

The Challenge

The client was expanding wet and dry pet food production at multiple facilities across the country. A general contractor (GC) was overseeing the construction, along with all manufacturing, mechanical, and electrical engineering requirements.

This large-scale project, however, was quickly hampered by an overall lack of engineering quality and accountability on the part of the GC.

For example, improper quality control, with instances of improper system input and output checkout, led to multiple job stoppages and schedule pushes. On top of that, the GC’s poor documentation, poor communication, and seeming inability to problem-solve made these situations worse.

Engineering and construction talent soon began resigning from the project, having grown frustrated with the GC and weary of potential safety issues.

Unless resolved, these initial problems would eventually cascade into production delays, late deliveries, strained operations, increased attrition, higher costs, and decreased revenue.

The client turned to Actalent, a trusted partner in engineering talent solutions, to stabilize the project.

The Actalent Approach

After listening to and collaborating with the client, Actalent’s developed a solution rooted in quality and accountability.

First, Actalent assumed oversight of engineering and construction, including all consultants working on those aspects of the project.

That meant ensuring various systems, equipment, and processes -- including those related to electric utilities, water supply, waste-water treatment, supply chain management, parts tracking, ingredient batching, drying, coating, and packaging -- were designed, installed, implemented, and commissioned properly at each facility.

To achieve and maintain success, Actalent established the following: a detailed project schedule, rigorous but manageable safety protocols, meaningful performance metrics, open lines of communication, rigid delivery milestones, and the use of proper engineering designs.

In addition, Actalent also owned the recruitment, screening, onboarding, training, and performance of over eighty consultants -- including site managers – from both inside and outside project-area labor markets.

The Results

Actalent, upon implementing proper structure, oversight, training, and guidelines, had the client’s wet and dry food expansion back on track within two months. Even more remarkable, nearly three years later the project is ahead of schedule.

Actalent’s quality, accountability, transparency and communication, and overall problem-solving capabilities have been the key differentiators in this project’s success.

Here are several of the highlights from this turnaround:

• The system for commissioning the bulk drying and ingredient batching systems, once among the biggest project concerns, was fixed within Actalent’s first two months.
• Materials, equipment, and resources are now being sourced, tracked, and managed properly, thus mitigating waste and delays.
• Kitchen Commissioning, the first major milestone, is about to be completed almost 50% faster than originally expected.
• Across sites, the project has accrued hundreds of days without an injury, which equates to more than 3 million hours of combined safety among all employees and consultants.
• Improved onboarding, safety orientation, training, and talent retention.
• Identified, troubleshot, and implemented solutions to fill critical gaps in the explosion suppression system.
• Established a monthly contractor performance review process.
• Through committed communication, Actalent turned tension into alignment and collaboration between consultants, the GC, and subcontractors working on the project.

Roles Supported

• controls engineer
• electrical engineers
• electrical field engineers
• mechanical construction managers
• mechanical engineers
• packaging project engineers
• process engineers
• project managers
• safety directors
• site managers
• utilities electrical engineers
• CAD specialists
• construction managers
• electrical field representatives
• engineering maintenance specialists
• material handling specialists
• mechanical field representatives

Projects Performed or Managed

• construction management
• electrical utility requirement design and coordination
• water supply guidance
• wastewater treatment package development
• staging, installation, and commissioning of equipment and systems
• GC and sub-contractor quality control
• safety program implementation and oversight; review sub-contractors’ safety programs, OSHA Logs, EMR data
• active workflow management
• transformer installations
• layout and staging of motor control centers
• CAD design and drawing (includes 3-D drawings and revising incorrect GC drawings)
• CAD database maintenance
• contributing insights and guidance to 30% design reviews
• fire protection
• implementation of unit load conveyance
• installation of the process and packaging equipment
• mechanical utility loading for process systems

Urgent project needs? Connect with Actalent's Project Management Services team.

Relevant insights.

Success Story

Desperately needed analysts were sourced, trained and job ready 75% faster using Actalent’s recruitment, engagement and performance oversight solution.

This Q&A addresses the history of PFAS in the food packaging and what a European ban on those chemicals would look like for that industry and its customers.

In this Q&A, Actalent Chemical Engineer and Regulatory Specialist Alison Fraser answers questions about the uses, risks, and broader implications of PFAS in cosmetics and personal care products.

• Project Management

Top 15+ Project Management Case Studies with Examples 2024

Home Blog Project Management Top 15+ Project Management Case Studies with Examples 2024

Having worked for more than 9 years in the dynamic field of project management, I would strongly refer to real-world case studies as invaluable resources for both budding and experienced professionals. These case studies provide critical insights into the challenges and triumphs encountered in various industries, illustrating the application of project management principles in practical scenarios.   I have curated the project management case studies as a part of this article in such a way that it delves into a selection of compelling case studies, ranging from the healthcare sector to infrastructure and technology. Each case study is a testament to the strategic planning, adaptability, and innovative problem-solving skills necessary in today's fast-paced business environment. These narratives not only highlight past successes but also offer guidance for future projects, making them essential tools for anyone eager to excel in project management.

What is Case Study?

A case study refers to an in-depth examination of a specific case within the real-world context. It is a piece of content that sheds light on the challenges faced, solutions adopted, and the overall outcomes of a project. To understand project management case studies, it is important to first define what a project is . A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, aimed at achieving a specific goal or objective. Case studies are generally used by businesses during the proposal phase. However, they are also displayed on the websites of companies to provide prospects with a glance at the capabilities of the brands. It can even serve as an effective tool for lead generation. In simple words, case studies are stories that tell the target audience about the measures and strategies that the organization adopted to become successful.

What is Project Management Case Study?

A project management case study is a piece of content that highlights a project successfully managed by the organization. It showcases the challenges that the organization faced, the solutions adopted, and the final results. Keep reading in order to explore examples of successful project management case studies.

Top 15 Project Management Case Studies and Examples 

Are you looking for some project management case study examples? If yes, here are some of the best examples you can explore. Let’s dive in! Before diving in, here is the list of top 15 project management case studies: 

• Mavenlink Helps Improve Utilization Rates by 15% for BTM Global
• Boncom Reduces Billing Rate Errors by 100%
• whyaye! Reaches 80% Billable Utilization
• Metova Increases Billable Utilization by 10%
• Appetize Doubles Length of Forecasting Outlook
• RSM Improves Client Satisfaction and Global Business Processes
• CORE Business Technologies Increases Billable Utilization by 35%
• Health Catalyst Improves Business Processes and Increases Consistency in Project Delivery
• Optimus SBR Improves Forecasting Horizon by 50%
• PlainJoe Studios Increases Projects Closing Within Budget by 50%
• RPI Consultants Decreases Admin Time by 20%
• CBI's PMO Increases Billable Utilization By 30%
• Butterfly Increases Billable Time by 20%
• TeleTracking Increases Billable Utilization by 37%
• Taylors Improves Utilization Rates by 15%
• Hospital El Pilar improves Patient Care With implementing Disciplined Agile
• British Columbia’s Ministry of Technology and Infrastructure (MoTI)

1. Mavenlink Helps Improve Utilization Rates by 15% for BTM Global

The case study is all about how Mavenlink helped BTM Global Consulting to save hours of work and enhance utilization with resource management technology. BTM Global Consulting offers system development and integration services to diverse clients. The challenges that the company faced were that tools like Netsuite OpenAir and Excel spreadsheets were not able to meet the customization needs as the company grew. It impacted their overall productivity.

BTM Global saw the following benefits: 

• 15% increase in utilization for project managers
• 10% increase in companywide utilization
• 4-hour resource allocation work reduced to 10 minutes
• 100% Company-wide time tracking adoption

In order to overcome the challenge, the solution they adopted was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was that it increased the utilization of the company by 10% and enhanced project manager utilization by 15%. It also reduced resource allocation work from 4 hours to just 10 minutes.

2. Boncom Reduces Billing Rate Errors by 100% With Mavenlink

Boncom is an advertising agency that collaborates with different purpose driven brands to create goods worldwide. The challenge was that the company relied on several-point solutions for delivering client-facing projects. However, the solutions failed to offer the required operational functionality. An ideal solution for Boncom was to adopt Mavenlink. The result was that the billing rate error got reduced by 100%. Accurate forecasting became possible for Boncom, and the company could generate reports in much less time.

3. whyaye! Reaches 80% Billable Utilization with Mavenlink

Here are the top benefits whyaye got: 

• 6% increase in utilization
• Tripled company size
• Doubled in number of new clients every quarter
• Support through constant business scaling

whyaye is a digital transformation consultancy delivering IT transformation solutions to businesses operating in diverse sectors. The challenge was that whyaye used to manage resources and projects using tools such as emails, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Excel. However, with the growth of the company, they were not able to access project data or gain insights for effective management of the projects . The ultimate solution to this challenge was to make a switch to Mavenlink. The result was an increase in the utilization by 6%, doubling of new clients, tripling of the company size, and seamless support through business growth.

4. Metova Increases Billable Utilization by 10% With Mavenlink

If you are looking for a project planning case study, Metova can be the right example. Metova is a technology firm, a Gold Partner of Microsoft, and an advanced consulting partner of AWS. The challenge was that the company handled several projects at a time. However, its heavy dependence on tools like Google Sheets limited the growth capabilities of the organization. So, the company looked for a solution and switched to Mavenlink. The result was that it was able to increase its billable utilization by 10%, increase its portfolio visibility, and standardize its project management process.

5. Hospital El Pilar improves Patient Care With implementing Disciplined Agile

If you are looking for an example of one of the best hospital related project management case studies, then Hospital El Pilar can be the ideal one. Hospital El Pilar is a private hospital in Guatemala City, Guatemala, that provides comprehensive care to patients in various medical specialties. The challenge was that the hospital’s application development team faced several obstacles in managing and delivering projects, such as unclear priorities, a lack of visibility, little interaction with users, and competing demands. The solution that the team adopted was to use Disciplined Agile® (DA™), a flexible and pragmatic approach to project management that optimizes the way of working (WoW). The result was improved project outcomes, increased user satisfaction, greater transparency, and more trust from stakeholders and customers.

6. British Columbia’s Ministry of Technology and Infrastructure (MoTI) gets its principal corridor for transportation up in 35 days

Reconnecting Roads After Massive Flooding (2022) is a case study of how the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) used a project management approach based on the PMBOK® Guide to restore critical routes after a catastrophic weather event. It is one of the examples of successful project management case studies you can look into. The challenge was that an atmospheric river caused severe flooding, landslides, and bridge collapses, cutting off the lower mainland from the rest of Canada2. The solution was to prioritize the reopening of Highway 5, the principal corridor for transportation of goods and people, by creating scopes, work breakdown structures, and schedules for each site3. The result was that Highway 5 was reopened to commercial traffic in 35 days, despite additional weather challenges and risks4. The construction project management case study we discussed demonstrated the benefits of flexibility, collaboration, and communication in emergency response.

7. Appetize Doubles Length of Forecasting Outlook with Mavenlink

Here the the benefits Appetize got with Mavenlink: 

• Forecasting horizon increases to 12 weeks
• Management of 40+ major projects per quarter
• Support for rapid companywide scaling
• Salesforce integration supports project implementation

Appetize is one of the leading cloud-based points of sale (POS), enterprise management, and digital ordering platform that is trusted by a number of businesses. The challenge of the company was that its legacy project tracking systems were not able to meet the growing needs of the company. They experienced growth and manual data analysis challenges. The solution they found was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was an increase in the forecast horizon to 12 weeks, support for effective companywide scaling, easy management of over 40 major projects, and Salesforce integration for project implementation.

8. RSM Improves Client Satisfaction and Global Business Processes with Mavenlink

RSM is a tax, audit, and consulting company that provides a wide array of professional services to clients in Canada and the United States. The challenge of the company was that its legacy system lacked the necessary features required to support their work- and time-intensive projects and delivered insights relating to the project trends. An ideal solution to this challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better to risk mitigation in tax compliance, improved client-team communication, templatized project creation, and better use of the KPIs and project status.

9. CORE Business Technologies Increases Billable Utilization by 35% with Mavenlink

Here are the top benefits CORE Business Technologies got with Mavenlink: 

• Simultaneous in-progress projects doubled
• 100% company-wide time entry compliance
• 35% Increase in Billable Utilization
• 50% Increase in Team Productivity

Another top project management case study is the Core Business Technologies. CORE Business Technologies is a reputed single-source vendor self-service, in-person, and back-office processing to the clients. It offers SaaS-based payment solutions to clients. The challenge faced by the company was that its tools like spreadsheets, Zoho, and Microsoft Project led to a hectic work schedule owing to a huge number of disconnected systems. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of team productivity by 50%, time entry compliance by 100%, and enhancement of the billable utilization rate by 35%.

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10. Client Success: Health Catalyst Improves Business Processes and Increases Consistency in Project Delivery with Mavenlink

Here are the top benefits Health Catalyst saw with Mavenlink:   

• Consistency in Successful Project Delivery 
• Improved Interdepartmental Communication 
• Deeper Resource Data Insights 
• Stronger Resource Forecasting

Health Catalyst is a company that delivers data and analytics services and technology to different healthcare organizations. The firm provides assistance to technicians and clinicians in the healthcare sector. The challenge of the company was that the tools like Intacct and spreadsheets that is used for project management were not able to provide the required data insights and clarity for better project management. It also limited effective resource management. The solution was to embrace Mavenlink. The result was better resource forecasting, enhanced interdepartmental communication, consistency in project delivery, and better resource data insights .

11. Client Success: Optimus SBR Improves Forecasting Horizon by 50% with Mavenlink

Optimus SBR is a leading professional service provider in North America. It offers the best results to companies operating in diverse sectors, including healthcare, energy, transportation, financial services, and more. The challenge was that legacy software tools that the firm used gave rise to project management issues. The company was not able to get a real-time revenue forecast or gain insights into its future financial performance. The solution that the company adopted was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better data-driven hiring decisions, efficient delivery of remote work, and enhancement of the forecasting horizon by 50%.

12. Client Success: PlainJoe Studios Increases Projects Closing Within Budget by 50% With Mavenlink

Here are the benefits how Mavenlink helped PlainJoe: 

• Improved data insights for project success
• Enablement of fast shift to remote work
• Improved budgeting
• Increased rates in billing

PlainJoe Studios is an experimental design studio that focuses on digitally immersive and strategic storytelling. The company has a team of strategists, architects, and problem solvers to create value for the clients. The challenge of the company was that the manual processing of the company affected its ability to grow and manage the diverse project effectively. They lacked clarity about their project needs and profitability. The solution to deal with the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was an enhancement in the billing rates by 15%, better project closing within budget by 50%, better data insights for the success of different projects, and a faster shift to remote work.

13. Client Success: RPI Consultants Decreases Admin Time by 20% With Mavenlink

If you are looking for an example of one of the best software project management case studies, then RPI Consultants can be the ideal one. RPI Consultants offer expert project leadership and software consulting services for enterprise-level implementation of solutions and products. The challenge was that the task management solutions adopted by the company gave rise to a number of complications. It resulted in poor interdepartmental transparency and time-consuming data entry. The ultimate solution that the company embraced was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was a rise in the utilization rate by 5%, lowing of admin time by 20%, better forecasting and resource management, and a single source for gaining insights into the project data.

14. Client Success: CBI's PMO Increases Billable Utilization By 30% With Mavenlink

CBI is a company that is focused on protecting the reputations, data, and brands of its clients. The challenge that the company faced was that the solutions used were unable to meet the growing needs of the organization. The systems were outdated, data sharing was not possible, and time tracking was inconsistent. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better interdepartmental alignment, enhancement of time tracking to support business growth, an increase in the billable utilization rate by 30%, and detailed insights for a greater success of the projects.

15. Client Success: Butterfly Increases Billable Time by 20% with Mavenlink

Butterfly is a leading digital agency that provides digital strategy, website design and development services, and ongoing support to businesses across Australia. The challenge was that the different legacy systems used by the agency limited its capability of effective project management and reporting. The systems were time consuming and cumbersome. In order to deal with the challenge, the solution was to make a switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of billable time by 20%, fast reporting insights, enhancement of productive utilization by 16%, and better Jira integration.

16. Client Success: TeleTracking Increases Billable Utilization by 37% With Mavenlink

TeleTracking Technologies is a leading provider of patient flow automation solutions to various hospitals in the healthcare sector. The challenge of the company was that it used different systems such as Microsoft Excel, Sharepoint, MS Project, Jira, and Netsuite. The use of a variety of solutions created a number of challenges for the company. It had poor forecasting capability, an insufficient time tracking process, and unclear resource utilization. The solution was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was the enhancement of time tracking compliance by 100%, rise in hours to date by 18%, and enhancement of billable utilization by 37%.

17. Client Success: Taylors Improves Utilization Rates by 15% with Mavenlink

This is a perfect example of a construction project management case study. Taylor Development Strategists is a leading civil engineering and urban planning organization in Australia. The challenge that the company faced was that the systems that it used were not able to support the growth of the business. There were a lot of inefficiencies and limitations. The solution to the challenge was to switch to Mavenlink. The result was better global collaboration, an increase in the utilization rate by 15%, consistency of timesheet entry, and in-depth insights relating to utilization and project targets.

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Start Creating Your Project Management Case Study

Not that you have a detailed idea about project management case studies, it is time to prepare your own. When doing the project management case study exercise, make sure to focus on covering all the important elements. Clearly stating the challenges and the solutions adopted by the company is important. If you want to get better at project management, getting a PMP Certification can be beneficial.

Case Study Best Practices and Tips 

• Involve your clients in the preparation of the case study. 
• Make use of graphs and data. 
• Mix images, texts, graphs, and whitespace effectively.

Project Management Case Study Template 

To create a well-crafted and highly informative case study template in the realms of project management, you should start by providing a brief overview of the client's company, focusing on its industry, scale, and specific challenges. Follow with a detailed section on the challenge, emphasizing the unique aspects of the project and obstacles faced. Next, you might want to describe the solution implemented, detailing the strategies, methodologies, and tools used. Then, you would need to present the results, quantifying improvements and highlighting objectives achieved. Finally, please conclude the case study with a summary, encapsulating key takeaways and emphasizing the project's success and its implications for future endeavors. By following this structure, you can present a comprehensive yet concise analysis that is ideal for showcasing project management expertise and insights. You can also refer to the template for crafting a better case study on project management – Template for writing case studies .

By now, you must have gained a comprehensive knowledge of preparing a project management case study. This article elaborately explains the significance of real life project management case studies as vital tools for demonstrating a company's expertise in handling complex projects. These case studies, showcasing real-world scenarios, serve as compelling evidence of a firm's capability to navigate challenges and implement effective solutions, thereby boosting confidence in potential clients and partners. They are not only a reflection of past successes but also a lighthouse guiding future project endeavors in the discipline of project management within the fields of construction, pharmacy, technology and finance, highlighting the importance of strategic planning, innovation, and adaptability in project management. If you are aspiring to excel in this field, understanding these case studies is invaluable. However, you would also need to learn from project management failures case studies which would provide a roadmap to mastering the art of project management in today's dynamic business landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In order to write a project management case study, keep everything brief but mention everything in detail. Make sure to write it with clarity and include graphs and images. 

A project study must include information about the client, how your company helped the client in resolving a problem, and the results.

The best-case studies on project management have been listed above. It includes BTM Global, Butterfly, Boncom, and more.

Kevin D.Davis

Kevin D. Davis is a seasoned and results-driven Program/Project Management Professional with a Master's Certificate in Advanced Project Management. With expertise in leading multi-million dollar projects, strategic planning, and sales operations, Kevin excels in maximizing solutions and building business cases. He possesses a deep understanding of methodologies such as PMBOK, Lean Six Sigma, and TQM to achieve business/technology alignment. With over 100 instructional training sessions and extensive experience as a PMP Exam Prep Instructor at KnowledgeHut, Kevin has a proven track record in project management training and consulting. His expertise has helped in driving successful project outcomes and fostering organizational growth.

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Case Studies in Pharmaceutical Project Management

A technical forum featuring Catalent Pharma Solutions, SAFC, and Neuland Laboratories.

Effective project management is an invaluable competency in a successful outsourcing relationship. Catalent Pharma Solutions, SAFC, and Neuland Laboratories, offer examples of successful project management, respectively in blow/fill/seal operations, viral-product manufacturing, and real-time project management in API manufacturing.

Project management underpins successful relationships between contract technology and service providers and their sponsor companies. As pharmaceutical companies increase their level of outsourcing, it becomes increasingly important for contract technology and service providers to provide not only the technical capabilities needed to execute a given project, but the management skills to deliver a project on time, to specifications, and with the necessary communication to prevent or mitigate project delays. To illustrate the importance of project management in outsourcing, several industry members provided case studies on how to coordinate, organize, and implement a successful project. Participating in this technical forum on project management are Norman Weichbrodt, strategic account manager at Catalent Pharma Solutions; Nick Johnson, marketing manager at SAFC; and Saharsh Rao Davuluri, president of contract research at Neuland Laboratories.

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Blow/fill/seal manufacturing

Norman Weichbrodt, strategic account manager at Catalent Pharma Solutions

Catalent Pharma Solutions is a provider of drug and biologic development services, delivery technologies, and supply solutions. Effective project management is the cornerstone of being a complete provider of services ranging from development of new products to technical transfer of existing products. Building the proper project team and employing the correct methodology for handling a complex project is the foundation on which success is achieved.

In July 2010, Catalent was approached by a major pharmaceutical customer to transfer an ophthalmic product approved for sale in Europe to Catalent's blow/fill/seal (BFS) manufacturing site in Woodstock, Illinois. The successful technical transfer of the manufacturing process for this product would potentially lead, following FDA approval of the product already made in the European facility, to approval of the drug for manufacture and sale in the United States.

Project scope. The actual scope of this project was much larger for the Woodstock facility than a simple technical transfer. The project required the following:

• A complete renovation of a formulation and filling suite, including a new separate air-handling system
• Designing, building, and qualifying an automated formulation skid
• Upgrading an existing BFS filling machine to match the capacity requirements for the product
• Designing, building, and qualifying new vial molding and filling systems to duplicate the existing European design
• Qualifying the room, formulation skid, BFS machine, and secondary packaging to produce stability and process-validation batches to support the customer's submission and approval timeline
• Developing and approving the required documentation for supply-chain, manufacturing, and quality assurance functions to meet the production timeline
• Analytical-method transfer for chemistry and microbial testing
• Complete process-validation protocols, test plans, and final reports to meet the submission timeline.

Cross-functional teams. To manage a project of this scope, the Catalent New Product Development (NPD) group and the site-management team agreed to form a group of cross-functional resources. The team members served as the primary representative of their functional area for the project and were assigned for the duration of the project. The project team consisted of a project manager from NPD, an engineering project manager, a development scientist, an operations specialist, a validation specialist, a quality-assurance product specialist, a technical writer, and various contract resources as required. A strategic account manager had overall responsibility for the project team. The establishment and use of an expanded core project team of cross-functional resources was a new approach for Catalent's Woodstock facility, but the scope and timeline for this project and the Catalent goal of meeting customer needs required an innovative solution.

The project was divided into six major activities: the room, the formulation skid, the BFS machine, method transfer, secondary packaging, and documentation. The NPD project manager was the owner of the overall project timeline. Each major activity was included in a Microsoft project schedule and maintained by the project manager. The engineering project manager handled all activities involving the renovation of the filling suite, making use of contractors from design through construction and qualification. He also participated in the design and construction of the formulation skid, primarily focusing on the software development. The development scientist and the operations specialist focused on the design of the formulation skid and the interface of the skid with the BFS machine to ensure the system had the proper design and controls to replicate the process already being used in Europe. The validation specialist developed the installatoin qualification, operational qualification), and product qualification protocols and had oversight of all factory acceptance testing (FAT) and site-acceptance (SAT) activities. The technical writer and the quality-assurance product specialist worked with the NPD project manager to manage the change-control process for the project and to complete all the required documentation, including material specifications, standard operating procedures, and manufacturing batch records. The NPD Project manager also provided oversight of the analytical method transfer, development of secondary packaging materials, and the documentation of project activities.

Technology transfer. The technology-transfer process was initiated by creating a comparability document that detailed every aspect of the manufacturing process. The process used in the European manufacture was listed step by step in the document with Catalent's suggestions and capabilities side by side. A final agreement for each step was included and served as the approved path forward. The specifications for in-process testing at each stage of the formulation as well as finished-product specifications were included in the document. The formulation process required bulk sterilization of a multicomponent polymer base with a relatively tight viscosity range. Two APIs were combined in a second part of the formulation and transferred to the polymer solution by sterile filtration. Of course, the entire formulation skid required steam sterilization of the product path through the BFS machine and maintenance of the sterile boundaries for the product during the entire filling process. Electronic documentation of all temperatures, times, and controls for each process step also were also required.

Communication. The NPD project manager and the strategic account manager facilitated weekly calls with the original equipment manufacturers of the formulation and BFS equipment as well as construction meetings during that phase of the project. Weekly calls were held with the customer representatives who were in liaison with the project team. A standard methodology was used to ensure that the meetings had a structured agenda and minutes issued for review in a timely fashion. A joint Project Steering Committee was formed, which was comprised of customer senior leadership members, Woodstock site leadership members, and Catalent business-development members.

Project Steering Committee meetings were held every three weeks during the course of the project. A formal presentation was made at each meeting to discuss progress toward major milestones in the project plan. Strategic decisions were discussed and developed through the Project Steering Committee meetings, and the decisions were ultimately made by the joint project team. This management design reduced the cycle time for critical decision-making between the customer and Catalent.

Figure 1 (Catalent): A blow/fill/seal suite at Catalent’s Woodstock, Illinois, facility. (FIGURES 1-3 (CATALENT) ARE COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

An example of such decision making was approval of a change to the SAT/FAT strategy originally planned for the formulation skid. The formulation skid is a fully automated two-tank system with over 100 control and process valves that are actuated in approximately 20 sequences. When the software development lagged behind the construction of the hardware, the opportunity arose to do a mechanical FAT, ship the formulation skid to the Woodstock site, complete the installation and mechanical troubleshooting of the skid and wait for the software to complete the qualification as a SAT. This decision saved as much as six weeks in the project schedule and enabled Catalent to meet the customer's timeline for stability and process-validation manufacturing. It also resulted in a formulation system that is part of a robust technical transfer process from the customer through the NPD group to Catalent's commercial manufacturing team.

Execution. To date, all of the engineering, stability, and process-validation batches have met the in-process and final-product test specifications. With nine batches produced, there have been no out-of-specification results for bulk or final product. In addition, no human error deviations have occurred in the formulation and filling of these batches.

Figures 1–3 (Catalent) show the facility upgrade and project equipment after installation.

Figure 2 (Catalent): A blow/fill/seal cavity fill machine at Catalent’s Woodstock, Illinois, facility.

In summary, Catalent did not employ new or groundbreaking methodology for this project. However, supplying the proper structure and resources for a project team is the crucial first step in meeting a customer's timeline and supplying the customer with quality product, reliably supplied.

Figure 3 (Catalent): A fully automated formulation skid at Catalent’s Woodstock, Illinois, facility.

Viral product manufacturing

Nick Johnson, marketing manager at SAFC

This case study in project management involved the partnership between SAFC and Oncolytics Biotech, a biotechnology company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, which has developed a novel cancer treatment, Reolysin, based on a modified wild-type reovirus expressed in suspension-adapted human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293). In 2007, Oncolytics partnered with SAFC's Carlsbad, California, site as part of the commercialization process for Reolysin. After officially announcing SAFC as the contract manufacturer for the project in early 2011, Oncolytics announced in November 2011 that validation studies were underway. Now in Phase III clinical trials, SAFC and Oncolytics have worked as partners to manage this project from the initial phases of identifying how to make the technology work through to making the consistent batches required for licensure. The current goal is to obtain a successful regulatory approval for Reolysin.

Project challenges. The production of the modified reovirus presented a significant manufacturing challenge. Not only was it going to be the first time for this type of product to be made on such a large scale, it also involved transferring technology from a contract development organization (CDO) in Canada to the SAFC site in Carlsbad. At the beginning of the project, there were four partners in different locations, including Oncolytics, its CDO, SAFC, and SAFC Biosciences in St Louis, which developed the novel media used in the production process.

SAFC Carlsbad already was filling the bulk product for clinical trials out of a product that was being made at another CMO in the United Kingdom. As the product progressed into later-stage clinical trials, the production was ramped up and transferred to Carlsbad, at first on a 40-L scale, and up to the present 100-L batches. The technology transfer was a whole new ballgame in terms of scale and complexity and required a new project team to be formed. On the SAFC side, this included a director of operations plus senior managers in manufacturing, quality assurance, quality control, and project management. Business-development support was also brought in when new scopes of work and new contracts needed to be worked out and finalized.

Despite the disparate locations, the communication between the teams in the different sites worked well with routine weekly conference calls and many coordinating activities carried out electronically. Some face-to-face meetings were essential, including the manufacturing representative and project manager visiting the CDO to address process scale-up. A week also was spent with all partners, including the CDO, watching the process and filming it so that it could later be used for operator training in Carlsbad.

The whole process took quite some time with many technical challenges, leading to a stop–start of operations from late 2008 through to 2009. By the end of 2009, however, sufficient clinical material had been made to continue with the trials, so there was less urgency from that perspective. Once the 100-L scale was reached, one or two batches were made per year until the program was ready to initiate process validation batches. Now that the product has advanced to conformance batches, three to six batches will be made per year.

Tracking progress. From a production standpoint, Gantt charts (i.e. charts used to show the project's schedule) are used for all SAFC projects. They are mapped out further than just a single department and include everything that might affect the timeline from the vendor through to the customer. The anticipated timings were all shared with the customer as well as the troubleshooting of possible technology-transfer issues that the technical team mapped. The team was tasked to look through historical data from the previous partnership to identify where there were areas for improvement and to help resolve issues quickly with input from both the SAFC team and the CDO. Specifically, SAFC Biosciences also helped by developing a custom growth media that increased the viral productivity and eased the purification process.

When SAFC inherited the contract, it already contained the required specifications that were used as an ultimate metric for success. The new goal became making and purifying the product to the required level for a commercial launch. After a number of changes to the process on the CDO's side and a few creative manufacturing approaches from SAFC, these specifications were exceeded and brought the project to the current point. Oncolytics is now in a position where accessing materials for its clinical needs is no longer a constraint, and the project has advanced into process validation in anticipation of commercial launch.

Issue resolution. One issue the team faced was the presence of an impurity that prevented the product from meeting specifications. The teams were brought together, and all the possibilities that might have led to the impurity were considered. From there, action items were distributed to the teams for them to pursue, including the review of historical data. This approach was successful as by the time of the next team meeting, the problem had been pinpointed. By adapting the process for the next batch slightly, a solution was found allowing the product to met specifications and the issue was resolved.

A key factor in the overall project's success was the customer relationship. In addition to the customer having a very good project manager, the relationship was developed based on trust and a common goal. Another key factor was ensuring that we had the resources needed to move the project forward. When the program moved into the process-validation phase, a second project manager was added to increase bandwidth. The way all parties worked together allowed the manufacturing to enter into conformance batches within a relatively short period of time with only a limited number of clinical batches having been completed.

Real-time project management

Saharsh Rao Davuluri, president of contract research at Neuland Laboratories

On-time execution of API project development is a challenge for manufacturers. Neuland Laboratories has designed its GuarD project-management system around the principles of critical chain project management (CCPM), a concept developed by Eliyahu Goldratt, a prominent management consultant, who introduced the theory of constraints business model. Unlike other project-management systems, CCPM emphasizes flexible start dates and shared project resources. CCPM also uses buffers as a shared project resource rather than an individual task resource, thus enabling the overall project to be completed on time without requiring the individual tasks to be completed on time.

Process and organization. Neuland is an API and contract manufacturer based in Hyderabad, India. Almost 80% of the company's products are sold into the US and European markets, and these product must meet strict regulatory standards. In a typical year, Neuland scientists complete 30–40 projects ranging from complete API development, production of starting materials, and development of alternate processes for new molecular or chemical entities, as well as a variety of contract-manufacturing assignments for pharmaceutical ingredients and peptides. Depending on their complexity, projects may require process chemistry, analytical chemistry, technology transfer, production, developmental quality assurance, supply-chain management, regulatory affairs support, and project-management services.

Figure 1: (Neuland). A screenshot illustrating how a project’s progress can be tracked and how a user can participate directly through the GuarD web portal. (FIGURE 1 (NEULAND) IS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

Organizational framework and real-time monitoring. Under GuarD's CCPM approach, each project is broken down into its basic tasks by a cross-functional team. The project has a designated team leader, usually an experienced scientist from the process-chemistry department, and a project manager responsible for managing timelines and communications. The team leader is the technical head of the project and responsible for overall execution.

Once the project has been divided into the basic tasks and sub-tasks, the details are transferred to a Microsoft project software template. This ensures that all the dependencies, resource requirements, and tentative start and end dates are recorded. The project is not considered "live" until the cross-functional team signs off on the detailed project plan. The finalized project document is uploaded to a web portal, and managers update respective tasks and sub-tasks as the project progresses. Managers can make qualitative updates detailing how tasks are proceeding, or quantitative updates to help respective task managers track how long a task will take to complete. Teams are encouraged to make at least one status update per day.

The ability to make both qualitative and quantitative updates in the GuarD project-management system is highly useful. Personnel in downstream operations, and more importantly the client, get an accurate picture of progress upstream and can plan accordingly. Neuland's customers also can track a project's progress and participate directly through the GuarD web portal.

Benefits. A key advantage of the GuarD system is that its detail and interactive nature make it easier to promptly identify and manage delays at any step, thereby facilitating on-time completion. For example, when the process-chemistry department requires more time to complete their tasks, the project manager is immediately aware of the situation and can work with all task managers to identify opportunities downstream to recover that time. Although it is important for the project manager to investigate the reasons for the delay, the immediate focus is on finding ways to deliver a quality project on time. Solutions might include running additional shifts or vessels or staggering batches. In most cases, customers are invited to join these discussions and contribute to the solution based on their experience and priorities.

Neuland's project-management system helps its clients in several ways. It provides a platform of almost 100% transparency, providing more insight than weekly calls or project reports. A smart phone app will soon allow customers to access their projects real-time. It also enables higher on-time completion rates. Although the GuarD approach cannot promise 100% on-time completion, it has enabled Neuland to make considerable progress towards this goal.

Customer trends: biopharmaceutical companies

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