Dipl.-Kfm. (univ) Bernd Dimpfl ( Managing Partner )

Every project is like a nice vacation trip. You start with an idea, develop different variants and decide on an adventure. Then an itinerary is determined, tickets and accommodation booked, visas applied for, important errands made. And then it goes off and – if everything was well prepared and luck is weighed to you – one experiences a beautiful and successful journey, which one thinks back gladly. With a project in plant construction it is exactly the same, it begins with an idea, the planning and the creation of the “itinerary” schedule follows, and when all lots have been procured and the approval has been obtained, the actual journey, the construction, can begin. But how do we manage to complete this project adventure successfully?

Germany in 2020: After 14 years of construction, BER Airport is now scheduled to go into operation with a delay of 9 years. During the construction period, costs have risen from EUR 2 billion to an estimated EUR 7 billion. The press has often asked how this could have happened and whether it could have been avoided? What lessons were learned from this, how can we do better next time?

As consultants, we are involved in many projects, and unfortunately we often experience that projects are underestimated and that too high expectations are placed on a project. Often we hear sentences like: “We don’t need a schedule, our project manager can do that too” or “We don’t need a disability report, the customer will reimburse us for the costs” or “What is written in the specification is not that important, we just do it as usual”. But almost always these are very expensive mistakes.

The most important prerequisite for a successful project in plant construction is that clear and realistic project goals are defined, communicated and pursued. And of course that all project participants are on board with regard to these goals. You give these goals to your subcontractors involved in the project in the form of a contract that specifies when which service is to be provided and at what price. However, it is in the nature of things that a project must dynamically respond to necessary changes. A small cause, e.g. that the planning is changed or is available later, can have an immense impact. Particularly in large projects, the effects are often not foreseeable without a clear schedule, and additional cost demands from subcontractors are open the floodgates. If a new contract or claim manager is to be brought into the project, it is usually already too late. Problems that could easily have been avoided with clearly formulated contracts are hardly controllable financially or in terms of deadlines.

We therefore recommend all our clients to anticipate the problems of a project and to be prepared in time. Only with a clear view of the goal, and no matter how far away it may be, can one see how difficult and lengthy the path will actually be. And there is no shortcut in plant construction either.

„As simple as possible – but not simpler“ (Albert Einstein)

Bernd Dimpfl studied business administration at the University of Bayreuth from 1996 to 2001 and subsequently worked in various positions for renowned plant engineering companies in Venezuela, Costa Rica and Germany. After more than 10 years as commercial director, contract and claim manager, project manager and managing director the foundation of ProManCo GmbH & Co KG together with Mr. Stefan Muthig followed in 2012. In the meantime Mr. Bernd Dimpfl has been working successfully in the national and international plant construction for more than 20 years and has developed and supported successful solutions for many projects.