WHY ASSIGNED PROJECT MANAGERS ARE CRITICAL FOR NPD PROJECTS

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The process of taking a new product to market consists of many moving parts. Engineering will focus on the design while production will handle the manufacturing. But who has a bird’s-eye view over the whole process to ensure that everything goes according to plan? For many companies, the answer is no one. Given the complexities of NPD projects, it is surprising to note that the majority of manufacturing partners do not utilize in-house project managers (PMs). At Vollrath® Manufacturing Services (VMS), we assign a dedicated PM to every project because we understand the value of this role and the impact it has in ensuring successful outcomes for our clients.

With a constant overview of the project, the PM develops the overall timeline, monitors its progress and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. He or she also acts as the dedicated point of contact for the client, the liaison between the client and the internal team and coordinates the activities of all the internal resources to ensure the product launches on time and within the cost target. It is a fundamental role that is often overlooked in the manufacturing industry, despite its significant and proven value.

The Coaches That Build and Execute the Game Plan

Think for a moment about a football team. You have offense, defense and special teams each responsible for their own areas of the game. But without a coach to oversee everything, who is responsible for executing the strategy and owning the outcome? The same logic applies to manufacturing projects and the necessity of a project manager. Robert Krickeberg, lead project manager at VMS, explains that PMs need to do more than just stick to the strategy. They also need to be able to think on their feet and pivot when the situation warrants:

“The PMs are responsible for making changes during the project to fix any problems that arise. You’re adapting as you’re going and anticipating obstacles so that if something does go wrong, you can have a contingency plan.”
 ROBERT KRICKEBERG, LEAD PROJECT MANAGER AT VOLLRATH® MANUFACTURING SERVICES

Many times, companies will try to add PM responsibilities to other positions such as sales, engineering or customer service. As a result, the employee will end up wearing too many hats and won’t be able to keep up with the demands and details of the projects. Krickeberg speaks further to this common mistake, saying:

“I’ve seen it plenty of times in my career at other companies where you have someone who’s wearing too many hats and things just inevitably get lost in the shuffle. When there’s a dedicated PM, there’s no way anything can slip through the cracks because if it’s not defined, the PM has to define it. If you don’t have that metaphoric coach, there’s no one to hold accountable. You can blame the quarterback or the receiver, but who’s really responsible for the plan and making sure the execution happens? It’s the person who’s monitoring everything from that overhead view.” 
ROBERT KRICKEBERG, LEAD PROJECT MANAGER AT VOLLRATH® MANUFACTURING SERVICES

PMs Save Time & Money on Projects (in Ways You Might Not Think About)

Since the role of a PM is to ensure efficiency, their work inevitably saves money for the client. While these savings might not be as tangible or easily identifiable as other types of savings, they are significant nonetheless. For example, Krickeberg discusses the cost of failing to launch on time:

“With a dedicated project manager, the biggest thing you [the client] save on is time, which ultimately translates to money. I think a lot of people don’t understand how much cost there is in not getting something done. And what I mean by that is, let’s say you’re in the process of launching a product where you expect to make $12 million in revenue for the year and you’re a month late with the launch. You might have lost $1 million in revenue just from that delay. So it’s not really tangible money spent, but it’s a missed opportunity where you just lost a month-worth of high-volume product that you could’ve and should’ve sold.”
ROBERT KRICKEBERG, LEAD PROJECT MANAGER AT VOLLRATH® MANUFACTURING SERVICES

In addition to losing product revenue, clients also lose resource investments that relied on a specific launch date. This can include everything from sales and product training to marketing campaigns and initiatives. 

It’s also important to consider the cost of additional meetings for delayed or problematic launches. If you have a project that’s reached a standstill and there’s no one responsible for getting things back on track, those confusions and subsequent meetings will inevitably incur additional costs for the client. Whereas a project with a sound timeline and mitigation plan—both of which are developed and executed by the project manager—is much more likely to involve fewer setbacks and internal/external regroups, both of which save time and money for the client.

Krickeberg also notes that sharing the project stakes internally helps to ensure that deadlines will be met:

“It’s important for the PM to include the manufacturing team early in the project development phase so they have a clear understanding of the expectations, the objectives and the cost of not meeting those objectives on time. If you say to someone in production, “We can’t be late on this,” without telling them why, they’ll just feel like you’re bothering them and saying that for no reason other than to say it. But if you say, “We can’t be late on this because if we’re a month late we’ll lose X in revenue which means the profit goes down to X, then it becomes a real number that stays in people’s minds as they work to prioritize things and get it done. It’s really important for someone managing the whole project to know what will happen if something doesn’t get done and then communicate that to the rest of the team as early as possible. ”
ROBERT KRICKEBERG, LEAD PROJECT MANAGER AT VOLLRATH® MANUFACTURING SERVICES

An Exclusive (But Crucial) Realm of Quality Assurance

It’s no secret that quality assurance plays a crucial role in any successful product launch. However, the term applies to far more than just the technical aspects of a product. Holistically speaking, the project manager is responsible for maintaining quality control over the course of the entire project. This includes everything from communicating with the client and creating the timeline to coordinating with the internal teams and making sure every requirement is met before moving into the next phase. 

Krickeberg asserts that without a PM—a role that’s specifically tasked with creating the necessary flowcharts, checklists, timelines, etc.—none of these quality control measures would be implemented by another position: “You wouldn’t have the strategy, deadlines and validation points spelled out unless there’s someone dedicated to those tasks. This overarching level of quality assurance doesn’t fit into another role. And it’s too important to just add on to someone else’s job responsibilities.” 

This is why every project at VMS is assigned a dedicated project manager. As an OEM ourselves, we know that taking a new product to market can be a complex and challenging process. We also know from our own experience that having one dedicated person to oversee the project can make all the difference in reducing costs, meeting deadlines and achieving the desired results every time.

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