Aerospace success in project management  

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The APM Awards, sponsored by RPC UK Ltd, recognise the very best individuals, projects and programmes the profession has to offer, from aspiring young project managers to complex and transformational projects and programmes, both in the UK and internationally. This year saw a record number of entries submitted to the Awards, reflecting the growing project profession.

The aerospace sector was successful in winning awards for Transformation Project of the Year Award won by Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace for its Product Lifecycle System (PLS), and Heathrow Airport won Technology Project of the Year for its Integrated Airport Operations Plan (AOP) and Demand Capacity Balancing tool (DCB).

Jacob Achenbach picked up the Young Project Professional Award for his role in leading the expansion of Rolls-Royce Crosspointe, a plant manufacturing turbine blades for commercial jet engines in Virginia USA. Achenbach doubled the size of the facility four months ahead of schedule and £3.5m under budget. The plant can now produce an additional 35,000 turbine blades per year (the equivalent of 500 engine sets). The additional domestic manufacturing capacity was urgently required to mitigate the growing number of issues caused by premature failures of high-pressure turbine blades.

Jacob Achenbach, Rolls-Royce Crosspointe, said: “There are quite a few contributing factors to success. One thing I always want to do is look ahead and never be surprised by anything, whether it’s good or bad. Another thing is having a good focus on relationships, whether it’s with customers or suppliers. The other thing is never accepting that anything is good enough. Always ask what could be better and keep pushing.”

The challenge for Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace was to transform a £250bn technology portfolio to achieve better delivery, develop technology and lower costs. The Product Lifecycle System (PLS) programme was created and has delivered £350m of benefit to the bottom line through implementing best practice Project, Programme and Portfolio in an environment of low project management maturity. It included organisational change, a digital landscape, agile ways of working and improved professionalism to aid project management practitioners in delivering excellence in all aspects of the ever-growing portfolio.

Mike Hopkins, head of engine programme transformation, said: “My top tips to other project professionals is really focus on understanding risk, understand the schedule, have the right organisational structure and PMO to actually deliver the project – and invest in people.”

Heathrow Airport has partnered with EuroControl NATS and its technology partners to implement the next generation of airport planning and operations. The result is the Airport Operations Plan (AOP), underpinned by a cloud-based Demand Capacity and Balancing (DCB) tool - a paradigm shift in the way flight operations are handled.

Debbie Dore, chief executive of APM said: “This year we received a record number of entries, and the standard is getting higher each year. The award winners are a true reflection of the talent within the project profession and how much it has grown in recent years.”

The Association for Project Management (APM) is the chartered body for the project profession and is committed to creating and upholding leading standards for the profession through chartership, qualifications, knowledge and insight.

www.apm.org.uk

www.rolls-royce.com/country-sites/northamerica/rolls-royce-in-the-us/rolls-royce-crosspointe.aspx