Here we are officially over halfway through 2019. For most of us that will mean a brand new budget and 12 months to get some of those major capital projects completed.
As I wrote back in
January, the start of a new year, or new financial year for that matter, provides a great opportunity to reset and plan for the period ahead.
One of the biggest pitfalls in major capital acquisitions can be a lack of planning. Given the number of stakeholders involved and the broad range of processes that need to be followed, it’s worth planning early.
Consider some of the steps and the associated timeframes involved in the procurement of a major item of plant from Europe:
- developing specifications – including consultation and input from end-users and others – 4 weeks
- developing tender documentation (including assessment criteria) – 2 weeks
- obtaining approval to go to tender – 1 to 4 weeks (depending on the timing of the next Council or Board meeting)
- request for Tender – 4 to 6 weeks
- tender assessment – 4 weeks
- approval of recommendation – 1 – 4 weeks (again, depending on meeting dates of the approving authority)
- establish contract – 1 week
- manufacture and delivery – 16 weeks (or longer)
- acceptance/pre-commissioning – 2 weeks
In total, this adds up to between 35 to 43 weeks – You’d better get crackin’.
To help fleet practitioners weave their way through the purchase of fleet assets, IPWEA FLEET publish a Fleet Asset Replacement Checklist.
This is available to all IPWEA FLEET subscribers from our
Fleet Resources page.