Project management: Beauty and the beast
Jim Finn, Akron Dispersions
I recently spoke to someone involved in the process of building glove production in the U.S. His project to modify the building, install glove machines, design formulations and successfully process and package the finished product would entail 22,500 separate tasks in 180 categories. Each of these tasks was needed to move the project forward in a coordinated fashion and arrive across the finish line when intended. How does one even begin to envision such an undertaking?
The origins for modern project management stem from the late 1950s, where the methodology was applied in aerospace, defense and construction. With the advent of IT (information technology), a formalized system of project management was developed and has taken a foothold in nearly every business. With the recent initiative to onshore glove manufacturing to the U.S., project management has now become a central framework for the construction, equipment validation and manufacturing initiatives which underpin U.S. based glove manufacturing capabilities.