Engineers Journal I Volume 63: Issue 7 I September 2009
Almarai Project, Saudi Arabia.
PM Group maintains strategic balance despite global downturn A balanced portfolio of services at home and abroad combined with an internationalisation strategy which has driven strong growth in Europe and Asia has strategically positioned the PM Group, a CPD Accredited Employer, to withstand the worst effects of the current economic downturn. Mick Lynam, PM Group director and deputy managing director, Ireland, explains to the Journal how the strategy works and why he’s confident about the group’s ability to deal with the challenges ahead
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ith projects at various stages of development all over the world from Carlow to Krakow and from Saudi Arabia to Suzhou in China, the PM Group has firmly established itself as an international provider of professional services in engineering, architecture and project management. PM Group operates in Ireland, the UK, Poland, Singapore and the US and is currently working on projects in over 30 countries worldwide including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, China, France, Germany, India, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Romania, and Russia. This international capability allows PM Group to both export and import skills, applying a best in class approach to projects.
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Balancing act Its international positioning has been achieved through a careful balancing of the group’s project portfolio, according to Mick Lynam, and, in 2009, that mix in sales revenue Internationalisation
terms consists of 50-60 per cent design, architecture and engineering work, 30 per cent construction management and 15 per cent field service (where specialists from the group join a client’s core team on secondment). “In keeping with the strategy of having an ongoing balanced mix of services, generally we work on projects through their full life-cycle. Involvement in, and awareness of the full life-cycle, ensures that we can provide our clients with strong competences in design, construction and project management and our project managers always maintain a wider, overall perspective of the project. “In practical terms, that means, for example, at the design stage, our engineers and architects are fully cognisant of the broader cost and environmental implications of their decisions. Equally, the design team will be aware of the construction management challenges their designs will present and will work with our CM experts to maximise efficiencies there.”
Engineers Journal I Volume 63: Issue 7 I September 2009
Irish project portfolio: Merck Sharp & Dohme facility Merck Sharp & Dohme Biologics, is developing a new €200m state-of-the-art VBSF (Vaccine, Biologics, Sterile) facility which will involve a formulation and sterile filling operation and an R&D team to support a number of recently launched vaccines and new products in the future. Located on a 65-acre site in Carlow, the facility is due to be operational by 2011. PM Group is providing architecture and engineering design, procurement and construction management services for this project. The group is also completing work on another project for Merck at its other Irish site near Clonmel, Tipperary. This 6,500 sqm oral solid dose and research and development facility will manufacture final stage solid dosage forms (tablets and capsules).
Indaver municipal waste management facility PM has been appointed by Indaver NV to provide design and project and construction management services for their municipal waste management facility at Carranstown near Duleek in Co. Meath. This waste-to-energy plant will thermally treat the residual fraction of municipal solid waste, converting it into high pressure steam, which will be used to drive a medium sized power station. The total thermal capacity of the plant will be 69.3 MW with an electrical generation capacity of 17.7 MW for export to the national grid.
Coca-Cola The group’s mix of national and international business provides Mick with a good platform from which to assess the current debate about Ireland’s business competitiveness (or lack thereof): “Certainly, the market at home became over-heated in recent years and input costs rose dramatically. At the same time, I would have to say when it came to tendering for projects in Ireland, the process remained highly competitive.” Mick admits that both at home and abroad, the outlook for the next three to five years remains extremely challenging: “I take a lot of encouragement from what I’ve seen in the past decade where Irish organisations, including ourselves, have shown a strong capability to win business against any and all competitors.” From the group’s perspective, he points to the stability and strength of their clients: “The majority of PM Group’s business is with bluechip, multinational companies and we work hard to maintain and strengthen those business relationships.” Going global, staying local Doing business effectively in different countries with diverse business practices and cultures brings with it its own unique requirements. “Local knowledge is essential for every aspect of a project, for everything from special permits to planning permissions. You need that local component to make projects costeffective.
Coca-Cola is currently developing a global flavour manufacturing and innovation facility on a 41-acre site in Drinagh, Wexford. This €200m facility will enable process development and product commercialisation.
Tyndall National Institute Development Project (UCC) This project, which is now at completion stage, involved the construction of a 5,000sqm, four-storey research building and the refurbishment of existing buildings at Unversity College Cork’s Lee Maltings site in Cork city centre, all of which will support Tyndall National Institute’s expanding research capabilities in the areas of photonics, micro/nanotechnology, microsystems and theory, modelling and design. PM Group were the engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers and design team leaders for this development. The process-intensive building includes laboratories for microelectronics, photonics, chemistry, plating technologies and materials science as well as a 700sqm cleanroom suite containing Class 100/ ISO 5 and Class 10,000 /ISO 7 cleanrooms. Other features include the provision of very low vibration spaces (achieved by structural design combined with vibration dampening and isolation), control of electromagnetic interference, flexibility for future modifications and energy efficiency. Substantial reductions in energy usage have been achieved on site due to the design approach taken on new systems and the implementation of the recommendations of a separate energy optimisation study carried out by PM.
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Engineers Journal I Volume 63: Issue 7 I September 2009
Impression of completed Indaver project.
Indaver organisation chart.
INDAVER
MWH
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS
SPECIALIST DESIGN
BALANCE OF PLANT
PM GROUP
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUPPORT
DESIGN & BUILD PACKAGES
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS
VOLUND – BOILER
CSA M&E
ENGINEERING PROCUREMENT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PSDP/PSCS COMMISSIONING SUPPORT
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LAB – FLUE GAS TREATMENT
Engineers Journal I Volume 63: Issue 7 I September 2009
Global project portfolio: Intas Biopharmaceuticals, India PM Group is providing concept and basic design for a greenfield monoclonal antibodies production facility in India for Intas, one of India’s leading biotechnology companies. Located near Ahmedabad, the new facility will have the capacity for large-scale manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), a recombinant mammalian platform product. Commercial production is due to commence in 2011.
Wyeth Singapore and China Wyeth appointed the PM Group and its Asian Alliance partner M&W Zander to provide full design, project and construction management services for the development of a new worldscale greenfield infant nutritional facility in Suzhou, China. With a cost of approximately US$300m and handover due in late 2010, this will be Wyeth’s largest greenfield undertaking to date in Asia with a gross floor area approximating 50,000sqm. In Singapore, PM and M&W Zander are providing full design, project and construction management services for a 12,000sqm expansion of Wyeth’s existing nutritional manufacturing facility. Completion is due in late 2009.
“Of course, being an Irish company, we’re very conscious that doing business in a country means respecting how things are done in that country and everywhere we work we have a policy of operating in conjunction with a local partner where at all feasible.” Mick notes that the company employs a core group of experts who have decades of experience in various geographies across the world. “For instance, one of my co-directors, John Egan has substantial experience of working in the Middle East and he has played a pivotal role in developing our business relationships in that region. Equally, where appropriate, we recruit local expertise and this further strengthens our cultural knowledge base, while often introducing concepts and ideas that can be applied effectively elsewhere as well.” Team ethos A roster of 1,800 multi-disciplinary professionals delivering complex capital projects to clients in sectors as varied as biopharmaceuticals; advanced manufacturing; medical technologies; food and nutritionals; transportation and healthcare ensures that, ultimately, the group’s work is teamdriven: “When you’re working with teams of individuals as diverse as ours, there are many subtleties that have to be considered. For instance, not everyone is motivated in the same way or by the same rewards. Another area of paramount importance is language, where misinterpretations of even a single word can have major repercussions. It’s essential to root out linguistic misunderstandings as quickly as possible. A good team spirit which we consciously support and foster, is critical to the effective management of all these sorts of factors.’ To make the work of their project teams as efficient as practicable, the group have invested considerably in IT systems. “A sophisticated suite of IT systems is integral to the efficient management of multiple, large-scale
Almarai, Saudi Arabia Almarai, the Gulf’s largest dairy firm, awarded PM a contract for the detailed design of a new US $170m leading-edge, nutritional facility in Saudi Arabia. The greenfield facility, designed to cater to future expansion, will produce high quality infant formula for the Arab world, initially focusing in the GCC (Gulf cooperation countries). The first of its kind in the region, the 35,000sqm world class facility will be built to the highest building and hygiene standards incorporating the latest in process technology, according to the PM Group.
Jagiellonian University Innovation Centre, Krakow, Poland PM is responsible for conceptual design, preparation of design and build tender documentation and construction supervision for this project. This new lifescience park will incorporate a 5,000sqm faculty building and incubation centres at the Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, Poland. The lifescience park will provide hi-tech clients with specialist infrastructure required for lifescience product research and development. Phase 1, for which PM is currently providing engineering and consultancy services, is based on the development of laboratories, offices and underground car parking.
international projects.” A less hi-tech, yet highly effective tool, that Mick also believes strongly in, is milestone-driven management: “Each week and each month we set certain target delivery dates for milestone project advances. These milestones help keep teams focused and ensure that individuals remain engaged and feel a part of what’s happening. Delivering on a milestone allows people a sense of achievement and progress and acts as a strong motivational tool to help drive on to the next landmark.”
Mick Lynam has worked with the PM Group since 1995 in leadership roles on major projects in the biopharmaceutical and technology sectors. A graduate of UCD, he is a mechanical engineer with over 20 years experience. Mick’s area of expertise is the management of complex projects. He is a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Project Management at the University of Limerick. Internationalisation
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