IFS and the IPMA release a new global study today which reflects a lack of confidence in how business critical projects are being managed in the manufacturing sector.
This IFS research surveyed 273 CEOs, COOs and Project Managers across the USA, UK, Australia, Scandinavia and Benelux, comprising of 144 from the manufacturing sector. Respondents highlighted that;
• Just over three quarters (77%) of those working in the manufacturing sector identified the ability to manage projects as critical or absolutely critical to the future growth of the business
• Despite this only 12% are very confident of their ability to manage business critical projects in the most efficient way
• Less than a third (30%) of businesses surveyed in the manufacturing sector have fully integrated IT systems for project management and only 17% are very confident they have full visibility of information to run projects effectively
Rob Stummer (pictured here), managing director for IFS, Australia and New Zealand said; “We know that companies working in the manufacturing sector are under increasing competition from overseas to deliver projects cheaper and faster, whilst also measuring their environmental impact. Having control of critical projects in one place and integrating IT systems can help these companies operate more efficiently and reduce their carbon footprint at the same time.”
Both the business leaders and project managers questioned agreed that the top three most important factors for consistent and efficient project management were resource planning (63%), integrated IT systems (55%) and real-time data (49%). These results mirrored organisational IT and project-based solution investment priorities with 49% stating integration of IT as top priority. Resource planning (45%) was the next priority, followed jointly by real-time data and supply chain management (both 44%). Despite being stated as an investment priority and being crucial to business success, just under a third of organisations have fully integrated IT systems in place for project management.
“This new evidence points to the fact that despite project management being a business critical area, organisations are lacking the confidence in their ability to deliver effective projects. This is down to concerns regarding having access to the important information required to run projects efficiently and on time,” said Prof Brane Semolic, IPMA’s Research Management Board Chair.
“The results to this survey are in line with anecdotal evidence we receive from our fifty Project Management Associations around the world, and make it clear that effective project management makes a vital contribution to customer delivery, cost control and future business growth.”