Mistakes to avoid
Rollout projects might seem like simple work, but there is so much that goes into the up-front preparation. The omission of just one item could have a knock on effect that ends up putting things weeks behind schedule, as well as taking the overall cost above budget. If you don't have everything perfectly lined up to go, you had better be ready for some serious troubleshooting and grovelling. From our experience, these are the 5 biggest mistakes that people most frequently make.
The materials
Believe it or not, we hear horror stories of installation teams turning up on site, only to find the wrong equipment, or no equipment at all. This is a huge waste of time, money, and resources, and will make it extremely hard for you to meet your deadlines. One way to overcome this is to partner with just one company who will be able to provide turnkey solutions and assume control and ownership of all aspects of the project.
Too many cooks
But who likes broth any way? Where was I? Ah, yes. On projects where upwards of 5 companies are used, things become extremely chaotic, and unless you have an incredible communication system in place, prepare for the worse! The sheer volume of work creates a logistical and scheduling problem, but this can be avoided by only using 1 or 2 vendors (depending on project volume) and by choosing a company that are able to provide turnkey solutions.
If you have to work with a fixture manufacturer, a logistics team, a security team, a technology team, an installation team, and a retail team, things can soon become very messy. By having one firm that can take care of all of these issues, the process will typically run more efficiently, as well as more economically as the one company are able to use buying power to control costs and schedules. Working with multiple companies will also cause many headaches for your project manager who will have to micromanage several people and communication will be extremely inefficient due to the unnecessary layers that have been added.
Fine details missed
If you choose an inexperienced company with few national projects to their name, or a group who are just looking to get through things as quickly as possible, regardless of quality, then you are setting yourself up for disaster. Managing national rollout and refresh projects from the design stage, to the handing over of the keys, is a very complex and time-consuming procedure. Make sure that the firm you choose are thorough, have a keen eye for detail, and take responsibility for all aspects of the project. A simple mistake such as overlooking dumpster placement can lead to accidents, fines from the landlord or jurisdiction, damage to the surface it rests on, and upsetting of other local businesses who now can't park their cars. At Royal, our 25 years of experience, allow us to take all factors into consideration, to minimize the chance of something negative occurring.
No expectations
If your standards, expectations and goals are not in place at the start of the project, the likelihood is that the results will not be what you are looking for. A clearly defined scope of work, key expectations, and check out procedures, such as using a punch card, need to be in place before the project begins. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get started if you haven't taken care of what a successful project will look like.
Picking lowest cost
For some reason, some companies seem to always decide to go with the cheapest up front cost, and are then shocked when they see the end product. Everyone can come in with a low upfront cost, but one of two things is guaranteed to happen. Either they get their foot in the door and then destroy you with change orders, or the end product will be horrible. There is a price-quality continuum, and you need to decide what matters the most; upfront cost, or total cost and total value? As the old saying goes, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
National rollout projects can be very challenging due to the huge geographic spread, multiple moving pieces, large number of stakeholders, and collection of vendors. Our advice is to define what a successful project is going to look like and then reverse engineer your plans from there. If you are looking for a sounding board as you plan your next program, we would love to share our experiences with you to save you time, money, and stress!
Contact us today to find out about the solutions that we can provide to ensure your national project runs smoothly, efficiently, timely, and within budget.