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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 7 | May 06 | |
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ARTICLE
RISK MANAGEMENT:
Hindsight Points the Way By Tony Kaye
New project management software uses the lessons of past projects to map potential risks. Learning from mistakes and improving the way things are done is acknowledged as an important aspect of business development. However, in the management of large, complex projects involving many people and scores of different and often changing scenarios, this can be easier said than done. Learning from past mistakes is fine in theory, but how do lessons become embedded in changed practices or procedures?
It is a key question that is addressed in new Australian-developed project management software, which identifies the likely risk scenarios and records the decision-making processes that allowed project managers to navigate their way through obstacles and challenges. The Intelligent Risk Mapping and Assessment System (IRMAS) was collaboratively developed by a research team at CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (CMIT) with industrial and academic partners from the Cooperative Research Centre for Intelligent Manufacturing Systems and Technologies. The program uses qualitative and quantitative data entered from previous projects so that new project managers are aware of previously identified hurdles and how they were managed. The IRMAS system has been researched, developed and tested over the past four years with the Boeing subsidiary Hawker de Havilland, and is now in the process of being licensed commercially through technical software group Hearne Scientific Software, under the name IREX. CSIRO IRMAS project leader Dr Mingwei Zhou says the software was developed as a project management tool incorporating identified risks in engineering projects, and designed to be applicable to different industries. “Many companies become locked into engineering cycles where they repeat costly but mitigable mistakes,” he says. “However, this software will identify potential risks based on existing knowledge in the knowledge base.” The software, developed with researchers from the University of NSW, the University of Wollongong and Hawker de Havilland, covers eight risk categories – financial, resource, schedule, technical, external, organisational, communication and location risks – and more than 200 risk types. These are specific risk types that correspond to potential risk factors such as schedule inaccuracies, supplier delays or a lack of information. “We’re building a system knowledge based on past projects, lessons learned and industry best practices,” Dr Zhou says. “So when you set out to identify and assess risk factors in a project it will remind you what the level of those risks are and how to handle them. “Project managers can also capture their best practices and lessons learned from ongoing projects, so the knowledge base is growing and up to date. Over time, this will become valuable corporate memory.” Dr Zhou says the software is initially being targeted at the aerospace industry. However, interest is being shown by the defence, automotive, construction and mining industries. The software ranks risks by likelihood and consequence and is supplied with an initial set of 170 lessons learned, 35 case studies and 13 customer and supplier profiles. Hawker de Havilland’s research team leader, Dr Adrian Rispler, says the IRMAS software has allowed concurrent engineering tasks to be factored into the risk identification and analysis stages. “It looks at how we run projects from start to finish. It involves a number of phases that we use to evaluate risks on a particular project, starting with concept design through to preliminary design, detailed design, the manufacturing phase, certification of the project and finally life-cycle support of the project. “One of the tool’s greatest advantages is that it provides us with a framework to be able to assess risk for any new projects. We are able to ask the same questions every time to make sure we don’t miss anything. “The end result is a risk matrix showing us the critical risks in our projects by magnitude, and essentially we are able to monitor and track those risks through the life of the project.” Dr Zhou says CSIRO has spent considerable time making the system scaleable, reliable and user-friendly. “At the moment the risk model is tailored for Hawker de Havilland, but we are working with Hearne to develop a more generic model with lessons learned and best practices for broader applications in other engineering projects,” he says. “Hawker de Havilland is in the process of negotiating a commercial licence with Hearne with a view to deploying the system within Hawker de Havilland. “We have started the planning for the next step, which is to enhance and expand system functionality to encourage collaborative risk management among Boeing divisions and their suppliers. The idea is to develop the software further so that it covers a whole supply chain.” APPLICATION New project management software uses best practices and lessons learned from previous projects to identify likely risks BENEFIT Knowledge can be captured, retaining and growing the corporate memory For further information contact: |
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