Balfour Beatty VINCI: Streamlining Project Controls and Reporting

Key Information

• Client: BBV (Balfour Beatty VINCI)

• Sector: Infrastructure & Civil Engineering

• Timeline: Jan to Aug 2024

Executive Summary 

• Assisted Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) in enhancing their monthly project controls and optimising commercial and financial processes.

• Created an efficient, target-state monthly performance management and reporting cycle to address and resolve identified issues.

• Achieved a potential saving of 30 to 50 man-days per month by eliminating rework, duplication of efforts, and non-value-added activities.

• Formulated an implementation plan to reach the target state through four transformation phases.

The Client

BBV is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and VINCI Construction, focusing on major construction and infrastructure projects in the UK, notably as a key contractor for the HS2 high-speed rail project.

The Project & Challenge

BBV needed our support on a project to streamline their monthly performance management and reporting processes to ensure accurate and timely reports to HS2.

They had problems with data alignment, data processing, and inconsistency in data inputs, leading to waste and inefficient use of resources.

ConsultHD’s Approach

We tackled the challenges by implementing a structured three-phase approach:

Phase 1: Discovery

During the discovery phase, we conducted seven workshops over eight weeks, engaging with BBV's central and sub-lot teams and lightly with HS2 and the Design joint venture. Within these workshops, we mapped current processes, analysed data flows, and identified underlying issues. 

Through detailed discussions and process visualisation, we highlighted inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and compliance gaps, ultimately pinpointing over 270 issues and developing 22 problem statements to address the challenges faced by preventing an efficient and effective monthly management reporting cycle.

Phase 2: Definition

During our Definition phase, we collaborated with BBV Project Leads to plan improvement projects and define the business case for the overall transformation. 

In this phase, we developed the target state for the monthly performance management and reporting cycle through five workshops, focusing on cost management, schedule management, quantity management, key performance meetings, and upward reporting of data to HS2.

Our key deliverables for this phase included:

• RAID log: To capture all the risks, issues, and implementation activities and ensure full implementation of the agreed monthly process.

• A draft business case: To support implementation.

• To-be process maps: To inform the “future-state” standard monthly reporting calendar.

• A transformation map: To show how the process will mature and evolve over a number of months as processes and systems are defined and implemented. 

Phase 3: Delivery

We have created a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure all teams adhere to consistent procedures and systems. The plan sets out the projects and activities to implement new processes, systems, and reports.