Managing Physical resources

Some projects need materials and items from outside vendors. Activities like planning, ordering, moving, storing, tracking, and managing these materials take a lot of time and effort.

The goals of managing physical resources are:

• Reduce or avoid how much materials need to be handled or stored at the site.
• Avoid waiting for materials to arrive.
• Reduce scrap and waste.
• Ensure the worksite is safe for everyone.

Working with Procurement

Many projects need contracts or buying things (procurement). This can include materials, machines, tools, services, and people.

Project managers usually don’t have authority to make contracts.

There are steps like:

→ The Bid Process (asking vendors to offer their price).

→ Contracting (making an agreement with the selected vendor).

Once a vendor is chosen, project plans are updated to include the vendor’s timelines, resources, cost, quality needs, and risks.

From then on, the vendor is treated like a stakeholder. So, their work is tracked and measured as part of the project using stakeholder and performance rules.