Case Study - Honda Honda’s Manufacturing Plant Improves Project Management with Training from PMstudy Honda’s manufacturing plant at Lincoln, Alabama wanted to improve its ability to meet project goals, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction, but found that the knowledge of project management of its engineering employees varied greatly. With mounting pressure to complete more projects, the team required training in best practices for project management. The company partnered with PMstudy to implement a comprehensive project management training program designed specifically to help the engineers standardize project management as the means to achieve business goals. After 4 days of training, comprehensive project management is helping Honda reduce the high cost of rework, lessen downtime, and maintain its high caliber of customer service. Technical Manufacturing Process Requires Advanced Project Management Skills Honda is one of the leading global automakers and provides engine and components to utility and industrial customers worldwide. It develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products, ranging from small general-purpose engines and automobiles to specialty SUVs, and has an outstanding reputation with customers worldwide. To deliver products that satisfy customers in all regions, Honda has established a manufacturing system that rapidly and flexibly responds to customer requests at all production bases around the world and minimizes their environmental footprint during manufacturing. The plant employees provide products and services that fully satisfy customer, industry, and regulatory requirements. All customer projects from order entry through design, manufacturing, and servicing are managed in accordance with high-quality management standards. To meet these standards, it is essential that project scope is accurate, adequate resources are allocated, and customer deliverables meet the project goals. There is no room at Honda for scope creep, cost overruns, missed deadlines, understaffed projects, or misalignment of resources. "With tighter budgets, demanding time constraints, and fewer resources, more of our staff needed to be trained in industry-standard project management methods," explained a senior project manager of engineering projects and technology. "There is increasing pressure to complete more and more projects, so it becomes even more critical to do precise project and resource planning to meet our goals." The highly experienced engineering staff has extensive technical education, yet little formal training in project management. The project manager was convinced that even an MBA
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degree was inadequate preparation for expert project management. In today's fast-paced business environment, it takes skilled individuals to successfully plan and execute projects in the workplace, and insightful strategies to get the job done quickly and with minimal resources.
Honda Adopts PMstudy Project Management Training PMstudy’s project management program provides a comprehensive, customized educational program that offers real-life project management methods and techniques to position individuals as leaders and provide companies with a competitive advantage. Honda wanted to select a training partner that was closely aligned with the Project Management Institute's (PMI®) professional standards and felt strongly that PMstudy is greatly respected in the training industry and offers professional training designed around the PMI standards, and hence was the best choice. PMstudy is a charter member of the PMI global corporate council and also a charter Global Registered Education Provider through PMI. PMstudy project management curriculum is compliant with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide, a collection of best management practices for project management. It prepares project managers for certifications including Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®).
PMstudy Training Advances Individual Skills and Corporate Goals As PMstudy and Honda planned the training program, they focused on individual skill development to enable comprehensive project management planning and consistent management of projects. The program was customized to concentrate on standardizing both the language and the approach to projects, capturing and implementing best practices in project management, improving consistency in project delivery, and providing better management of the project portfolio. The PMstudy project management program included select modules to cover essential knowledge areas and incorporated several days of coaching by PMstudy experts to support application of the content covered in the program, including mentoring, process documentation review, and facilitated project support. The project management training program included PMP courses, with 4 days of training. Initially, many of the engineers were nervous about being in a learning environment after having been out of school for so many years, but as soon as the program started, they
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wanted to immediately apply their new skills. After the program was completed, they formed study groups to prepare for the PMI certification exam because they recognized that PMP certification adds valuable credentials for career advancement. In addition, as the training progressed, they instituted peer checks so that there was a team approach to all project management planning activities. The attendees reported that all of PMstudy instructors were exceptional, with a high level of hands-on industry expertise, instructional techniques, and outstanding instruction of PMBOK methods. The courses had high levels of individual participation and discussion, and exceeded company expectations. While their new competencies allow the trained individuals to better meet their current responsibilities and to advance their careers, Honda also has realized significant benefits from the education program. There is improved teamwork, especially for those who didn't have much team experience before. And, the use of tools and project management has become uniform across the division. Although it is still early in the process, there are recent improvements in project scope statements, and some individuals are circling back to bring their new skills to projects already underway to try to improve the outcomes. A senior project manager at the company feels that achieving the long-term goals of improved productivity, decreased time to complete projects, increased customer satisfaction and sales, and lower costs are just over the horizon. This initial project management training program is just the beginning of important education goals that the plant team means to accomplish. In the meantime, Boston University continues to support the group as it advances its project management skills to meet the needs of its business unit. PMstudy provides customized corporate training solutions, instructor-led classes, and online training programs. For more information, go to www.pmstudy.com, or call 1-888-507-6872.
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