The Port of Long Beach (POLB) is the second-busiest container port in the United States and is a leading gateway for international trade. POLB is investing approximately $4.5 billion in capital projects over the next 10 years.
Overview
PMA Role
PMA was hired to perform a comprehensive evaluation of POLB’s Engineering Bureau, project controls, and capital project delivery processes. The evaluation assessed the organization, plans and specifications development, capital budgeting, schedule development and management, construction management, contract compliance, PMIS, and reporting.
PMA interviewed a large cross-section of port staff to establish the as-is condition, conducted benchmarking surveys of peer agencies, developed recommendations unique to POLB’s situation, and drafted a detailed report to the board. Follow-on phases include implementing 68 recommendations on effective execution of current and future CIPs through best business practices in operational and financial efficiency, as well as in the use of Unifier to support CIP delivery.
PMA was also engaged to support POLB with the development and rollout of their project controls practice guide. This involved training the project controls staff and project managers on standards and processes and managing the PMIS Unifier implementation in support of the project delivery division. As a result of these efforts, POLB’s Capital Delivery Group regained credibility with the Board of Commissioners. Other benefits included the centralization of project information in one tool, reduction of data entry and data entry errors, elimination of data reconciliation, reduction in paper use, increased transparency, and proactive cost forecasting.