Fast Track is not Skip Track

September 15, 2024

"Fast Track" or fast tracking, is a term that goes back a long way. I probably started hearing it in the seventies.

It has often been misinterpreted as skipping steps in an engineering or construction projects.

Skip steps and you are into fast tripping, not fast tracking.

I think it takes extremely skill engineers and construction managers to fast track a project. They must know all the steps very thoroughly in order to determine on a given project which ones can be dealt with lightly and which ones must not be neglected.

I have talked about this for years, and I still see people making the same mistakes and often paying for them with their careers.

Hint: next time you are in a quick ship store, ask the owner what they did before they bought that franchise. You may be surprised to learn they were formerly a project engineer or construction manager.

What is your opinion? Drop me a line at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. I would like to hear from you.

And further by the way, I come to mills and talk to various departments about many subjects. To arrange my custom visit to your mill, just email me at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com or call me at 678-206-6010.

Young Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations

We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three. There is an age limit on the manager eligible for this award: they must be under 35 years old when they completed the project.

We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.

However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years) and meets our age requirement, we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.

Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. We will seriously consider it.

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