From Sales to Design, Purchasing to Managing, Installation to Supporting, we all know it’s a mammoth effort that goes into delivering a successful AV project. But what exactly goes on behind the scenes? We visited award-winning British audio-visual company Electric String to investigate their process…
“It’s a team effort and everyone is involved in each project, meaning that every venture gets input from a wide range of perspectives. When we complete a project, there’s not one single member of Electric String who can’t feel proud of their involvement.” – James Ward, Managing Director.
Meeting
Jill Phillips (pictured), Director of Business Development and Rob Sullivan, Commercial Director
During the initial meeting, Jill will discuss the needs of the system alongside with any specific requests the client has. This meeting enables her to showcase Electric String’s previous work as examples of what the new potential client could have. Jill will be able to suggest new ideas that the client may not have thought of along with identifying any possible challenges, meaning the team can overcome these during the initial design (alongside any technical partners that the client wants to include).
Initial Design
Alex Hornett, Technical Support Engineer and Jack Mudd, Technical Designer
Alex and Jack create an initial design,which provides the basis for the project specification and equipment requirements. The design is based on information supplied by the client at the initial meeting, plus supplementary information received such as designs, technical information and drawings etc.
Pricing & Proposal Creation
Neil Fill (pictured), Client Project Support, Lizzie Witty, Office Administrator and Emily Halsey Office Apprentice
Neil uses Electric String’s specialist software to create a list of the equipment required to complete the project and, alongside Lizzie and Emily, he calculates all resource and costs to find the total project price with live information from suppliers and manufacturers. This information is then collated and added to project specific data and terms to create the final proposal.
Detailed Design
Alex Hornett, Technical Support Engineer and Jack Mudd, Technical Designer
Once the initial design and proposal have been signed off by the client the team move on to creating a more detailed design,which is used by the project manager and engineers during the install. This design process is kick-started by a handover meeting where the crossover from sales to operations takes place. The detailed design is one of the key aspects of ensuring a smooth-running project and does not change the scope of supply from the initial proposal but clarifies all details down to the smallest item.
Project Management
Martyn Capp, Project Manager or David Gold, Project Manager
As part of the handover meeting, the assigned project manager creates a timeline of works for all parties. This ensures the project will run both on time and to budget. Special requirements are discussed and technical requirements form the detailed design. It is at this stage that meticulous planning is undertaken, which is crucial for the project to progress as it should, anticipating and accounting for issues before they arise.
Resource Allocation
Lynsey Partis, Engineering coordinator, and the Engineers (Nick Welburn, Carl Morris, Harry Moylan, James Cox, Joshua James Welburn, Mark Tofton, George West. Pictured: Nick and Harry).
Lynsey works with the project manager to plan and allocate engineering resource for the various stages of the project. It is this planning which enables not only the project in hand to be planned but resourcing levels in general.
Purchasing and Logistics
Lizzie Witty, Office Administrator and Emily Halsey, Office Apprentice
Lizzie, assisted by Emily, is responsible for ordering all the equipment and organizing the delivery to site. Goods are delivered to the main distribution hub where they are checked and allocated onto jobs. Equipment to be built off-site is moved to the workshop for assembly and the assembled goods are grouped with peripheral items per area before being shipped to site. The project manager works closely with the purchasing team to ensure that the right equipment is delivered at the right time.
Invoicing
Liz Stewart (pictured), Management Accountant and Becca Gill, Accounts Assistant
During the install there are agreed stage dates set with the client for project deliverables. Liz and Becca ensure that when project milestones are met the invoices are sent out at the appropriate time. This ensures the financial stability of the project and for Electric String as a whole.
Engineering Support
Russell Phillips (pictured), Technical Support Supervisor and Richard Georgiou, Technical Support Engineer.
Throughout the process, on-site engineers are supported by the Technical Support team who back the project up with all the relevant information, advice and assistance required. When installation is complete, the Technical Support team move onto commissioning and set up of the system.
Training & Commissioning
Russell Phillips, Technical Support Supervisor and Richard Georgiou, Technical Support Engineer
Once the project is completed and commissioning has finished, Russell and Richard work through a rigorous testing process to make sure everything is up to scratch and most importantly meets the requirements agreed from the very first stages (plus any changes along the way!). Following on from this internal testing the system users are given training on the system to ensure they understand how things work and get the most benefit from it.
Sign Off
Martyn Capp, Project Manager and David Gold (pictured), Project Manager
Once the project manager is satisfied that the system fully meets the clients brief, has ensured that the system users are confident in using the system following training and has discussed the as-build technical information with the Technical Design team, the system is signed off internally ready for handover to the client.
Client Handover
Rob Sullivan, Commercial Director and Jill Phillips, Director of Business Development
The account handler for the project, in conjunction with the project manager, ensures that they are satisfied with the system and documentation. Future works, system progression and ongoing support plan are discussed and agreed before another happy customer signs off their system!
Client Support
Russell Phillips, Technical Support Supervisor and Richard Georgiou, Technical Support Engineer
Electric String care passionately about ensuring their system’s ongoing performance is maintained to the highest standards after initial installation. So, in the same way they assist engineers during a project, Russell and Richard support the clients and their systems post-project. They are always here to help clients with any support requirements, long after a project has been officially completed.
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