Automation System Projects – Airport Baggage Handling

When an airline moves luggage from the ticket counter, it is very important that the luggage arrives at the same destination as the traveler. We have all come to rely on these systems working and are usually in a predicament when they don’t.

Coordinating the movement of potentially millions of pieces of luggage throughout an airport is accomplished through a series of conveyors with a myriad of traffic-directing apparatuses that ultimately move the luggage from the ticket counter to the airplane.  The process is then reversed and the conveyors move the luggage to a claims carousel. This is where you discover if your luggage has arrived.

The traveling public sees two conveyors at the ticket counter and the claim check.  In between are sometimes miles of conveyors, x-ray devices, diverters, twists, curves, elevators, sensors, bar code readers and control systems that manage the movement from these two locations.

Designing, manufacturing, and installing these systems takes large teams and are highly dependent upon the project manager, to coordinate the activity from pre-sales to project completion.  Without a project manager, the coordination between all the departments and individuals fails and the project quickly goes into disarray.

In addition, the Program Office is important because it institutionalizes the project management processes and manages coordination amongst many baggage handling projects at one time. This coordination strives to level the resource pools all having demands placed on them by individual project requirements.  The PMO manages the prioritization amongst the various projects, ensures the compromises keep all projects moving forward, and retains project value.

Projects Overview:

Company:  BAE Automated Systems
 

Organization structure:  matrix organization

Project Type: Design Build

Number of Projects Managed: >25

Several specific projects:  Philadelphia International Airport, Detroit International Airport, Love Field, William P Hobby (Houston)

Range of project value: $45,000 to >$45,000,000

Largest single project team: 450

Organizational authority of project manager:  vendors through customers

Outcomes of all projects:  on or below budget and on schedule.

Project specific tools:  Primavera scheduling and Baan ERP

Large project had dedicated project accounting and engineering teams.