Curtin University

Department of Civil Engineering 11891

Process based approach is a project management strategy which views the whole project as a collection of individual but interrelated processes. Using a process approach in a project means that the project management of that specific project is done by, identifying the processes that make up the project, then managing and controlling the processes and also the interactions between these processes which interrelate them together. A process can be viewed as a set of activities which are closely related to each other and having a common aim. Processes will use different resources on the inputs to make them valid outputs. Output of one process often will become the input for another process hence making the processes interconnected. When considering the light rail project of ‘The RAILBUILD’, the whole project shall be viewed as separate processes. Some of them are, Design Process, Purchasing Process, Construction Process, Operation Process, Maintenance Process, Management Process etc. The relationship between two processes can be understood in the following example. As ISO 9001 standard requires, to implement the process based approach in the RAILBUILD’s light rail project, the RAILBUILD shall determine the processes, required inputs and expected outputs, interaction of these processes, criterion to ensure the effective operations and resources needed for these processes. Also, it shall assign the responsibilities and authorities to these processes, address the risks, evaluate and improve these processes so that those will achieve the intended results. The process-based approach encourages all the employees to work together and make the management easier since the project is broken down into processes. The use of resources would be optimized since every resource has a specific task which will reduce the operational costs. Everyone will know their role within the project which makes it easier working together to complete the project successfully. Furthermore, process based strategy promotes continuous process improvement, thus enabling the management to identify the inefficiencies and other erroneous aspects easily and improve them. Client requirements, customer expectations and other design requirements as inputs Design Process – Using various resources including design engine