HEB Lighting Project Management
Grocery
The Project
HEB had a strategic objective to help reduce energy bills and maintenance costs. They initiated a program to remove and replace track lighting with more energy-efficient strip fluorescent lights above all produce tables in their Produce Department. HEB engaged QPM to provide the necessary project management services to oversee this initiative at over (55) stores in their Texas market.
The QPM Solution
QPM immediately provided an account manager experienced in supermarket construction in the Texas market to begin working with HEB’s internal staff on determining exact project workload and scope. HEB was looking for the most cost effective way to complete these lighting projects and relied on QPM’s expertise to create a streamlined bidding and contractor management process.
To begin, the QPM Project Manager reviewed what HEB’s project goals were for the lighting replacements and then completed several site visits to determine exactly what would be needed from the contractors. Based on this review, QPM then prepared a master scope of work for the lighting replacement program.
QPM utilized this master scope of work to create a unique bidding methodology and QPM prepared the contractor bid packages with a scope of work for the entire program. This methodology eliminated the need to prepare over (50) individual bid documents for each site, as well as individual site project plans for the contractors to utilize for pricing.
Once the bids were received, QPM was responsible for qualifying the bid responses and selecting the contractors. Based on our experience with grocery project management and equipment costing, QPM was able to provide expert insight into the pricing received from the contractors.
Once the contractors were finalized, QPM worked closely with the selected contractor to finalize exact scopes by store and prepared the necessary schedules to complete the work in the timeframe HEB requested – only at night (9:00p.m. to 6:00a.m.). To meet this timeframe, QPM developed a scheduling protocol allowing for the work to take two nights -- one for installation of the new fixtures and another for demolition of old fixtures.
QPM ensured the lights were installed correctly without impacting store operations in any way and also ensured the contractors tied into the client’s national Energy Management Programs or systems at applicable stores. QPM also made sure that the contractors completed the necessary paperwork for energy rebates that may have been available.
During the projects, the QPM Project Manager worked closely with the HEB’s Operations Team, Store Director and contractors on:
- Permitting
- Coordination of local inspections
- Cost estimating
- Scheduling
- General contractor bidding, review and negotiations
- Pre-bid meetings
The Results
During the 6-month period, QPM’s Project Manager successfully managed and completed the removal and replacement of approximately (4,000) feet of track lighting - removal of (1,000) feet of track spotlight fixtures and replacement with (3,000) feet of fluorescent strip lighting. The project values ranged from $500 to $2,800 per site.
QPM’s unique bidding process allowed HEB to save both time and money, as it eliminated the need for hiring an additional resource to survey all locations and develop site-specific plans for the bid packages. In addition, the master scope of work eliminated the need to prepare over (50) separate bid packages.
The QPM Project Manager brought the proper oversight and consistency needed to manage HEB’s Lighting Replacement Program, and utilizing QPM offered HEB the additional resources it needed - on very short notice - and for only a short duration of time, to ensure these lighting replacement projects were completed by their fiscal year end.
