Project management techniques used in the European Vacuum Vessel sectors procurement for ITER

The contract for the seven European Sectors of the ITER Vacuum Vessel (VV) was placed at the end of 2010 with a consortium of three Italian companies. The task of placing and the initial take-off of this large and complex contract, one of the largest placed by F4E, the European Domestic Agency for ITER, is described. A stringent quality controlled system with a bespoke Vacuum Vessel Project Lifecycle Management system to control the information flow, based on ENOVIA SmarTeam, was developed to handle the storage and approval of Documentation including links to the F4E Vacuum Vessel system and ITER International Organization System interfaces. The VV Sector design and manufacturing schedule is based on Primavera software, which is cost loaded thus allowing F4E to carry out performance measurement with respect to its payments and commitments. This schedule is then integrated into the overall Vacuum Vessel schedule, which includes ancillary activities such as instruments, preliminary design and analysis. The VV Sector Risk Management included three separate risk analyses from F4E and the bidders, utilizing two different methodologies. These efforts will lead to an efficient and effective implementation of this contract, vital to the success of the ITER machine, since the Vacuum Vessel is the biggest single work package of Europe's contribution to ITER and is the largest component of the ITER device.

► File name contains the directory tree structure with a string of three-letter acronyms, thereby enabling parent directory location when confronted with orphan files.
► The management of the procurement procedure was carried out in an efficient and timely manner, achieving precisely the contract placement date foreseen at the start of the process.
► The contract start-up has been effectively implemented and a flexible project management system has been put in place for an efficient monitoring of the contract.