Project management is important in a product development project. The main responsibilities of the project manager are to plan, initiate and coordinate the many activities necessary before including a new product into the company’s product line. A professional project manager will attempt to reach the professional goals while adhering to deadlines and budgets. Should the project change direction underway, the project manager is responsible for finding the best possible compromise between result generation, meeting deadlines and adhering to the budget. Subsequently, decisions are balanced with the decision-makers of the company.

In the case of projects that are planning projects by nature and where all the sub-processes are known, the project manager’s responsibilities are often purely administrative and have to do with planning, finances, initiation and follow-up. These projects are rarely developmental, and the project manager does not always have to have great expertise in the field, but he/she will need to master professional project management skills, of course.

IPU offers project manager expertise for this type of project. If the need arises, a project group can be established, consisting of IPU staff and the company’s own staff.

In projects where development plays a relatively great part, the project manager needs to have expertise in the specific field. If this project manager does not have sufficient expertise and control of the project, it will prove difficult to steer the project in the right direction when new situations occur, which may require that the project is altered.

At IPU, most of the projects are development projects, which fall within IPU’s core competences. Therefore, often they are manned by a project manager with professional expertise in the main scope of the project, as well as a number of project workers, each with core competences in selected areas of product development. If needed, we are able to call on specialists from DTU or other institutions to assist in the project.

IPU supplies a development team for this type of project. Often, IPU’s development team enters into close collaboration with the company staff in order to ensure that the project is kept on the right path.