Planning for Startup: Analysis of the Planning Model and Other Success Drivers

While CII has conducted much research into incorporating enhanced project planning into the early phases of a project, little previous work has focused on the subject of planning for the startup phase. As a result, CII’s Research Team 121 was formed to identify problems with traditional startup planning and to develop a Planning for Startup best practice model and associated tools.

Additional specific research objectives were established to complement these developments. These included the following:

• Validate the best-practice model;
• Investigate optimal levels and timing of planning for startup;
• Establish performance metrics for measuring startup success;
• Acquire an understanding of the relationships between planning for startup, startup success, and overall project success;
• Identify those planning activities that most significantly contribute to startup success; and
• Identify and assess the importance to startup of other factors, such as project type and size, maturity level of manufacturing technology, management’s startup experience, among other factors.

This report attempts to address all these issues.