Project Portfolio Management in an Industrial Organization

Trail Operations is the only refining and smelting operation in the Teck Resources Limited organization. It has evolved into a major industrial complex in British Columbia and one of the largest combined Zinc Lead smelters in the world. Annual major expenditures to maintain facilities are approximately $100M. Project selection and approval is ad hoc and lacks detailed evaluation. Justification often focuses on matching the 10% rate of return expected for investments to maintain an operating facility. New investment opportunities must now compete with other Teck opportunities and provide either a greater return on investment or other justification. As a result, efforts to formalize the selection, timeliness, and return on investment of Trail projects are underway. This paper will identify issues related to the project process, the approach identified to address these issues, and a plan to implement the recommendations. This approach will treat the projects as a portfolio of potential investments and develop structured workflows for their creation, selection, planning, and management. The deployment of this methodology is in progress.