1. Completely define the project before initiating it. Define functions (NOT control functions per se, although these would be helpful), milestone dates, locations, and precisely what the customer expects will be provided. Then, and only then, can you begin to engineer the system for assembly and installation. Remember that DSP products appear deceptively simple on a block diagram, but in many cases do not even hint at what the intended functionality is.

2. Every project team member in every department is waiting for engineering to be accomplished. It is prominently in the Critical Path. Rapidly gather all the information. As engineering develops, create submissions and disseminate quickly. In the early stages of the engineering, speed is more important than accuracy. As engineering later develops, accuracy dominates.

3. As quickly as possible, freeze the design. Focus on convergence rather than divergence. Crystallize the job. Eliminate possibilities. New technology that allows us to be able to do anything intoxicatingly beckons to prolong a project. The customer is paying to provide something, not anything.

4. If engineering is complete, hours will drop significantly in the shop and field. Engineering packages rushed to the shop, but missing wiring details, function lists, application notes, DSP and matrix program files, dimensions, etc., will result in expended hours that are multiples of the estimate. Remember the 1 to 3 Rule: one hour of troubleshooting in the shop equates to 3 hours doing the same troubleshooting in the field. Further, complete submissions not only assure that the customer gets what he expects to get, and results in retained clientele.

5. Changes are a bit like a supersonic Stealth Bomber. They fly undetected through radar, then ahead of their sound so you don't hear them coming, and leave death and destruction in their path. Changes must be reviewed and evaluated for cost and schedule impact, and accurately broadcast throughout the entire project team using strict document and data control. Every change impacts cost and schedule to some degree. NOTE:
· The true impact is sometimes hidden
· The longer after initiation a change occurs, the greater the impact
· During busy periods, the impact is felt over several projects

6. If youre serious about meeting the completion date:
· Control Milestone dates like they're religious. Remember those dates you projected for the key project milestones that you scheduled during a quiet period of planning and solitude? If those dates slip, you know the completion date will also.
· Have a periodic review of the milestone dates (weekly is the norm) to check progress and remove the inevitable obstacles that accumulate.
· All dates slip. Get over it. A good plan allows for buffer time at each milestone and the completion date, leaving perhaps a week before the customer expects the project to be completed.
· Communicate, communicate, communicate. There is a GROUP of individuals endeavoring to accomplish a COMMON task. Turnovers of information from one department to another in the circle of sales (Sales to Engineering, Engineering to Shop, Shop to Field, Field to Service, Service to Sales) are ripe areas for the dropsies.

7. There is no small job. Once a project has 16 or so estimated labor hours, they tend to be underestimated, and therefore invite errors that consume many hours. Control them by defining Prime Milestones and regularly review progress as if it were a large project. Remember: poor performance on any size job will alienate a customer.

8. THIS IS THE PRIME RULE OF AV ENGINEERED SYSTEMS INTEGRATION. TRUE AV INTEGRATION OCCURS WHEN AND ONLY WHEN THESE THREE ITEMS CONVERGE SIMULTANOUSLY:

· A trained, equipped, and motivated professional
· All the required materials/merchandise
· All the information necessary to know what to DO with all those materials/merchandise

9. Just as complete engineering saves significant hours in the shop and field, incomplete shop staging not only increases field hours by the 1 to 3 rule, but all your mistakes become strikingly evident to the client as you struggle in HIS/HER presence to make whole that which should have been done in YOUR shop.

10. If you do not have a formal Corrective and Preventive Action Procedure, at least complete the information cycle by assembling the entire team after the project, including sales and service. Share what was done right, what was done wrong, and what could be done better next time. And record details for future benefit.