Service Streams

Project Delivery
Stream

The vendor is selected. The contract is signed. Now the hardest part begins. The Project Delivery Stream provides senior-led programme oversight from concept validation through to go-live — holding structure, accountability, and momentum through the phases where complexity is highest and the cost of misalignment is greatest.

01

Concept Guidance — scenarios validated before commitment

02

Detailed Design — build-ready documentation across all disciplines

03

Programme Management — senior oversight, risks managed

04

Go-Live Readiness — structured handover, no surprises

What This Stream Delivers

From concept to go-live.
Senior-led. Every phase.

Large-scale automation and intralogistics projects fail for predictable reasons — concept assumptions that were never properly tested, design gaps that only surface during build, programme structures that lose grip when vendor pressure peaks, and go-live transitions that weren't prepared for operational reality. This stream addresses all four. Directly, sequentially, with senior practitioners accountable at every stage.


Phase 01

Concept
Guidance

Pre-commitment

Phase 02

Detailed
Design

Pre-build

Phase 03

Programme
Management

Build & integration

Phase 04

Go-Live
Readiness

Transition & handover


Outcome 01

Concepts
tested early

Scenarios evaluated and validated before capital is committed — so design decisions are based on evidence, not assumptions carried forward from the business case.

Outcome 02

Design gaps
closed pre-build

Build-ready documentation across mechanical, electrical, IT, and operational domains. Problems solved on paper, not discovered on site.

Outcome 03

Programme
stays on track

Senior programme governance that holds structure when vendor pressure, scope creep, and integration complexity peak simultaneously.

Outcome 04

Go-live that
actually performs

Operational readiness verified before the switch is flipped. Teams prepared. Systems tested. No improvisation on day one.

01

Phase one

Concept
Guidance

___________

Strategic and technical validation of solution concepts before any capital commitment is made.

Early-stage concept decisions carry disproportionate weight. A flawed assumption at this stage — about throughput, technology fit, or scalability — compounds through every subsequent phase. The time to challenge it is now.

We support the development and independent validation of early-stage solution concepts, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives, technical feasibility, and long-term operational requirements. We sit between strategy and engineering — comparing scenarios, identifying risks that aren't yet visible, and verifying that each concept is consistent with business-case assumptions before the project moves into detailed design.

  • High-level layouts and material-flow concepts developed and reviewed

  • Conceptual system architecture covering automation technologies and IT interfaces

  • Scenario comparisons across manual, semi-automated, and fully automated solutions

  • Initial throughput, capacity, and operational performance modelling

  • Verification of alignment between concept assumptions and business-case data

  • Early risk identification and escalation before design commitment

The cost of a late correction

A design flaw identified at concept stage costs a conversation. The same flaw identified during build costs weeks and six-figure rework. Identified at go-live, it costs the programme. We invest the time at concept because the return is unambiguous.

02

Phase two

Detailed
Design

___________

A complete, build-ready design package that leaves no room for interpretation — or improvisation.

The gap between an approved concept and a build-ready design is where most projects accumulate their hidden risk. Integration dependencies missed. Equipment specifications incomplete. System interfaces unresolved. We close every gap before a tool is picked up.

We convert the validated concept into a comprehensive design package covering every discipline required for build and implementation. Technical drawings, functional specifications, integration requirements, and coordination documentation are developed across mechanical, electrical, IT, and operational domains — with full stakeholder validation and sign-off before build begins.

  • Final layout drawings refined with zoning, material flows, and equipment placement

  • Full Functional Design Specifications for all system components

  • System integration design: WMS, WCS, ERP, and middleware interface requirements

  • Equipment lists, bills of materials, and technical datasheets

  • Stakeholder validation workshops with formal sign-off documentation

  • Complete design-to-implementation handover package for all delivery teams

Systems Integration Coverage

WMS - WCS - ERP - Middleware - Conveyors - ASRS - AGV / AMR - Sorters - Pick Systems - SCADA

03

Phase three

Programme
Management

___________

Senior oversight that holds the programme together when complexity peaks — and recovers ground when it slips.

Build and integration phases concentrate every risk in the programme simultaneously — vendor performance, integration failures, timeline pressure, and stakeholder anxiety. Structure and accountability matter most precisely when they're hardest to maintain.

We provide senior-led programme management across the build, integration, and testing phases — maintaining governance, managing risk, and coordinating the workstreams that vendors, internal teams, and third parties are executing in parallel. When issues surface, they are escalated and resolved through a clear governance structure, not absorbed into the schedule and discovered later.

  • Senior programme governance structure with defined decision rights and escalation paths

  • Integrated programme schedule across all vendor and internal workstreams

  • Risk and issue register with active management and structured resolution

  • Vendor performance tracking against contracted deliverables and milestones

  • Regular executive reporting on programme health, risk status, and critical path

  • Change management for scope, timeline, and commercial variations

When programmes need recovery

We are also engaged to stabilise programmes that have lost structure mid-delivery — where governance has fragmented, timelines have slipped, or vendor relationships have deteriorated. Recovery engagements begin with a rapid diagnostic and a structured recovery plan.

04

Phase four

Go-Live
Readiness

___________

The transition from project to operation — managed so that go-live is a planned event, not a discovered one.

Go-live failures are rarely technical. They're readiness failures — teams not prepared, systems not tested end-to-end, contingencies not planned. The weeks before go-live determine whether day one is a milestone or a crisis.

We manage the structured transition from project to live operation — verifying that systems, teams, and processes are all ready before the cut-over date is committed to. Testing protocols are completed. Operational teams are prepared. Contingency plans are in place and understood. The go-live checklist is a genuine gate, not a formality.

  • Go-live readiness framework with structured verification across all workstreams

  • End-to-end system testing and user acceptance testing coordination

  • Operational team readiness verification — training completed, SOPs in place

  • Cut-over planning with detailed sequencing and rollback provisions

  • Hypercare planning for the first days and weeks of live operation

  • Formal project closure and handover to operational ownership

Value to Your Organisation

The programme you planned
is the one that gets delivered.

Large-scale transformation projects are complex by nature. What determines success isn't the absence of problems — it's whether the governance structure can absorb and resolve them without losing momentum or control. That's what the Project Delivery Stream provides.

Budget and timeline
protected

Senior programme governance with active risk management means issues are identified and resolved before they become schedule or cost events. The programme you committed to is the programme you deliver.

Executive confidence
throughout

Clear, structured reporting at every stage. Decision-makers have the information they need to act — without being absorbed into technical detail or caught off-guard by programme developments.

Design misalignment
eliminated

End-to-end design validation across all disciplines before build begins. Integration gaps, specification conflicts, and technical dependencies resolved on paper — not discovered mid-construction.

Go-live that
holds

Operational performance from day one — not discovered through weeks of post-launch firefighting. Teams ready. Systems tested. Processes embedded. The project ends where the business case said it would.

Where This Stream Connects

Adjacent streams
worth exploring.

Project Delivery sits at the centre of the transformation lifecycle — downstream of Tender, running alongside Change Management and Assurance, and handing over to Continuous Improvement.

Stream - Before

Tender
Stream

The right vendor, selected through a rigorous and independent process. The foundation that Project Delivery builds on.

Stream - Alongside

Change Management
Stream

The people, structures, and capabilities aligned to the future operating model — running in parallel with delivery to ensure readiness at go-live.

Stream - Alongside

Project Assurance
Stream

Independent validation and gate reviews across the delivery lifecycle — ensuring what was designed is what gets built.

Ready to begin

Deliver what the
business case promised.

Speak with a senior Ethon consultant about your programme. Whether you're at concept stage, mid-delivery, or looking to recover a project that's lost structure — we'll give you an honest assessment of where you are and what you need.