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Case study · Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)

Solar and storage contractor: an operating model in 100+ artifacts

PPS Consulting India designed and built the operating model for a young solar and storage contractor in Africa, from discovery to handover. 100+ artifacts in all: an operating manual, a governance framework, 8 master standard operating procedures (SOPs), 13 policies, 24 SOPs, 45+ trackers, role playbooks, and hiring packs for the people who would run the projects.

At a glance

100+ artifacts

8 master SOPs, 13 policies, 24 SOPs, 45+ trackers, role playbooks and hiring packs

Client
A young solar and storage contractor
Sector
Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)
Where
Africa
The work
Operational governance
Scale
Discovery to handover, retained on capacity
Led by
Rahul Kulkarni

What was the problem?

The founder was building an engineering, procurement and construction business and needed its operating model written down: who decides what, how a project moves from contract to handover, how money is approved and paid, and what each new hire is accountable for.

The people who would run the projects were still to be hired, so the model also had to tell each of them what they would be accountable for.

What did we do?

  1. Diagnose

    Interviews with the founder and the operations team, a map of the as-is operating model and its strain points, and an operating framework blueprint signed off before anything was built.

  2. Design

    The operating manual and a governance framework: tiered decision rights, delegation thresholds, approval flows, the meeting cadence, and document control and version policy, with a performance management framework alongside.

  3. Build

    SOPs, policies, role playbooks, trackers and guides for three areas: project delivery and engineering, supply chain, and corporate support. Tools designed to be independent of any software: spreadsheets first, portable to any platform later. Hiring packs for the execution roles: terms of reference for the Project Director, Assistant Project Director, Site Manager and Coordinator, a contract template with incentive and field-deployment annexes, and playbooks for each role's execution duties.

  4. Adopt

    Retained at half capacity with two working sessions a week: new hires coached in, SOPs refitted to how the work really happened on site, and financial controls checked in practice.

  5. Hand over

    Final versions archived, hand-off routines defined, an internal SOP steward named, and a maturity roadmap for what to build next.

The method, phase by phase

What did we build?

Solar and storage contractor: how the operating model fits together Illustrative schematic, not a client document

Project delivery and engineering

2 master SOPs · 2 policies · 9 SOPs

Process SOPs

  • Milestone tracking and escalation
  • Project reporting, quality checks and validation
  • Subcontractor approval to exit
  • Site conduct, risks and issues

Role playbooks

  • Project Director
  • Site Manager

Templates and trackers

  • Master schedule and two-week lookahead
  • Weekly progress report
  • Permit to work and quality log
  • Deliverable acceptance note

Supply chain

1 master SOP · 2 policies · 7 SOPs

Process SOPs

  • Purchase request to purchase order, supplier selection
  • Delivery scheduling and logistics
  • Inventory, stores and goods received
  • Returns, equipment relocation and loss

Role playbooks

  • Assistant Project Director

Templates and trackers

  • Supplier registry and prequalification
  • Request for quotation and bid evaluation
  • Logistics tracker
  • Exception register

Corporate support

5 master SOPs · 9 policies · 8 SOPs

Process SOPs

  • Finance: billing, payroll, petty cash, budget against actual
  • Subcontractor payment, linked to milestones
  • People: hiring, conduct, leave, exit
  • Compliance, insurance, statutory filing

Role playbooks

  • Operations Director
  • Site Coordinator
  • Admin and Finance Specialist

Templates and trackers

  • Disbursement log and expense register
  • Invoice register and compliance tracker
  • SOP master index
  • Change-control register

Tools, designed to be software-independent

  • 45+ trackers, forms, logs and registers, one guide each
  • Approval flows with role thresholds, expense to payment
  • Built to run in spreadsheets first, portable to any platform

Hiring packs for the execution roles

  • Terms of reference: Project Director, Assistant Project Director, Site Manager, Coordinator
  • Contract template with incentive and field-deployment annexes
  • Execution-duty playbooks and an onboarding inventory

Governance in practice

  • Decision rights by tier: leadership, project directors, site teams
  • Weekly governance rhythm and decision memos
  • Subcontractor evaluation matrix and client readiness documents

The engagement

  1. Discover
  2. Design and build
  3. Embed
  4. Hand over

Retained advisory on capacity, not a fixed-deliverable contract. Priorities rebalanced with the founder as the business changed; decisions written down in plain language; work shared across three time zones.

What changed?

  • An operating manual, a governance framework and a performance management framework, with tiered decision rights and delegation thresholds.
  • 8 master SOPs, 13 policies and 24 SOPs across project delivery and engineering, supply chain and corporate support.
  • 45+ trackers, forms, logs and registers, each with a guide, and approval flows with role thresholds from expense to payment.
  • Hiring packs and role playbooks for the people who run the projects.
  • The client closed the contract with a five-star review on Upwork.

What stayed after we left?

An internal SOP steward owns the library. Final versions are archived, hand-off routines are defined, and a maturity roadmap sets out what to build next.

Is this relevant to you?

It is if:

  • You are growing a project business and every approval still comes to you.
  • You are about to hire project directors and site managers, and need to know what they will be accountable for.
  • Your procedures live in people's heads, or in documents nobody opens on site.

Where would we start with you?

With the PPS Backbone Review: four weeks, a fixed fee of ₹1,50,000 to ₹3,50,000 plus GST and expenses, one fix working by the end, and a plan with owners and measures that is yours to keep, whether or not we build it with you.

How the Review works

One org chart

for every employee, contractor and outsourced team, with costs, budget against actual, and scenarios

Global finance function: one view of the whole workforce

Relevant if your people costs are spread across payroll, contractors and vendors, and nobody can show the total.

Global

All results

What have we written about this problem?

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  • 100+ engagements
  • 62,000+ delivery hours
  • Top 1% Expert-Vetted on Upwork
  • 100% job success, independently verified

Across Upwork and direct contracts, including the people on our project teams.

  • MIT MicroMasters, Supply Chain
  • Six Sigma Black Belt
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner

Questions about this case

What is an operating model, in practice?

The written answer to how the company runs: who decides what and up to what amount, how work moves from one role to the next, which policies apply, and which tracker or form each step uses. Here that was an operating manual and governance framework, with SOPs, policies, role playbooks and trackers underneath, and hiring packs for the people who would run it.

Why build the tools in spreadsheets first?

So the process is proven before it is locked into software. Every tracker was designed to run in a spreadsheet first and to move to any platform later, which keeps the operating model independent of one vendor.

Can this be done remotely?

This one was, across three time zones: two working sessions a week, decisions written down in plain language, and priorities rebalanced with the founder as the business changed.

By Rahul Kulkarni, MIT MicroMasters (Supply Chain) · Last updated

Tell us two things.

What you're trying to achieve in the next 90 days, and what's breaking in execution. We'll tell you plainly what we'd fix first.

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