q  APESA maintains high standards for contracted work and for timely delivery of that work and enforces stringent rules of discretion and confidentiality on all undertakings

q  The Project Development System assigns each contract to a Project Coordinator who, in turn, is responsible for the performance of the Project Team.  Each team member receives specific assignments commensurate with his or her professional qualifications and experience.

q  The Associated Consultants Group and the data base are the first to be surveyed for contract requirements.  For specific contract qualifications not found in the Group, outside help is sought.

q  Each assigned task is referred to the Project Coordinator, who then prepares a first draft of the study or report.  All reports or studies follow an established pattern and work method. In the case of pre-feasibility or feasibility studies, the core of the work stems from specifically prepared computer program-performing simulation models.  The models are scanned for alternatives and run through a sensitivity analysis.  This consists of a simulation of the actual operation of the project -in APESA this is referred to as the Operations Program- under differing assumed sets of circumstances.  The Program includes projected cash flow, usually on a month by month basis or for periods as long as ten years.  Simulation results are annexed to the study and summarized in the body of the report.  Simulation programs are stored in the data bank for future use.

q  In studies involving the use of remote sensing, the core of the work consists of aerial photograph and satellite image interpretation and the information input in a GIS system.  This is followed by an intensive program of field work to verify land use with GPS positioning.  In all projects the planning by objectives methodology is used.

q  Draft reports are subjected to an established system of editing, and very strict figure confrontation and cross checking, all of which is done by a specialized team independent of the Project Team.  Final editing includes careful scrutiny of language and report presentation.

q  A project number and cost control procedure is established for each proposal.  This allows APESA to control the project schedule, resource assignments, and fixed and variable costs.  This results in a high grade of cost efficiency, which, in turn, allows for proper budgeting in each proposal.