Project Management: the Shelf Company - Assignment Example

Overview
Project management is the discipline of defining and achieving targets while optimizing (or just allocating) the use of resources (time, money, people, materials, energy, space, etc) over the course of a project (a set of activities of finite duration). (Wikipedia).

Aims and Objective
The hardware and software installed will be able to do the following:
• An operator enters the identification code for the type of bookshelf ordered by the customer.
• One robot responds by moving through the warehouse picking appropriate shelving and framework timber for this product and delivering it to the assembly room. (Based on their identification code, appropriate software allows the robot to access a list of components required, and to find where in the warehouse they are stored.)
• Another robot, in the assembly room, puts these parts together (using glue or bolts where appropriate) to make the bookshelf. It moves the completed bookshelf to a nearby holding area ready for loading onto a truck.
• At the end of the day all completed bookshelves are loaded onto a truck (by human workers using forklift trucks) for delivery to customers the next morning.
• The computer system (in addition to controlling the robots) should keep track of the stock of each type of shelf and frame component that has been used and so be able to report when stock replenishment is required.

Criteria of Success
For the success of the project at The Shelf Company Proposal document. In broad terms you will oversee a project that will involve:
• The delivery, installation, and testing of two industrial robots.
• The installation of a minicomputer system to be used as the centralized storage and processing unit for use by the two robots at TSC.
• The installation of the terminal and peripheral devices in the control center, and cabling to the mini and to the parts of the warehouse where the robots will operate.
• Develop documentation for the new system, suitable for use by staff at TSC.
• Organising and overseeing the training of staff on the new system.

Assumption
Project Management tries to gain control over some variables:
Time - The amount of time required to complete the project. Typically broken down for analytical purposes into the time required to complete the components of the project, which is then further broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component.
Cost - Calculated from the time variable. The cost to develop an internal project is time multiplied by the cost of the team members involved. When hiring an independent consultant for a project, the cost will typically be determined by the consultant or firm's hourly rate multiplied by an estimated time to complete.