Engineering Project Management - Report Example

Project Management Student Inserts Name Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 15th September, 2014 Executive Summary This report has been prepared to track the construction of the Forest Road project in the state of California with a critical look into the WBS, scope and PERT analysis through all the lifecycle tasks in the completion of the project. The implementation of this project will critically look into the aspects of activity planning through the use of WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and PERT analysis in relation to time planning. The analysis will look into the best strategies that will deployed in the process of time and cost estimation with emphasis on the best methods in relation to theories on project management. The project implementation will look into tasks such as time planning and project life cycles in terms of activities in relation to predecessors and relation between these tasks. However, special emphasis will be placed on time management since the construction of the road has strict deadlines that have been set by the project stakeholders. Project management relies heavily on activity planning and thus this project has laid emphasis on prioritization of tasks and resources in project management. Therefore, proper planning in terms of task definition and activity planning should be undertaken with emphasis on PERT to ensure optimum construction techniques and activity planning is achieved. In the process of implementing the project, several omissions and weaknesses were present in the implementation of the project. As a result, several recommendations were made in the implementation to address these weaknesses as outlined; a) Proper construction of activity lists with use of software such as Microsoft Project which includes the predecessors and dependencies between these activities. Therefore the Gantt charts and the milestones produced would be valuable tools to monitor and control the schedules used within the process of planning and implementation of the Project. b) The project schedule should be considered a living document and it should be maintained and reviewed by the project at all steps within the project management tasks. c) Challenges encountered during the project should be included in future projects since they inform the project of all challenges and mitigation plans in curbing and dealing with these challenges. d) PERT analysis is important in coming up with a proper project management plan. e) Activity planning should be accompanied by clear and consistent WBS which reflects all the tasks to be undertaken in the process of undertaking the assignment. This would allow the management to have an easy time and improve efficiency in the process of project management. Allow for input from the project team in the process of undertaking feasibility study to come up with a reasonable and effective project implementation document. Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 List of Figures 6 Introduction 7 Project Charter Review 7 Work Breakdown Structure 8 PERT 13 Project Description 17 Challenges 19 Lessons 20 Conclusion 20 Recommendations 21 References 23 List of Figures Table 1: Showing the Forest Road Project Activities Diagram 1: Forest Road Project Gantt chart Diagram 2: showing the task list in the Gantt chart Diagram 3: Showing the Gantt chart activity network diagram Table 2: showing the Forest Road project major tasks Introduction The implementation of a major project should put into consideration a lot of factors such as time, budget and schedule. All these factors are organized under a WBS which considers standards such as engineering, project management and environmental considerations in the process of undertaking project management. This analysis will look into the implementation of a road project in the state of California; the project dubbed the Forest Road Construction will look into the stages of its implementation. The project implementation will look into the construction process and other project implementation tasks with emphasis on major project tasks. The work plan for the delivery and implementation of the Forest Road Construction project was under the oversight of the Department of Transportation of California State. This project was undertaken over a period of 376 weeks and it linked the major highways and roadways of California. In the implementation of the project, the major stakeholders were the Department of Transport, the contractor, the local county government and the general public. The Work plan guideline for road construction is undertaken by the Department of Transport with the intention of having standard roads constructed. The main focus of this project will be on ensuring that the full scope of the project is well documented for all the stakeholders. Project Charter Review In the implementation of the Forest Road project, we will look into the scope of the project, the stakeholders, objectives and benefits of the project as covered in the project charter. Major sections of the project charter are outlined as follows; a) Stakeholders: The major stakeholder in the Forest Road project is the California’s state, Department of Transport who will construct the road through a public fund. The road project will provide employment to the people of Alameda County and thus its residents are also stakeholders in the project. Other stakeholders include the project team, labour unions, land owners and road users who are set to benefit from the construction. b) Benefits: There are several benefits that will be accrued from the construction of the Forest Road such as better flowing traffic, reduced congestion in the Alameda County and increased trade flows due to a better road network. These benefits also informed the project sponsor to go ahead undertake the road construction. c) Scope: The Forest Road project is expected to take a period of 376 weeks in construction and this will involve various tasks and activities which need completion. The project is vital in the process of ensuring better road network is achieved in the Alameda County in the state of California. d) Project Team & Roles: In the implementation of the Forest Road project, various tasks and activities will be carried out by the project team which has been tasked with the full implementation of the project. Each team will be responsible for different tasks such as human resource sourcing which will be conducted by the project’s planning team. While the technical department will be responsible for all the technical aspects of road construction. Work Breakdown Structure The implementation of the Forest Road project will look into the major milestones that will be undertaken in the planning, design, construction, inspection and commissioning of the completed road project. In the implementation of a WBS, there are factors to consider such as the major milestones, levels of your project and connection of all these processes in the implementation of the project. As the overall project is broken down into several tasks, we notice that these levels are broken down into increasing levels of detail. Therefore, in a project each level must completely include the total work scope of the WBS element at the next higher level. In this case the all the tasks under level 2 represents the total work need to complete level one (Mansuy, 2008, pp. 15-17). The major milestones and subtasks of this project are reflected in the WBS diagram in the appendix section. In the implementation of the overall project, we have to ensure that the project meets globally accepted standards and some of the attributes of a good project are; a) The project’s should have clear accomplishments/deliverables b) Project can be quantified c) A project should also be manageable in the sense that tasks and responsibilities should be shared easily d) A project should be independent in the sense that is should have minimum dependence on other ongoing elements e) A project should also be integratable in the sense that it can be integrated into other projects with higher level cost estimates and schedules. In the implementation of the Forest Road project, we had to look into several activities that make up the project. These tasks are divided into five phase each with its own set of activities, resources and time allocation. The summary of the major phases and activities of the Forest Road project is outlined as listed below; Phase Activity Duration Estimated Cost Project Initiation Project Steering Committee Selection 1 week $ 5,000 Project Scope & Requirements Definition 6 weeks $ 15,000 Permits & Environmental studies Review Existing Maps and plans 6 weeks $ 10,000 Preliminary environmental screening 12 weeks $ 25,000 Environmental assessment 36 weeks $ 80,000 Geotechnical Investigation 6 weeks $ 40,000 Environmental Protection Plan 6 weeks $ 25,000 Acquire & File Permits 1 week $ 50,000 Planning, Design & Specification Functional Design 24 weeks $ 100,000 Land Access Determination 18 weeks $ 30,000 Public Consultation 12 weeks $ 25,000 Full Land Survey 24 weeks $120,000 Permitting 6 weeks $ 50,000 Detailed Design 18 weeks $ 150,000 Project Costing 6 weeks $ 40,000 Construction Specification & Provisions Preparation 6 weeks $ 10,000 Utilities Relocation 12 weeks $ 40,000 Tendering 12 weeks $ 10,000 Right Way & Preliminary Works Acquisition of right way 12 weeks $ 300,000 Soil Survey 6 weeks $ 100,000 Labour agreements with community agencies 1 week $ 10,000 Acquisition of necessary permits & other prerequisites 1 week $ 70,000 Construction Clearing Trees and bushes 6 weeks $ 10,000 Remove low lying vegetation and top soil 6 weeks $ 20,000 Bridge, large culvert & Retaining wall 30 weeks $ 950,000 Sub grade construction, including drainage culvert, ditches & Slopes 42 weeks $ 650,000 Gravel Placement 12 weeks $ 950,000 Asphalt placement 24 weeks $ 1,300,000 Shoulder gravel, road signs, roadside barrier & pavement markings 18 weeks $ 480,000 Commissioning 6 weeks $ 10,000 Table 1: Showing the Forest Road Project Activities The implementation of the above tasks will be supported by resources which will planned according to needs and each resource is cost based on industry figures and the hours worked. Resource planning and management is another important task in the implementation and management of the Forest Road project. The diagram below shows the resource sheet for the Forest Road Project and it outlines the resource name and the cost of the resource. Diagram 1: Forest Road Project Gantt chart In the development and implementation of the project, all project tasks should be undertaken in stages to allow for the progress measurement and assessment by stakeholders. Implementing a project in piece meal fashion allows for measurement of successes and correction of mistakes that could heighten project risks. A Gantt chart outlines all the project stages and outlines the transitions from one stage to the next. In the construction and implementation of the Forest Road Construction is summarised by the five phases which are; 1. Project Initiation 2. Permits & Environmental Studies 3. Planning, Design & Specification 4. Right of Way & Preliminary Works 5. Construction The Gantt chart will cover all the activities that will implemented in the construction of the Forest Road. These activities are summarised and captured by the major activities listed below; Diagram 2: showing the task list in the Gantt chart Diagram 3: Showing the Gantt chart activity network diagram The figures above show the Gantt chart activities and the network diagram that outlines the major activities. The network diagram outlines the transition from one activity to the next as shown by figure 2. PERT PERT is a technique used to find the most appropriate method for the construction of the project in terms of time and critical method. PERT considers several factors such as different tasks, its predecessors and how tasks transition from one to another. In the determination of PERT, it is imperative to make sure that immediate predecessor are mapped since these are activities that should be completed no later than the starting time of an extra activity. For instance, in the Forest Road Construction project, task A has to be completed before we can proceed to task B as shown by the diagram. The Forest Road construction is made up of 5 major phases as outlined in the Gantt chart activity list and this should be considered in the process of determining PERT. In the determination of the PERT we have to look into the tasks that make up the implementation of the Forest Road project (Gray, 2009). Several tasks do not need the completion of other tasks and therefore, we have to ensure that we note out these tasks. For instance, in the implementation of the Forest we notice that the Right of Way phase can be undertaken concurrently with other tasks such as planning, design and specification. Therefore, we can do PERT analysis by first listing the entire tasks in the project as shown by the table below; Activity Activity Description Immediate Predecessors Estimated Duration A Project Initiation - 7 weeks B Permits & Environmental Studies A 67 weeks C Planning, Design & Specification B 138 weeks D Right Way & Preliminary Works B,C 20 weeks E Construction D 144 weeks Table 2: showing the Forest Road project major tasks A typical working week in the implementation of the project is 5 working days. The project manager in the determination of PERT has to determine certain set timelines by use of queries on the project undertaking. These queries include; a) What is the total time the project supposed to take in case there are no delays? b) Which activities need to start of finish early to ensure the project completes in time? c) What are the critical bottlenecks in the implementation and completion of the project in time? d) Which activities will tolerate delays without much effect on the completion of the project? e) Due to the uncertainties in the process of estimating the completion of the project, what are the probabilities in the tasks of completing the project? f) Which is the best procedure in ensuring that cost overruns are not encountered in the process of implementing the project? g) In case of cost overruns which are the methods that will be utilized to ensure that we have a least expensive way of meeting the target completion time? PERT analysis relies upon network diagrams and activities to track the duration and flow of activities. The 3 major measures that PERT measures are; 1) Activity information: This is the task of breaking the project into phases and set activity tasks. 2) Precedence relationships: This is the relationships that exist between immediate predecessors for each activity. 3) Time information: This is the estimate duration for each activity. There are different types of networks in the implementation of the project such as activity-on-arc (AOA) or the activity-on-node (AON) project network. Utilizing and drawing an AOA network diagram is quite difficult and therefore, we have to utilize AON network diagram in the case of the Forest Road Project. The reasons for utilizing the AON network diagram are: a) AON project networks are quite simple to draw compared to AOA projects b) AON projects networks are easier to understand that AOA for many inexperienced persons and managers. c) In case of changes, it is easier o revise AON network diagrams compared to AOA project diagrams. Therefore for this project, we will utilize the AON network diagram and make sure that we have the figures for critical path and estimate the appropriate period for implementation of the project. In our Forest Road project, we have five major phases and the initial project activity being Project Initiation (A) which has no predecessor, we will have an arc that connects to the project start (Harrison, 2004). In relation to activity E which is construction, it should lead to the completion or end phase of the project. The network diagram for the Forest Road project is shown below; The network diagram above shows the tasks and activities that make up the Forest Road project and thus this is how the processes and activities merge. The network diagram assists in determining the path which will be used arriving at the appropriate project path to take. The activities of any given path and project should be undertaken in sequence and thus there should be no overlap (Kerzner, 2006). Therefore, in the Forest Road project we have to ensure that the project is done in a keen manner and that all activities in the project correspond in a proper manner. As a result, since the predecessors of activity D being B and C while all activities must be considered. Therefore, the project path to be followed is shown below; PERT is usually used to determine the critical path which is the project duration which equals the longest path throughout the project. Although, the task D can be done concurrently to other tasks, the time taken for undertaking this task concurrently will not affect all other tasks. Therefore, based on the network diagram utilized in this project we can conclude that the time taken and needed to complete this task can be summed up as; Critical Path = 7+67+138+20+144 = 376 weeks. Therefore, the critical path and the summation of these activities amounts to 376 weeks and it was found out by determining longest route is the most convenient way of finding the critical path. There are several ways of scheduling projects and this involves the use of EF (Earliest Finish Time) and ES (Earliest Start Time) which are tied to calculating the paths used in calculating duration and network diagrams used in project planning. The ES is usually affected by activities or tasks which have different immediate predecessors. Project Description The Forest Road project is made up of five major phases which is divided into various activities and categories and therefore, proper planning should be undertaken in the project management. These phases best explain the project as outlined; 1) Project Initiation: this is the initial process in the construction process whereby all the stakeholders meet and decide to undertake the project. This process involves identifying the major purpose and requirements needed to implement and finish the project. The major deliverable of this stage is the requirements and specification document for the road construction project. It is at this initial stage that the scope of the project is defined and a document prepared on how work on the road project will proceed (Furman, 2011). In our case, we have estimated that this take will take approximately 30 days. 2) Permits & Environmental Studies: This is the next major step in the construction of the Forest Road project. This step involves several activities such as reviewing the maps of close sections of the road and other section around the Forest Road project. The major activity within this step is the environmental impact assessment study in order to come up with an environmental protection plan. Moreover, permits must be sought from authorities such as the EMEA, surveyors, engineers, the Land officials and the California Department of Transport. These permits will allow the contractor to proceed with other works necessary for the road construction (Gardiner, 2005). 3) Planning, Design & Specification: This is one of the most critical steps in the implementation of the Forest Road Construction project since it is concerned with the planning and design. Moreover, this stage supports and actualizes the ideas of the project stakeholders and therefore it should be conducted in a proper manner. The planning process require realistic designs which meet certain set standards and metrics since permits for construction and acquisition of road construction have already been issued. The California Department of Roads has to ensure that the design meets certain set criteria and that the implementation will be successful (Gray, 2009). 4) Right of Way & Preliminary Works: In the construction of roads, it is imperative to ensure that right of way is acquired for the purposes of constructing the road. An allowance is usually left out on the both sides of the road as right of way for future expansion of the road and for other road users such as pedestrians and bicycle users. This phase is characterised by several tasks such as right of way acquisition and legal agreements with land owners. Some projects have stalled due to lack of proper procedures in right of way acquisition and thus this phase must be undertaken with proper caution (Meredith, 2011). 5) Construction: This is the last phase in the construction and implementation of the project and therefore it should be considered very carefully. This process involves clearing the bushes and undertaking other tasks such as building supporting infrastructure for the road. Therefore, we should consider high standards in the process of construction. Metrics and international set standards that are set in the construction industry should be met in the construction of the Forest Road Construction project. Other important tasks in the construction phase include gravel and asphalt placement. The deliverable in the construction phase is a complete road that will be commissioned by the California Department of Transport (Hobbs, 2009). Challenges In the implementation of the Forest Road project, several challenges were faced by the project team. These challenges were related to technical and planning procedures in the project management. Most of the challenges faced were related to project risks and other miscellaneous challenges as outlined; a) Project estimation was a challenge since it would be impossible to anticipate the completion and implementation of certain tasks. a) In the implementation of the project, the project came across several risks which include; Work load division, Improper requirements or delays in preparation of the same, b) Tendering issues c) Financial issues such as cost overruns d) Regulatory and Labour bottlenecks These challenges were witnessed by the project management team and through management and planning; these challenges were finally tackled adequately. These solutions to these challenges included; a) Having a risks mitigation plan b) Implementing Occupational Hazard measures and regulations that would ensure risks are kept to a bare minimum. c) Technical assessment d) Having several project evaluation plans to ensure challenges are mitigated once they occur. For that reason, proper management should be undertaken and data on all risks should be collected and analyzed to ensure that right procedures are put in place for risk mitigation. All risk mitigation procedures used in the project should be noted down to ensure that future risks occurrence is put to bare minimum and that these risks can be handled appropriately in the future (Kerzner, 2006). Lessons In the implementation of the Forest Road project, we learnt several lessons in project management and these lessons are; a) Proper planning should be based on important aspects of project planning such as having prudent activity plans. b) The project team should ensure constant evaluation of the project is undertaken to ensure the project does not get out of scope. c) WBS assists greatly in ensuring that activity planning is undertaken in a prudent manner for all the project tasks. d) Project managers should make use of tools such as PERT and WBS in ensuring high standards of project management is maintained. e) Assessment and project management tasks involve a lot of learning to ensure successful completion of the project. Therefore, proper co-ordination and management of the project teams will ensure that the project will be a success in the end. Conclusion The process of project management involves undertaking several activities and processes that ensure the aims and objectives of stakeholders are implemented. From the analysis of the Forest Road project it is understood that activity planning, time and cost management are imperative in the successful implementation of projects. Cost management is quite important in ensuring that the scope of the project becomes feasible for all the project stakeholders. However, the project implementation techniques and processes should be well planned to cover major factors such as scope and activity planning. For instance, the WBS should be well defined to ensure transition of activities and allow for project crashing in case of intermittent delays. Consequently, time planning which affects cost planning is also a major factor that has to be planned based on PERT analysis. PERT analysis will make it easier for the project team to look into tasks or activities that should take precedence. Based on the plans adopted in this project, it is highly likely that more than 90% of the project plans and activities will be undertaken within the set targets. Recommendations In the implementation of the Forest Road project we encountered several challenge and also encountered some successes which enabled us to come up with different set of recommendations as outlined; a) Proper construction of activity lists with use of software such as Microsoft Project which includes the predecessors and dependencies between these activities. Therefore the Gantt charts and the milestones produced would be valuable tools to monitor and control the schedules used within the process of planning and implementation of the Project. b) The project schedule should be considered a living document and it should be maintained and reviewed by the project at all steps within the project management tasks. c) Challenges encountered during the project should be included in future projects since they inform the project of all challenges and mitigation plans in curbing and dealing with these challenges. d) PERT analysis is important in coming up with a proper project management plan. e) Activity planning should be accompanied by clear and consistent WBS which reflects all the tasks to be undertaken in the process of undertaking the assignment. This would allow the management to have an easy time and improve efficiency in the process of project management. f) Allow for input from the project team in the process of undertaking feasibility study to come up with a reasonable and effective project implementation document. References Furman, J. (2011). The Project Management Answer Book. New York, NY: Management Concepts Press. Gardiner, P. (2005). Project management: a strategic planning approach. Boston, MA: Palgrave Macmillan. Gray, C. & Larson, E. (2009). Project management : The managerial process, 2 edn. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Harrison, F. & Lock, D. (2004). Advanced Project Management: A Structured Approach. San Francisco, CA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Hobbs, P. (2009). Project Management. Lowell, MA: McGraw Hill Publishing. Kerzner, H. (2006). Project management : A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, 9th ed. Edn. London: Macmillian Publishers. Mansuy, J. (2008). ‘Work breakdown structure: A simple tool for complex jobs’, Cost Engineering, 33(1), 15-18. Meredith, J. & Mantel, S. (2011). Project Management: A Managerial Approach. Boston, MA: John Wiley and Sons. Read More