Project Outline - Assignment Example

Project Outline Project Background 1 Company Background. Flexible Models (FM), develops to-the-scale industrial models. Principal clients of the company are industrial construction companies and its projects include building manufacturing plants, refinery process plants, and public usage buildings, such as halls and shopping malls. FM also has clients in the residential construction business but deals in building complexes having more than 17,000 square meters of actual usable area. The model development skills of FM are well-known across industries.1.2 Project Background.

The Research and Development unit of the Property Development Department of the Government (PDDG) is working on a program called the Seismic Zone Residential Construction Improvement Program. PDDG is working to assess the effectiveness of the boxes of a particular dimension used in the foundation of buildings.2. Project Scope StatementFor successful accomplishment of project objectives, the project team would follow a linear project management life cycle as highlighted by Wysocki (2009). In this context, project management team would interview the stakeholders and review the scope of work to identify in detail their requirements and product specifications to come up with comprehensively planned schedule and cost for client’s approval.2.1 Project ObjectivesProject objective is to design, cut, assemble and deliver the boxes on the client’s location and assess the effectiveness of the scaled dimensions used in the foundations of the building.2.2 Project ObjectivesThe project deliverable is boxes of following specificationsThe size must be 300 x 250 x 200 cm with a slot of 10 x 10 x 25 cm.

The tolerance on outer dimensions must be +/-2 cm.The tolerance on dimensions of the slot must be 0 to -3 mm in width. In short, the slot cannot be more than 10 x 10 cm.It should be made of cardboard or metal sheet.It should be made of small cubes of dimensions 5 x 5 x 5 cm.It should be smooth in appearance.2.3 Product Acceptance CriteriaBoxes delivered with specifications mentioned above in para 2.2 and delivered and assembled at the client’s site within schedule and budget.2.4 Project OrganizationThe project would involve all the functional departments in designing, cutting, assembling and delivering the boxes to the client’s site.

The organization chart of the project is shown below.Figure 1 : Project Organization ChartThe required number of the resources would be shared between the project and department. In this case, functional managers would be responsible for directing the required resources to the project for completion of tasks.3. Work Breakdown StructurePMBOK (2008) defines WBS as a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work executed by the project team to achieve end project objectives and create the required deliverables.

Major project deliverables are represented by upper level of WBS that are further decomposed logically until the first level is no more decomposable. Lowest level of the project WBS is called work packages which contains most of the planned work and activities required to be executed and monitored. Figure below shows the WBS for the project.Figure 2 : Work Breakdown Structure4. Project Schedule Management PlanThe purpose of the schedule management plan is to measure the project progress during different phases.

In this regard, baselines are identified and established in early parts of the project against which appropriate data is collected and measurements are taken (Mulcahy 2011). It also provides guidelines on project time estimation processes making estimates faster and accurate. During the project execution, schedule management plan is used to determine if the deviation or variance is above the allowable threshold and requires any corrective action or not. To effectively manage the project schedule, a Gantt chart would be developed (Wysocki 2009) as shown in figure below.

Figure 3 : Project Schedule Management Plan5. Resource Management PlanMulcahy (2011) stresses the need for identification and requirement of type and quantity of resources including people, material and equipment for project after establishing the sequence of activities. These efforts results in resource management plan that helps to mitigate the risks due to non-availability of certain resources. Sanghera (2010) highlights the purpose of resource estimation to determine the requirements for types and quantities of the resources required.

According to Mulcahy (2011), information on and management of material, equipment and other physical resources is critical to successful project completion. In this particular project, both in-house and outsourced sources, as stated in the project description provided by the university, would be required. Table below shows the requirement of in-house resources in the project.Task DescriptionDepartmentResource Requirement (person days)Duration (Days)Requirement Analysis Interview Client Stakeholders Product Detail Analysis Refinement of Final DraftDesign8104462Design and Concept High Level Design Details with Operation DesignDesign41246Production Set up Cutting Sub Assembly 1 Sub Assembly 2 Sub Assembly 3 Assembly Integration ImplementationAssemblyCuttingAssemblyAssemblyAssemblyAssemblyDesignAssembly691212861174366437Table 1 : In-house Resource RequirementTable below indicates the requirement of external resourcesTask DescriptionDepartmentDuration (Days)Cost (USD)Delivery Pre-delivery Product Detail AnalysisExternal4630006000Table 2 : External Resource Requirements6.

Project Cost Estimates “Cost management is the process of estimating, control, and data analysis to establish a continuous cycle of information for the efficient implementation of projects” (Hamilton 2004). According to PMBOK (2008), the purpose of cost management plan is to make estimates for budget for the project and is used to establish cost baselines against which the project cost performance is measured. In our project, cost management plan for the Seismic Zone Residnetial Construction Improvement Program would be based on methodology recommended by Sanghera (2010) and the description of the project provided by the university.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be 36960.00 USD. Table below provides detailed cost breakdown of the project.Task DescriptionDepartmentResource Requirement (person days)Duration (Days)Cost (USD)Requirement Analysis Interview Client Stakeholders Product Detail Analysis Refinement of Final DraftDesign81064621200.002400.00900.00Requirement Analysis Total4200.00Design and Concept High Level Design Details with Operation DesignDesign41246600.001800.00Design and Concept Total2400.00Production Set up Cutting Sub Assembly 1 Sub Assembly 2 Sub Assembly 3 Assembly Integration ImplementationAssemblyCuttingAssemblyAssemblyAssemblyAssemblyDesignAssembly691212861174366437900.00810.001800.001800.001200.00900.001650.001050.00Production Total10110.

00Material Cardboard Sheet Metal Sheet Cubes50 Sheets50 Sheets900 Pieces1000.001250.009000.00Material Total11250.00Delivery Pre-delivery Shipment / DeliveryOutsourced2143000.006000.00Delivery Total9000.00Total Project Cost Estimates36960.00Table 3 : Project Cost Estimates7. Risk Management PlanAccording to PMBOK (2008), project management plan is an integral and most important part of the project management plan. The main aim of the risk response is to optimize the project performance and protect the project from uncertainties that impede the project progress.

It is tool that helps to prioritize risks and develop appropriate responses specific to the project. No single project is without risk and so is the case with our project. In-depth brainstorming revealed following risks to the project.R1 – Non-availability of both Cutters TechniciansR2 – Damage during transportation to client’s siteR3 – Change in specificationsR4 – Delay in arrival of raw materialR5 – Incorrect setupR6 - Loose AssemblyR7 – High Skill Level Requirement for Cutting OperationR8 – Non-availability of both Assembly TechniciansR9 – Project schedule delayR10 – Delay in delivery / shipmentR11 – Inadequate raw material purchasedTo assess and prioritize the risks, a probability and impact matrix was formed as shown belowImpactProbability0.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.90.10.2R110.3R6R2R100.40.5R50.6R7R9R40.7R20.8R30.9R8R1Figure 4 : Risk Probability ad Impact MatrixAt this stage only moderate (yellow) and high (red) risks would be targeted.

For this purpose, a risk management plan is given below.Risk IDDescriptionMitigation PlanResponsibleR1Non-availability of both Cutters TechniciansRescheduling the technicians to ensure there availability on the projectMichael GartnerDavidson FerreiraR2Damage during transportation to client’s siteIntroduce severe contractual penalty in case of damage to the external agency outsourced for the shipmentJim StanfordR3Change in specificationsScope of the project must be defined, approved and agreed upon by all.

In case of any change, contractual provisioning must be ensured to compensate the project in schedule and cost.Davidson FerreiraR4Delay in arrival of raw materialSupply Chain Management needs to be activated in advance with information on all possible sources in case of any delay in arrival of raw material. Also high penalty should be imposed in contract against the vendor in case of delay greater than a defined and calculated time threshold.Jim StanfordR5Incorrect setupConsult historical records and lesson learned from similar projects to avoid such mistakes and training personnel as per requirement.

Philip Cloony8. Communication Management PlanManagement of communication requirements play significant role in project’s success. According to PMBOK (2008), “it involves timely generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval and disposition of information to all concerned stakeholders during all phases of the project”. This relates the information and the people for successful dissemination of the required data at appropriate levels. In fact, project managers spend most of their time in communicating with project sponsor, team and other stakeholders to prevent problems from occurring (Mulcahy 2011).

Thus it is essential that everyone involved in the project understands the importance of the communication.For communication on the project, available organization resources and defined policies and procedures for communication would be adopted. This includes both formal and informal methods of communication, use of technology like email and cell phone. Also different reports, meetings and presentations would be used to share updates on project status, review project performance and approve change requests.

A project communication plan is given in the table belowStakeholderCommunication RequirementInformation to be CommunicatedFormatMethodFrequencyPerson ResponsibleAll stakeholdersGather information on project requirementsProject requirementsInitiation meeting / Minutes of MeetingsMeetingOnceProject Manager and Project TeamClientProject PlanProject Management PlanPresentationFormal VerbalOnceProject Sponsor and Project ManagerAll StakeholdersEncourage communicationCommunicate plan, roles and responsibilitiesKick-off meetingMeetingProject Manager and project teamAll stakeholders including the minister of stateUpdate on project progressProject StatusStatus ReportsReportWeeklyProject Manager and project teamAll stakeholders including the minister of stateUpdate of project progress on milestones achieved versus plannedProject StatusMilestone ReportsReportMontlyProject Manager and project teamProject ManagerUpdate project status and discuss project issues.

Project status and project issuesProject status meetingsMeetingMonthlyProject Manager and project teamClient, Project Sponsor and Project ManagerSeek approval to changes in project planProject plan progress and updatesClient and Sponsor MeetingsMeetingAs RequiredProject Manager and project teamProject ManagerIdentify and review issues and risks affecting budget and scheduleProject risksProject Risk MeetingsMeetingMonthlyProject Manager and project teamAll StakeholdersHistorical Record and Lessons LearnedTo make records and lessons learned part of organizational historical archiveAll document formsFormal and informal bothClosing of projectAll StakeholdersAll StakeholdersCelebrationsTo formally celebrate successful completion of the projectInvitation CardsFormal and informalClosing of projectProject Manager and Project teamTable 4 : Project Communication Plan9.

Quality Management PlanSince already to risks have been identified which are directly linked to rework thus causing delays and increased cost. For this purpose, quality plan should elaborate measures for implementation of the quality control and quality assurance procedures.ObjectiveFrequencyAuditeeAuditorControlling the project quality documentationOnceProject ManagerTechnical LeaderCheck of raw material prior to arrivalPrior to each deliveryVendorSupply Chain ManagementQuality check on each step of production for 100% QC coverageEach stepAssemblyDesignCuttingTechnical LeaderCheck of shipment prior to desptach to customerEach productionAssemblyDesignCuttingTechnical LeaderTable 5 : Quality Management PlanReferencesHamilton, A. (2004) Handbook of Project Management Procedures.

London: Thomas Telford Publishing.Mulcahy, R. (2011). PMP Exam Prep. Burnsville, RMC Publications.Project Management Institute. (2008). A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Pennsylvania, Project Management Institute.Sanghera, P. (2008) Fundamentals of Effective Program Management: A Process Approach Based on the Global Standard. Florida: J Ross Publishing.Wysocki, R. (2009) Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme. 5th ed. Indianapolis: John Wiley &Sons.