Project Charter for ABC Retail ltd Centralized Distribution Centre - Case Study Example

Project Charter for ABC retail ltd Centralized Distribution Centre Contents Content page 2. Project overview 3. Milestone schedule 4. Quality plan 5. Team plan 6. Assumptions 7. Risk plan(Risk and mitigation) 8. Contingency plan Project Overview ABC Ltd. is a national grocery retailer. It plans to integrate its supply chain by opening a state of the art Distribution centre, integrating the logistics and supply mechanism, currently scattered among five regional centres. The project is critical to the achievement of profit targets for ABC ltd. since it will streamline the supply chain for ABC and will increase the profits by about $2 million annually. The project has been approved in principal, in spite of uncertainties about its outcome. Thus the project management and the project manager’s role became even more crucial. The project assumes that it shall achieve breakeven in terms of project investment and savings gathered within two years of its operation and the facility needs to be planned as such. A work break down structure, Gantt chart and financial analysis is attached herewith to give a better view of the project plan, in addition to this project charter, which discusses the various important aspects and deliverables of this project. Milestone Schedule Sl.no. Milestone Date achieved 1 Hiring of Project Manager 12/15/12 2 Approval of Conceptual Design 1/3/13 3 Completion of Project team Recruitment 1/14/13 4 Completion of Module Planning 1/14/13 5 Arrival at Estimate of Time Deadline for Project 1/18/13 6 Budget and Financial Forecasts 1/21/13 7 Consultant Recruitment 3/5/13 8 Completion of Construction Module 5/31/13 9 Integration of all Fitout modules and Completion of Building Fit-Out Module 8/15/13 10 Integration of Software with physical warehouse management 6/5/13 11 Completion of Inventory management system module 7/17/13 12 Completion of RFID module 7/3/13 13 Completion of Security system module 7/24/13 Quality Plan Team Members’ Roles And Responsibilities In Quality Management The team members shall be engaged in the Quality planning and execution process. The various Staff members and their nature or level of quality responsibility as well as the deliverables and activities or techniques for the same are as follows: Sl no. Designation Quality Role/Responsibility Deliverables/Activities 1 Project Manager Quality planning Cost benefit analysis, Benchmarking 2 Supply Chain Manager Quality assurance support Quality audits, process analysis 3 Construction Coordinator Work Performance Info Change requests 4 Inventory Coordinator Quality assurance Internal quality audits on inventory system 5 Warehousing Expert Quality assurance support Warehouse document updates 6 RFID expert Quality assurance RFID quality metrics 7 Financial expert Quality control Cost of quality metrics 8 HR expert Quality control Performance appraisal and project progress 9 Electrical Supervisor Electrical quality assurance Electrical module process analysis 10 Furnishing Supervisor Furnishing quality assurance Internal quality audits 11 Security Supervisor Quality control for security module and other modules Work performance information 12 Building Design consultant Building quality assurance Quality control measurements 14 Construction Consultant Construction process quality assurance Construction quality audits Team Plan Sl no. Designation Role/Responsibility 1 Project Manager To head the Project Management team 2 Supply Chain Manager To Assist the Project Management in Coordinating the Design and implementation of DC and processes and workflow 3 Construction Coordinator To Assist the Construction consultant in construction process and supervise the process on behalf of project manager 4 Inventory Coordinator To plan inventory module and assist the warehouse expert in integrating the inventory module into the warehouse plan 5 Warehousing Expert To Advise the project manager on warehouse design and process 6 RFID expert To create and implement RFID module 7 Financial expert To advise the Project manager on Financial control aspects of the project 8 HR expert To advise and assist the Project manager in Recruitment and selection as well as motivation and compensation of the Project team 9 Electrical Supervisor To Advise and Assist the Construction coordinator in implanting the electrical Fit-out of Building 10 Furnishing Supervisor To Advise and Assist the Construction coordinator in implanting the furnishing module 11 Security Supervisor To Advise the Project Manager and Supervise the Security module implementation 12 Building Design consultant To Advise the Project manager on Building design aspects of DC Project 14 Construction Consultant To Advise the and Oversee the Construction process of the DC Figure 1 Organizational Chart for DC project team Team Policies 1. The Project team shall strive to strengthen interpersonal ties through team building exercises. 2. Regular refresher trainings for the staff on both behavioural as well as technical aspects of their work shall be organized. 3. Every team member shall respect the ground rules and in case of any disputes, shall adhere to the Project manager’s decision. 4. The team members shall regularly be rewarded and recognized for meeting targets as well as qualitative improvements that will contribute to the project success. Project Assumptions The project makes the following realistic assumptions about the various project scope aspects and time and cost constraints within which the project might have to operate: Project Scope Assumptions The project assumes that the work break down structure as defined for the project is exhaustive and has sufficient level of detail to ensure smooth and effective implementation. The Project assumes that the documentation work pertaining to the project requirements has been carried out effectively (Turbit 2005). That the project shall require minimum change requests is a salient assumption about the scope of the project. The Project assumes that the Distribution centre process analysis has been carried out by experts and is valid and the project can rest on the observations made in the analysis. Project Time Constraint Assumptions The project assumes that Activity resources and durations have been planned such that the project shall be completed on time as planned It makes an informed assumption that the project shall take an optimum time of nine months to complete. Project Cost Assumptions The project assumes that cost estimates for the various modules are realistic and shall be within manageable limits in case of contingency scenarios. The project assumes, based on informed forecasts that the total cost of the project shall be to the tune of $4,074,000.00. Risk Plan (Risk And Mitigation) Sl. No. Risk Mitigation 1 The Project Manager leaves the project during the execution stage Succession plan 2 The Supply Chain Manager Falls ill for a month Standby expert from other Warehouse to be called 3 The RFID expert delays the submission of RFID report Link the performance with compensation 4 The Project manager and Supply Chain manager differ on layout and design issues Clear cut policies and demarcation of authority and responsibility 5 The Electrical supervisor and electronics supervisor have a clash of timings and workspace Project manager should plan the tasks and responsibilities such that there is no overlapping of resources 6 The most productive workers of the project team are exhausted and face work related stress Motivational sessions and efficiency enhancing exercises by HR expert 7 A competitor company is offering to hire the key personnel of the project team before project completion Regular monitoring of the personnel performance and motivation, employees satisfaction surveys etc. 8 The Furnishing expert is having interpersonal issues with the construction coordinator Employee feedback and grievance reddressal mechanism in place 9 The construction coordinator is unable to adjust with construction consultant’s timings Clear cut schedule and regular team meetings 10 The Construction consultant suddenly raises his fees, increasing project costs hugely Have a work and terms agreement signed with the consultants, clarifying payment terms 11 The Gasoline prices suddenly increase affecting the procurement costs Plan the procurement and inventory in advance so as to absorb any possible sudden increase in costs 12 The Government withdraws subsidy to Warehousing services The contingency plan needs to take care of such increase in project cost 13 The local authorities raid the warehouse site based on anonymous complaints of misuse of land Close contacts and communication with local authorities 14 The Government withdraws the tax benefits to the retail business leading to cost cutting and delay in procurement of crucial items for the project Better inventory planning 15 A construction worker dies accidentally on site Welfare and safety measures in place 16 The government raises prices of cement many times leading to increase in construction costs Effective procurement and price negotiation mechanism 17 The proposed land for the DC is a disputed property and all of sudden one of the affected parties files a litigation to this effect Suitable legal mechanism and experts on panel 18 The project is delayed due to non availability of skilled construction labour Effective manpower planning 19 The project is delayed due to faulty forecasting Effective forecasting 20 The project is delayed due to a faulty batch of equipment Effective quality check on procured material 21 The project is delayed due to a strike among the construction labour Effective Human resource and labour relations mechanism 22 The project is delayed due to the unusual power cuts, at the implementation stage of the project Time and cost effective power backup 23 The project is delayed due to RFID module clashing with electrical module in terms of workspace Effective module planning 24 The project is delayed due to unexpected breakdown in equipment and machinery SOPs for machinery usage, preventive and curative maintenance in place 25 The project is delayed due to security breach and theft at site Effective security and surveillance of project 26 Faulty electronics equipment leading to process bottlenecks Procurement check mechanism 27 Electrical fire leading to loss of property Effective electrical module planning 28 Construction consultant and design consultant differ on how to expedite the construction work Effective team management by Project manager 29 Increased project costs due to faulty inventory planning Effective inventory planning 30 Faulty documentation leading to missing of deadlines for key steps in a module Proper checking and due diligence 31 The Construction team lead has a violent altercation with one of the workers Effective HR and labor relations mechanism 32 Sudden change in DC design leading to increased time and money costs Effective design planning 33 Violence in the locality due to political unrest Effective communication and safety measures 34 Fire in the DC site Effective fire fighting measures 35 Massive earthquake Disaster management mechanism 36 Heavy rains leading to water seepage and destruction of construction material Effective storage 37 Unexpected raise in freight rates by logistic transportation companies Effective supply chain management 38 Unexpected resignation by three key members of project team Succession planning 39 Project manager meets with an accident Contingency project management plan 40 Increase in project cost due to decreased efficiency of key personnel Motivational and HR practices in place 41 Increase in project cost due to overlooking of the bad workspace design and resulting clutter Effective workplace design 42 Increase in project cost due a bank fraud by one of the vendors Effective vendor management 43 Increase in cost due error in account books Effective financial and accounting control 44 Delayed project due to increasing worker errors Effective supervision 45 Threat to project due to a heavy loss in market share experienced by parent company at final stages of project Project abandonment planning to minimize losses 46 Decrease in market demand of the line of brands marketed by the parent company leading to project threat Project abandonment planning 46 Increase in project time due to lack of liquidity of funds Effective financial planning 47 Decrease in the time available for testing the equipment due to delayed arrival of key equipment Effective vendor management 48 Increase in project cost due to loss of crucial consignment due to a cyclone Effective loss management 49 Sexual harassment case by a female worker against a key member of the project team Effective HR practices and grievance redressal mechanism 50 A worker dies of electrical shock from a live wire Effective safety measures and HR practices Contingency Plan A project needs to guard against any possible risks that might realistically be associated with a given project. This project needs to look at the above mentioned risks and create an integrated plan consisting of the mitigation measures for the particular risks which are associated with project. The Contingency plan for the given project must include a safety and security mechanism to mitigate any security threats. At the same time, an effective HR policy and grievance redressal mechanism should be integrated into the overall HR planning which includes regular meetings. A risk break down structure should be created, which categorises risks and probability and impact of risks. The risks need to be categorized high and low impact risks. Further, they shall be categorized as high and low probability risks and accordingly a strategy shall be worked and constantly revised for the set of risks that might be likely at a given time. For this regular quantitative and qualitative risk assessment shall be carried out using techniques like Brainstorming and Delphi (Ritter 2008). Expert judgement shall be used on a regular basis to asses the plans and increase the sensitivity of the response mechanism to changes in the risks scenario. Risk assessment on quantitative basis shall be carried out doing sensitivity analysis of the factors affecting or likely to affect the overall project planning. An integration of the various modules and their unified management shall be achieved to reduce the response times to any threats that might have a spiralling effect lest they should occur (Merril 2007). References Merril, S. Kenneth. "Project Management Tutorial Series, PMP." November 21, 2007. http://www.eastidahopmi.org/11-21-07mtg.pdf (accessed December 2, 2012). Ritter, Donna. "Project Management: Identifying Risks In Your Project." www.wordpress.com. October 13, 2008. https://certifedpmp.wordpress.com/tag/delphi-technique/ (accessed December 10, 2012). Turbit, Neville. "Project Assumptions." Project Perfect. July 2005. http://www.projectperfect.com.au/info_assumptions.php (accessed December 8, 2012). Read More