Baseline Project Plan - Case Study Example

Baseline Project Plan Executive Summary Bill Venkman, the Director of the Maintenance Department of GB Manufacturing in New York gives top priority to the development of an automated equipment check-out system that will answer the growing need for tracking lost, stolen and damaged pieces of equipment from the equipment depot. The amount of losses reached to an alarming cost of $50,000, thus the need for the system. Moreover, the new computer-aided check out system will have to handle growth in volumes of pieces of equipment, track down location of checked-out equipment - both expensive and inexpensive, complete account of pieces of equipment in employees' possession, and provide easy accessibility to volumes of different types of reports. Introduction Purpose of the Project This project plan will provide definition to the New Equipment Check - Out System for GB Manufacturing, including the goals and objectives, specifications and limitations of the project. Moreover, the plan will also be the basis of agreement for all personnel involved in the check-in and check-out transaction - Equipment Depot Staff, Supervisors of various areas, and other employees. Scope of the Project The project will introduce a new computer assisted Equipment Check-Out System which will include several computer units that are networked and with additional features such as report retrieval system and generation of inventory reports, equipment tracking, restriction implementation on certain pieces of equipment and easy accessibility to information like availability and status of equipment. Constraints and Project Barriers The possible constraints to the project are (1) limited funding sources with no contingency plans and (2) provisions of a law which might bring about inconsistent resources. Identified possible project barriers include (1) removal of funding and (2) natural disasters or emergence of wars. Project barriers may be critical to the realization of a project and may leave it invalid. Project Investigation The Problem Equipment Depot Staff of GB Manufacturing's Maintenance Department has trouble tracking down equipments, which are usually lost, stolen or damaged. This problem has incurred a grand amount of $50,000 loss on the part of the company. In addition, the quality of service being given by the staff of depot is not that remarkable no matter how much they want to give more. The systems analyst met up with the Equipment Manager, Dan Stantz, to get an overview of triggered and brought out the Equipment Check-out Project. Moreover, the analyst also held a meeting with Equipment Depot Staff to obtain necessary information about the problem. The result of the meeting is a list of problems in the operations of the Equipment Depot. The Staff identifies various problems: (1) rush of employees who wants to check in or check out at the start and end of the shift which results to slow service delivery, (2) difficulty in processing various types of employee notices, (3) difficulty in the check-in of equipments from fired employees, (4) difficulty in the notification of employees with pending equipment needs, (5) tedium of identification of a returned equipment and matching it up with the check-in and check-out records, (6) difficulty in identification of employees who have the most damage and most lost equipments, and (7) difficulty in obtaining reports and information to perform one's jobs. Alternative Problem Solution An alternative problem solution being considered is the development of a computer aided system which will look into the tracking down of the location of the pieces of equipment, generate a system of report retrieval and provide easy inventory for the staff. The Information Services System of the company is now asked for help to develop the needed system that will answer and provide for the problems mentioned. Selected Problem Solution Dan Stantz, Equipment Manager, sought out and tapped the help of the Information Services System of the Company. He envisions the use of an Information System which will help solve the problem. An Information System is one that "collects, processes, stores, analyzes and disseminates information for a specific purpose "Application" ( qtd. in http://www.scribd.com/doc/9643550/Management-Information-System). It is a computer-aided system which serves as a support to the operations, management and decision making functions of an organization (Babu et al. ch. 18 ). The selected problem solution is a centralized information system where the collection of data and its release are standard. Moreover, the envision information system (IS) for the Equipment Depot is one that has communication between various computer for easy accessibility of information input. Moreover, the IS should fit the specifications given by the Equipment Manager. Recommendations and suggestions by the Equipment Depot staff, if found useful, should also be included in the development of the IS. Project feasibility assessment As Shelly mentioned in his book: A systems request must meet several tests to see whether it is worthwhile to proceed further. This series of tests is called feasibility study and is a vital part of every systems project. A feasibility study uses three major yardsticks to measure or predict a system's success: operational feasibility, technical feasibility and economic feasibility (http://www.scribd.com/doc/7368533/System-Analysis-and-Design ). Operational Feasibility A system that has proven to be operationally feasible is one that will be used effectively after it has been developed (qtd. in http://www.scribd.com/doc/7368533/System-Analysis-and-Design). Usually, for a project to be effective, users should support it. The Maintenance Department of GB Manufacturing as well as the Staff of Equipment Depot fully supports the development and introduction of a new Equipment Check-out System which will facilitate ease of work and efficiency. Although there is already an existing manual system for the system, users see the need for its improvement. Because they see faults and flaws in the existing system, the staff supports the introduction of a new system which will not only hasten their service delivery but also provide them with the feeling of job satisfaction. If the basis of a system to be operationally feasible is the support of the users, the new Equipment Check-out System is indeed feasible. However, should there be a need for training, the company has still not yet decided on the provision of resources. Technical Feasibility Technical feasibility refers to the assessment of an organization's ability to construct or carry out a proposed system (qtd. in http://www.scribd.com/doc/6708633/SAchapter01__cache_revision=1231652476&__user_id=-1&enable_docview_caching=1). Consideration is placed on network resources (hardware and software). Moreover, the project will be set into a condition wherein it will meet the demands of growing volumes of equipments being handled in various transactions as well as the growth of the company. The plan sees that the New Equipment Check-out System will be one that can be integrated into the other information system of the company. Networking requirements by the Equipment Depot can be provided for by the Information System Services of the company. Economic Feasibility Costs are estimated on each area (people and staff, hardware, software, licensing, facility costs, fees and other expenses necessary for the realization of the project). Also, the cost if the project is not developed or postponed is estimated. Moreover, the benefits of this Information System to the company are assessed - tangible and intangible alike. The tangible benefits of a New Equipment Check-out System include: (1) less overtime for the Equipment Depot Staff (EDS), (2) improvement in the delivery of services by the EDS which decreases the need for additional workforce, and (3) an inventory system which will cut back on excess inventory consequently leading to decrease in production delays. The intangible benefits identified which can be bring about by a New Equipment Check-out System are: (1) job satisfaction in the part of the Equipment Depot Staff as well as other employees, and (2) an equipment tracking system which eases out workload of EDS and supplies information to involved personnel. However, according to Shelly, "one must also consider the development timetable, because some benefits might occur as soon as the system is operational, but others may not take place until later" ( qtd. in http://www.scribd.com/doc/7368533/System-Analysis-and-Design). Project management issues Project priority and risks The initial assessment of risk aims to address risks that have been identified before a given project begins. This then would analyze, determine and record the mitigation approach that would be done in relation with the said risks. The records of the risk assessment will be kept up-to-date while the project is still on-going and which will include all the necessary reports with the monthly evaluations. Moreover, this will all be open for any changes to the Project Manager. If in any event, the situation calls for necessary changes, the Project Manager will be the one to relay these messages to the Steering Committee monthly. Risks are categorized into low (L), moderate (M) and high (H). To each risk, a mitigation strategy is employed. Risks identified are: (1) unrealistic timeline estimates (M), (2) unrealistic cost estimates, (3) absence of commitment of management, (4) absence of commitment of users, and (5) weak project member participation. Project staff and roles The Project Staff includes a Project sponsor, a Steering Committee, a Project Manager and Project Participants. The Project Sponsor is the one who is the ultimate decision-maker of the Project. He is also responsible for checking and reviewing certain elements in the project. He helps set up quality standards and measures. He delegates tasks to members of the project staff. The Steering Committee resolves conflicts and issues. Also, it approves the funding and resource allocation strategies. And, should there be any change to these funding and resource strategies, he will still be the one to make the approval. The Project Manager makes sure that everything goes within the context of the Project Plan. He has to have necessary knowledge regarding related information systems and has current information on the operations of the existing system. He serves as the liaison to the Steering Committee. He supervises the project and manages the project budget. The Project Participants understand the user needs and business processes of their area, communicate the goals, status and progress of the project to the personnel in their area, provide recommendations, and help identify project barriers and identify risks and issues and help in resolutions. Information gathering To obtain the necessary information regarding the problem experienced by the Equipment Depot, interviews were conducted with Dan Stantz (Equipment Manager) and the Equipment Depot Staff. Moreover, prior to the interviews, the organizational structure was already looked into to check into the departments involved in the problem identified. During the interview, questions regarding the operations of the area were asked. Also, the staff was asked to relate their day-to-day functions and tasks. Difficulties were tackled and suggestions and recommendations towards the improvement of the system were voiced out by the depot staff. Documentation done by the staff was also looked into. The Equipment Depot Staff provided a copy of the Maintenance Employee Registration. Various types of notices - registration, termination, and skill classification update - were also dealt with. Proposed development methodology The proposed development methodology is Joint Application Development, otherwise known as JAD. This is helpful when the input is from a group and interaction is desired. Many companies believe that because there is a diverse array of inputs and interaction from the participants, JAD best defines a new system (qtd. in http://www.scribd.com/doc/7368533/System-Analysis-and-Design). Considering that Dan Stantz wants to have something by 6 months, the JAD is the perfect answer. The JAD is usually a 3 to 6 month well-defined project (TREC, Joint Application Development, par 4). The JAD's benefit include better designs with the use of combined knowledge from participants, design cross-functional solution, communication and helps get the right job at the right time (Ibid, par 21). Conclusion The realization of a New Equipment Check-Out System for the Equipment Depot System is feasible - operationally, technically and economically. The benefits it will bring about to the company are insurmountable and that the need for one is a must. The Information System needed for the check-out system should be developed following the requirements set by the Equipment Manager and staff without compromising allotted budget for its development. The proposed development methodology is the Joint Application Development wherein interaction is encouraged within its participants and inputs are many. Moreover, the information system is expected to be operational within 6 months after the commencement of its development. WORKS CITED Technology Resources for Employee and Campus Services. Joint Application Development. 14 Feb. 2008. University of Texas at Austin. 4 April 2009. Improving Agricultural Extension. Chapter 18 - Establishing a Management Information System. FAO Corporate Document Repository. 3 April 2009. Management Information System. 4 April 2009. George, J., Hoffer, J. & Valacich, J. Modern Systems Analysis and Design. 2 April 2009. Cashman, S. Systems Analysis and Design, 6th Edition. 1 April 2009. Read More