project management what marketing suggested what management approved what engineering designed

Project ManagementProject Management

what marketing suggested

what management approved

what engineering designed


what the customer wanted

what maintenance installed

what was manufactured


What is Project Management?What is Project Management?

Why do Project Management?Why do Project Management?

Tracking project timing and cost.

Managing project resources (people, materials, budget).

Motivating personnel.

Ensuring functional deliverables.

To monitor if your project is staying on time and

is within budget.

To ensure project goals are met.


What questions might project managers be interested in?

• How long will the project take?• Can I add manpower or tools to reduce the overall project length?• To which tasks should I add manpower?• What tasks are on the critical path?• Is the project on schedule?• When should materials and personnel be in place to begin a task?• Am I within budget?• Should I transfer funds between line items?• Other?…

Project Management – Project Management – Examples of SuccessExamples of Success

• Willow Run Bomber Plant (Ford)• B24 Liberator Bomber• Two years to build facility (started in early 1940)• Some stats:

• 488,193 parts• 30,000 components• 24 major subassemblies• peak production – 25 units per day• 25,000 initial engineering drawings• ten model changes in 6 years• 34,533 employees at peak

• Apollo Moon Mission• 1957 - Sputnik I orbits earth• 1958 – NASA formed• July 20, 1969 – “The Eagle Has Landed”

• Hoover Dam

Project Management – Project Management – Examples of FailuresExamples of Failures

• Denver Airport

• Numerous ERP System Conversions

• Numerous highway systems

Project Management – Project Management – Reasons for FailureReasons for Failure

Top 10 Sources of Project Failure Do any of these conditions exist in your organization? http://www.focusedperformance.com/toptenpm.html

1) Failure to appreciate the impact of a multi-project environment on single project success.

1 a) Trying to put 10 pounds of projects through a 5-pound pipeline in a multi-project environment.

1 b) Wasting of resources through dedication to projects, making them unavailable to support other projects.

1 c) Failure of management to provide real guidance on priority of projects before they are planned and promised.

1 c1) As well as the flip side, ignoring rational plans and promises for perceived, but questionable, priorities.

1 c2) Another flip side regarding priorities -- failure of management to kill projects when their reason for existence goes away.

2) Irrational promises made due to a failure to take into account the variable nature of task performance.


Top 10 Sources of Project Failure –cont.

3) Irrational promises made due to a failure to take into account the statistical nature of project networks.

4) Insufficient identification of dependencies necessary to deliver the project.

5) Focus on (and active management of) only a portion of what should be the full project -- a true bottom-line value adding outcome for the sponsoring organization.

6) Reliance on due-date, train-schedule, and actual-against-budget-to-date performance to drive project performance, resulting in the wasting of any safety included in the project (to account for 2 and 3 above) and in the effects of Parkinson's Law -- Work will expand to fill (and exceed) the time allowed. The whole concept of "time allowed" is a major culprit.

7) Wasting of resources through underutilization because they aren't the "best resource" for the job.

8) Wasting of the "best" resources through over-utilization, multi-tasking, and burn-out.


Top 10 Sources of Project Failure –cont.

9) Delivering original scope when conditions/needs change. Flip-side: accepting changes to scope without sufficient analysis of impact on the project (or on other projects).

10) Multi-tasking, multi-tasking, multi-tasking, multi-tasking, and multi-tasking. Commonly thought of as a key problem in multi-project environments, where resources are expected to address tasks from different projects in a coincident time-frame, multi-tasking also impacts single project durations (and wastes safety) when dedicated resources are expected to wear several hats.

Project Management - Project Management - TimingTiming

TimingA project consists of a series of tasks with estimated durations.

Consider building a house:Step A: Prepare site. (5 days)Step B: Build foundation. (8 days)Step C: Frame walls and roof. (15 days)Step D: Rough in Plumbing (12 days)Step E: Rough in Electrical (10 days)Step F: HVAC Venting (8 days)Step G: Drywall (11 days)Step H: Finish Electrical (5 days)Step I: Finish Plumbing (4 days) Step M: Paint (5 days)Step J: Finish HVAC (2 days) Step N: Landscape (5 days)Step K: Install Kitchen (8 days)Step L: Install Baths (14 days)


Timing – Gantt ChartTasks and task durations are often represented as Gantt Charts.No consideration for task precedence.

Jan. 31

Jul. 5


Timing – Network DiagramTasks must sometimes be performed in series, or may at times be performed in parallel.For the house example, let each arc represent a project task/job.

Each arc is identified by a job letter and duration. Note thedummy jobs indicating precedence that jobs H and I must complete before K or L begins.

2A,5

1 3 4 5 6 9 10

7

8

11B,8 C,15

D,12

F,8

E,10G,11

H,5

I,4

J,2K,8

L,14

M,5

N,5

0

0


Timing – Gantt ChartTasks and task durations are often represented as Gantt Charts.With task precedence knowledge.

Jan. 31

May. 9

0


Critical Path

Why is knowing the critical important?

2A,5

1 3 4 5 6 9 10

7

8

11B,8 C,15

D,12

F,8

E,10G,11

H,5

I,4

J,2K,8

L,14

M,5

N,50

Project Management - Project Management - CostCost

CostsEstimate your costs by task (add a safety factor, 20-50%?), also called itemizing.

Track your costs by item.

Formally transfer/track transfer of budget between line items.

Stay within budget!!

Project Management - Project Management - ResourcesResources

Resources

How do resources effect project management?

• Add workers to reduce task time.• Remove workers if a task is not on critical path.• Ensure tools and supplies are available at start of each task.• Other?

Project Management - Project Management - ToolsTools

Software

Most Popular (Listed by Yahoo.com) Blue Angel Technologies, Inc. - provider of metadata management tools. Niku Corporation (Nasdaq:NIKU) - develops enterprise application software that cuts costs and increases productivity by automating the work of internal service organizations. eRoom Technology, Inc. - makers of a browser-based product used to manage projects, collaborate on documents, share information, and hold discussions. Formerly Instinctive Technology. Mindjet - developers of software to help business people organize information into visual maps which display relationships among diverse information. eProject - specializes in web-based project management and team collaboration software that includes integration with WAP and palm-held devices. Available on-site or as a hosted service. Primavera Systems, Inc - Software tools for managing both small and large projects. Elite.com - offers web-based project management and time and billing software. Welcom Software Technology - provides project management, collaboration, and cost management solutions. Scitor Corporation Business Solutions Group - provides project and process management software solutions and services.

116 additional sites listed in alphabetical order (did not include MicroSoft Project)

Project Management - Project Management - ToolsTools

Manual Method

Can you manage projects manually?

Absolutely, who managed the building of the Egyptian pyramids and what software did they use?

I have used Excel to “manually” track projects.

Applying Project Applying Project ManagementManagement

Initial Setup• Identify task and task precedence• Estimate task cost and timing• Identify critical path• Modify resource allocation to adjust task timing and costs

Continuous Monitoring• Update if timing has changed• Identify if still on time• Identify if critical path has shifted• Modify costs as “real” costs are realized


Personal Experience – Windsor Engine PlantProducts – 4.6L, 5.4L, 6.8L Ford Truck EnginesLocation – Windsor, Ont.Budget - $1.2 billionTiming – Plant Engineering (Summer 1993)

Job 1 (March 1996)Volume – 3000+ Engines / dayLaunch Staff – approx. 150 personnel

Project Management – 1 person dedicated to timing, Primavera software, Gantt charts hung around “war room”, cost management by individual team managers (with “help” from Finance dept.).


Personal Experience – Windsor Engine Plant (cont.)My Responsibilities – team manager of information systems and communications (PCs, networks, phones, pagers, radios, computer room, PFIS, etc…)

Timing Tracking Method – Used Excel (problem deck), White Board (primary projects), and note pad (to do list). Problem Deck – Some projects tracked closely some loosely dependent on who was lead analyst.Primary project status – updated weekly.To do list – updated daily.


Personal Experience – Windsor Engine Plant (cont.)

Cost Tracking Method - $8million budget, itemized by primary projects (e.g. PCs, Networks, Radios, Computer Room, etc…).Used Excel and reports from Finance office to track line items, monitored on a weekly or bi-monthly basis

Project Management –Project Management –Further ReadingFurther Reading

Critical Chain –Critical Chain –Eliyahu M. GoldrattEliyahu M. Goldratt

Theory of Constraints Theory of Constraints (TOC)(TOC)

Overall Idea – The goal of a company is to make money. The theory of constraints is a methodology to help identify what might be hindering a company from obtaining its goal, and how to achieve the goal.

The Goal is a fictional account of a manufacturing plant which significantly improves its production capacity (and other measures) through the application of TOC.

Theory of Constraints Theory of Constraints (TOC)(TOC)

Identify the system’s constraint/bottleneckExploit the constraint (squeeze the maximum

capacity out of it without altering capacity capability)

Subordinate everything else, don’t put improvement efforts into non-constraints, focus on bottleneck

Elevate if still needing more throughput (add more capacity to constraint)

Go back to Identify, (continuous improvement)

Back to Critical Back to Critical ChainChain

Production World – production throughput is like a chain. Production flows from one operation to the next.

Op 10 Op 20 Op 30 Op 40

• A chain is only as strong as its weakest link• The weakest link is the bottleneck operation• No value in improving other links of the chain

(e.g. Subordinate everything else)

Chain PhysicsChain Physics

- If chained machines all working at full capacity, and capacity is equivalent on each machine, and if there exists any variance in production, the chain will never produce at capacity.

- The greater the variance, the less the production.- The longer the chain, the less production.

Op 10 Op 20 Op 30 Op 40

- Manufacturing managers/engineers attempt to mitigate the chaining effects

Critical Chain and Critical Chain and Project ManagementProject Management

Current State of Project Management World – 1. Only way to protect the whole (project) is through

protecting the completion date of each step.2. Therefore, we pad each step with safety time.3. We then suffer from three mechanisms, when combined,

waste most of the safety time.a. Student syndrome (start as late as possible)b. Multi-tasking (switching between tasks without

completing)c. Delays accumulate, advances do not

4. Thus, projects tend to complete late.


Why Current State of Project Management?

Cause and Effect:• Wrong measurement, each task’s (or manager’s)

performance is measured to their specific task.• No incentive to finish early since re-budget of

time/dollars based on “last time” will result.• A delay in one step is passed to the next, while an

advance in one step is usually wasted before the next.


Project Management World – so what is the bottleneck operation in project management?

Ans. – the critical path.

2A,5

1 3 4 5 6 9 10

7

8

11B,8 C,15

D,12

F,8

E,10G,11

H,5

I,4

J,2K,8

L,14

M,5

N,5

0

0

Thus, TOC applies to project management where:• The bottleneck/weakest link of the chain is the

critical path.

Identify the critical pathExploit SubordinateElevateGo back to Identify,



critical path.

Identify the critical pathExploit the constraint – ensure the critical path is never compromisedSubordinateElevateGo back to Identify,

Critical Chain andCritical Chain andProject ManagementProject Management

How do you Exploit the constraint?

One way in manufacturing:

Ensure the bottleneck operation is never idle by maintaining inventory in front of it.


X

Bottleneck Operation

Inventory

How do you Exploit the constraint?On the critical path:

Original:

With all safety moved to end of project:


Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Safety Buffer

Note, only 50% chance of finishing each task on time,Management must change way of thinking, i.e. OK to be late some times.


critical path.

Identify the critical pathExploit the constraint – ensure the critical path is never compromisedSubordinate – everything elseElevateGo back to Identify,


How do you Subordinate everything else?To the critical path:

Restate task times for non-critical steps, removing safety time and starting them such that safety is at the end.



Step a1 Step a2

Step b1 Step b2 Step b3

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

Impact of new way of approaching project management -



Step a1 Step a2

Step b1 Step b2 Step b3

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

Need new performance measures –• Performance of critical path (e.g. % completion of c.p.)• Measure provided by person working on current critical path

task, estimating number of days until finished• also monitor remaining days in feeder buffers (modify buffers

as actual times realized in preceding steps)• Use relative buffer consumption to synchronize priorities and

make early course corrections.


critical path.

Identify the critical pathExploit the constraint – ensure the critical path is never compromisedSubordinate everything else, Elevate reduce task times, Go back to Identify,


How do you reduce task times?

• Training• Improved methods / technology • Improved designs • Motivate employees• Provide incentives – reward early completion, penalize being late • Others?



critical path.

Identify the critical pathExploit the constraint – ensure the critical path is never compromisedSubordinate everything else, Elevate reduce task times, Go back to Identify, are there other constraints?


Is the critical path the only constraint? -


X Safety Buffer

X

X

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

Resource X in this case could cause all or some feeding buffers to become exhausted, would this cause all paths to become critical?

Hopefully not, must be a better way to manage.

XFeeding Buffer

Critical path

Call the resource constraint a critical chain? -


X Safety Buffer

X

X

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

This critical chain could be a longer path than the original critical path.

XFeeding Buffer

Critical path

Critical chain

Feeding buffers have moved before critical path -


X Safety Buffer

X

X

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

Still a problem for X, top two feeding buffers have X scheduled at the same time. What to do?

XFeeding Buffer

Critical path

Critical chain

Feeding Buffer

Feeding buffers have moved before critical path -


X Safety Buffer

X

X

Feeding Buffer

Feeding Buffer

XFeeding Buffer

Critical path

Critical chain

Feeding Buffer

ConclusionsConclusions

Critical Chain Management - explores why projects tend tobe late, and develops an interesting approach to mitigatingthis problem.

• Move safety to end of project and to feeding buffers• Manage feeding buffers• Remove multi-tasking

Critical Chain Management – uniquely positioned to managevariability and help reduce length of projects.

project management what marketing suggested what management approved what engineering designed

Documents

project performance

project goals

sources of project failure

project resources people

multiproject environment

single project success

tracking project timing

overall project length