I have been working on this for a few weeks but I can’t seem to figure out the last four parts of this project.
I need help with parts 3, 4, 5, and 6. Parts 1 and 2 have already been completed. I have attached a word document containing parts 1 and 2 as a reference, followed by the word document containing the instructions for parts 3, 4, 5, and 6. The MS Project file containing the work I have done so far on the Gantt chart and network diagram is also attached.
If you are willing to help me with this project please attach a new MS Project file for each part. Parts 3 and 4 can be combined into one MS Project file, but part 5 and part 6 should each be on a separate file.
***The first two parts have been completed but are included below for reference purposes***
Project Description
The new computer-controlled conveyor belt is an exciting project that moves and positions items on the conveyor belt within <1 millimeter. The project will produce a new system for future installations, and for replacement of those in the field, at a low cost. The computer-controlled conveyor belt has the potential to be a critical unit in 30 percent of the systems installed in factories. The new system is also easier to update with future technologies.
The Project Priority Matrix for the Conveyor Belt Project (CBP) is:
Time Scope Cost
Constrain X
Enhance X
Accept X
Conveyor Belt Project Assignment
· Enter the first task as “Conveyor Belt Project” and then, enter all the project tasks given in Table A2.11. Indent all project tasks except the first task “Conveyor Belt Project”
· Set the project start date as given
· Set the holidays as given
· Enter the activity time estimates
Use your file from Part 1 and the information provided below to complete this exercise
1. Each work package will represent an activity
2. The project begins January 4, 2010
3. The following holidays are observed: January 1, Memorial Day (last Monday in May), July 4th, Labor Day (first Monday in September), Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November), December 25th and December 26th
4. If a holiday falls on a Saturday then Friday will be given as an extra day off, and if it falls on a Sunday, then Monday will be given as a day off
5. The project teams work eight hour days, Monday through Friday
Conveyor Belt Project WBS
Hardware Hardware specifications
Hardware design
Hardware documentation
Prototypes
Order circuit boards
Assemble preproduction models
Operating System Kernel specifications
Drivers
Disk Drivers
Serial I/O drivers
Memory management
Operating system documentation
Network interface
Utilities Utilities specifications
Routine utilities
Complex utilities
Utilities documentation
Shell
System integration Architectural decisions
Integration first phase
System hard/software test
Project documentation
Integration acceptance testing
Table A2.11 (Conveyor Belt Project Schedule)
Activity Description Resource Duration (days) Preceding Activity
1 architectural decisions Design 25 –
2 hardware Development, 50 1
Specifications Design
3 Kernel Design 20 1
specifications
4 Utilities Development, 15 1
Specifications Design
5 Hardware Design, 70 2
design Development
6 Disk drivers Assembly, 100 3
Development
7 Memory Development 90 3
management
8 Operating system Design, 25 3
Documentation Documentation
9 Routine utilities Development 60 4
10 Complex utilities Development 80 4
11 Utilities Documentation, 20 4
Documentation Design
12 Hardware Documentation, 30 5
Documentation Design
13 Integration Assembly, 50 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
First phase Development
14 Prototypes Assembly, 80 13
Development
15 Serial Development 130 13
I/O drivers
16 System Assembly 25 14, 15
Hard/software test
17 Order Purchasing 5 16
Circuit boards
18 Network Development 90 16
interface
19 Shell Development 60 16
20 Project Documentation, 50 16
Documentation Development
21 Assemble Assembly, 30 17F-S, lag 50 days
preproduction Development
models
22 Integrated Assembly, 60 18, 19, 20, 21
Acceptance Development
testing
Part 3
A
· After creating the resource pool, copy the screen image of Resource Sheet and paste into the Word document.
· After assigning resources, copy the screen image of the data entry screen and paste into the Word document.
· After time-constrained scheduling, copy the screen image of Resource Sheet and paste into the Word document. The Resource Sheet should show the resources that over-allocated.
· After resource-constrained scheduling, copy the screen image of Resource Sheet and paste into the Word document. The Resource Sheet should show the resources that over-allocated.
Part 3B
· After adding the two internal development teams and doing time-constrained resource scheduling, copy the screen image of Resource Sheet and paste into the Word document. The Resource Sheet should show the resources that over-allocated.
· After adding the two external development teams and doing time-constrained resource scheduling, copy the screen image of Resource Sheet and paste into the Word document. The Resource Sheet should show the resources are no longer over-allocated.
· After generating the Cashflow report, copy the screen image and paste in to the Word document. Change time scale to months.
· Answer all the questions given in Part 3 (five questions from Part 3A and three questions from Part 3B) and
Part 4
(all questions). Submit your answers along with the screen shots as listed above as Appendices to the instructor through the Assignment tab on the Blackboard for evaluation.
In addition to the general instructions included in the Overview of this topic, you might find the following notes helpful in doing the Conveyor Belt homework.
Part 3A Notes
· Enter resource names from Table A2.12 For “Assembly/Test” enter “Assembly” for consistency with Table A2.11.
· Enter one team as 100% and two teams as 200% under Maximum Units.
Part 3B Notes
1. Add the two internal development teams for a total of four internal development teams to the resource pool. Level within the available slack (to complete the project within 530 days). If no resources are over-allocated, you have achieved your objective of completing the project in 530 days at the minimum cost. If any resources are still over-allocated, go to the next step.
2. Add the two external development teams as “DevelopmentX” to the resource pool. The external development teams are added as “DevelopmentX” since they are paid at a higher standard rate ($120 per hour). Identify the resources and the activities that are over-allocated through the Resource Usage view by scrolling horizontally. Make a note of the activities.
3. Select the shortest activity from the over-allocated activities from the previous step and change the resource assigned from Development to “DevelopmentX”. Level within the available slack (to complete the project within 530 days). If no resources are over-allocated, you have achieved your objective of completing the project in 530 days at the minimum cost. Otherwise, identify the resources and the activities that are over-allocated through the Resource Usage view by scrolling horizontally. Make a note of the activities.
4. Repeat step the previous step until no resources are over-allocated, and you have achieved your objective of completing the project within 530 days at the minimum cost.
Table A2.12 (Organization Resources)
Name Group Cost ($/hr)
Design R&D (2 teams) $100
Development R&D (2 teams) $70
Documentation R&D (1 team) $60
Assembly R&D (1 team) $70
Purchasing Procurement (1 team) $40
From the textbook:
Part 3
Remember the old saying, “A project plan is not a schedule until resources are committed.” This exercise illustrates this subtle, but very important difference.
Part A
Using your files from Part 2 input resources and their costs if you have not already done so. All information is found in Tables A2.11 and A2.12
Answer the following questions:
1. Which if any of the resources are over-allocated?
2. Assume that the project is time constrained and try to solve any over-allocation problems by leveling within slack. What happens?
3. What is the impact of leveling within slack on the sensitivity of the network?
Include a Gantt chart with the schedule table after leveling within slack.
4. Assume the project is resource constrained and resolve any over-allocation problems by leveling outside of slack. What happens? What are the managerial implications?
5. What options are available at this point in time?
Include a Gantt chart with the schedule table after leveling outside of slack.
Note: No splitting of activities is allowed
Note: No partial assignments (i.e. 50 percent). All resources must be assigned 100 percent.
Part B
When you show the resource-constrained network to top management, they are visibly shaken. After some explanation and negotiation they make the following compromise with you:
-The project must be completed no later than February 2, 2012 (530 days)
-You may assign two additional development teams
-If this does not suffice, you may hire other development teams from the outside. Hire as few external teams as possible because they cost $50 more per hour than your inside development people
Internal Development
Add as many development units (teams) as needed to stay within the 530 days. If you need more than two internal development units, then hire as few external teams as necessary. Select the cheapest possibility! Change as few activities as possible. It is recommended you keep work packages which require cooperation of several organizational units inside your company. You decide how best to do this.
Hint: Undo leveling prior to adding new resources
Once you have obtained a schedule that meets the time and resource constraints, answer the following questions:
1. What changes did you make and why?
2. How long will the project take?
3. How did these changes affect the sensitivity of the network?
Include a Gantt chart with a schedule table presenting the new schedule
Part 4
Based on the file created at the end of Part 3, answer the following questions:
1. How much will the project cost?
2. What does the cash flow statement tell you about how costs are distributed over the life span of the project?
Include a monthly cash flow and a cost table for the project.
Once you are confident that you have the final schedule, save the file as a baseline
Hint: Save a backup file just in case without baseline
Part 5
Follow the instructions given in the Overview and Video Tutorials to complete Part 5 (Do only the Fourth Quarter, January 1, 2011) and
Part 6
of the Conveyor Belt Project in Appendix 2 of the text book. Submit your Word document for the assignment to the instructor through the Assignment tab.
Initial Steps
1. Open the Conveyor Belt Project file for the homework from the last module (resource scheduling).
2. Save the file under a new name. So you can go back to the previous file if there is a problem afterwards.
3. Set baseline for the project.
4. Open a Word document for this week’s homework.
Part 5 (Do only the Fourth Quarter, January 1, 2011)
1. Set status and current date for the project to January 1, 2011.
2. Enter status information for the project in the Tracking table.
3. Produce and copy/ paste the Earned Value Report, Earned Value Cost Indicators Report, Earned Value Schedule Indicators Report and the Tracking Gantt Chart into the Word document.
4. Answer all the questions given in Part 5 for the fourth quarter only. Note: EACf is same as EAC and VACf is same as VAC.
From Textbook
Part 5
Prepare a status report for the fourth quarter (January 1, 2011). This requires saving the resource schedule as a baseline and inserting the appropriate status report date in the program. Assume that no work has been completed on the day of the status report.
The status report should include a table containing the PV,EV, AC, BAC, EAC, SV, CV, and CPI for each activity and the whole project. The report should also address the following questions:
1. How is the project progressing in terms of cost and schedule?
2. What activities have gone well? What activities have not gone well?
3. What do the PCIB and PCIC indicate in terms of how much of the project has been accomplished to date?
4. What is the forecasted cost at completion (EACf)? What is the predicted VACf?
5. Report and interpret the TCPI for the project at this point in time?
6. What is the estimated date of completion?
7. How well is the project doing in terms of its priorities?
Include a Tracking Gantt chart with each report
Table A2.16 (Fourth Quarter – January 1, 2011)
Start Finish Actual Remaining
Activity Date Date Duration Duration
Hardware specifications 2/9/10 4/12/10 45 0
Hardware design 4/13/10 7/16/10 67 0
Hardware documentation 7/19/10 8/24/10 27 0
Prototypes 11/11/10 34 44
Kernel specifications 2/8/10 3/12/10 25 0
Disk drivers 3/15/10 8/17/10 110 0
Serial I/O drivers 11/11/10 34 119
Memory management 3/15/10 7/30/10 98 0
Operating system documentation 3/15/10 4/16/10 25 0
Utilities specifications 3/8/10 3/29/10 16 0
Routine utilities 4/26/10 7/27/10 65 0
Complex utilities 3/30/10 8/11/10 95 0
Utilities documentation 5/3/10 6/2/10 22 0
Architectural decisions 1/4/10 2/5/10 25 0
Integration first phase 8/25/10 11/10/10 55 0
Part 6
You have received revised estimates for the remaining activities at the end of the fourth quarter as given in Part 6 of the Conveyor Belt project in Appendix 2. Enter the revised estimates in the start dates, completion dates and durations into the Gantt Chart/ Table /Entry view in the respective columns. This will result in revised estimate of the project completion date.
Part 6 (Status Date January 1, 2011)
1. There is no need to change the status and current date from what was set earlier, i.e., January 1, 2011.
2. Enter the new status information for the project in the Tracking table.
3. Produce and copy/ paste the Earned Value Report, Earned Value Cost Indicators Report, Earned Value Schedule Indicators Report and the Tracking Gantt Chart into the Word document.
4. Answer all the questions given in Part 6.
From Textbook (page 640):
Part 6
You have received revised estimates for the remaining activities at the end of the fourth quarter:
-Prototypes will be completed on 3/8/11
-Serial I/O drivers will be completed on 6/30/11
-System hardware/software test will start on 7/11/11 and take 25 days
-Order circuit boards will start on 8/8/11 and take 5 days
-Assemble preproduction model will begin on 10/14/11 and take 18 days
-Project documentation is expected to start on 8/8/11 and will take 55 days
-Network interface is expected to start on 8/8/11 and will take 99 days
-Shell is expected to start on 8/8/11 and will take 55 days
-Integrated acceptance testing is expected to start on 12/29/11 and will take 54 days
What is the new EAC for the project? How long should the project take given these revised estimates?
How happy will top management be with these forecasts given the priorities of the project?
What recommendations would you make?
Include a revised schedule, a Tracking Gantt Chart, and cost table
