Introduction to operation management

Introduction to operation management

T⃝ V U W X

Start ⃝ C⃝ N, K

⃝B D ⃝ L M E⃝ F⃝ G⃝ O⃝

⃝H I ⃝ J⃝

Y⃝ Z ⃝

P Q ⃝ R⃝ S ⃝

Network logic diagram.

Time taken in weeks: A-7, B-3, C-3, D-5, E-6, F-4, G-2, H-4, I-4, J-10, K-2, L-3, M-8, N-6, O-7, P-20, Q-4, R-4, S-3, T-4, U-6, V-7, W-4, X-8, Y-6, Z-6

Identify the critical path and its activities for Rockfest. How long does the project take (what is the duration time)?

Identified paths:

A -T-V-W=21

A-T-U-X=22

A-B-D-E-F-G-O=34

A-C-K=12

A-C-N=16

A-B-H-I-J=24

A-B-Y-Z=16

A-B-P=30

A-B-Q-R-S=21

A-B-D-L-M=26

Critical path is the longest path taken to complete a number of activities which is A-B-D-E-F-G-O= 25 Weeks. If an activity on this path is delayed, it will result in the whole project lagging behind. It is therefore important for project managers to ensure that activities on the critical path are not delayed and where delay occurs, measures should be taken to ensure the project can still be completed in the scheduled time. These measures would include project crashing (Mindtools.com (nd)).

How would you crash the project (which activities would you crash) to keep the project on schedule and achieve the original duration, if Activity B actually takes 5 weeks instead of the planned 3 weeks? (Explain your logic)?

When the crashing technique is used, any extra costs associated with fast tracking the project are reviewed against the possible benefits of completing the project on a faster timescale. Additional items to consider when using the crashing technique include adding extra resources for the project, paying for overtime, and paying extra to receive delivery of critical components more quickly. Crashing only works, where adding more resources will lead to a faster completion of a project (Mindtools.com (nd) .The activities to be crashed would be: designing the promotional website (D) and planning for a TV camera replacement (F). These two activities are on the critical path and would help fast track the project completion time if crashed since activity B is also on the critical path. The crashing cost for designing the website is 9000 dollars if it is crashed for three weeks while crashing planning for TV camera replacement would be 500 dollars for two weeks. It would be economical to crash these two activities because this is likely to result in minimum costs (mindtools.com, (nd)).

Identify some major challenges a project manager faces in events such as this one.

Uncertain dependencies- This where activities that depend on each other for completion are not properly identified (Lockyer & Gordon, 1991).

Resource competition- In most projects, resources are limited resulting in certain activities competing with others for available resources. Project managers must clearly identify and allocate funds to each activity.

Scope changes- project scope often changes beyond the project goals. The project manager must ensure it does not happen often by carefully evaluating the implications of this such as extra costs and time (Lockyer & Gordon, 1991).

Impossible deadlines- sometimes project activities take long periods than allocated, resulting in impossible deadlines. Impossible deadlines could also affect quality of work a team members try to beat the set deadlines. Lack of stakeholder engagement- engaging the relevant stakeholders at different stages of the project is important in order to have a successful project( Lockyer & Gordon, 1991).

Reference

Mindtools.com (nd) Critical Path Analysis and Pert Charts. Retrieved from www.mindtools.com/critpath.html

Lockyer, K.G. &Gordon, J. (1991) Critical path analysis and other project network techniques. London. Pitman Publishers