Project MGMT Supply Chain MGMT Final Exam o Project a temporary activity consisting of a series of tasks that require completion of a specific set of objectives within a specific timeframe Defined start and finish times milestones Defined scope and agreed upon tasks Tasks must usually be completed in a specific order each with specific start and completion dates Tasks consume time commit personnel resources and expend budget Tasks may involve numerous organizations and take considerable time to complete difficult to manage How is Project Success Measured o Project mgmt is an essential skill for the middle manager o Projects are usually relatively easy to measure success o Did the project meet cost quality and delivery performance improvements Within time and budget constraints Meeting the performance or specification requirements With only minimal or agreed upon changes Without negatively impacting on other operations within the org o The pace of change often has firms working more projects of strategic o Following structured approach to a project mgmt is critical to success importance Project Phases o 5 Phases of a Project Concept high level project identification definition scope Project Definition how to accomplish work how to organize identification of responsible orgs people teams Planning detailed activities completion dates identification of budget and personnel constraints Performance actual work of a project Post Completion project wrap up confirmation that project met goals Project MGMT Tools o Popular tools in project planning control and coordination include the following scheduling tools Gantt charts Milestone charts Project networking tools Critical path method CPM Program evaluation and review technique PERT Gantt Charts o 1st formal scheduling technique bar chart o Attempts to convey considerable info in a clear and concise manner against a timeline o Very useful in reporting project status and in managing individual activities or simple projects with few tasks o Principal shortcomings Difficult to show dependencies or constraints among activities Difficult to analyze schedules and optimize the allocation of resources o Depicts tasks or activities as a horizontal bar imposed over a time line or calendar Activities are listed vertically as a horizontal bar Times dates are depicted along the horizontal axis Shows the planned start finish dates for the activity o Can show info about task progress including schedule slips or gains through shading of the bar o Can be incorporated into a backward planning technique Identify required completion date 1st and then work backward to establish required start date o Steps 1 Identify project 2 Define project tasks 3 Estimate duration of project tasks from start to finish 4 Determine precedence of tasks 5 Chart tasks precedence duration put all together o Advantages Useful 1st step for preparation of more complex type schedules Simple to prepare update Info portrayed in easily understood format Relatively inexpensive to prepare using software tools Relate activities and calendar dates Easy to roll up info into summary form Reliable estimates can be developed when the work is repetitive and when the product is easy to measure quantitatively o Disadvantages Difficult to use for detailed schedule analysis Doesn t show the effects of late or early activity starts Doesn t represent dependencies among activities as well as other scheduling methods Doesn t reflect the uncertainty in the planned activity duration or event date Only as reliable as the estimates on which they are based looking at the chart doesn t indicate which estimates are the most reliable Doesn t allow quick or easy exploration of the consequences of alternative Milestone Charts actions o Very similar to Gantt chart usually shows planned actual completion dates often used in combination with Gantt Chart Network Scheduling Models o Network Models commonly known as arrow diagram methods graphical depiction of the activities of a project PERT CPM Show how activities relate to each other Show the sequence of activities Show the precedence dependencies of activities Show the impact of early start early finishes and late starts finishes Provides info about the allocation of resource Allows for what if analysis o Provide answers to questions such as When is each activity or task of the project to begin and end Which activities must be finished on time to avoid missing the scheduled project completion date Can recourses be shifted to critical activities from non critical activities of the project without affecting the overall completion date Looking at all activities where should mgmt concentrate their efforts at any particular time o To apply network techniques we must have Defined project activities Logic diagram showing sequence and interrelationships of Identifiable start finish points activities Accurate time estimate to complete each activity o Determine the activities making up the project o Determine the time estimates for each activity o Determine the precedence of each activity o Construct a network diagram o Complete annotate the cumulative time required to reach each node along the paths from project start finish The final number represents the total time to complete that particular path o The series of activities along the longest path form start to finish represent Critical Path Method the critical path Importance of Sourcing o Upward of 55 of sales rev goes to pay suppliers o Key to competitive advantage Limited sources for certain items help define the market Supplier capabilities differentiate the producers final good Supplier quality has a major impact on product quality Suppliers are an important source of innovation o Provides the buying firm with leverage purchasing power A Golden Rule o Financial Impacts Profit Leverage Effect every dollar saved in purchasing lowers the cost of cost sold by one dollar and increases pretax profit by one dollar Every dollar saved in purchasing also lowers inventory and as a result total assets Reasons for Make o Core competencies competitive advantage o High degree of control over operations o Unsuitable supplier o Assure adequate product to meet demand o Use available production capacity labor and make a marginal contribution o Remove supplier collusion o Produce unique items without over dependence on a supplier Reasons for Buy o Greater flexibility and alternate sources of supply o Lower investment risk o Preserve