Graded Homework

Problem 3 (5 points)

Use the following information to
create a time-phased budget for the project.

Activity	Duration	Predecessor
A	2
B	3	A
C	2	B
D	4	B
E	5	B
F	2	C, D
G	1	E, F

Cost by
week:

Activity	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
A	$10	$10
B	$15	$10	$10
C	$25	$25
D	$5	$10	$5	$10
E	$15	$5	$10	$15	$10
F	$20	$20
G	$10

What is the cumulative cost at
the end of Week 9?

Problem 4 (25 points)

Horsetooth
Zoomr Inc. was founded by a group of CSU business and engineering students who
had an idea for a new autonomous hovercraft for personal transportation. You’ve
been asked to lead the project and help them develop their first product in
time for a launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 20,
2017.

Based on
your previous experience with new product development, you create the following
project plan:

Activity	Task Name	Duration (days)	Predecessor
1	Zoomr Project
2	Market analysis	25
3	Initial design	30	2
4	Manufacturing study	20	2
5	Design selection	10	3, 4
6	Marketing plan	15	5
7	Manufacturing process	30	5
8	Detailed design	25	5
9	Prototype testing	15	8
10	Final design	20	7, 9
11	Order components	7	10
12	Order production equipment	14	10
13	Install production equipment	35	11FS+20, 12FS+40
14	Launch	1	6, 13

The
project begins on March 7, 2016. Horsetooth Zoomr observes the following
holidays: January 1, Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January), Memorial
Day (last Monday in May), July 4^th, Labor Day (first Monday in
September), Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November), the day after
Thanksgiving, December 25. 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.

a. Construct
a Gantt chart and network diagram for this project using MS Project. When is
the project scheduled to be completed? How long will the project take (how many
work days)?

Hints:

·
To
set the project start date, go to the Project tab, Properties group, and click
on Project Information. Enter the start date in the first field

·
Set
all tasks to Auto Scheduled

·
Highlight
the critical path in red in the Gantt chart. Go to the Format tab, Bar Styles
group and click the box for Critical Tasks. The critical path will appear in
red.

·
Be
sure to enter the holidays noted

o
Go
to (Project | Change Working Time)
which will open a new window

o
Use
the monthly calendar in the center of the window to highlight the nonworking
day, then type the name of the holiday in the table below the calendar.

·
Create
FS or SS lags by typing in the Predecessors field.

·
For
example, to create an FS lag of 8 days between Task 3 and Task 5, type “3FS+8
days” in the Predecessors field for Task 5.

b. Which
activity has the greatest amount of slack?

Horsetooth
Zoomr has a small but dedicated staff. The table below provides details about
the resources that are available for this project, and what resources have been
assigned for each task.

Functional group	Staff	Hourly Pay Rate
Marketing	Lydia, Oscar	$90/hour
Design	Troy, Dev, Juanita	$100/hour
Development	Hiroshi, Alison, Charles	$85/hour
Industrial Engineering (IE)	Courtney, Philippe, Wilson	$80/hour
Purchasing	Ivana	$75/hour

Task	Resources Assigned
Market analysis	Lydia, Oscar
Initial design	Lydia Troy, Dev, Juanita Hiroshi, Alison Courtney
Manufacturing study	Hiroshi, Alison Courtney, Philippe, Wilson
Design selection	Lydia Troy, Dev, Juanita Alison, Charles Philippe, Wilson
Marketing plan	Lydia, Oscar
Manufacturing process	Dev Alison, Charles Courtney, Philippe
Detailed design	Troy, Juanita Hiroshi, Charles Philippe, Wilson Ivana
Prototype testing	Troy, Juanita Hiroshi, Alison
Final design	Lydia Troy, Dev, Juanita Hiroshi, Alison, Charles Courtney, Wilson
Order components	Ivana
Order production equipment	Ivana
Install production equipment	Dev Hiroshi, Alison Courtney, Philippe, Wilson
Launch	Lydia, Oscar Troy, Dev, Juanita Hiroshi, Alison, Charles Courtney, Philippe, Wilson Ivana

c. Input
these resources and their costs into the project plan in MS Project. Which of
the resources are over-allocated?

Hints:

·
Enter
the project resource information given above

o
Complete
a Resource sheet (View | Resource Sheet)
for the project. The only entries are the standard labor rates ($ per year or $
per hour) and the name of each worker.Do
not change any other values in this table.

·
Assign
resources to tasks using the information given above

o
Make
sure leveling is set to Manual:Resource
| Leveling Options | Leveling Calculations.

o
Assign
resources using the project Gantt chart (View
| Gantt Chart). In the Resource Names column, click on the down arrow to
display all available resources, then click in the box for each resource you
want to assign. Click anywhere outside the box to close the menu.

·
Check
for over-allocation of resources

o
Select
(View | Resource Usage). Resources
over-allocated will be indicated in red.

d. Assume
the project is resource constrained. Resolve over-allocation problems by
leveling outside of slack. What is the new completion date for the project? How
many workdays are required?

Hints:

·
To
level resources outside of slack, go to (Resource
| Leveling Options) and make sure the check box “Level only within
available slack” is deselected, then click OK. To actually level the tasks, go
to (Resource | Level All).

The CEO
insists that the project be completed before the CES trade show, and asks you
to look for ways to meet the January 20, 2017 deadline. After meeting with the
project team, you make the following changes to the plan:

·
Courtney
and Hiroshi are no longer needed forInitial
design

·
Charles
replaces Alison onManufacturing study

·
Hiroshi
is no longer needed forDetailed design

·
Philippe
is no longer needed forDetailed design

·
The
team has agreed to work on the first Saturday of each month, starting on April
2, 2016

Hints:

·
Start
by undoing the resource leveling outside of slack

o
Select
(Resource | Clear Leveling) to un-do
the leveling for the entire project and revert to the original plan with
over-allocated resources

·
Remove
the resources from Resource Names by clicking on the down arrow and
de-selecting the resource

·
Edit
the project calendar to include the first Saturday of each month

o
Select
(Project | Change Working Time), and
choose the first Saturday in April 2016.

o
Type
“Work Day” in the table below and click the Details button on the right

o
Click
on Working Times, the set the recurrence pattern “Monthly” and the first
Saturday of every month

o
Set
the range of recurrence to End by July 1, 2017, then click OK to close the
Details window.

o
Click
OK to close the Change Working Time window

·
Level
the resources again to determine the new completion date

e. What
is the new completion date for the project after making these changes?

The CEO
is still not satisfied with the completion date, and has now authorized you to
hire additional, temporary staff to make sure the project finishes by the
deadline. After meeting with a local staffing agency, you have the following
options for hiring temporary staff:

Design engineer	$120/hour
Development engineer	$100/hour
Industrial engineer	$90/hour
Purchasing agent	$80/hour

f.
Keeping in mind that
the company does not want to spend any more money than necessary, what is your
recommendation regarding additional staffing? What kind of person should you
hire, and where should this person be assigned in order to ensure that the project
finishes on-time at minimum additional cost?

Hints:

·
Clear
the leveling and determine what additional resources are necessary to complete
the project by January 20, 2017.

·
Use
the Resource Usage table to identify resources that are over-allocated

·
To
add resources, first go to the Resource Sheet (View | Resource Sheet) and add the new workers available (for
example, Contract Design Engineer).

·
Add
the new worker or workers to Resource Names as before, then level again to
determine if the project can be finished by January 20, 2017.

g. What
is the final budget for the project? Which activity has the highest cost?

Hints:

·
Visit
(Project | Project Information |
Statistics) to view the summary project statistics, including project cost

·
To
view the cost of each activity, go to (View
| Gantt Chart), add a new column to the Task Table, and select “Cost”