Report for management on the project

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Project Management and Risk (MMN223835)
Assessment 2 – Practical Assessment
Submission Date: 14^th May 2018; 4pm
Clydebank University of Science and Technology (CUST) is a modern university in Glasgow with ambitions to become the best technology university in Scotland. The university was established in 2002 and has established itself as a leading university in the fields of science and technology research. Having attracted established and well-known scientists in the field, CUST is now embarking on the development of a state-of-the-art hi-tech robotics laboratory in the Scottish Enterprise Technology Park just outside of Glasgow in East Kilbride. The laboratory, named the Clyde Centre for Intelligent Systems, will be used solely for R & D and training in the field of robotics. Land has been acquired with generous funding from the Scottish government.
A budget of £1.1 million has been earmarked for the project with £1 million set aside for new state of the art lab equipment and advanced software.
You have been appointed as Project Manager of this project and it is your responsibility to plan the project including costs and resourcing of relevant staff.
Part A:
The first stage of project planning is to develop a high level plan for the following activities, including the estimated time schedule, staff involvement and budget for each main activity.  The budget indicated for each activity includes the staff cost.
The project should start on the 1^st May 2018 and handover should take place on the 30^th March 2019. The new facility must be operational by 1^st April 2019.

Identifier	Activity	Estimated duration	Predecessor	Staff responsible	Budget
1	Selection of project team	2 weeks		Project Manager
2	Development of specification	5 weeks	1	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Purchase Manager, Laboratory Manager	4000
3	Planning laboratory location	6 weeks	2	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Purchase Manager, Laboratory Manager, Architect	10000
4	Layout Design	6 weeks	3	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Purchase Manager, Laboratory Manager, Architect	8000
5	Equipment and software procurement (ordering and purchase)	4 weeks	4	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Purchase Manager, Laboratory Manager	1,000,000
6	Installation Planning	6 weeks	4	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Purchase Manager, Laboratory Manager, Architect	12000
7	Preparing installation site	6 weeks	5	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Finance Manager, Laboratory Manager	10000
8	Installing new equipment and software	8 weeks	5,7	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager	30000
9	Testing equipment and software	4 weeks	8	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager	6000
10	Staff training on new equipment and software	8 weeks	8	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager	16000
11	Moving to new facility	12 weeks	9	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager	30000
12	Project handover	milestone	10,11	Project Manager

 
The following constraints must be included in the Project Plan:

• The Purchase Manager is on planned annual leave between 13^th August to 7^th September, so procurement (activity 5) cannot start before 10^th
• There will be a 10 week lag in equipment (with pre-installed software) being ordered in activity 5 (equipment and software procurement) and delivery in activity 8 (installing new equipment and software).

Question 1:

• Set up the project plan as outlined above including the staff and equipment costs. Save the project as ClydeTech1                                                                                                                 (15 marks)

Question 2:

• Write a brief report for management on the project, including scheduling, costs and resource information. In the report identify any issues and risks with the project plan and suggest possible ways to deal with these issues.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             (15 marks)

 
Part B:
The project plan in Part A was a very high level plan for the whole project.  You as the Project Manager are now required to produce more detailed plans for each step of the project.
The following are details for staff training (activity 10).   The budget for this part of the project is £16000 and it is estimated to take 8 weeks.   This sub-project involves appointing a training manager as well as 4 members of staff who will act as trainers for the new laboratory facility.    Set this up as a new project to start on 1^st Jan 2019.

	Activity	Duration	Predecessor	Staff resources
1	Identify and appoint a Training Manager	0.5 days		Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager
2	Write specification of training requirements	3 days	1	Project Manager, Chief Technologist, Laboratory Manager, Training Manager
3	Write training manuals
4	write first draft	5 days	2	Training Manager
5	test material and gain feedback	2 days	4	Project Manager, Training Manager
6	redraft and finalise	5 days	5	Training Manager
7	send to printers	milestone	6	Training Manager
8	Set up training area	1 day	6	Project Manager, Training Manager
9	Appoint and train trainers
10	Advertise posts	milestone	6	HR Manager
11	Interview & appoint 4 trainers	2 days	10	HR Manager, Training Manager
12	Train the trainers	2 days	11	Project Manager, HR Manager, Training Manager
13	Set up training programme
14	Set up booking system	1 day	6	Training Manager
15	Check training materials and laboratory	1 day	6,8	Training Manager
16	Train staff	10 days	7,12, 14,15	Trainers[4], Training Manager

 
Add the following constraints to the project:

• Once the first draft has been written (activity 4), the training co-ordinator must wait for 2 weeks for the materials to be tested and gain feedback (activity 5).
• When the posts for trainers has been advertised (activity 10), there is a 2-week time delay before interviews can take place (activity 11), and a further 3 weeks before the trainers can be trained (activity 12).

 
 
The staff costs involved for the project are as follows:

Project manager	£300 per day
Chief Technologist	£300 per day
Laboratory Manager	£240 per day
Training Manager	£180 per day
HR Manager	£240 per day
Trainers	£160 per day

 
Question 3:
Set this up as a new project and save it as ClydeTechTraining 1.
(15 marks)
Question 4:
Write a brief report for management on the training sub-project, including scheduling, costs and resource information.  In the report identify any issues and risks with the project plan and suggest ways to deal with these issues.                                                                                                                                  (15 marks)
 
 
Question 5:
Update the project plan taking into account the issues identified.  Produce a short report justifying that this is the optimal solution possible.  Save the updated project as ClydeTechTraining 2.                                                                                                                                                                                    (25 marks)
 
NOTE:  You may make assumptions regarding the projects, but these must be clearly stated in the reports.
The reports are expected to be brief as they are for management so therefore should be between 500-700 words each.  If you make good use of Microsoft Project’s reporting facility, you will be able to present the relevant information in a succinct and relevant way.
 
Part C
Question 6:
Identify the risks commonly associated with business operations and supply chain projects. Describe the benefits of using software such as @Risk in Project Management (500 words).
(15 Marks)