Engineering: Project Management

Study guide

Click on the headings below to expand the study guide.

Semester 1

Week Section Activities
1 Introduction to Engineering Project Management
  • Presentation 1
  • A380 video
  • Effective Project Management
  • Prince 2
  • Quiz 1
2 & 3 Planning and Scheduling Projects
  • Gantt Charts
  • Network Diagrams
  • Float in Network Diagrams
  • Quiz 2
4 Budgeting
  • Budgeting
  • Quiz 3
5 Tutorial
  • Tutorial Questions
6

Types of Business

Organisational Structures
  • Sole trader case study
  • Types of Business
  • Advantages/Disadvantages
7

Money & Business: The Basics
  • Quiz 4
8

Quality

Sampling
  • Quality Case Study
  • Deming & TQM
  • Sample size
  • Sampling Methods
  • Quiz 5
9

Example Management Techniques

Entrepreneurship
  • Six Sigma
  • Entrepreneurs
10

Business Plans

Legal Requirements

Draft Business Plan

Legal Obligations of Company
11

Ethics and Engineering
  • Emissions Scandal
  • Sustainability
  • Quiz 6
12

Exam Revision

Semester 2

Week Section Activities
1 Engineering Design
  • Faucet Design Video
2 Reverse Engineering
  • Stealing the superfortress
  • Presentation 1: Design Perspectives
  • Quiz 7
3 Materials Selection
  • Material Properties
  • Bicycle Frame Materials Selection
  • Quiz 8
4 Coursework Guidance
  • Discuss Options
  • Product Dissection
  • Presentation 2: Report Writing
5, 6 & 7

Personal Development Planning
  • Why PDP Plan?
  • PD Cycle
  • Planning PD
  • Learning styles & Opportunities
  • Learning Log & Evidence Portfolio
  • Review PD
  • Coursework Guidance

The remainder of the semester will be used for coursework.

Introduction to project management principles

This section of the resource will introduce the principles of project management. You can learn about these by reading through the resource and working through the activities provided.

You will need a digital or paper notebook to hand when working through the activities.

businessman with tablet

Pixabay/ CC0

Definition of a project

A project is a complex set of interconnected tasks with single overall goal.  Projects should be completed to well-defined specifications, on time and within budget. 

Activity 1: Examples of Projects

  Here are some examples of Engineering projects. You might find it useful to research more information about these online:

Queensferry Crossing
1200px-Queensferry_Crossing_Aug_2016
Wikimedia/ CC
The 3 Gorges Dam in China
1200px-ThreeGorgesDam-China2009
Wikimedia/ CC
Deck Decompression Deck
1200px-Recompression_Chamber_Display_at_No.7_East_Pier,_Zuoying_Naval_Base_20141123
Wikimedia/ CC

Scenario

Airbus A380

The A380 has been in service for more than 10 years now and although it is still the largest airliner in the skies, it is no longer the most advanced.  A proposal has been made to develop an A380NEO (“New Engine Option”) which will use new, more fuel-efficient engines.  However, this is not a simple thing to do and it is by no means certain that it is financially viable.  

Imagine that you are leading a project that is investigating the feasibility of the A380NEO.  The aim of the project is to find out whether or not Airbus should proceed with making a new-engine version of the aircraft.

technology-2310888_960_720

Activity 2

List the major tasks that would be involved in the project. Try to write them in chronological order. Please bear the following in mind:

  • There are business as well as technical aspects to any engineering project.
  • This will be an investigative project, rather than a design or build project.
  • Manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing have very close links with the companies that buy their aircraft.  Airlines such as Emirates, British Airways and China Southern can have a strong influence on aircraft developments.
  • Airbus don’t make engines – the current A380 uses the Rolls Royce Trent 900 or the Engine Alliance GP7000.
  • Airbus and Boeing have successfully carried out similar projects on smaller aircraft such as the A320NEO and Boeing 737MAX.

You might want to do a little background research to find out more about the topic.  However, this task is intended to get you thinking about the need to plan and organise a complex engineering project, not about the technicalities of the A380.

Opposite is a video about the Airbus A380 which you might find helpful to view. (You don’t need to watch the whole video, just the parts you find interesting)

Suggested answer

You should break the project down into different sections, for example:

Company capacity: current orders for the A380.  Is there capacity to make more?  Is this is the best use of R&D resources?

Customers: What do potential customers think (current and new)?  What is the likely demand?  What would they expect in terms of reduced fuel costs?  Would they be prepared to pay more for this aircraft? When do they need it?  What will they do if an A380NEO is not available? 

Engine manufacturers: could new engines be developed for the A380 that would significantly reduce fuel consumption?  What would the cost and time be? What would the specifications (weight, diameter etc) be?  Would it require any structural changes to the aircraft?  What about connections to other systems (hydraulic, electrical, fuel etc.).  Other possible benefits: noise, maintenance etc. What would the testing and verification requirements be?

Aircraft design: are there any other changes that could be made at the same time to reduce fuel consumption (aerodynamic, weight-saving etc.) or otherwise modernise the aircraft?

Overall conclusion: cost-benefit analysis. A380NEO: yes or no?

Managing Projects

For any reasonably complex project to be successful it has to be managed in a systematic way.

analytics-3265840_960_720

  Activity 3

What do you think is needed for effective management of an engineering project? List as many key points as you can, and then click on the  button below to see the suggested answers.

Suggested answer

Outline exactly the aim and scope of the project.  Agree these with the customer and any other parties involved in the project.  What will the project achieve?  Is this feasible?  What will be included?  What will not be included?  Budget?

Identify individual tasks that need to be carried out to complete the project.  How long will each task take?  What resources are required?  Costs? Who is responsible?  How do we know when a task has been completed?  Do other tasks need to be completed before it can start?  How do tasks depend on one another?  Are any tasks particularly critical to the project?

Identify and plan for risks.  These are things outside your control which might or might not happen and which could have an adverse effect on the project.  For example, bad weather may disrupt a micro hydro-electric project, or machine tool failure may delay the availability of a critical component.  Risk analysis assesses the likelihood of a risk occurring and the seriousness of its impact if it does occur.  It allows an appropriate strategy to be devised to minimise the impact of risks.

Monitor the progress of the project.  Identify key points and use these to measure progress.  Are project costs within the budget?

Close the project in an orderly way.  Have the aims of the project been achieved?  Have quality standards been met?  Is the project within budget? Lessons to be learnt?

Prince 2

One approach to project management is called Prince2. The name Prince 2 is an abbreviation of the term ‘PRojects IN Controlled Environments' and is a widely used approach in industry. In simple terms, project management can be broken down into 4 phases:

Initiation → Planning → Execution → Closure

Prince 2

Activity 4

Read more about Prince 2 in these links here:

Read more about the planning phases here:

Activity 5: Quiz

You should now test your knowledge so far by taking this quiz on Socrative

If you have difficulty logging in to complete the quiz online then you can access a PDF of the quiz here: Quiz 1

puzzle-3223941_1920Pixabay/CC0

Introduction to planning and scheduling projects

In this part of the learning resource the planning and scheduling of projects will be introduced.

Planning a project produces a list of tasks or activities that need to be completed. These tasks are often inter-related and it is important for the success of the project that tasks are scheduled in the most effective way.  It is also important that the progress of a project is monitored.

This website has excellent short lessons on several engineering topics: Engineer4free

We will use some of the lessons on project management from this website, each of which consists of a short video. You may find it helpful to make brief notes for each lesson as the activities in this second section will require you to draw up and analyse charts and diagrams.

project-planning-2738526_960_720
Pixabay/CC0

Gantt charts

One method of scheduling a project is to produce a Gantt chart.

This is a special kind of bar chart that lists the activities in a project, showing when each activity will take place and how long it will last. 

clock-1527693_960_720

Activity 6.1

Watch the following lessons. Each is only a few minutes long. It is good practice to try the examples on your own and see if you agree with the answers on the video. Remember to make notes as you go along:

Drawing a Gantt Chart

In the next few screens you will work through a number of tasks which will give you practice in creating Gantt charts and considering their strengths and limitations in relation to planning and scheduling projects

Activity 6.2

Draw a Gantt chart for the following project activities. When you have done this, click on the button below to see if you got it right.

Activity Predecessor Duration (days)
A --- 4
B A 7
C A 5
D A 2
E B,C 4
F D 6
G B 3
H E,F,G 3

Questions:

Q1. In what ways is a Gantt chart like this useful?

Suggested answer

Q2. What sort of information is not shown on a Gantt chart?

 Suggested answer

Completed chart

This chart was made using a spreadsheet. More sophisticated Gantt charts can be produced using specialised software such as Microsoft Project.

Gantt2

Suggested answer

  • To make up a Gantt chart you first have to think clearly about all the tasks or activities involved in a project. This helps to ensure nothing is forgotten about.
  • A Gantt chart assists in the efficient planning of resources. For example, some activities might require workshop space or technician time. Others might need the services of a sub-contractor (powder coating and chrome plating in the motorcycle restoration project) which may need to be booked in advance. Rather than buy all the spare parts required at the beginning of the project it might ease cash flow and reduce storage costs if they are ordered just before required.
  • Financial information may be included so that it is clear when costs will be incurred or revenues received.
  • To some extent, a Gantt chart can indicate the inter-dependency of activities, but it may be misleading.

Suggested answer

  • The inter-dependency of activities may not be entirely clear. For example, in the motorcycle restoration project brake refurbishment takes place immediately after front suspension refurbishment. If there is a problem with the front suspension does this mean that brake work will have to start late? Maybe not, but we don’t know.
  • Gantt charts are not good at dealing with changes in a project. Significant delays might even require a new Gantt chart to be made. On the other hand, network diagrams show the logic and interdependency of project activities clearly, and allow the impact of delays to be predicted or assessed. Their logical and mathematical nature makes them amenable to solution by computer program.

PDM and CPM Network Diagrams

While useful, Gantt charts have some important limitations. Other useful tools for project planning are PDM and CPM network diagrams.

Activity 7.1

Watch the following six lessons on PDM (Precedence Diagram Method). These are only a few minutes long each.


 

  Now have a look at these three lessons on CPM (Critical Path Method). The last video compares PDM with CPM.

 

More on CPM and PDM Network Diagrams

Here are some activities to develop your skills in understanding and drawing CPM and PDM network diagrams

Activity 7.2

A project has the following table of dependencies:

Activity Predecessor Duration (Months)
A --- 5
B A 1
C B 3
D B 4
E C,D 7

Construct a PDM network diagram for this project.

From your network diagram, answer the following questions:

Q1. State the total duration of the project if all activities are carried out to schedule.

Q2. Identify the critical path.

Q3. Construct a CPM network diagram for this project and confirm it gives the same results as your PDM network diagram for Q1 & Q2

View solution

Answer

Q1 Answer: 17 months

Q2 Answer: A, B, D, E (as shown by red arrows)

image

Q3. The critical path is A, B, D, and E as before. (Note that a dummy activity is necessary because activities C and D start at the same time and both are also predecessors for activity E.)

image2

Float

Float (or slack) is an important idea in network diagrams.

Float, sometimes called slack, is the amount of time an activity, network path, or project can be delayed from the early start without changing the completion date of the project.

Total float is the difference between the finish date of the last activity on the critical path and the project completion date. Any delay in an activity on the critical path would reduce the amount of total float available on the project. A project can also have negative float, which means the calculated completion date of the last activity is later than the targeted completion date established at the beginning of the project.

If activities that are not on the critical path have a difference between their early start date and their late start date, those activities can be delayed without affecting the project completion date. The float on those activities is called free float.

Activity 8.1

Look at the following lessons:

What is Total Float?

What is Free Float?

Activity 8.2: Network Diagram Example

Construct a network diagram (PDM or CPM) for this project. Use it to find the total float and free float for each activity:

Activity Predecessor Duration (Months)
A --- 5
B A 3
C A 5
D A 6
E B,C 4
F D 2
G E,F 3

Answer

PDM network diagram

image3

CPM network diagram

image4

Critical path is A, C, E, G. All activities on the critical path have zero total float and zero free float.

Total float TF maximum delay of an activity that doesn’t delay finish of project

TF= LS – ES (latest start – earliest start), or EF – LF (latest finish – earliest finish) Free float FF = maximum delay of an activity that doesn’t delay the earliest start of any succeeding activity

FF = minESsuccessors - ESactivity - durationactivity

Activity Total float Free float
A 0 0
B 6 - 4 = 2 (or) 9 - 7 = 2 9 - 4 - 3 = 2
C 0 0
D 5 – 4 = 1 10 – 4 – 6 = 0
E 0 0
F 11 – 10 = 1 13 – 10 – 2 = 1
G 0 0

Activity 9.1

You should now test your knowledge so far by taking quiz 1, which you will find in the section below this learning resource

You can also access a PDF of the quiz here: Quiz 2

 

puzzle-3223941_1920Pixabay/CC0

Budgets

Budgeting is a vital part of project planning.  A budget is basically a financial plan where the costs of all activities are estimated.  Also, revenues and when they are expected to be received are included in a project budget.

Usually, a project is allocated a fixed amount of money at the initiation stage.  The value of the completed project and experience of similar projects is used to set a high-level budget.  This may be refined after detailed consideration of project activities, where material, labour, equipment, workshop space, utilities (such as gas and electricity), sub-contracting and other costs are estimated.  Project budgets invariably include a contingency.  This is put in place to cover unknown or unexpected costs that almost always arise in complex projects.  Depending on the nature of a project and the risks involved, contingencies of 10, 20 or even 30% of a project budget are typical.  Without a reasonable contingency, a project runs the risk of not being completed even after considerable sums have been spent on it.

euro-870757_960_720

Pixabay/ CC0

Activity 10.1

A landowner wishes to install a single 55 kW wind turbine at a site in a rural location. What are the costs that would have to be included in the budget for this project?

Solution

Costs that would have to be included in the budget for this type of project include:

  • Feasibility study: assessment of wind resource at site including measurement of wind speeds for an appropriate period; site survey; environmental impact study.
  • Planning application: legal and other costs of gaining permission for the project to take place
  • Equipment: turbine and generator, transformer, other equipment; transport of equipment to site; installation and test of equipment.
  • Connection to (and possible upgrade of) the electrical distribution network (“grid”)
  • Site works: turbine foundations; access road; cabling.

Even if it’s the first wind turbine installation for this landowner, this type of project has been completed successfully many times in the past. This means it should be possible to make a reasonably accurate forecast of the costs, especially if data is available for a similar project (perhaps even from the same contractor). This indicates that only a relatively low contingency would be required. However, there are several other factors that need to be considered.

For example, bad weather may cause delays which could result in cost increases in several areas. Problems in constructing foundations or the access road may be encountered, requiring more extensive work than anticipated. An equipment supplier may go out of business, making it necessary to purchase replacement equipment that is more expensive than that originally specified. If a contingency of 20% is built into the budget this can be used in the business plan to determine the break-even point for the project. In this type of project a large initial investment is required, and revenues (from the supply of electricity) only start when the project is completed. It will take some time for the initial investment to be paid back and for profit to start. If some of the contingency is not required, the project will reach break-even point sooner. If insufficient contingency is available, the project risks costly delays or even not being completed and the investment wasted.

Activity 11: Quiz

You should now test your knowledge so far by taking quiz 1, which you will find in the section below this learning resource

You can also access a PDF of the quiz here: Quiz 3

puzzle-3223941_1920Pixabay/CC0

Tutorial Questions

Activity 12.1

1. A project has the following table of dependencies:

Activity Predecessor Duration (months)
A --- 2
B A 5
C A 7
D C 3
E B,D 6
  1. Construct a PDM network diagram for this project.
  2. From your network diagram:
    1. State the total duration of the project if all activities are carried out to schedule.
    2. Identify the critical path.

Answer

PDM network diagram

CPM network diagram

i. Total duration = 18 days

ii. Critical path is A, C, D, E.

2. A project has the following table of dependencies:

Activity Predecessor Duration (weeks)
A --- 3
B A 2
C A 3
D B 4
E C 4
F D,E 4
G F 3
H F 1
I G,H 2
  1. Construct a PDM network diagram for this project.
  2. From your network diagram:
    1. State the total duration of the project if all activities are carried out to schedule.
    2. Identify the critical path.
  3. Construct a CPM network diagram for this project and confirm it gives the same results for part (b) i and ii.
  4. Calculate the total float and free float for all activities not on the critical path.

Answer

PDM network diagram

CPM network diagram

i. Total duration = 19 weeks

ii. Critical path is A, C, E, F, G, I.

CPM network diagram

CPM network diagram

Total duration = 19 weeks

Critical path is A, C, E, F, G, I (as PDM)

Total float and free float for all activities not on the critical path

Activity Total float Free float
A 0 0
B 4-3=1 5-3-2=0
C 0 0
D 6-5=1 10-4-5=1
E 0 0
F 0 0
G 0 0
H 16-14=2 17-14-1=2
I 0 0

3. A project has the following table of dependencies:

Activity Predecessor Duration (days)
A --- 1
B A 3
C A 4
D A 3
E B,C 2
F C,D 5
G E,F 3
H G 2
  1. Construct PDM and CPM network diagrams for this project and determine the critical path.
  2. From your network diagram, explain the overall effect on the project if:
    1. Activity B is delayed by 2 days
    2. Activity D is delayed by 6 days

Answer

PDM network diagram

CPM network diagram

CPM network diagram

CPM network diagram

Critical path A, C, F, G, H.

i. Activity B is delayed by 2 days?

B will finish on day 6, E will start on day 6 and finish on day 8. G will still start on day 10, so overall the project will not be delayed.

ii. Activity D is delayed by 6 days?

D will now take 3 + 6 = 9 days so it will finish on day 10. D will replace C on the critical path. The earliest start for F will be day 10 and earliest finish on day 15. G will finish on day 18, and H on day 20. There will be an overall delay of 5 days.

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