Question:
How can you define Project and Project
Scheduling? Discuss briefly the special sources of problems involved in project
implementation.
Solution:
A project can be defined as a scientifically evolved work
plan, devised to achieve a specific objective within a specified period of
time.
Projects differ in shape, nature, objective and
complexity. Every Project must
necessarily conform to some three basic attributes of having:
-
A
source of action
- Having
specific objectives
- Involving
a definite time perspective
Hence, a project
could best be conceived as a work plan devised through some elements of
scientific investigation and analysis designed to achieve a set objective
within a certain period.
A number of
techniques and mathematical tools like the Gantt and other Network techniques
have been used to attempt a systematic analysis and management of projects with
varying degrees of success and failure.
But associated with
project management in modern times, are two key techniques adopted. These are:
-
project Scheduling
-
Project Monitoring
Project scheduling refers to a list of
activities tied up to time sequence and order. It is defined as a
document which affixes a list of activities on to a time frame following a
chosen order of sequence with firm commitment of resources.
SPECIAL
SOURCES OF PROBLEMS
Understandably, project managers face
some unusual problems in trying to direct and harmonize the diverse
forces at work in the project situation. Their main difficulties, observation
suggests, arise from three sources:
-
organizational uncertainty
-unusual
decision pressures
-vulnerability
to rop management mistakes
(1) Organizational Uncertainty: many newly appointed project managers
find that working relationships with functional department heads have not been
clearly defined by management. who assigns work to the financial analyst? Who
decides when to to order critical material before the product designs? Who
decides to delay design release to reduce unit cost? Who determines the
quantity and priority or spaces? All these decisions virtually concern
the project manager and he must often forge his own guidelines for dealing with
them. Unless he does so skillfully, the questions are apt to be resolved
in the interest of individual departments at the expense of the project as a
whole. In view of the number of decisions or approvals that may arise in
the course of a large project, the number of departments that have an interest
in each innumerable possibilities always exist for inter-departmental
conflicts. Besides coping with these conflicts, the project manager must juggle
the internal schedules of each department with the project schedule, avoid
political problems that could create bottlenecks, expedite one department to
compensate for another's failure to meet its schedule and hold the project
within a predetermined cost. Moreover, he must do all these single-handly with
little or none of the experienced top-management guidance that the line manager
enjoys.
(2) Unusual Decision Pressure: The servers penalties of delay often
compel the project manager to base his decisions on relatively few data.
Decisions to sacrifice time for cost, cost for quality or quality for
time are common in most projects and the project manager must be able to make
them without panicking. Clearly therefore, he has a special need for
intelligent support from higher management.
(3) Vulnerability To Top Management Mistakes: Though senior
executives can seldom give the project manager as much guidance and support as
his line counterpart enjoys, they can easily jeopardize the project's success
by lack of awareness, ill-advised intervention or personal whim. For
example, a project manager battling to meet a schedule that had been rendered
nearly impossible by the general manager's initial delay in approving the
proposal, found functional cooperation more and more difficult to obtain.
The functional heads become convinced as it turned out that he lacked the
general manager's full confidence.
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) IN PRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT II 500L
Question:
Discuss the basic concepts of Total
Quality Management?
Solution:
Concept Of Total Quality
Management
The concept of total quality management
(TQM) is an approach to management that focuses on improvement in the quality
of goods and services supplied to customers as the key to business
success.
It is defined as a continuous
improvement process involving all employees. From the management level to
the workshop level in a total integrated effort dedicated to improving the
performance at every level in the company.
These improvements are performance
directed to satisfy perceived cross-functional goals such as quality, cost,
technical performance, schedules and human resource development.
A considerable body of empirical study
suggests that the benefits of TQM include higher quality products, produced
more efficiently, resulting in improved business performance.
TQM is focuses
on management philosophy providing leadership, training and motivation in order
to improve continuously the operation of the organization. TQM process is
concentrated on elements as:
- Management
commitment
- Integration
and teamwork
- Focusing
on products and processes
- Long-time
commitment by all employees to continuous improvement
Today, high quality of service given to
customers has always been an important part of most successful companies
operating practices. This is seen not only in the way sales people deal
with customers, but also in the quality of the whole product package and the
service given by all employees of the company.
The common understanding of TQM
provides direction and framework for morality in business. It considers and
rewards the efforts of those directly involved, both inside and outside the
organization. It is no coincidence that successful TQM models all tend to
embody concepts of integrity, honesty, commitment, Participation and
ownership.
Question:
Explain the key functions and features
of manufacturing resource planning (MRP II)?
Solution:
manufacturing resource planning (MRP
II) is defined as a method for the effective planning of all resources of a
manufacturing company. Ideally, it addresses operational planning in units,
financial planning, and has a simulation capacity to answer "what -if"
questions and extension of closed-loop MRP.
This is not exclusively a software
function, but a marriage of people skills, dedicated to data base accuracy, and
computer resources. It is a total company management concept for using
human resources more productively.
KEY FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES
MRP II is not a proprietary software
system and can thus take many forms. It is almost impossible to visualize
an MRP II system that does not use a computer, but an MRP II system can be
based on either purchased - licensed or in-house software.
Almost every MRP II system is modular
in construction. Characteristics basic modules in an MRP II system are:
- Master
production schedule (MPS)
- Item
master data (technical data)
- Bill
of materials (BOM) (technical data)
- Production
resources data (manufacturing technical data)
- Inventories
and orders (inventory control)
- Purchasing
management
- Material
requirements planning (MRP)
- Shop
floor control (SFC)
- Capacity
planning or capacity requirements planning (CRP)
- Standard
costing (Cost control)
- Cost
reporting/management (Cost control)
Together with auxiliary systems such
as:
- Business Planning
- Lot traceability
- Contract management
- Tool management
- Engineering change control
- Configuration management
- Shop floor data collection
- Sales analysis and forecasting
- Finite capacity scheduling (FSC)
And related systems such as:
- General ledger
- Accounts payable (purchase ledger)
- Accounts receivable (sales ledger)
- Sales order management
- Distribution requirements planning (DRP)
- Automated warehouse management
- Project management
- Technical records
- Estimating
- Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
- CAPP
The MRP II system
integrates these modules together so that they use common data and freely
exchange information, in a model of how a manufacturing enterprise should and
can operate. The MRP II approach is therefore very different from the
"point solution" approach, where individual systems are deployed to
help a company plan, control or manage a specific activity. MRP II is by
definition fully integrated or at least fully interfaced.
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