Question

This description is about an improvement project in a mechanical company where you have been working. You have heard about complaints from the production staff that the work around one of the machines is unnecessarily difficult. This leads to bottlenecks in production and that the machine is always fully loaded and has a backlog with products to be run. The fact that the machine is constantly coated makes it difficult to carry out both daily maintenance by the operators and planned long-term maintenance. This in turn has led to the quality of the products starting to fall and customers starting to get in touch. The problem is that customers can not be specific about what the errors are. They just know that the products do not work as well as before. This makes it difficult for the people who receive the complaints to send them on to the right people and they have been left lying. For management, it is a minor problem because they think they have other more important things to do. But in the end, they got tired of whining and said OK to a do an improvement project without actually getting involved in it. The project has been working for a while but nothing has happened. So now the factory manager has turned to you for help despite the fact that you actually work in another part of the company. That you get the question is due to the fact that you have experience of project management and have done a good job before.

(i) Make a stakeholder analysis of the problem and motivative what to include/exclude.

(ii) Make a risk analysis for the project. The risks must be explained, single words or short sentences are not enough.

(iii) Make a WBS for the project sorted by the phases in ProjectBase

Answer 1

Solution for the given problem

Solution 1:

The stakeholder analysis is as shown below:

1) Plant Operator >> The work around one of the machines is difficult. This leads to bottlenecks in production and that the machine is always fully loaded and has a backlog with products to be run.

2) Plant Maintenance >> The fact that the machine is constantly coated makes it difficult to carry out both daily maintenance by the operators and planned long-term maintenance. This in turn has led to the quality of the products starting to fall and customers starting to get in touch.

3) Customers >> The problem is that customers can not be specific about what the errors are. They just know that the products do not work as well as before.

4) Service management staff >> This makes it difficult for the people who receive the complaints to send them on to the right people and they have been left lying.

5) Compant management >> For management, it is a minor problem because they think they have other more important things to do. But in the end, they got tired of whining and said OK to a do an improvement project without actually getting involved in it.

6) Factory Manager >> The project has been working for a while but nothing has happened. So now the factory manager has turned to you for help despite the fact that you actually work in another part of the company.

Solution 2:

The risk analysis is as shown below:

Some of the key risks identified are:

1) Due to quality issues, the company has started getting customer complains. Since customers do not have requisite technical knowledge, they are unable to pin point the error which delays complaint resolution which in turn lowers customer satisfaction. (High Probability, High Impact)

2) If the customer complaints are not addressed quickly, customer will get frustrated and firm will start losing orders and face returns/rejections. This will lead to decline in sales and revenue. (Moderate Probability, High Impact)

3) Due to lack of planned maintenance, there is a possibility of worker injury on the machine. A worker injury will bring in huge financial liability on the firm besides possible legal actions. It may also lead to unplanned shutdown due to labor unavailability. (High Probability, Moderate Impact)

4) Due to lack of maintenance and heavy coat deposition, the machine faces a risk of breakdown which can halt production. A breakdown can increase bottlenecks as well as disrupt the entire production schedule. (Moderate Probability, Moderate Impact)

5) Due to issues of poor quality, customer complaints, and worker dissatisfaction, the company brand can get hit. This would impact the brand perception, and shareholder value. (Low Probability, High Impact)

Solution 3:

The WBS is as shown below:

The focus areas for the WBS would be conducting operational and long-term maintenance followed by the implementation of a customer complaint management system so that the firm can respond to complaints faster.

*******************************************Thank You***************************************