Strengths and weaknesses of project management techniques

Critical Path Method (CPM): CPM was first put to action in 1957 and has since grown to become an important tool for overseeing large undertakings, such as major construction projects. It enhances efficiency through dividing efforts that are complicated into a series of smaller tasks with the resources and costs associated with each task. This enables managers to see areas that can experience potential breakdowns (Jack, 2013).

Strengths of CPM: It makes it easy for project managers to build teams and create human networks for efficient handling projects with multiple tasks. It also binds the entire team together, helps projects be completed efficiently, and accurate project duration estimation and costing (Constantinou, 2013)

Weaknesses of CPM: It can become very complicated in big projects, it cannot create and control schedules of people working in a project. For big projects, the critical path is not always clear, and CPM can be time consuming (Constantinou, 2013)

Materials Requirement Planning (MRP): MRP is a system for managing manufacturing processes. Initially, MRP was created in 1964 to support the Polaris program as a response to the Toyota Manufacturing Program. Black & Decker was its first user and had been implemented in 700 firms by 1975. It was developed in MRP II in 1983 by Oliver Wight to bring together rough cut capacity planning, master scheduling, and planning for capacity requirements. The MRP II software formed a third of all software sold in the US software sector by 1989 (Ptak, 2013).

Strengths of MRP: Ensure materials needed for production are availed on time, results in little or no excess inventory, leads to timely deliveries of finished products, and uses manufacturing resources optimally.  (Ptak, 2013).

Weaknesses of MRP: Requires precise data to be entered and clean records to be kept, it also just provides a framework that has be used effectively, and if data is not accurate, a lot of problems can be experienced( Ptak, 2013). 

Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT): It is a scheduling tool used commonly in project management, Was first used in the late 1950s in the US Navy in the Polaris missile project and uses a system of numbering events in sequences of tens or hundreds (Koontz and Weihrich, 2010)

Strengths of PERT: Allows for analyses of activities, improves coordination n departments by improving planning and decision making, and enables analysis of what-if situations

Weaknesses of PERT: It is a subjective analysis tool that requires new project activities to be identified and then arranged in sequence. Its basically a method focused on time and is resource intensive (Koontz and Weihrich, 2010)

Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)

Critical path Analysis: First, it requires activities to be identified, the activities sequence determined, and a network of the activities created. The completion time for all identified activities are then entered and the longest possible path (the critical path) to complete all the activities is then identified. The progress of the CPM should be updated regularly (Rodriguez, 2017)

Optimized Production Technology  Philosophy: This is a proprietary computer software system of scheduling. OPT starts with performance measurement, planning projects, and identifying the software and hardware requirements. This is followed by plant analysis where manufacturing processes and their management are analyzed. Bottlenecks are then analyzed and computer modeling of the system done, followed by definition of data (data to be fed into system). Th outputs are then defined to create the MPS (master production schedule): this is achieved by planning for constraint capacity. The OPT is then operated through the OPT software to control complex manufacturing processes (Burcher, 2015).

Lead capacity strategy: in this strategy, capacity is added in expectation of demand. This is usually done by medium to large companies and is associated with large investments. This is a high capital intensive strategy

Lag capacity strategy: This a capacity strategy where capacity is only added after the materialization of demand. This entails adding capacity only when existing capacity is exhausted or exceeded and is a more conservative strategy used by small to medium organizations. The investment in this case is small to medium

Match capacity strategy: A strategy for capacity in which a balance between lag and lead capacity strategies is struck by avoiding periods of high over- or under- utilization. This is a moderate strategy with very low to low-medium investment implications and is used, or is suitable for very small organizations to medium firms, or even startups (Ross, 2015)

A thermoset wood plastic composite is assumed: The process entails air drying the wood particles until all moisture is removed. Plastic, usually polypropylene in fine powder form is then mixed after weighing ) with plastic and then mixed together. Forming is then done in a stainless steel mold and Pre-heated, then heated in a hot press. They are then placed in the cold press (DeGarmo, Black and Kohser, 2008)

This is a secondary manufacturing process that involves getting edges of the cooled panel trimmed to the desired shape. Drills are then used to make holes where screws will be drilled to make drawers (Rauner, 2012).  

• Capacity Assessment

1. Laminate composite material

Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

The laminated composite (wood plastic) is produced as follows:

Laminate composite production takes 2160 seconds, forming.

Drilling takes 420 seconds. Assembly and inspection take 1020 seconds. Total time (CPM) is 3600 seconds (60 minutes) for a drawer set with five drawers. At 14 hours per day for 6 days, the capacity using a single line is 84 drawers as shown in the image below

Production schedule

On a monthly basis, the production plant can manufacture 336 units per month, which is 84 per week and 14 per day based on a 14 hour work day.

The unit can manufacture more than 20 per week: 336 units can be made per month using a single production line with five employees on the single line. The number to be manufactured per month is limited in number by the capacity of the plant and activities; the forming and heating as well as cold  cold treatment must take a given time. Mixing takes at least five minutes, while air drying wood particles take five minutes. Assembling slows the system most because it takes a lot of time (plus inspection).

Lean manufacture is a systematic production method aimed specifically at minimizing waste in a manufacturing system while maintaining productivity at high levels. Lean takes cognizance of wastes created via uneven work loads and those created through over burdening (Jones and Womack, 2014). Lean manufacturing seeks to exalt what adds value while reducing or eliminating what does not add value. Lean is based on various principles that include identifying value, mapping the value stream, creating flow, establish pull, and seeking perfection (Earley, 2016): these are discussed in the following sections

Value: The needs of the customer for a specific product define its value and so it is imperative for each company to determine what value customers place on products and services. Value dictates the amount the customer is willing to pay and the result is a top down approach to target costing. Target costing places focus on what the customer can willingly pay for certain features, products, and services and based on these, the product costs are determined. The business is then tasked with reducing costs and eliminating wastes to meet the customer price while also profiting greatly (Davim, 2016)

The Value Stream: This refers to the entire flow of the life cycle of a product from the raw materials origin to the cost to the customer in using the product and its ultimate disposal of the product. Critically studying this stream and identifying its wastes and value-add will help the company fully understand wastes associated with production and delivery of the product. Based on this, there should be a stronger partnership between customer and manufacturer in the entire stream (Crawford, 2016)

Critical path Analysis

Flow: After all wastes have been eliminated from the value stream, it is imperative to ensure the remaining steps during production flow smoothly bereft of any interruptions, bottlenecks, or delays. The value chain must keep flowing forward, and this is a critical point in lean manufacturing so the product and its attendant steps (raw materials, parts, sub- assemblies) never stop during the production process.  There must be full synchronization in each and every aspect of the production and delivery with all other elements. Carefully designing the flow across the value chain has a tendency to increase value and minimize waste (Davim, 2016).  

Pull: The pull approach ensures that there is no build up in the work in process inventory when things are made ahead of time. The traditional approach tends to use a process such as ERP where production is pushed through the manufacturing process based on a schedule and forecast. The pull approach requires nothing to be made until it is ordered by the customer. This requires a high level of flexibility and cycle times that re very short to achieve. Each step within the value chain is informed of requirements every single day based on the needs of the customer (Crawford, 2016).

Perfection: The aim of Lean manufacturing is perfection through total quality management that is is achieved through the systematic and continuous removal of the root causes for poor quality from the processes of production. This is so that there is a continuous move towards perfection in the plant and the products being made in it. An organization aiming for lean manufacturing develops the attitude of relentless pursuit of perfection (Davim, 2016)

References 

Burcher, P. (2015). Optimized Production Technology. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 10(1), pp.1-2.

Constantinou, M. (2013). Critical Path Analysis. [online] Getrevising.co.uk. Available at: https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/critical_path_analysis [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Crawford, M. (2016). 5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should Know. [online] Asme.org. Available at: https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/manufacturing-design/5-lean-principles-every-should-know [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Davim, J. (2016). Research advances in industrial engineering. New York: Springer International PU, pp.3-6.

DeGarmo, E., Black, J. and Kohser, R. (2008). DeGarmo’s materials and processes in engineering. Chichester: Wiley.

Earley, J. (2016). The lean book of lean. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Jack, H. (2013). Engineering design, planning, and management. Amsterdam: Academic.

Jones, D. and Womack, J. (2014). Lean thinking. 2nd ed. London: Free Press.

Koontz, H. and Weihrich, H. (2010). Essentials of management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Ltd.

Ptak, C., Smith, C. and Orlicky, J. (2013). Orlicky’s material requirements planning. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Rauner, F. (2012). Qualification for Computer-Integrated Manufacturing. 1st ed. London: Springer London, p.161.

Rodriguez, J. (2017). How to Use and Identify the Critical Path Using a CPM Schedule. [online] The Balance. Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/critical-path-method-scheduling-844481 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].

Ross, D. (2015). Distribution planning and control – managing in the era of supply chain man. 3rd ed. New York: Springer, p.109.