Reference no: EM132200390

Assignment - Consultancy Report

Assessment Brief

The Fundamentals of Project Management course has TWO separate deliverables to be submitted as a single document:

A. Project Management Consultancy Report

This should be structured in four sections based on the DBCL Case Study - 3500 words (this includes tables and charts) (85% of final course grade)

B. Reflective Essay
Prepare an analysis into the challenges encountered throughout the Module and the difficulties producing the assessment. State clearly the key learning points you have gained with regard to Project Management and also identify clear personal development goals -750 words (15% of final course grade)

2.2. Questions

In the role of a Project Consultant working you are required to develop a project report, structured along the following lines:

Part A

Project definition/Parameters and risks

(a) Discuss the relative importance of the various iron triangle parameters that will need to be managed by the DBCL project manager over the course of the project, and how they may inter-relate to each other.

(b) Use the template provided to create a risk register, identifying a maximum of ten risks that DBCL are facing with a fabrication project of this nature.

Planning and costs

In preparation for the forthcoming work, the DBCL project manager created the following data in Table 1:

Task	Description	Duration (weeks)	Predecessor/s	Fixed costs £M	Number of engineers	Number of technicians
A	Fabricate upper deck	4	-	8.3	10	45
B	Fabricate cellar deck	2	-	7.1	12	56
C	Turbine generators	6	A	2.5	8	20
D	Fuel gas systems	2	B	2.8	6	22
E	Fabricate flare boom	4	B	3.9	8	32
F	Cooling systems	8	C	4.5	12	18
G	Seawater pumping systems	12	C	2.5	12	20
H	Connect both decks	2	C,D	3.1	10	46
I	Install flare boom	6	E,H	2.2	8	35
J	Coalescer systems	4	F	2.2	7	14
K	Gas dehydration systems	4	J	2.7	7	10
L	Water injection systems	6	G,H	3.1	6	12
M	Gas compression systems	6	I	3.2	6	14
N	Onshore commissioning	8	K,L,M	1.1	12	24

Table 1 - project plan

The average (fully inclusive) cost of an engineer was estimated to be £59.00 per hour and for a technician £36.00 per hour. The company generally works a standard five-day week and eight-hour days. The fixed costs for each task are shown in Table 1 are in £m.

(c) Using Microsoft PowerPoint (or any similar graphics package) prepare a network diagram showing the critical path and planned duration of the project. Quantify the float on the non-critical tasks.

(d) Using Microsoft Project (or a similar package) prepare a Gantt chart for the project to a professional standard. Calibrate the timescale in weeks. If the project is scheduled to start on Monday 8 January 2018 determine the planned completion date based on the critical path analysis.

(e) Using the information provided, calculate the projected gross profit for the contract (i.e. revenue - costs) that the company was aiming to achieve. Show your workings clearly. If the project is delayed, then at what point would the project become loss making. (5 marks)

Managing progress and spending

The project started on time, and after 16 weeks of work, an intensive review of the project was held on Monday 30 April 2018 at the DBCL fabrication yard. The following information was reported by the project team.

Task	Actual progress to date (%)	Total expenditure incurred to date (£m)
A	100	8.15
B	100	7.2
C	100	2.56
D	100	3.18
E	100	4.43
F	75	4.29
G	35	1.67
H	90	4.03
I	20	0.78

Table 2 - actual progress and spending after 16 weeks

(f) First, make a copy of the Gantt chart for the project created in (e). Using the Gantt chart, determine the planned progress (%) for each task after 16 weeks had elapsed and produce a table showing planned against actual. Assume that progress is achieved on a linear basis for each task. For example, if a task is planned over the course of 4 weeks, then if 3 weeks have elapsed planned progress would be 75%.

Secondly enter the actual progress values for progress from Table 2 into the Gantt Chart, and using Microsoft Project reschedule the project with effect from the review date. Comment on the outcome from a commercial perspective.

Earned Value Analysis and Acceleration

(g) Create an Earned Value Analysis table showing ACWP, BCWP and BCWS values for every project task. Using EVA determine an overall planned % figure for the entire project and compare with an overall actual figure for the project. Show all workings in a neat and professional layout.

(h) Create a projected completion date for the entire project using the Estimate at Completion (schedule) method derived from the Earned Value Analysis.

Create a projected final spend for the entire project using the Estimate at Completion (cost) method derived from the Earned Value Analysis. Show your calculations clearly

Compare these values with the original contract value to determine the likely profitability of the contract as it then stood.

(i) Soon after the review, a daylong meeting was convened to discuss possible tactics to accelerate progress and avoid the prospect of any penalty charges. In response to urgent demands from the Chief Executive, the project manager had researched some acceleration options for the Directors to consider.

Task	Option
K	The design of the gas dehydration systems could be simplified leading to a faster installation process. This would have savedup to 2 weeks but at a cost of £80,000 per week
L	An alternative vendor for the water injection systems could be selected for the project. This would have savedup to 4 weeks at a cost of £150,000 per week
M	The vendor for the gas compression systems has offered to work over-time in order to accelerate the installation schedule. This option would have savedup to 3 weeks at a cost of £55,000 per week
N	The DBCL team required for onshore commissioning could be asked to work evenings and weekends. This would have saved up to 3 weeks at a cost of £75,000 per week

Table 3 - possible acceleration options

Recommend which of the options should have been accepted and which should have been declined. Explain and justify your recommendations with reference to the project plan and critical path. If the recommended options are implemented successfully, analyse the commercial impact on the profitability of the project.

Attachment:- Summative Assessment.rar