Project Management

Goudsmit UK Ltd recognises the importance of project management in ensuring that products are supplied to customer requirements, on time and within budget constraints.

We aim to provide industry with project management solutions for new or existing products, which lead to improved cost effectiveness in materials, manufacturing and shipping. The governing ideal is to ultimately increase profitability for our clients.

Whether it’s working from a blank page and developing a product for a specific application or taking an existing product and improving the design the overarching principles are the same, definition of scope and key objectives, identifying the tasks necessary to achieve the project goals, inter dependency of the tasks, the risks associated with the project and time required for completion.

Also a key element of our approach is the building of partnerships with our customers relying on open and regular dialog throughout the lifespan of the project to ensure that all aspects of the project are transparent to all parties involved.

Rest assured we have the resources, tools and capabilities to ensure that our project management is both effective and efficient.

Project Definition

Right from the outset it is essential to fully understand the nature of the project and it’s objectives. This needs to be clear so that a comprehensive list of tasks to complete the project can be compiled. It is only then that the timeframe for completion can be established.

To ensure that the objectives are clear we rely upon intensive communications with our customers so that all parties have contributed to the laying of this cornerstone of the project. This is essential to make sure that all angles are examined and nothing is overlooked.

Once the objectives are set one of the main methods we employ to identify the tasks necessary to complete the project is Drill Down. We start off with the problem to be solved and then break it down into is constituent parts until all the elements which make up the problem are identified. Once completed solutions can be developed along with the associated timeframe for completion.

Project Planning

Once the project is defined and objectives identified to complete the project the next step is to make the plan for completion. Two of the methods which we employ are Gantt charts and CPA (critical path analysis). These help us to focus on the time required for the completion of the tasks and also identify inter dependency between them.

Gantt Chart 1:

Gantt Chart 2:

As part of this process emphasis is placed upon scheduling and allocating realistic timeframes for each task to make sure that promises made are not broken. Again it is important to maintain dialogue with our customers so that completion times are not beyond what is required. With customer involvement tasks can modified or removed if deemed a lower priority than others to make sure that the product developed is fit for purpose and within expected completion dates.

At this stage allocation of resources is another aspect which is considered. This plays it’s part in determining schedules and costs. If the customer requires a specific completion date additional resources can be allocated, but in turn costs will increase. Therefore there is a fine balance to be achieved, to make sure the project is completed on time and within budget.

Once the project is under way it is important to maintain control, Gantt charts are a very useful tool for this aspect as they help with monitoring whether or not the project is on schedule. If it becomes apparent that it is not on schedule, tasks which are behind schedule can be pinpointed. Remedial action as necessary can then be taken ensure any impact to the schedule is limited.

During the planning phase as already mentioned briefly it is critical to identify which activities are dependant on others being completed first. These dependent activities need to be completed in sequence. Other tasks which are not dependant on the completion of any other tasks can be completed at any time before or after particular stages of the project ie in parallel with other activities.

Gantt charts and CPA again are used to identify which tasks fall in to these two categories of sequential and parallel tasks.

Methodolgy

For some projects Gantt charts or CPA is used, but in the main a combination of both is applied because of the advantages associated with both.

CPA:

CPA Advantages

-Formally identifies critical tasks that must be completed on time in order to complete project.

-Allows identification of the minimum length of time to complete a project. The tasks which need to be completed faster can be pinpointed and resources reallocated appropriately.

-Easy to identify tasks which can be delayed in order to free up resources to work on the critical tasks which are in danger of missing completion dates.

Gantt Advantages

-Unlike CPA it is much more easy to see the relationships between tasks and time and in turn it is much more useful in monitoring schedule of the project.

Both methods are useful for presenting progress and future steps to customers as part of the regular updates we provide.

PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) is sometimes employed for projects tasks where it is difficult to determine realistic times for completion. This is because it helps to move away from the optimistic estimations that can sometimes be proposed. Basically the shortest possible time each activity will take, the most likely length of time, and the longest time that might be taken if the activity takes longer than expected are estimated and a simple formula applied to come up with the final timeframe for the associated task.

Other Tools & Software

Some of other tools which we use to optimize our project management are:-

-SWOT: Used to assist customers to analyze existing products to determine where it is possible to improve on the design to reduce costs.

SWOT Analysis:

-Grid Analysis: When multiple solutions are available this is used to determine which is the best one to move forward with by rating each solutions characteristics against each other.

Grid Analysis:

-Decision Tree: Similar to grid analysis but more in depth, looking at the possible outcome of each solution if pursued and therefore giving an idea of the risks or rewards that could result.

Decision Tree:

-Risk Analysis: Specifically looking at the risks associated with a specific project usually at the initial stages so that steps can be taken to eliminate or minimize them and to ensure they are managed throughout the project.

The main software we use is Microsoft Project & Visio to carry out our planning and implement the tools and methodologies highlighted.