Create a Project Charter

Project 1: Install automated sorting robots to pack pallets for shipping The sorting floor is the biggest choke point in the plant. Employees manually pick products and stack them on the pallets, then secure the pallets with shrink wrap and load them into the trucks. It has become a bottleneck that dictates how much can be produced. You did a lean six sigma project last year to take some waste out of the production line, and it worked great. The problem is you now have the capability to create more product than can be sorted, packed and shipped! This project will cost about $300 million. You can get it done with the same people that helped with the project last year, so they know the facility and the layout. If we sign up for this now, we can get the same team locked in and really hit the ground running. Without this, you won't be able to make any increase in output - the plant is maxed out. Based on projections for this year, we are slated to have a 10% increase in orders at the holiday season. You won't be able to fulfill those orders if we don't make these changes. Capital: $200 Expense: $100 This will require the plant to be shut down for 7 consecutive days, Monday - Sunday. Anytime we shut down the plant, it costs us to pay overtime to build a reserve inventory, pay the workers for the unplanned downtime, and do a cold-startup after the work is finished. That total cost is $15 million. If we do this AND the loading dock project (project 2), we can save $15 million expense between the two projects because we only have to pay the 'shut down' costs one time. $5 million of the shutdown cost is to pay workers for the week when the plant is shut down. It's not company policy, but these workers rely on that paycheck. It's not their fault the plant is being shut down and we don't have work for them. It keeps the workers happy and loyal. We have less than 5% turnover in the last 5 years since you took over the plant. It was above 20% before you became manager. The longer workers stay the lower our training costs, cost of rejected products, and work-related injuries. Other Info: We will need to purchase hardware from Robots.com and use installation services from ABC Construction. The plant shutdown will be 5 days, but 2 months of design/testing/training will be necessary prior to installation. Project 1: Install automated sorting robots to pack pallets for shipping The sorting floor is the biggest choke point in the plant. Employees manually pick products and stack them on the pallets, then secure the pallets with shrink wrap and load them into the trucks. It has become a bottleneck that dictates how much can be produced. You did a lean six sigma project last year to take some waste out of the production line, and it worked great. The problem is you now have the capability to create more product than can be sorted, packed and shipped! This project will cost about $300 million. You can get it done with the same people that helped with the project last year, so they know the facility and the layout. If we sign up for this now, we can get the same team locked in and really hit the ground running. Without this, you won't be able to make any increase in output - the plant is maxed out. Based on projections for this year, we are slated to have a 10% increase in orders at the holiday season. You won't be able to fulfill those orders if we don't make these changes. Capital: $200 Expense: $100 This will require the plant to be shut down for 7 consecutive days, Monday - Sunday. Anytime we shut down the plant, it costs us to pay overtime to build a reserve inventory, pay the workers for the unplanned downtime, and do a cold-startup after the work is finished. That total cost is $15 million. If we do this AND the loading dock project (project 2), we can save $15 million expense between the two projects because we only have to pay the 'shut down' costs one time. $5 million of the shutdown cost is to pay workers for the week when the plant is shut down. It's not company policy, but these workers rely on that paycheck. It's not their fault the plant is being shut down and we don't have work for them. It keeps the workers happy and loyal. We have less than 5% turnover in the last 5 years since you took over the plant. It was above 20% before you became manager. The longer workers stay the lower our training costs, cost of rejected products, and work-related injuries. Other Info: We will need to purchase hardware from Robots.com and use installation services from ABC Construction. The plant shutdown will be 5 days, but 2 months of design/testing/training will be necessary prior to installation