SUNY Empire State College

MBA$/$PM Certificate Program

Strategy and Tactics in Project Management

Assignment $3$: Silver Zuma Project $$ Part I

The ARC Company specializes in developing and selling a wide range of high$-$quality scooters. Sales representatives report that there is a growing demand for racing scooters. ARC$$s president, Robin Lane, is excited about the possibilities and predicts that one day these kinds of razor scooters will be featured in X$-$Game events. ARC is a small company and uses a strong matrix to optimally utilize limited manpower.

You are a member of a project team assigned to develop the new razor scooter code named $$Silver Zuma.$$ Table $1$ contains the information necessary to create a project schedule. For the purpose of this case assume the following:

Unit A$.$

$1.$ The project begins January $9,2023.$

$2.$ The following holidays are observed: January $1,$ Memorial Day $($last Monday in May$),$ July $4$th$,$ Labor Day $($first Monday in September$),$ Thanksgiving Day $(4$th Thursday in November$),$ December $24$ and $25.$

$3.$ If a holiday falls on a Saturday then Friday will be given as an extra day off, and if it falls on a Sunday, then Monday will be given as a day off.

$4.$ The project team works eight$-$hour days, Monday through Friday.

Table $1-$ Silver Zuma Project

ID Task Name Duration Predecessors Resources

$1$ Product development project

$2$ Market analysis $25$ days Marketing $(4)$ Design $(1)$

$3$ Product design $40$ days $2$ Marketing $(1)$ Design $(4)$

Development $(1)$ Industrial $(1)$

$4$ Manufacturing study $20$ days $2$ Industrial $(4)$ Development $(2)$

$5$ Product design selection $10$ days $3,4$ Marketing $(2)$ Design $(3)$

Development $(2)$ Industrial $(2)$

Purchasing $(\mathrm{.}25)$

$6$ Detailed marketing plans $15$ days $5$ Marketing $(4)$

$7$ Manufacturing process $30$ days $5$ Design $(1)$ Development $(2)$

Industrial $(4)$

$8$ Detailed product design $50$ days $5$ Marketing $(1)$ Design $(4)$

Development $(2)$ Industrial $(1)$

$9$ Test prototype $10$ days $8$ Design $(3)$ Development$(2)$

$10$ Finalized product design $25$ days $7,9$ Marketing $(1)$ Design $(3)$

Development $(3)$ Industrial $(2)$

$11$ Order components $7$ days $10$ Purchasing $(1)$

$12$ Order production equipment $14$ days $10$ Purchasing $(1)$

$13$ Install production equipment $25$ days $11$FS $+20$days

$12$FS $+40$ days Development $(3)$ Industrial $(4)$

$14$ Celebrate $1$ day $13$ Development $(4)$ Industrial $(4)$ Design $(4)$ Marketing $(4)$ Purchasing $(1)$

Silver Zuma Project Page $2$

Set up this project in MS Project $2019$ and answer the following questions $(1-10)$:

$1.$ When is the project estimated to be completed $($date$)?$ How long will the project take $($days$)?$

$2.$ What is the critical path for the project? $($identify by task numbers$)$

$3.$ Which activity has the greatest amount of free slack?

$4.$ Compare the advantages$/$disadvantages of displaying the schedule as a network versus a Gantt chart.

Unit B$.$

The following personnel have been assigned to the Silver Zuma project team:

$4$ Marketing Specialists

$4$ Design Engineers

$4$ Development Engineers

$4$ Industrial Engineers

$1$ Purchasing Agent

Table $2$ Silver Zuma Project Resources

Resource $$/$hour Number Available

Marketing specialist $$604$

Design engineer $$904$

Development engineer $$804$

Industrial engineer $$704$

Purchasing agent $$501$

Use the file from Unit A and the information contained in Tables $1$ and $2$ to assign resources to the project schedule. $4$ resources mean $400\%.$ Answer the following questions:

$5.$ What is the total cost of the Silver Zuma Project?

$6.$ Which if any of the resources are over allocated?

$7.$ Which activities involve over allocated resources?

$8.$ Assume that the project is time constrained $($must be finished on time$)$ and try to resolve any over allocation problems by leveling within slack. Will this resolve over$-$allocation?

$9.$ Assume that the project is resource constrained and no additional personnel are available. How long will the project take given the resources assigned? $($Hint: Undo leveling performed in question $8$ before answering this question.$)$ Note: No splitting of activities is allowed.

$10.$ How does the new duration compare with the estimated completion date generated from Unit A $($question $1)?$ What does this tell you about the impact of resources on project schedule?