Reference no: EM132738120

ME7712 Engineering Projects & Risk Management - Kingston University London

Engineering Project Planning

Learning Outcome 1: Use appropriate project management software to produce a clear project framework together with the broken down key tasks, their durations, required resources and any other constraints. PERT network diagrams and CPA technique will also be covered by this software session.

Learning Outcome 2: Monitor and ensure the different stages of a new project are within the time and cost constraints, and to establish exit criteria for each of the stages.

Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate an in-depth ability to critically appraise the opportunities and threats of a given project proposal.

Assignment details

Part A - Create essential planning documents for an Electric car charging station project with the aid of MS Project software

Background of the project

Uber Technologies is a multinational transportation network company which main business is peer-to-peer car sharing service. The company is considering to rapidly expand their use of electric cars, and proposed to build many self-sufficient out-of-town ‘Fast electric charging' stations.

You are appointed as a project manager to take charge of this new project to build 150 of this fast charging stations all scattered in the UK. Your design team has already produced a list of key activities with required durations. Table 1 shows all the activities required in building one station, with the duration in weeks and resources in number of workers.

Activity no.	Process	Sequence	Duration (wks)	Resource
01	Lay foundation	Start activity	1	1
02	Pile caps	Follows 01	3	2
03	Floor Slab	Follows 02 and 06	2	8
04	Electrical work	Follows 03, end activity	2	4
05	Trenches	Start activity	2	4
06	Ducts	Follows 05	3	0
07	Insulated pipes	Follows 05	4	6
08	Pre-cast units	Start activity	3	4
09	Manholes	Follows 08	6	2
10	Road base	Follows 08	9	2
11	Underground drainage	Follows 07 and 09, end activity	6	5
12	Install cables	Follows 10, end activity	3	1

Table 1: Activities, their durations and required resources

a) Create a Microsoft Project model for the construction of one proposed charging station.
b) Display the critical path.
c) Assuming the maximum number of workers allowed is 10 at any one time. Display the resource histogram and identify any weeks may be over allocated.
d) Add the following cost information:
• The Hourly Rates for each worker is £10/hr
• The Material Cost for the Steelwork is £25 per ton, and we intend to use 4 tons. This will be accrued on delivery of the steelwork
• "Pipes" requires a Pipe Laying Machine, which costs £1,000 per use.
• "RoadBase" Requires a Road Rolling Machine, which cost £100 per day.
Display the cost per day on the Resource Usage sheet.

Print a preview cost report for the project cash flow

e) Smoothen the resources, maintaining the current completion data. Display the resource histogram and identify any weeks which are still over allocated.

f) Level the resource to remove all over allocations. Calculate the new duration for the project after resource has been leveled.

Your report should include necessary screen shots of MS Project to illustrate the results for each task (A to F). Two MS Project files must be submitted to support your results and screenshots. Project file-1 is for all the activities (Tasks A to E) before resource levelling. Project file-2 is for the results after resource leveling has been carried out (Task F).

Part B - Precedence network diagrams

For each of the projects in this section:
i) Produce/Draw a PERT network diagram (use activity on node convention).
ii) Then run the forward pass and backward pass in order to fill in all the required information for each task in accordance with the given format (shown below).
iii) Highlight the critical path for each project.

Project 2

A firm of landscape gardeners is asked to quote for constructing a garden on a new site. The activities involved are shown in the table.

• Note that the patio cannot begin to be laid until 2 days after the start of the building of the retaining wall.

Part C - Prepare a creditable Project Plan for one of the energy related projects below (40%)

Background

You are employed by a large international renewable energy and waste disposal company, and have been put in charge of an innovative energy conservation project (list provided below).

Choose an energy/waste related project from the following:

1) Develop a natural cooling system for a commercial building
2) Develop an affordable water purifying system for developing countries who may have difficulties in reaching drinkable water (e.g. remote villages in Africa)
3) Develop a device which can be attached to sea vessels to collect floating wastes such as plastic bottles, etc.

Your responsibility is to produce a creditable Project Initiate Document (PID) to get support from your stakeholders, including investors and customers. You should try to strike a balance between the technical aspects and the project management aspects associated with your chosen project. A reasonable amount of technical research is expected.

Attachment:- Engineering Projects.rar