5032MAA Coursework

Group 26
SID: 12171820

Quick note: Moodle won’t let me complete the peer assessment, possibly because I’m working in a
group of one. I hope that this can be taken into account and I won’t lose 5% of the grade because of this.
 Scoping:
AOA diagrams of each project section

Product Testing:

Business Case:

Product Launch:

Product Development:

Critical paths shown by red arrows

Created entirely by Sam A

 Scoping Resource Usage In the scoping stage of the project, days 3-7 are the most human resource
11 4 intensive reaching a peak of 9 concurrent employees working on the
10 4
9 8 project
8 8
7
6
9
9
Business Case Resource Usage
5 9
12 6
4 9
11 10
10 8
3 9 9 8
2 4 8 8
1 4 7 7
6 7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5 8
4 8
3 8
In the business case stage of the project, day 11 is the 2 5
most human resource intensive, reaching a peak of 10 1 5
concurrent employees working on the project 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Product development Resource Usage

18 2
17 2
16 2
15 2
Product development is the 14 2
13 2
project stage with the 12 2
highest overall human 11 2
10 3
resource usage as well as 9 8
the highest peak usage at
8 10
7 10
13 concurrent employees 6 12
5 12
4 13
3 5
2 5
1 5
Product Testing Resource Usage 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
8 4
7 7 Product testing is one of the least
6 7 resource intensive stages of the Created entirely by Sam A
5 3 project, with a peak of 7 concurrent
4 5 employees
3 7
2 7 Product Launch Resource Usage The totals for each day are all
1 7 7 4
one higher than the sum of each
6 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 current task since a project
5 2 manager needs to be working
Product launch is the least human resource intensive stage of
the product, with the lowest overall human resource usage as 4 3 every day that the project is
well as the lowest concurrent employees at 5 3 5 taking place.
2 5
1 4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Created entirely by Sam A
 Key milestones: Time Recovery Options:
• Strategic alignment to business analysis: • The project manager could move personnel from a task with slack onto a critical task that is falling behind. This
This is a key milestone because the client needs to know that the project aligns can help get the critical task back on track without having to spend any extra money
with their business interests. This will be measured by how well the project • If there are no free team members from other tasks, the project manager may need to authorize overtime for the
aligns with the business interests of the client. group members on the task. This will increase the cost of the project.
• Digital mock up of final concept: • If overtime work isn’t enough to get the task back on track, a temporary worker may need to be brought in. This
The final concept is key, because once it is locked in, there will be no option to would have a dramatic increase in the cost for the task.
change the concept of the product. This will be measured by how well the final • If none of the above options manage to get the task back on time, any of them could be used on later tasks on the
concept meets the project definition and the design specification. The digital critical path. This may allow them to be completed faster than expected, allowing the project to get back on track.
mock up will be sent to the client to ensure that they are happy with the concept
before product development can begin, and will be measured by how satisfied Team roles:
the client is with the concept.
The project manager should fit Belbin’s role of a co-ordinator (Belbin), since their role is to organise and co-ordinate
• Detailed business case: the team, and the allowable weakness of the co-ordinator that they may be prone to over delegating is negated by the
This is extremely important because the client needs to know the expected
fact that the project manager isn’t supposed to complete sections of the project on their own, but instead facilitate their
financial outcome of the project. A business analyst will take the client through
team to complete the project. They should also show some of the traits of a team worker (Belbin) such as listening and
the details of the business case to ensure they understand it. This will be
averting friction. They can’t however, be indecisive or hesitant to make potentially unpopular decisions.
measured based on how well the project is expected to do financially.
• Software development:
As the final stage of product development, software development is a key The project would require at least one team member for each role within the team, with some roles requiring
milestone. At this point the client can be shown the final design of the product, as additional personnel at some points within the project. Parts of the Scoping section would require three market
well as a prototype of the final product. This will be measured by how well the researchers, three business analysts, two development engineers, two electronic/software engineers and two
final design matches the design specification. mechanical engineers.
• System testing – vehicle:
The business case at times requires up to two business analysts, two development engineers, two mechanical engineers
Overall vehicle testing is a key milestone because it brings together the testing of
and two designer/analysts.
every section of the project and ensures that the overall vehicle works as
expected. It will be measured based on how well the vehicle meets expected
Product development would require up to five development engineers, three designer/analysts, two mechanical
performance targets. The client will be shown a summary of the testing data,
engineers and two electronic/software engineers.
showing that the product meets their initial requirements.
• Product launch: Product testing would require up to three testing technicians, two electronic/software
As the end of the project, the product launch is an extremely key milestone. This Engineers and two development engineers.
is the stage where the success of the entire project can be measured, based on
how well the product sells. Regardless of how well previous stages have gone, if Product Launch would require up to two development engineers and two
the product doesn’t sell, the project isn’t successful and if the product is a best Mechanical engineers.
seller, the project will have been a success. The client will be involved in this
step, since it is their product being sold. Belbin, M. The Nine Belbin Team Roles. Retrieved March 13,
2024, from https://www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles
 Project costing and Duration

All totals are slightly different to the

costs of each task on that day due to the
presence of a project manager.

Product development is the most

expensive section of the project

Project launch is by far the

cheapest section of the project.

Total cost of human resources for the project: £81,510 Finish date: April 22nd 2024
The project will take 78 days total after factoring
in the weekends where no work will be done.
All costs given in GBP
Current products New product
Given that the current products aim to fulfil the lower end section The new product aims to enter the more expensive end of the
of the market, which is more likely to appeal to younger people market, catering towards hobbyists and professionals as opposed
more interested in using the products as a toy, the current products to people buying the product as a toy. With this in mind, the
should be branded with more bright colours and eye-catching product should be sold in much more professional looking
packaging. It is important to keep the quality control at a high packaging that clearly shows the product is higher end. For this
standard through inspection and testing, especially with the more product, it is important that defects are kept to an absolute
expensive models in the range. minimum, so quality control needs to be a priority. This is
The cheaper and higher volume existing products should follow the because hobbyists and professionals expect products that work
cost leadership strategy, producing the cheapest possible RC out of the box, given the amount that they pay for them. This
vehicles to ensure that low budget users choose these products over means that even if it comes at significant cost, maintaining
competitors. product quality is key to maintaining a positive brand image and
The more expensive products in the existing range should focus on keeping the trust of consumers.
coming across as higher quality products that offer the majority of
the quality of hobbyist and professional products for a fraction of The branding of the new product should differentiate it from the
the price. current product to ensure that the product isn’t confused with the
cheaper and lower quality products currently made by the
company, aimed at the low end market. This will ensure that the
new high end product doesn’t suffer from being associated with
the current, lower end products of the company
The implementation of industry 4.0 would allow the The first recommendation would be to automate
business to be more reactive and flexible to changes in the customisation options. To do this, the website that the
market as well as decreasing many of the costs of setting up customer can order from would have to be connected to
and running manufacturing facilities. Principals of industry the manufacturing process, allowing custom designs to
4.0 like decentralisation and interoperability allow for be added to the queue of products to be manufactured
increased automation between manufacturing stages as well without any human input. This would reduce the need
as improved flexibility to change designs on the fly. for a person to manually take the input of the customer
from the website and load it onto a machine for
manufacturing, decreasing the operating cost of adding
customisation to products.

The second recommendation would be to decentralize the The third recommendation would be to implement the
computer system of the factory, and instead move it to a industrial internet of things into the manufacturing
web based virtual service. This would make the production process. This would mean that each device in the
line more scalable since it doesn’t require higher power production line would be internet connected rather than
computer hardware to be bought to increase the amount of manually operated. This would be an enabler for the first
machines that can be run concurrently. This would also two suggestions, allowing for factories to run almost
reduce the need for server technicians as well as having to entirely autonomously, with very little need for human
upgrade the servers every few years to continue to run the oversight in the manufacturing side of the business
company’s computers efficiently. Overall this would make outside of prototyping. As well as this, an IoT connected
the company more flexible and able to react to changes in manufacturing line would allow a customer to be notified
the market, as well as decreasing start up costs for new exactly where their product is in the manufacturing
office or manufacturing facilities. process, improving customer trust in the ordering process.
The first recommendation to develop systems to meet international quality standards is to implement 8D problem solving to resolve
any issues with the quality of the products. This means that a team has to be formed, the problem has to be stated, and temporary
measures must be made to contain the issue before the root problem can be solved. Once this is done, the root cause of the quality
issues need to be identified and verified, before preventative actions can be taken and validated. This method means that any issues in
the manufacturing process identified by moving to follow international quality standards will not have a major impact on the
productivity of the company as they are resolved. Implementing this methodology will make the process of bringing everything up to
international standards a much less financially burdensome task.

According to page 19 of Tricker, R’s summary of ISO 9001:2015, in addition to internal quality control and assurance, external quality
control methods must be established. This means that companies can’t lie about product quality assurances to other companies or
customers. As well as this external quality control validates that internal quality control methods are of an acceptable standard and
don’t make the quality of the manufacturing process appear to be better or worse than it actually is. This is key in not only meeting
standards and reassuring customers, but also in improving trust with key stakeholders within the company. This makes having external
quality control system a key part of meeting international quality control standards.

Tricker, R later states on page 166 that to prepare for the change to current ISO standards for quality control, strong leadership is
required, with leaders needing to be able to demonstrate knowledge of how the business environment affects their organisation’s
strategy, as well as setting relevant objectives for every level of employee to meet to ensure that an excellent level of quality control
is achieved. It is also stated that the company’s internal communication channels need to be reviewed to make sure that they’re
effective in reporting any possible issues in quality control.

Tricker, R. (2016). ISO 9001:2015 in brief

(Fourth).
 To improve productivity and machine availability, JIT manufacturing should be implemented. This leaves machines free until they
absolutely need to be used, as well as decreasing costs of holding significant amounts of stock at various stages in the supply chain. This
means that the business has to work closely with it’s suppliers to ensure seamless balancing of materials and parts coming in with the
amounts that are needed.

To further increase efficiency in a JIT manufacturing system, a pull-based production ideology should be embraced. This means that
instead of creating products and pushing stock out to try to sell it, manufacturing should instead be based on demand pulling products
through the system. This minimizes excess production and reduces guesswork in how many units of a product need to be made.

An additional recommendation to improve productivity and improve machine availability is to shorten production cycles
and decrease response time. This will mean that the amount of time that machines are used for in one go is decreased,
improving availability. It will also massively increase productivity by making the manufacturing process more adaptable
to changing market conditions, meaning that the waste produced by changes in demand or design will be massively
reduced. This saves time and money in it’s self, but also saves on the time and cost of disposal or recycling of the now
useless stock that was produced due to slow response times to key changes.
Mother Nature:
1. Different parts of the mould may have different
levels of temperature based shrinkage.
2. Different parts of the mould reach different
temperatures during the moulding process.
3. The top of the mould is exposed to colder room
temperatures than the ground temperature that
the bottom of the mould experiences.
4. The machine moulding machine is not be
insulated sufficiently
5. The mould may not have been designed to be
operated in the conditions of the factory it’s
being used in.
The root cause of the problem in this case would be
that either the mould was not designed with the
factory conditions in mind, or was moved to a new
factory without taking into account the different
ambient conditions