Scenario:
Company A is installing a web-based customer feedback system to meet customer needs for quick response when rolling out new products. A new product line is rolling out in 48 weeks, and the customer feedback system must be installed and running in time for the new product launch. Table 1.1 in the attached “QAT1 Task 4 Spreadsheet” shows three estimates of the time it will take Company A to complete each of the project activities in the customer feedback system project: optimistic, probable, and pessimistic.
Company B is installing a similar feedback system to accompany a new product line and just announced that its new product line is ahead of schedule and will be launched in 45 weeks. Because the web-based customer feedback system must be installed and running in time for the revised date of the product launch in 45 weeks, something must be done to shorten implementation time required for the customer feedback system project. Refer to Table 1.2 in the attached “QAT1 Task 4 Spreadsheet” that lists the time it will take to complete the activities using normal resources (normal time), the expected time it will take to complete the activities if shortened as much as possible (crash time), the cost to complete the activity using normal resources (normal cost), and the cost of completing the activity on an accelerated basis (crash cost).
A. Use the estimates for Company A in Table 1.1 from the attached “QAT1 Task 4 Spreadsheet” to do the following:
1. Determine the expected completion time for each of the nine project activities.
a. Include all your answers for part A1 in Table 1.1, showing all of your work for one activity.
2. Determine the variance for each of the nine project activities.
a. Include all your answers for part A2 in Table 1.1, showing all of your work for one activity.
3. Develop a PERT chart showing the network diagram with the activities and their expected times.
a. Identify the critical path.
Note: Any additional numbers (e.g. start and finish times) included in the PERT chart will not be evaluated for correctness.
Note: If you don’t have software to build a PERT chart, use text boxes and lines with arrows in a word processing program or a spreadsheet program.
4. Determine the value of each of the following, showing all of your work or reasoning:
a. expected duration of the entire project, showing all of your work or reasoning.
b. slack for project Activity E, showing all of your work or reasoning.
c. slack for project Activity C, showing all of your work or reasoning.
d. earliest start time for project Activity F, showing all of your work or reasoning.
e. latest finish time for project Activity G, showing all of your work or reasoning.
Note: Work or reasoning must be included along with each response for credit. Referencing a value in the PERT chart is not considered showing work. Please explain how each value was determined.
5. Determine the probability of completing this project in time for the product launch in 48 weeks, showing all of your work.
Note: you may want to use, with appropriate citation, the "Finding Probabilities from Z-Scores." Web link below.
B. Use the data for Company B in Table 1.2 from the attached “QAT1 Task 4 Spreadsheet” to do the following:
1. Determine the maximum reduction in time for each of the ten project activities.
a. Include your answers for part B1 in Table 1.2, showing all of your work for one activity.
2. Determine the crash cost per week for each of the ten project activities.
a. Include your answers for part B2 in Table 1.2, showing all of your work for one activity.
C. Use your results from part B (i.e., Table 1.2, given PERT diagram, activities L-U) to do the following:
1. Identify the activities, considering all paths, to be crashed to meet the following criteria:
• completion of the project within 22 weeks
• achievement of the lowest possible cost
2. Determine the number of weeks each of the activities identified in part C1 should be crashed.
3. Determine the sum of the individual costs of crashing each activity identified in part C1.
