Project and Operation Management Tools Analysis and Evaluation Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of project and operation management tools, focusing on their application within engineering contexts, particularly for start-up companies. The report identifies key tools such as DMAIC, DMADV, PERT, and network diagrams, explaining their functionalities and comparing their effectiveness. It evaluates the merits and demerits of each tool, emphasizing the importance of selecting appropriate strategies based on project requirements and company capabilities. The analysis includes discussions on the advantages of PERT in scheduling and resource planning, and the customer-driven approach of DMADV. The report concludes that effective project and operation management is crucial for engineering companies to meet deadlines and achieve high efficiency, recommending flexible adaptation of project handling techniques to suit specific project needs and company resources. The report is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand and apply these essential management tools.

Engineering Management

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
P3: Identify project and operation management tools when managing activities..................3
M3: Analyse Project and operation management tools when managing activities................5
D3: Merits of theories and tools of project and operation management................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Operation management refers to a continuous process of transforming raw materials into
final products with the help of the transformation process so that final customers can use it
according to their comfort and need (Colapinto, Jayaraman and Marsiglio, 2017). It is essential
for any company to divide their whole project into smaller parts and then try to complete it as it
assists them in providing better control over the project and operations. Different project and
operation management tools used by Start-up Company are explained and determine. Relevant
tools and techniques are analyzing by stating its merits and demerits.
MAIN BODY
P3: Identify project and operation management tools when managing activities
Project refers to a work conducted by company to make any new or existing product
according to external environment and changing forces. Operation is a set of different kinds of
activities conducted by company to complete the assigned project with higher efficiency and
productivity (Lima and et al., 2017). Both the above concept is interlinked with each other as if
operations are not according to pre-set strategy then it is not possible for any organisation to
complete their project on time. To achieve highest utilization of available resources, there are
various tools and techniques which could be used by Start-up company which is mentioned
below with functional example of company,
One of the wide operation management tools is DMAIC i.e., Define, measure, analyse,
improve and control. It is a structure and data-driven approach in which whole operation is
properly analysed and then all the negative factors affecting project efficiency are eliminated
thus all the remaining parts will assist company to attain their objective (Frijns, Van Leeuwen
and Bierwolf, 2017). Define phase includes various steps like identification of opportunity for
improvements in project, identification of stakeholders associated with the project, team
formation for completing the task, understanding of customer requirements, scope of the project
etc. Next phase is measure which includes identification and collection of data related to project,
requirements of material or human resources requires to complete the project, chances of getting
success or different obstacles that could be faced by project team members. Third phase is
Analyse in which problem of the project is analysed with the help of tools like root cause
analysis and then various alternatives to solve the problem is identified. Second, last phase is

improved in which the pilot solution and plan of the problem are made with the help of team
members (Ustundag and Cevikcan, 2017). After that, all the alternatives and their impact will be
communicated to stakeholders so that they would be aware of the problem and solution of it. At
last, alternative is implemented in the business operations. Last stage is control, which includes
monitoring of operation and managing the consequences of it so that the same issue won’t get a
rise in the future (A Step-by-Step Walkthrough of the DMAIC Process, 2019).
Other operation management tools that are used by new companies or Start-up are
DMADV i.e., Define, measure, analyse, design, verify. The slight difference between DMADV
and DMAIC is that latter one focuses on improving the existing process which is already
implemented in an engineering company. On the other hand, DMADV focuses on creating a new
process for a new project with the aim of getting better productivity in the future. Primary
objective of define stage is to identify the purpose or goal of project and make the blueprint of it
according to company’s skills and capabilities (Shi, Zeng and Meng, 2017). Measurement is an
important phase as it assists company to maintain the quality of the project as parameters of
project, scorecards, market segments, etc are set in this phase. Analysis is the phase in which the
blueprint of a project is analysed from every aspect and all the drawbacks or obstacles of the new
plan will be identified and eliminated. Designing stage consists of implementing of blueprint in a
real business environment and last phase is verify in which project is monitored and managed on
a regular basis.
PERT is a project planning tool used by company to divide whole project into smaller parts
and then complete it step by step according to its urgency and priority. In this, project is
bifurcated into different task and then whole chart is made depicting which task must be
complete in the starting or in the last, which can be completed simultaneously or maximum time
taken by each task to complete, etc. It is also called project network as it depicts the small task
into graphs. Following steps must be taken by Start-up Company for implementing PERT,
 Identify off all the task which needs to be completed with their milestones
 Proper sequence of task must be identified to avoid any type of chaos in the last
 Network diagram will be made in which bubble represent milestones and arrow depicts
way or flow of the task
 Time required for completing each task will be identified and determine. It includes
optimistic time, most likely time and pessimistic time

 This is the last stage in which critical path of the project is to identify and then
implemented with the help of operation management.
Another project management tool is network diagram, which is the same as PERT chart but has
different annotations, assumptions, rules, etc. Before using network diagram, few assumptions
must be made by project manager like all the pending activities of project is completed, there
will only be one starting and ending point, arrows must be follow by manager while conducting
their operations (Davim, 2016). To calculate the task, there are different types of timing allotted
to each task, first is an early start which means how early can the task start, other is late start
which means time till which task should start.
M3: Analyse Project and operation management tools when managing activities
Most effective project management tools for start-up company would be ones that are
equipped with features like planning or scheduling, collaboration of task, documentation of task
and last, proper way of evaluating the impact of it. For instance, Network diagram is very
complex in nature which will affect documentation process as it runs on the basis of step by step
action instead of priority of subparts of the overall task. Moreover, there will only be one starting
and ending point which means proper utilisation of resources cannot be attained by Start-up
Company which will reduce their efficiency in the market. At last, every activity must be
completed before starting the task, which means chances of delay in completion of project, is
high and in start-up time is money (Pons, 2016). On the other hand, different subparts of a single
task can be completed in PERT tools which reduce overall time taken by Start-up Company to
complete their task. Less time taken by company leads to utilisation of resources to its maximum
so overall, PERT diagram is more effective and efficient in utilising of resources as compared to
network diagram.
In operation management tools, DMADV tool is more effective as compare to DMAIC as
in the latter tool; so no new technology or ideas would be generated. More focus is given to
existing process and improvement is done on the same so basically, it needs to be correct in the
first place. Besides this, proper utilisation of resource cannot be attain by using DMAIC as it will
only solve the problem on a short term basis and obstacle could be faced by company in the
future which leads to more time and more money resulting in underutilization of resources. On
the other hand, DMADV focuses on creating new ideas or process with the help of existing
available resources so that proper utilisation of resources would be achieved in a shorter time.

Moreover, it focuses on eliminating from the root so that it won’t create obstacle in the future
which leads to improvements in productivity and efficiency of Start-up Company (Ma, 2019).
D3: Merits of theories and tools of project and operation management
PERT
 It improves scheduling and planning of resources available at the time of process so that
less time would be incurred to complete the task
 It also assists in forecasting resources requirements and managements so that proper
usage of money and resource would be achieved (Demirkesen and Ozorhon, 2017).
 More than one task can be completed at the same time which is favorable for Start-up
Company
DMADV
 It is quality and customer-driven as more focus is given to customer needs and demands
resulting in favourable customer satisfaction
 Primary objective is to use the limited resources into a new way so that problem won’t
arise in the future (Witkowski, 2017).

CONCLUSION
From the above-mentioned information, it can be summarised that project and operation
management is an essential part of any organisation working in the engineering industry as it
assists companies to complete their projects within given deadline and with the highest
efficiency which results in better performance as compared to other competitors. Company must
not be rigid in engineering projects and must change its project handling techniques according to
project and skills and capabilities present within company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Colapinto, C., Jayaraman, R. and Marsiglio, S., 2017. Multi-criteria decision analysis with goal
programming in engineering, management and social sciences: a state-of-the art review. Annals
of Operations Research, 251(1-2), pp.7-40.
Davim, J.P. ed., 2016. Design of experiments in production engineering. Basel, Switzerland::
Springer International Publishing.
Demirkesen, S. and Ozorhon, B., 2017. Measuring project management performance: case of
construction industry. Engineering Management Journal, 29(4), pp.258-277.
Frijns, P., Van Leeuwen, F. and Bierwolf, R., 2017, June. Project management-A more balanced
approach. In 2017 IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON) (pp.
234-238). IEEE.
Lima, R.M., Mesquita, D., Rocha, C. and Rabelo, M., 2017. Defining the Industrial and
Engineering Management Professional Profile: a longitudinal study based on job advertisements.
Production, 27(SPE).
Ma, S., 2019. Discussion on Project Management Mode and Power Engineering Management.
Journal of World Architecture, 3(6).
Pons, D., 2016. Relative importance of professional practice and engineering management
competencies. European Journal of Engineering Education, 41(5), pp.530-547.
Shi, J.J., Zeng, S. and Meng, X., 2017. Intelligent data analytics is here to change engineering
management. Frontiers of Engineering Management, 4(1), pp.41-48.
Ustundag, A. and Cevikcan, E., 2017. Industry 4.0: managing the digital transformation.
Springer.

Witkowski, K., 2017. Internet of things, big data, industry 4.0–innovative solutions in logistics
and supply chains management. Procedia Engineering, 182, pp.763-769.
Online
A Step-by-Step Walkthrough of the DMAIC Process. 2019. [Online]. Available Through: <
https://blog.kainexus.com/improvement-disciplines/six-sigma/dmaic/a-step-by-step-
walkthrough-of-the-dmaic-process >