Project Management for Repairing Fuel Tanks in Western Australia

This report discusses the implementation plan, management plan, project performance evaluation, and project closure for repairing fuel tanks in Western Australia. The report highlights the importance of time, cost, resource, and quality management for successful project implementation.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1. Implementation Plan........................................................................................................2
2. Management Plan............................................................................................................5
2.1. Time Management....................................................................................................5
2.2. Cost Management.....................................................................................................6
2.3. Resource Management..............................................................................................7
2.4. Quality Management................................................................................................7
3. Project Performance Evaluation......................................................................................8
4. Project Closure.................................................................................................................9
References..........................................................................................................................12

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1. Implementation Plan
Repairing the tanks is considered as a high priority project as the 30% of the unleaded
petrol storage capacity in Western Australia is nearly bordering to collapse. The major reason
behind the collapse is the age and the condition of the tanks. The condition of the tank is
particularly bad mainly because the tanks are 50 years old having a complex and outdated
design. As a fine, the company is paying $20,000 per month. Thus the repairing of the tanks is a
high priority project.
Development of an implementation plan for the project is necessary as the
implementation of this project is quite critical. This is because there are certain constraints and
limitations associated with the tanks. Working in the site of is critical mainly because of the
geographical location of the tanks and difficultly in accessing the tanks. Thus the project
implementation plan is necessary. The site is tapered triangular shape and therefore working in
the site has certain physical limitations. Furthermore, the project is needed to be implemented as
soon as possible in order to reduce the environmental fines and damages (Therivel, 2013). Apart
from the geographical limitations, the project has certain other limitations as well. The workers
are needed to be skilled enough to work in adverse conditions. The site will remain inaccessible
during the filling of the tanks mainly because of the highly flammable vapours. An
implementation plan will help in identifying the process by which the repairing works can be
easily carried out.
The successful implementation of this project needs follow certain important criteria.
Since working in the site is particularly difficult, the labourers are needed to be skilled enough to
work in adverse conditions. Furthermore, maintaining collaboration among the team members

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and the workers is essential as well. With an appropriate communication among the team
members, it is possible to improve the collaboration among the team.
It is very important for a project to ensure the presence of an accurate management
structure that will help in easier implementation of the project (Eadie et al., 2013). In this project,
a matrix management structure is followed and the team members will be reporting to the project
manager as well as the functional manager. This will ensure easier information flow in the
organization and will further help in easier management of the project works (Kerzner &
Kerzner, 2017). The matrix structure is represented in the following figure.
Figure 1: Representing the Matrix Structure

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(Source: created by Author using MS Visio)
Communication plan is an essential project management tool that is needed for easier
information flow throughout the project implementation phase. It is suggested that this project
should follow a democratic project management leadership style. The implementation plan of the
project will be authorised by the Western Australian oil Facility.
One of the most significant needs for successful implementation of the project is
appointment of the workers who are skilled enough to understanding the piping of the tanks.
Thus having a plumbing knowledge is essential for the workers. The workers will be required to
complete the cleaning works of the tanks as well. The site has certain limitations and therefore
appropriate project monitoring and control is essential (Burke, 2013). Apart from that, the project
team should have certain characteristics that will help in easier management and implementation
of the project. The characteristics of the project management team members are as follows-
1. The project management team should work according to the defined goals and roles.
2. The project team should involve open and clear communication among the team so
that the process of implementation of the project becomes easier (Harrison et al., 2013). An
accurate information flow within the project is essential so that the project progress and status of
the project can be easily communicated to the stakeholders of the project. This would further
help in effective decision making.
3. Balanced participation is an essential characteristic that the project team must follow in
order to ensure that the project is implemented according to the plan.

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4. The team should be able to manage conflicts effectively and the works should be
implemented in a positive atmosphere. Choosing a democratic leadership style will help in
managing the conflicts in the project team.
These are the major characteristics that the project team must follow in order to ensure
that the project is implemented according to the plan.
2. Management Plan
As discussed in the previous section, the project has a number of difficulties and
constraints. In order to eliminate any issue associated with the process of project implementation
and to successfully execute the repairing works of the project. There are certain project
management tools and techniques that help in easier management of the project. There are
certain factors in the project that has an impact on the management of a project (Heagney, 2016).
For example, time, cost, resources and the quality of the project are certain factors that are
associated with the project implementation (Harrison & Lock, 2017). There are certain tools and
techniques that can be used for management of these factors and can further help in easier
management of the project in the organization. In the following section of the report, the
management of time, cost, resources and the quality of the project are discussed.
2.1. Time Management
Time Management is an important characteristic of project management. This project
should be treated as a high priority project mainly because of the current condition of the fuel
tanks. Almost 30% of the unleaded petrol storage capacity in Western Australia is on a verge of
collapse. Thus it is essential to ensure that the project will be completed within the scheduled

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time (Harrison & Lock, 2017). The company has been suffering a huge loss in form of
environmental fines it is paying per month. Thus any delay in the project will not be anticipated.
One of the most commonly used techniques for time management is appropriate project
scheduling in Project scheduling tools such as MS Project (Larson et al., 2014). The Gantt chart
that can be generated from project scheduling helps in easier time management. One of the
mostly used strategies of time management includes the division of the project into a number of
deliverables for easier management of the project and ensuring timely completion of the same. It
is the responsibility of the project manager to set realistic schedules. The critical chain method is
another suggested technique that can help in implementation of the project (Walker, 2015).
Scheduling is necessary to be done in the planning stage of the project so that it can be followed
throughout the execution phase. Thus it is essential to have a realistic schedule. Another
important component of time management is appropriate project monitoring and control to
ensure that the project is on time and is not delayed in any circumstances.
2.2. Cost Management
The repairing of the fuel tank is a costly project and therefore the cash flow in the project
is needed to be managed. For that, a cost management plan is needed to be prepared. The cost
management plan will incorporate the estimated cost of each deliverables on account of the
labour, material and the time required for delivering the said deliverable (Morris, 2013). The
resource cost for this project is high mainly because of the physical and geographical limitations
in accessing the tanks. The cost management plan should therefore incorporate the cost of
equipments as well that will be required for accessing the tanks and this includes the cranes.

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Followed by the development of the cost management plan, it is essential to calculate the
expected cost variance to enforce required monitoring and control on the cash flows.
2.3. Resource Management
Ensuring a continuous resource flow is an important consideration of a project. This is
particularly essential since the resource availability largely influences the successful completion
of the project. As a preliminary stage of resource management, a resource sheet is prepared and
resource allocation has been already done according to the deliverable requirement of the project.
Preparation of a resource plan is a technique that helps in easier management of the complex
resources associated with the project (Binder, 2016). For that, hiring a resource manager is
essential who will be responsible for managing the resources.
2.4. Quality Management
Quality Management is another important aspect of project management. This is a high
priority project and therefore accurate quality management is essential. The quality management
of this project will incorporate regular inspection during the project implementation to find any
issues associated with the tank and to check whether the leakages have been fixed or not. The
presence of a quality inspector possibly from Health and Safety Environment Department can
ensure accurate quality check during the implementation of the project (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
The repairing works should meet the expected standard of project implementation.
These are the four main areas within the project that needs appropriate management.
With accurate management of time, cost, resource and quality, it is possible to ensure successful
project implementation within a set schedule. The project performance evaluation process and
the process of project closure are discussed in the following sections.

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3. Project Performance Evaluation
The project will be of a standard quality only if it manages to achieve the desired project
goal. This is a high priority project and will only be successful if it manages to achieve the
desired project goals (Serra & Kunc, 2015). The main aim of implementing this project is to
ensure that the leakages of the tanks are fixed and the environmental damages are reduced. This
project is particularly complex mainly because gaining an access to the tanks are difficult and in
this scenario, undertaking the performance evaluation becomes an essential.
As a part of performance evaluation, it is recommended that the Health and Safety
Department Manager performs and inspection to check whether all the deliverables of the project
is met. Performance evaluation for this task is going to be lengthy process (Kerzner, 2017). Only
after the approval of the Health and Safety Department, the project will be considered as
completed.
Apart from that, it is recommended for the project manager of this project to develop a
project performance evaluation checklist. The first criteria of the project evaluation checklist
should be the successful completion of the project deliverables that includes installing steel
patches and steel anchors on the tanks along with the replacement of the main supply valve of
tank 3 (Todorović et al., 2015). Followed by the repairing works, the tanks are needed to be
cleaned and repainted as well. While cleaning the tanks the workers should be conscious enough
not to bring on any fresh damage to the tanks. Only after successful implementation of all the set
deliverables the project will be considered as complete. Therefore, ensuring the successful
implementation of all the deliverables of the project is a part of performance evaluation process
that will be followed in this project.

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As a part of performance evaluation, the tanks after completion of the leakage work will
be kept under observation. The resources of the project will be released only after confirming the
fact that the leakages are fixed. If any issue is found in the process, the tanks are needed to be
thoroughly rechecked and re-repaired as needed. The oil spillage from the tanks is needed to stop
completely and only then the desired quality of the project will be achieved. Thus a part of
performance evaluation, inspections of all the three tanks will be carried out before the resource
release and client sign off phase and only then the project will be completed successfully.
The project involves working in adverse condition and therefore hiring of skilled labours
is recommended to the project team. As a performance evaluation process, it will be checked
whether any of the workers have been injured while working on the top of the tank or had fallen
sick due to the highly flammable vapours. Proper safety of the workers should be ensured and
only then the project will be considered as completed successfully.
The project is estimated to be delivered within the set project budget. The performance
evaluation phase will also consider the process of estimating the overall NPV and the return of
investment for the project (Zhu, 2014). If the ROI and NPV are found to be positive, the project
will be considered successful.
These are some of the basic steps or techniques of performance evaluation that will be
followed in this project (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). Performance evaluation is essential in order to
ensure that the delivered product is of accurate quality. Only after successful performance
evaluation, the project will move to the project closure phase followed by resource release and
client sign off.
4. Project Closure

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Project Closure phase marks the successful delivery of the set deliverables of the project,
which is in this case is the repairing of all the three tanks to save Western Australia’s oil storage
capacity from collapse and to reduce the environmental damage as well.
Project closure is an important phase in project management as this phase needs to follow
certain major steps. It is the last stage of a project management life cycle and therefore all the
necessary report generation is to be completed in this phase (Martinelli & Milosevic, 2016). For
this, the first and foremost thing is to develop a project closure report. The project closure report
will incorporate the details of all the activities that have been performed in this project (Besner,
& Hobbs, 2013). The project closure report should be authorised and approved by the project
owner and the project sponsors and only then the project will be completed.
Another important activity that is associated with the project closure phase is post
implementation review. The post implementation review report will be generated only after
successful inspection of all the tanks that have been repaired.
The main objective of the project closure phase is to record and document all the
activities of the project. This will help in easier client sign off and payment completion. The
payment will be based on the tasks completed in the project and for that accurate report
generation is essential (Lock, 2017). Thus project closure phase for this project will ensure
complete final reporting before the release of the resources associated with the project.
After performance reporting, the project closure phase will ensure complete procurement
closure and with this the resources of the project will be released as well. Thus the project
closure phase is important for ensuring that the works are completed as per requirement and the
set objectives of the project are met.

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A feedback process will be implemented in the project closure phase where the feedback
about the performance of the tanks and about the leakages will be taken. This will further be sent
to Health and Safety Environment Department as an official proof for successful completion of
the project works. If they accept the output of the project, the project will be considered as
successful.
After accurate documentation, the project will mark an end along with the completion of
the project closure phase.

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