Project Management Report: Batmobile Production, Network, Crashing

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the project management aspects related to the production of a modified "Batmobile." It includes an Activity on Node (AON) diagram illustrating the project's workflow, a critical path analysis identifying the sequence of activities that determine the project's duration, and a crashing analysis to determine how to reduce the project's completion time by increasing costs. The report identifies the critical path as A>D>E>G with a duration of 23 weeks and explores the cost implications of reducing the project duration by 7 weeks to a total of 16 weeks, determining that an additional $1,163,000 is required to achieve the accelerated timeline. The analysis incorporates normal and crash times and costs for each activity, ultimately providing insights for senior management on optimizing project execution and resource allocation. Desklib offers a wealth of similar solved assignments and past papers to aid students in their studies.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
1. AON Diagram........................................................................................................................2
2. Critical path...........................................................................................................................3
3. Crashing.................................................................................................................................4
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................7

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1. AON Diagram
Activity Description Estimated
completion
time (weeks)
Immediate
Predecessors
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Design/Test product
Hire workers
Train workers
Order/receive materials
Reconfigure machinery/setup
Advertise product
Production
Pay purchase orders
6
3
3
2
7
8
8
3
-
A
B
A
D
B, D
C, E
D
The AON diagram that is provided below showcases on early start, late start, early
finish, late finish, duration and name of the activity.
Figure 1: AON Diagram
(Source: Created by Author)

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2. Critical path
Activity Duration Predecessor Early
start
Early
finish
Late
start
Late
finish
A 6 -- 0 6 0 6
B 3 A 6 9 9 12
C 3 B 9 12 12 15
D 2 A 6 8 6 8
E 7 D 8 15 8 15
F 8 B, D 9 17 4 12
G 8 C, E 15 23 15 23
H 3 D 8 11 5 8
Figure 2: Diagram reflecting ES, EF, LS, LF
(Source: Created by Author)
From the above diagram, the path that are identified are generally listed below:
A>D>E>G =6+2+7+8=23
A>B>C>G=6+3+3+8=20

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Therefore, the critical path of the schedule is A>D>E>G
3. Crashing
The table that is provided below reflects the difference in crash time, crash cost.
Activity Normal
Time
(weeks)
Normal
Cost
Crash
time
(weeks)
Crash
Cost
Dt Dc Dc/Dt
A 6 $1,200,000 4 $2,200,000 2 $1,000,000 500,000
B 3 $400,000 2 $500,000 1 $100,000 100,000
C 3 $500,000 3 $500,000 0 $0 0
D 2 $1,000,000 1 $1,200,000 1 $200,000 200,000
E 7 $1,000,000 5 $1,900,000 2 $900,000 450,000
F 8 $2,000,000 5 $3,200,000 3 $1,200,000 40,000
G 8 $1,200,000 4 $2,600,000 4 $1,400,000 35,000
H 3 $100,000 2 $200,000 1 $100,000 100,000
After calculating Dc, Dt and Dc/Dt, critical path of project is mainly identified
A>D>E>G =6+2+7+8=23
A>B>C>G=6+3+3+8=20
As, A>D>E>G is the critical path, the activities that will be crashed are generally
highlighted in red in the table that is generally provided below:

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Activity Normal
Time
(weeks)
Normal
Cost
Crash
time
(weeks)
Crash
Cost
Dt Dc Dc/Dt
A 6 $1,200,000 4 $2,200,000 2 $1,000,000 500,000
B 3 $400,000 2 $500,000 1 $100,000 100,000
C 3 $500,000 3 $500,000 0 $0 0
D 2 $1,000,000 1 $1,200,000 1 $200,000 200,000
E 7 $1,000,000 5 $1,900,000 2 $900,000 450,000
F 8 $2,000,000 5 $3,200,000 3 $1,200,000 40,000
G 8 $1,200,000 6 $2,600,000 2 $1,400,000 130,000
H 3 $100,000 2 $200,000 1 $100,000 100,000
As per the critical path, the required time= 6+2+7+8= 23wks
Management wants to bring the product 7 wks. earlier than scheduled
Therefore, the required time = (23-7) wks.= 16 wks.
It is identified that the entire project will be completed within 16weeks that is 7 weeks earlier
as per the schedule.
It is found that the critical path of the project does not change and it remains the same.
The addition cost that is needed for finishing the entire project successfully will be
= 500,000+ 200,000+ 450,000+ 130,000

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=$1,163,000
Thus, it is analyzed that $1,163,000 is required in order to complete the project
successfully before seven weeks.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Bibliography
Badewi, A., 2016. The impact of project management (PM) and benefits management (BM)
practices on project success: Towards developing a project benefits governance
framework. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), pp.761-778.
Conforto, E.C., Salum, F., Amaral, D.C., da Silva, S.L. and de Almeida, L.F.M., 2014. Can
agile project management be adopted by industries other than software
development?. Project Management Journal, 45(3), pp.21-34.
De Carvalho, M.M., Patah, L.A. and de Souza Bido, D., 2015. Project management and its
effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons. International
Journal of Project Management, 33(7), pp.1509-1522.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
pp.291-298.
Joslin, R. and Müller, R., 2015. Relationships between a project management methodology
and project success in different project governance contexts. International Journal of Project
Management, 33(6), pp.1377-1392.