Project Management Response to Urgent News: Tank Project Recovery Plan

This assignment addresses an urgent project disruption in a tank project, where a key stakeholder requires the tank to be back online within three weeks due to a scheduled shipment of aviation fuel. The student proposes a recovery plan that prioritizes maintenance of existing tanks to address leakages and capacity issues, while also working to complete the new tank within the given timeframe. The plan involves dedicating resources to the maintenance of existing tanks, procuring necessary parts, and potentially hiring additional personnel to ensure the new tank is completed on time. The student highlights the risks associated with the deadline and suggests mitigation strategies, emphasizing the financial benefits of completing the project successfully. The response demonstrates an understanding of the problem, proposes alternative solutions, and communicates them effectively to the client, ensuring project goals are met.

Hi,
I have received your urgent email and made a thorough analysis of the situation. From what I
gather, there is a scheduled shipment of about 4m Litres of oil that will be coming to the site in
the next 21 working days. Our original plan was to finish the project and pilot the tanks in the
next 15 days. We have so far delivered some tanks to the site for testing purposes which has been
associated with some leakages and the maintenance team has been collecting data about their
current status. This is my proposal to salvage the situation. The remaining days should be
devoted to the maintenance of the currently finished tanks which have been reported to have
minor defects which have led to their leakages. Five days should be set aside for the planning of
how the various tanks so far delivered can hold in terms of capacity. The current tanks we have
submitted to the site can theoretically hold up to 3.5M of liters. If well maintained by the
maintenance team, we can spend the next 10 days having the key procurement of the vital parts
that causes the leaks and have them repaired as soon as they are identified in the readiness of the
coming big shipment. This will enable the team to concentrate on working on the finished tanks
and postpone the execution of the current storage tank which has been hit with deadline issues
and general budget overruns. This approach will ensure the company Is ready to finish the online
tanks in terms of maintenance activities.
The remaining team not involved with the maintenance practices shall give the current storage
tank a priority but will require an additional 10 days to finish the tank since the manpower shall
be greatly affected by the envisioned maintenance practices on the online tanks delivered earlier.
The good news is that they shall have the tank ready in the next 20 days which is still in control
of the coming 21 days when the shipment is scheduled to arrive. The team can use the one day to
pilot the tank and make any corrective maintenance on the tank before it is taken online. The

only key risks are the anticipated deadline of the which may be overrun due to inadequate
personnel working full time on the new storage tank as some of the project team will be doing
maintenance practices on the already online tanks. It is therefore key for the project team to be
expanded by 5 experienced personnel hired on a contract basis to help the remaining team finish
the current tank in the record time anticipated to be 20 days. The revenue to be yielded from the
finished tanks shall be enormous compared to the cost of hiring an additional 5 personnel to
assist the remaining team finish the big storage tank on time.
I do understand the situation is critical for the company with potential revenues loses that will
spiral down to our customers hence feel you should consider the above proposal.
Thank you in advance for considering my proposal