Project Management
Activity I: Product Development. Consider the simplified set of activities in the Table below for the development of a consumer product from initiation through the market test phase.
Activity
Symbol
Immediate predecessors
Time estimate (weeks)
Investigate demand
A
3
Develop pricing strategy
B
1
Design product
C
5
Conduct promotional cost analysis
D
A
1
Manufacture prototype models
E
C
6
Perform product cost analysis
F
E
1
Perform final pricing analysis
G
B,D,F
2
Conduct market test
H
G
8
Draw the AOA network for this project.
Calculate total slacks and free slacks, and interpret their meaning. .
Determine the critical path and interpret its meaning.
Construct a Gantt chart and mark the latest start times for each activity.
Activity II: A project has 11 activities that can be accomplished either by one person working alone or by several people working together. The activities, precedence constraints, and time estimates are given in Table below. Suppose that you have up to five people who can be assigned on any given day. A person must work full days on each activity, but the number of people working on an activity can vary from day to day.
Activity
Immediate predecessors
Person-days required
A
10
B
A
8
C
A
5
D
B
6
E
D
8
F
C
7
G
E,F
4
H
F
2
I
F
3
J
H,I
3
K
J,G
2
Prepare an AOA network diagram, and calculate the critical path, total slacks, and free slacks assuming that one person (independently) is working on each task.
Prepare an early-start Gantt chart.
Prepare a daily assignment sheet for personnel with the goal of finishing the project in the minimum amount of time.
Prepare a daily assignment sheet to “best” balance the workforce assigned to the project.
By how many days could the project be compressed if unlimited personnel resources were available?
