Woody 2000 Case Study

Table of Contents
TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. 3
WOODY 2000 PROJECT .......................................................................................................................................... 4
A- PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................4
1. Project Sponsor: ...........................................................................................................................................4
2. Project Objectives: ........................................................................................................................................5
3. Problems mentioned in the case study:........................................................................................................5
B- PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN METHODOLOGY AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES .......................................................................8
1. Planning Methodology .................................................................................................................................8
2. Resources used in the planning ....................................................................................................................8
C- PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) ................................................................................8
1. Feasibility Study............................................................................................................................................8
2. The Scoping Process Group ..........................................................................................................................9
a. Assign a project manager ......................................................................................................................................... 9
b. Develop a high-level project execution method statement. .................................................................................... 9
c. Review the project headlines with the sponsor. .................................................................................................... 10
d. Identify the components of the project management plan.................................................................................... 10
e. Secure the sponsor approval to plan the project. .................................................................................................. 12
f. Hire and assign project management team. ........................................................................................................... 12
3. The Planning Process Group .......................................................................................................................12
a. Create project work break down structure WBS. ................................................................................................... 12
b. Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list. .......................................................................... 13
c. Estimate the activities duration. ............................................................................................................................. 15
d. Estimate activities resources. ................................................................................................................................. 16
e. Estimate project cost. ............................................................................................................................................. 17
f. Sequence the activities, and adjust activities duration .......................................................................................... 18
g. Allocate cost and manpower to the activities ........................................................................................................ 19
 Original Manpower histogram: .......................................................................................................................... 19
 Leveled Manpower Histogram ........................................................................................................................... 19
 Primavera Cash Flow:......................................................................................................................................... 20
 Microsoft Excel Cash Flow: ................................................................................................................................ 20
h. Develop risk management plan. ............................................................................................................................. 21
 Mitigate the risks: .............................................................................................................................................. 21
 Transfer the risks: .............................................................................................................................................. 21
i. Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan. ................................................................................................. 21
j. Setup the project progress evaluation criteria ....................................................................................................... 22
k. Create drawings and materials tracking logs. ......................................................................................................... 22
 Shop drawings log: ............................................................................................................................................. 22
 Materials tracking log: ....................................................................................................................................... 23
l. Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project. .................................................................................................... 24
4. The Launching Process Group ....................................................................................................................24
a. Recruiting the project team .................................................................................................................................... 24
b. Establishing the scope change management process............................................................................................. 25
c. Managing team communications: .......................................................................................................................... 25
d. Finalizing the project schedule: .............................................................................................................................. 25
D- UPDATE OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN .........................................................................................................25
1. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group .........................................................................................25
a. Report project performance: .................................................................................................................................. 25

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 b. Call for weekly meeting: ......................................................................................................................................... 26
c. Monitor the project risks and identify new risks. ................................................................................................... 26
d. Process project changes: ........................................................................................................................................ 26
2. The Closing Process Group .........................................................................................................................26
E- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................................27

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Table of Figures
Figure 1 : Work break down structure WBS ............................................................................................... 13
Figure 2: Activity list .................................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3: Activities duration ....................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 4: Activities resources ..................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 5: Estimate project cost.................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 6: Sequence the activities ................................................................................................................ 18
Figure 7: Original Manpower histogram .................................................................................................... 19
Figure 8: Leveled Manpower Histogram .................................................................................................... 20
Figure 9: Primavera Cash Flow .................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 10: Microsoft Excel Cash Flow ....................................................................................................... 21
Figure 11: Shop drawings log ..................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 12: Materials tracking log ................................................................................................................ 24

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 Woody 2000 project
Reference to (Wideman (n.d)) case study subject of the woody 2000 project, Author divided the

project into five main topics. First topic is project background information, which highlight the

project sponsor, project objectives and identified problem in the case study. Second topic is the

project management plan methodology and the planning tools / software used in the project. Third

topic is the project management plan, which include the project feasibility study, Scoping Process

Group, Planning Process Group, and Launching Process Group. Fourth topic is the update of the

project management plan to monitor the project progress and close the project. Finally, the fifth

topic is the author conclusion and recommendation of the case study.

A- Project Background information

1. Project Sponsor:

The sponsor of the woody 2000 project is a custom woodworking small-to-medium

sized company specialized on custom furniture and cabinets for wholesaler/retailers.

Ron Carpenter established the company in 1954, and later on, his wife Mrs. Emelia

Carpenter was involved on running the company on his behalf. Their son, John

Carpenter, was involved on the company project management recently; he opened a

new channel of subcontract work to the company by supplying and installing counter-

tops, cabinets and similar fixtures for new commercial construction. The company is

known as “woody” referring to its creator, and it has a good reputation in the local

market.

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2. Project Objectives:

Because of the limited space of the manufacture area, and the mini-boom in commercial

construction in 1989, there was a good market to expand the company production, and

develop the production area. The project objectives defined by the sponsors was as per the

following:

a. Add additional 25% of the existing floor area.

b. Install air-conditioning and a dust-free paint.

c. Construct a semi-automatic woodworking production train.

d. Renovate the President and Executive Vice Presidents' offices.

e. Project budget cost is $17 million.

f. Project duration is18 months.

3. Problems mentioned in the case study:

After the author study of woody 2000 project, and reference to (Wysocki 2012) project

management life cycle (PMLC), Author highlighted the problems/ mistakes done in the

case study, and the correct action as per the process group, and as per Table number 1.

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 Table 1
S.N Process Problems/ Mistakes
Group
A Project budget cost was roughly
estimated and the cost of office
renovation was ignored.
A.1 Scoping
Process
Group
Assign Ian as Woody's Project Manager
A.2 while he lacked project management
training and experience.
B Cash flow is not calculated correctly and
not linked to project schedule.
B.1 Planning
Process
Group Cost plus contract is a high risk contract
B.2
Changing the project specs without
modifying the project plan “The change
B.3 in production train specification made it
necessary to add another five feet to the
length of the new building”
C Moneysworth and Leadbetter added new
risk to the project by accepting “take
over the procurement of the production
C.1
train” without a clear procurement plan.
No scope change management process
which leaded to delays because of miss-
coordination “This was only discovered
The when holding-down bolts for the new
C.2 Launching train were laid out on site, long after the
Process perimeter foundations had been poured”
Group
Poor management of team
communication “he dealt directly with
Amos Dent of Tinknockers Associates,
C.3
the mechanical sub-contractor. This led
to strained relations on the site.”
Correct Action
Project budget cost should be
reasonably estimated and not to
ignore part of the project cost
by performing a feasibility
study.
Assign an experienced project
management manager.
Cash flow should be calculated
with reference to the time
schedule and resource
allocation.
To mitigate cost overrun risk, a
fixed price contract is preferred
with defined completion date.
Any changes to the original
plan should be performed by
the change order process to
reflect the impacts on other
activities.
Woody should keep
procurement risks transferred to
EID. Woody may assist EID
technically, but procurement
should remain with EID.
A clear scope change
management process should be
created to deal with any scope
changes and re-plan
accordingly.
Communication plan and
project organization chart
should be created to ensure the
proper distribution of the
information and avoid strained
relations on the site.
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D There was lack of monitoring the project
progress, in result the following delays
occurred.
 Delay the approval of the
D.1 manufacture drawings delayed
the procurement two weeks.
 Scheduled Tie-In of power and
other utilities delayed two weeks.
Monitoring Monitoring risk, Discovering and solving
and problems was not part of project
Controlling procedures, and as a results:
Process
Group
 Local inspection authority did not
approve the surplus paint
disposal.
D.2
 Project delayed 6 months.
 Project cost overrun.
 Customer delivery dates were
missed.
 Some general contractors
cancelled their contracts.
E There was no plan for closing the project
“neither Moneysworth nor Leadbetter
had prepared any meaningful planning
for completion such as owner's
inspection and acceptance of the
Closing building, or testing, dry-running and
Process production start-up of the production
E.1 train. They also failed to insist that EID
Group
obtain the building occupation
certificate.”
An effective monitoring plan
could highlight the manufacture
drawings approval importance,
prevent the delays of its
approval, and reschedule the
Tie-In of power and other
utilities -if required- as per
project progress.
Monitoring risks and discover
problem before they happened
will give the opportunity to
plan to solve these problems in
a proactive way; this
monitoring includes the internal
and external stockholders. In
addition, this will ensure that
the project will continue on
track as per specification, on
time and budget.
The closing process group
should be part of the project
management plan and should
include the following:
 Gaining client approval of
having met project
requirements
 Planning and installing
deliverables
 Writing the final project
report
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B- Project Management Plan methodology and external resources

1. Planning Methodology

Project management plan based on (Wysocki, 2012, p64) Five Process Groups:

a) Scoping Process Group

b) Planning Process Group

c) Launching Process Group

d) Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

e) Closing Process Group

In addition, to feasibility study as per (Kerzner, 2009, p419)

2. Resources used in the planning

The author used the oracle primavera v.8.1 to sequence the activities, drew network

diagram and Gantt chart. Moreover, Microsoft Excel 2013 to drew the cash flow. All the

outputs from different software embedded in this final project Microsoft Word document.

C- Project Management Plan and Statement of Work (SOW)

1. Feasibility Study

Woody’s company maintained a good reputation in the local market and the mini-boom in

commercial construction will increase the wood’s product demand. Therefore, expanding

the production area by 25% will return tangible profits; will maintain woody’s client

reputation and delivery timing commitments.

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2. The Scoping Process Group

a. Assign a project manager

None of the wood’s company available resources can manage the project;

therefore, the author assumed a professional project management named John

to be assigned as a project manager. John has a project management skills and

15 years of experience managing projects.

b. Develop a high-level project execution method statement.

After the new project manager John discussion with the production people, he

created a high level project execution method statement as a starting point, the

method statement defines how and what will be executed in order to finish the

project on time, within budget, as per the sponsor requirements, and as per the

following:

S.N What to do How to do

1 Add additional 25% of the
existing floor area
2 Install air-conditioning
and a dust-free paint
3 Construct a semi-
automatic woodworking
production train
4 Renovate the President
and Executive Vice
Presidents' offices
Hire a specialized firm to do the design,
Hire a contractor to execute the works
The Deign office will create the design;
the contractor should submit shop
drawings and materials for designer
approval before proceed with the
execution.
The additional 25% space would take the
longest duration, Therefore it is the first
priority and should be coordinated with
the automatic woodworking production
train requirements and Installation of air-
conditioning and a dust-free paint. The
renovation of the president’s office will
stay to the end of the project.

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c. Review the project headlines with the sponsor.

After the creation of the high-level method statement, the project manager

john called for a meeting with the company directors to review the main

headlines and proceed with the next step. John persuaded the sponsors to

finish the project design before starting the execution to mitigate risks of

reworks.

d. Identify the components of the project management plan.

John is a project management professional (PMP), therefore he based his

project management plan on the (Project Management Institute 2008) process

groups, and because he studied MSc in Liverpool University, he used the MSc

text book (Wysocki 2012) to add more value of the project management plan.

John identified the project management plan components as per the following:

I. The Planning Process Group

 Create project work break down structure WBS.

 Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list.

 Estimate the activities duration.

 Estimate activities resources.

 Estimate project cost.

 Sequence the activities; draw a project network diagram, and a Gantt

chart.

 Allocate cost and manpower to the activities to create cash flow and

manpower histogram.

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  Develop risk management plan.

 Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan.

 Setup the project progress evaluation criteria

 Create drawings and materials tracking logs.

 Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project.

II. The Launching Process Group

 Recruiting the project team

 Establishing the scope change management process

 Managing team communications and create an organization chart

clarifying the roles and responsibilities for every team member.

 Finalizing the project schedule.

III. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

 Report project performance using Earned Value Management (EVM)

to compare the Earned value (EV) against Planned Value (PV) and

keep the forecast completion date on target by taking proactive not

reactive actions.

 Call for weekly meeting to discuss the project progress and risks with

the project team.

 Monitor the project risks and identify new risks.

 Process project changes as per scope change management plan.

IV. The Closing Process Group

 Perform testing and commissioning.

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  Secure all project documents, such as warranties, certificate of

completion from subcontractors, maintenance manuals and local

authority’s approvals.

 Gaining sponsor approval of having met project requirements.

 Writing the final project report

e. Secure the sponsor approval to plan the project.

After listing the project management plan component, John called for a meeting

with the company senior management to secure their approval in order to

proceed and hire the project management team.

f. Hire and assign project management team.

After the Sponsor / senior management approval of the project management

plan content, the project manager proceeded and hire the Designer Firm, and

the project management team. John signed a contract with a Design Office, and

employed a construction manager and planning engineer.

3. The Planning Process Group

a. Create project work break down structure WBS.

The Project Manager with the planning engineer created the project WBS

using Primavera software as per the following figure 1:

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 Figure 1 : Work break down structure WBS

b. Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list.

The project manager created a workshop with the production people,

construction manager, and the planning engineer to identify the project activity

list as per Figure 2:

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Figure 2: Activity list

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c. Estimate the activities duration.

After the creation of the activity list, Project team estimated the activities

duration as per figure 3

Figure 3: Activities duration

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d. Estimate activities resources.

After the estimation of the activities duration, the project team assigned the

manpower required to execute each task on the chosen duration as per figure 4

Figure 4: Activities resources

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e. Estimate project cost.

After the estimation of the required manpower for each activity, the project

team estimated the project cost by assigning each task with the expected cost.

The project manager founded that the project budget will exceed the proposed

budget 17 Million $ by 280,000 $, he informed the sponsors officially by issuing

the project cost estimation document as per figure 5

Figure 5: Estimate project cost

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f. Sequence the activities, and adjust activities duration

Project duration is18 months, using Oracle Primavera scheduling tool to draw

a project network diagram, and a Gantt chart as per figure 6

*This Gantt chart was revised after the resource leveling

Figure 6: Sequence the activities

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g. Allocate cost and manpower to the activities

To create cash flow and manpower histogram, manpower and cost should be

allocated to the activities as per the following:

 Original Manpower histogram:

After the allocation of manpower and cost, Original manpower

histogram from primavera as per figure 7

Figure 7: Original Manpower histogram

 Leveled Manpower Histogram

It was noticed that the manpower needs leveling to reduce the risks

associated with performing too many tasks at the same time. Therefore,

Project manager and the planning engineer started some non-critical

activities earlier to level the resources as per figure 8 (this change will

affect item 3f, Gantt chart revised accordingly)

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 Figure 8: Leveled Manpower Histogram

 Primavera Cash Flow:

After leveling the resources, the cash flow is created from Primavera

as per figure 9

Figure 9: Primavera Cash Flow

 Microsoft Excel Cash Flow:

Using Microsoft Excel for better presentation, figure 10 showing cash

flow created with Microsoft Excel.

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 Figure 10: Microsoft Excel Cash Flow

h. Develop risk management plan.

The plan to manage risks associated with this project divided into two main

topics as per the following:

 Mitigate the risks:

By leveling resources to avoid doing too many tasks at the same time.

 Transfer the risks:

By instructing, the contractor to procure all the materials and assign the

design office to review all the contractor engineering works.

i. Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan.

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 The project schedule allow for 30 days to close the project, before starting this

tasks, project team should identify what exactly is required to close the project

probably. Project team should also focus on the local municipality requirements

to secure all the permits required.

j. Setup the project progress evaluation criteria

Progress evaluation criteria is based on Earned Value Management EVM.

Mainly to measure the progress planned value and earned value are the main

key performance index KPI.

k. Create drawings and materials tracking logs.

 Shop drawings log:

After finalizing the time schedule, each task has a shop drawing should

be submitted by the contractor and approved by the design office as per

the following table in figure 11

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 Figure 11: Shop drawings log

 Materials tracking log:

to mitigate the risks of materials being delayed and delay the related

task, the material tracking log is very important document to keep focus

on material submittal by the contractor, approval by the design office,

issuing the purchase order by the contractor, start the manufacture,

shipment, and delivery to the site as per figure no 12

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 Figure 12: Materials tracking log

l. Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project.

After the creation of the project management plan, it should be submitted to the

sponsor for approval to start the project. However, in some cases, the planning

process group is being done parallel with the execution process group, which

consider high risk. In this case, study it is recommended to finish the planning

process group and obtain the sponsor approval before starting the lunching

process group.

4. The Launching Process Group

a. Recruiting the project team

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 After the approval of the project management plan, the project manager is

authorized to hire all the project team.

b. Establishing the scope change management process

Any changes to the original scope of work, should be done within the scope

management process and revise the project schedule, cash flow, manpower

histogram, shop drawings log and materials log accordingly.

c. Managing team communications:

Create an organization chart clarifying the roles and responsibilities for every

team member. The project manager setup a weekly meeting to discuss the work

progress, and another technical meetings to solve any problems could delay the

project.

d. Finalizing the project schedule:

Project schedule could be impacted with different process, for example, the

resource leveling affected the cash flow and the Gantt chart, any modifications

to the project management plan components should be reflected on the schedule

by issuing any revision of the schedule as per the latest inputs.

D- Update of the Project Management Plan

1. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

a. Report project performance:

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 Using Earned Value Management (EVM) to compare the Earned value (EV)

against Planned Value (PV) and keep the forecast completion date on target by

taking proactive not reactive actions.

b. Call for weekly meeting:

To discuss the project progress and risks with the project team.

c. Monitor the project risks and identify new risks.

Mainly to keep monitoring the schedule performance, cost performance, shop

drawings log, and materials log.

d. Process project changes:

As per scope change management plan.

2. The Closing Process Group

a) Perform testing and commissioning.

b) Secure all project documents, such as warranties, certificate of completion

from subcontractors, maintenance manuals and local authority’s approvals.

c) Gaining sponsor approval of having met project requirements.

d) Writing the final project report

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 E- Conclusions and recommendations

This project represent a great opportunity to Wood’s company to expand the production,

increase the company profit, and fulfill the company commitments towards their clients. In

order to effectively manage the project, a professional project manager with project

management background is required to manage this project. The project should be designed

by expert design office, and executed by a professional contractor. The project manager

role is to manage and coordinate between the design office and the contractor, create and

monitor the project management plan. Resource leveling performed to mitigate the risks of

executing too many activities at the same time. by assigning a designer office and

contractor to supervise and execute the works respectively, Woody’s company transferred

the associated risks to the third party. However, the project manager is responsible to

manage the performance of all parties and report the progress as per the project

management plan to the sponsor.

References:

KERZNER, H., 2009. Project management [electronic book] : a systems approach to planning,

scheduling, and controlling / Harold Kerzner. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2009; 10th ed.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, 2008. A guide to the project management body of

knowledge (PMBOK guide). 4th edn. Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute.

Wideman, M. (n.d.) Project management case study: the custom woodworking company -

Woody 2000 project [Online] Available from

http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/woody2000/intro.htm [accessed 11 November 2013]

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WYSOCKI, R.K., 2012. Effective project management. 6th edn. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley.

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