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Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar August 2019 1 of 5 Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines Unit Code MN601 Unit Title Network Project Management Term, Year T2, 2019 Assessment Type Assignment 1, Individual Assessment Title Individual case study assignment Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) The purpose of this assignment is to build a clear understanding of project management fundamentals and their application, specifically: demonstrate project leadership skills; identify and assess risk in designing, executing a major project; critically reflect on current project management ethics, research, and theory and practice; Weight 15% Total Marks 30 Word limit 1200-1500 Due Date Week 7, 1 September 2019, 23.55 PM. Submission Guidelines A draft of the report must be submitted on Moodle by the day before the Week-6 class, to get feedback from the tutor in Week-6. Updated version of the report must be submitted on Moodle the day before your Week-7 class. The assignment must be in MS Word format, 1.5 spacing, 11-pt Calibri (Body) font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings. Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using IEEE referencing style. Extension If an extension of time to submit work is required, a Special Consideration Application must be submitted directly on AMS. You must submit this application three working days prior to the due date of the assignment. Further information is available at: http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and- guidelines/specialconsiderationdeferment Academic Misconduct Academic Misconduct is a serious offence. Depending on the seriousness of the case, penalties can vary from a written warning or zero marks to exclusion from the course or rescinding the degree. Students should make themselves familiar with the full policy and procedure available at: http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute- publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Plagiarism-Academic- Misconduct-Policy-Procedure. For further information, please refer to the Academic Integrity Section in your Unit Description. http://www.mit.edu.au/about http://www.mit.edu.au/about http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/special-considerationdeferment http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Plagiarism-Academic-Misconduct-Policy-Procedure http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Plagiarism-Academic-Misconduct-Policy-Procedure http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Plagiarism-Academic-Misconduct-Policy-Procedure MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 2 of 5 Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar Acknowledgement: The following case study is taken verbatim from https://www.theprojectgroup.com/blog/en/integrated-project-management-case-study/ (Full Credit is attributed to this source) Integrated Project Management Solution for Automotive Supplier (Case Study) Precision Engineering Company Alfmeier Präzision SE Completes Complex Projects on Time and on Budget “Precision engineering company Alfmeier Präzision SE refers to the tiny components it makes with the inspiring phrase: “Small things set large ones in motion”. Starting with small steps, a change of system supporting its project management organization has also moved the company forward, making it more efficient and competitive. A key component of the enterprise project management solution is the bidirectional data synchronization between SAP and Microsoft Project, making cost and resource planning simpler and more accurate”. A Quick Overview of this Customer Story “The Company: Alfmeier Präzision SE is a global manufacturer of precision system solutions using valves, actuators, pumps, and controllers. Based in Treuchtlingen (Germany) and with a global workforce of about 2,000 employees world-wide, its core competencies include plastic technology, electronics, mechatronics, fluid technology and industrial solutions. Alfmeier is a leading supplier to the automotive industry as well as medical technology and other sectors”. “The Challenge: The company’s project managers were all using a mix of different project management solutions, including a variety of Microsoft Office applications. If a manager wanted an overview of project costs, he or she had to ask each project manager individually. This made cost and resource planning, as well as scheduling and reporting, difficult and time consuming”. “The Solution: The project management solution is based on Microsoft Project Server, which TPG has customized with over 100 user-defined fields. As SAP is a central business solution at Alfmeier, the company has also implemented TPG PSLink to synchronize information between the project management and ERP systems. TPG ProjectLink is used for multi-level scheduling in the case of large-scale components with multiple sub-projects”. “The Benefits: All aspects of project planning – including scheduling, resource planning, actual and planned costs, reporting and more – are significantly faster and more efficient since the company has been using the enterprise project management solution. It has saved time and money through across-the-board project visibility and accelerated reporting, while facilitating the firms’ capacity to complete even complex projects on time and on budget”. Detailed Description of the Case: The Company Alfmeier Präzision SE “Alfmeier Präzision SE is a global high-tech company serving the automotive and other industries. With about 2000 employees worldwide, it is a recognized specialist in plastic injection molding and fluid systems as well as electronics, mechatronics and car seat solutions. The Fluid Systems business unit develops intelligent solutions for applications such as fuel supply, servo assistance, flap control, crank case ventilation as well as thermal management. The Seat Comfort division focuses on a range of advanced solutions for car seats that adapt to the anatomy of the vehicle’s occupants. The company is headquartered in Treuchtlingen (Germany) and has subsidiaries in the USA, Mexico, Czech Republic, China and Korea”. Patchwork of Different Tools “With the implementation of SAP PS and other tools for project planning, the precision engineering company ended up using a plethora of different systems. Each project manager had their own preference, so if management wanted to know how a specific project – or even the overall project cost – was progressing, they had to ask each project https://www.theprojectgroup.com/blog/en/integrated-project-management-case-study/ MN601 Network Project Management 2019 T2 MN601 Assignment-1 SYD MEL V1.3 3 of 5 Prepared by: DR Karthik Nagarajan Moderated by: DR Wanod Kumar manager individually. This was a particularly complex undertaking in Alfmeier’s case as the company operates in multiple different countries. Project managers would request and create projects in SAP PS, while documents produced by the teams during the course of the project work were in other formats, such as Word and Excel – particularly for cost estimates, proposal approvals and change requests”. “The staff entered their timesheet information in SAP and managers produced reports in Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Word as well as APIS and QlikView. This made it challenging to consolidate all the information as a basis for planning and decision-making. As each project manager was using his or her preferred planning and scheduling tool, there was no quick way to review the teams’ schedules and ensure optimal staff resource utilization”. Centralize and Streamline Project Planning “Erich Taube, Head of Project Management Office (PMO) at Alfmeier Präzision SE, headed up a team tasked with finding a suitable solution for streamlining and standardizing project planning processes. With our fairly intensive use of Microsoft Office products, we thought Microsoft Project Server would be the best fit, so we set about looking for potential partners,” says Erich Taube. “What really clinched it for TPG was their PSLink product for bidirectional data synchronization between SAP and Microsoft Project Server, along with their ability to customize Microsoft Project Server to our needs.” “Meeting specialists from The Project Group (TPG), Erich Taube and his team were impressed by their experience and their quick grasp of the project management situation at Alfmeier. The team drew up a matrix comparing the offerings of the various providers, and TPG came out clearly on top”. “But what really clinched it for TPG was their PSLink product for bidirectional data synchronization between SAP and Microsoft Project Server, along with their ability to customize Microsoft Project Server to our needs,” adds Taube. Customized Functionality “The first step was for everyone involved to get round a table and define the project’s specifications and goals. This was followed by the implementation of a test system to run alongside the production system on both the Microsoft Project and SAP sides. The two teams worked together to implement over 100 user-defined fields in Microsoft Project, mainly SAP-related. Alfmeier staff ran a sample project through the systems to test both sides, including the planning process as well as schedules and costs”. “TPG was then tasked with developing a custom function for Alfmeier’s project managers. “We wanted a profitability indicator, updated in real time, to enable project managers to see at a glance how profitable their projects were,” comments Erich Taube. That way, project staff could work with their familiar tool without needing any expertise in the use of SAP. TPG developed the custom feature and implemented it together with the rest of the system. On the Alfmeier side, Erich Taube and his team facilitated user acceptance by organizing multiple training courses”. “We’re really pleased with the new EPM system, as it standardizes the entire planning procedure. We’ve set up a project cockpit that enables us to see the status of every project at the click of a mouse.” They also designated individuals in the PMO who could intervene immediately in case of any problems in the field. In addition, the team supports several power users in the local offices who are able to help their colleagues quickly when queries arise”. Result: Production System Running Well “The production system has been running smoothly since May 2016 and supports all new projects. Although the previous system is still being used to support some older projects, it will gradually be retired once these projects are completed. Erich Taube believes this stage will be reached by the end of 2017. “We’re really pleased with the new