PLEASE USE THIS TABLE BELOW AND INCLUDE YOUR MICROSOFT PROJECT FILE.

The projected end date should be Feb 20,2024. The revised finished date is March 01, 2024

Danielle and the team are concerned with the results of your initial analysis. (It's not that they suspect you did the analysis incorrectly, it is that they were hoping for a better result with the schedule!) As danielle and her team have reviewed previous MedCONs they have realized that about 70% of their sales occur on the first day of the Conference(!), so meeting the target date is critical. And MedCON starts at 8 AM on January 10, 2024.

Part C [You would be wise to save this as a new, separate file from Part B.]

They spent the afternoon brainstorming alternative ways for shortening the project's duration. They have rejected outsourcing activities because most of the work will be developmental in nature and can only be done in-house. Eliminating some of the proposed product features is one possible approach. However, after much debate, they feel they cannot compromise any of the core features (i.e., the scope) and be successful in the marketplace. Their attention then turns to accelerating the completion of activities through the use of a discretionary fund of $ 200,000. Danielle is willing to invest up to half of this fund to accelerate the project, but feels she must hold on to at least $ 100,000 to deal with other unexpected problems. After another lengthy discussion and more schedule analysis, Danielle's team has concluded that the following activities can be reduced in duration at the specified cost (i.e., no other duration-reduction options are viable):

• External Device Specifications can be reduced from 18 days to 15 days at a cost of $ 30,000.
• Development of the Voice Recognition Module can be reduced from 15 days to 10 days at a cost of $ 15,000.
• Database Creation can be reduced from 40 days to 35 days at a cost of $ 35,000.
• Document the Design & Production can be reduced from 35 days to 30 days at a cost of $ 25,000.
• Procure Prototype Components can be reduced from 20 days to 15 days at a cost of $ 30,000.
• Produce 30 Units (for MedCON) can be reduced 10 days to 5 days at a cost of $ 40,000.

[Note: If you choose to reduce the duration of any one of the activities noted above, then it must be for the exact specified time and cost indicated (i.e., you cannot choose to make a partial reduction). For example, Document the Design & Production can be reduced from 35 to 30 days for $ 25,000; it cannot be reduced from 35 to 32 days for $15,000. This limitation is a bit artificial, but is to make our analysis a bit easier to accomplish!]

7. Given the information above, which schedule changes would you select be used?Why? What would be the (additional) cost(s)?

8. What would be the new completion date if you used the duration changes you just identified?

9. Would these changes be sufficient to make the January 10^th deadline? Explain what the changes you identified to use did to the project schedule.

[Note: Make sure you have answered the above questions before you continue! You might want to save this file for future reference, too.]

Part D [You would be wise to save this as a new, separate file from Part C.]

Danielle and her team are not satisfied with the analysis done in Part C ... might there be another useful and better alternative to consider?

As an alternative, Ken Clark, a Senior Development Engineer, points out that the network contains only finish-to-start relationships and that it might be possible to reduce project duration by creating start-to-start lags or other types of lags. For example, one possible option is to consider that the project development team might not have to wait for all of the Field Tests to be completed to begin making final adjustments in the Design (i.e., Adjust/Refine Design). They can start making adjustments after the first fifteen days of Testing.

The project team spent the remainder of the day analyzing how they can introduce lags into the network to hopefully shorten the project. They conclude that the following finish-to-start relationships can be converted into lags (i.e., only the lags specified are feasible and will work):

• Document the Design & Production can begin 5 days after the start of the Device Integration Review.
• Adjust/Refine Design can begin 15 days after the start of the Field Tests.
• Ordering Stock Parts can begin 5 days after the start of Adjust/Refine Design.
• Ordering Custom Parts can begin 5 days after the start of Adjust/Refine Design.
• Training Sales Representatives can begin 5 days after the start of the Test First Production Unit activity and completed 5 days after the completion of the Production of 30 units.

10.What is the new completion date for the project with the inclusion of the lags? Does it meet the January 10^th target date?

11.To get the best finish date possible, which lag option(s) would you choose for implementation?Explain. Is it possible to meet the January 10 deadline with (only) these revised relationships (for this part of the analysis)?

12.What would your final recommendation be to Danielle on what to do for the NightHawk project? With the data and schedule options we have, can e meet the January 10^th target date. If so, how would you recommend changing the original schedule and why?

13.Assess the relative impact of crashing activities versus introducing lags to shorten project duration, i.e., compare the two approaches. (This response should include some discussion ...)

14.Are there other factors that should be considered before finalizing the schedule?(We've already looked at speeding up the schedule by altering the duration using lags.) What else do we need to consider?

PLEASE USE THIS TABLE BELOW AND INCLUDE YOUR MICROSOFT PROJECT FILE.

Table 1

Activity Description Duration Predecessor(s)

(Days)

1 Product Architectural Decisions 8 --

2 Internal Device Specifications 20 1

3 External Device Specifications 18 1

4 Device Feature Specifications 15 1

(This includes the addition of the defibrillator)

5 Voice Recognition Module 15 2,3

6 Case 4 2,3

7 Screen 2 2,3

8 Speaker Output Jacks 2 2,3

9 Storage Memory & Mechanism 2 2,3

10 Database Creation 40 4

11 Microphone / Soundcard 5 4

12 Pager 4 4

13 Barcode Reader 3 4

14 Alarm Clock 4 4

15 Computer I/O Design 5 4

16 Review Device Design 10 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

17 Determine Component Prices 5 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

18 Device Integration Review 10 16,17

19 Document the Design & Production35 16

20 Procure Prototype Components 20 18

21 Assemble Prototypes 12 20

22 Lab-test Prototypes 20 21

23 Field-Test Prototypes 20 19,22

24 Adjust/Refine Design 22 23

25 Order Custom Parts 3 24

26 Order Stock Parts 3 24

27 Assemble First Production Unit 10 25, FS of 13 time-units; 26, FS of 8 time-units

28 Test First Production Unit 10 27

29 Produce 30 Units (for MedCON) 10 28

30 Train Sales Representatives 15 29

31 Ship/Transport Devices to MedCON 1 30, FS of 3 time-units

The project will begin the on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Revised Date add:

• Assume the following holidays are regularly observed:January 1, Martin Luther King Day (3^rd Monday in January), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), July 4^th, Labor Day (first Monday in September), Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November), December 25 and 26.
• If a holiday falls on a Saturday, then Friday will be given as an extra day off; if a holiday falls on a Sunday, then Monday will be given as a day off.