You are a newly appointed project manager with a project management consultancy. Your first assignment is to manage project of the programmed replacement of a production line in a local factory. The production line assembles electronic components. In order to minimize disruption to production, the upgrading works are to take place in several phases (work packages) over the next year and a half. Each phase of the work involves closing down the production line, stripping out parts of the line and replacing that section with new equipment. The main people involved in the project management process are: The project manager; The production manager (responsible for production output) External electrical and mechanical engineers, as design consultants; External specialist contractors, as installers and commissioners; External specialist domestic and nominated engineering sub contractors; External specialist suppliers (of all equipment); The Health and Safety Executive (HSE); Local authority inspectors (LAIs). A total of 50 employees work on the production line. These people will be temporarily laid off on full pay while the line is closed down for upgrading. The contractor and design engineers have indicated that it should be possible to complete the works in nine phases (work packages), each requiring a one-week shut down. For each phase, the main work elements will be the following: Shut down production line (production manager). Remove old section (main contractor). Upgrade and test electrical supplies (engineering sub contractors). Install new production line section (main contractor). Commission and test (main contractor) Approvals and acceptance (HSE, LAI, production manager). The factory owners clearly wish to keep down time to a minimum. It is therefore very important that good quality-management systems are put in place in order to avoid any errors or problems that may lead to delays or interruptions that could have been avoided. Another early requirement is the development of a schedule in order to allow time estimates to be made for each work package and for the project as a whole. Schedules can typically be based on either the critical path method (CPM) or the programme valuation and review technique (PERT). Table below shows PERT values for the various work packages that are involved in the project. Activity(work package) Optimistic estimate (Months) Most likely estimate (Months) Pessimistic estimate (Months)