STEEL FACTORY COURSEWORK DESCRIPTION

Background The project referred to in this document is a Steel Factory project. The project is being procured

under a design and build contract. The project manager referred to is the contractors project

manager.

The overall aim of this coursework is to gain practice in practical project planning by taking

some of the steps needed to achieve some of the project managers requirements. The

coursework submission for the practical will be a plan of work for the factory floor slab and

information supporting that plan.

A considerable amount of work towards meeting the project managers requirements has been

undertaken already but there is still a lot to do. In particular for this practical, the company

planners have started to produce a physical plan of work. The list of activities resulting from this

initial planning for the project is provided. However, it contains no activities for the construction

of the main factory floor slab which you are to produce.

Steps The steps required for this practical are:

A. Thoroughly understand the requirements of the coursework

B. Thoroughly understand the project and the clients requirements

C. Thoroughly understand the work done by the contractor already for the project

D. Produce a list of activities suitable for a detailed plan for the construction of the floor slab of

the factory. Each of the activities should have main resources which should be fixed at a

constant level throughout the activitys duration. It is anticipated that at least 60 activities are

likely to be required for the floor slab construction. These will be added to the project

managers initial activity list in a later step. Each activity should have a name which is readable

and understandable in isolation.

E. Determine the durations and key resource requirements of the activities you have listed,

retaining all your calculations and details of your sources of information. The durations should

be your best estimates using resource productivities derived from the information available.

F. Produce a plan of work for the floor slab of the factory together with cost estimating. The

plan should, wherever possible, enable the project to achieve the clients objectives as set out in

the main Steel Factory handout. Your plan of work should be an activity bar chart (Gantt chart).

Notes of construction methods employed, assumptions and decisions made and alternatives

considered should be kept throughout in order to explain your plan to the project manager.

These should also be handed in as part of your report.

G. Compile the submission document for the coursework as something directed at the project

manager in the contractors organisation.

Extra information All the information you need should be in the handout somewhere.

Coursework requirement Submissions (one per group) should take the form of:

1. A short report (with 500 words maximum of text on 1.5 line spacing) to the project manager

setting out the main points of the plan and whether it should be able to achieve the clients

objectives

2. A printed version of the plan of work for the floor slab (this must be legible)

3. A list or table of activities for the construction of the floor slab together with their numerical

durations, main resource requirements and cost estimating.

4. The calculations and assumptions you have used to produce the durations and resource

requirements.

5. All of the above items in a CD.

Marks Marks will be available for all aspects of the submission, comprising in total 10% of the module

mark.

Report 25%

Plan of work 25%

List of activities 25%

Calculations and assumptions 25%

Group working You should work in groups of 4. All members of a group will be awarded the same mark.

Microsoft Project Licences for Microsoft Project have enabled it to be installed on a server. It is, however, only

available on the server to limited users and it may therefore be difficult to have access to the

package when you plan to. It is suggested that you do not wait until the last minute to use the

package if you wish to do so. Note you do not have to use the package at all. If you have access

to any other software you can consider using that.

Further notes 1. In order to complete the coursework, you will need, at least, the three documents:

Steel Factory Coursework Description;

Steel Factory Development Information; and

Steel Factory Construction Information.

2. As with all real projects (especially those procured under a design and build contract), the

documents may be incomplete and there may be internal inconsistencies within apparently

complete documents. This should not stop you planning. It should, however, make you realise

where the uncertainties are in your plan and whether information is important or correct for

your requirement. The project manager would expect these issues to be mentioned in your

report.

3. For a network of activities, it is suggested that you use only Finish-Start (FS) connections

which are the normal connections used in networks for planning.

4. The submissions must be printed out togeterh with a softcopy (CD), not submitted in

electronic form (email submissions are not allowed). If you choose to use Microsoft Project you

will have to explore its use in order to produce a plan of work and to print it out in a format

which you consider satisfactory.

Marking guidelines The overall marks in the right column are awarded taking into account the points listed in each category: Element Comment Mark REPORT Use of English

Appropriateness for Project Manager Explanation of plan Comment on objective Considerations such as timing, economy, quality, health, safety, environment, sustainability, risks

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25

COPY OF PLAN Legibility Neatness Layout Balance Sequencing Information Overall presentation

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25

TABLE OF ACTIVITIES etc

Number Type Resource & duration information Completeness Clarity

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25

CALCULATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS

Assumptions (& decisions): realism, justification, considerations such as timing, economy, quality, health, safety, environment, sustainability, risks, completeness

Calculations: correctness, accuracy of data used

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25

TOTAL %