"The XYZ Manufacturing Company is an established firm in the computer industry. They manufacture systems across two divisions; the PC / Server Division and the Monitor / Display Division. They engineer their products from the ground up, purchase the necessary components, and assemble and test the final products in house. They have recently embarked on an internal manufacturing system upgrade. They have purchased a software application from a local vendor, and are in the early phase of implementation."
The approach I'm using here is to show the sample Project Charter document on this web page.
Note: The sample data used is not intended to represent a real project and all of its complexities. Rather, it serves to illustrate how the various templates can be used to help successfully manage your project.
Project Charter
Project Name: | XYZ Computer System |
Company: | XYZ Manufacturing Company Ltd. |
Division: | Computer Systems |
Department: | Information Technology |
Process or Product: | Servers and Displays manufacturing |
Prepared By:
Document Owners | Project or Organization Role |
Rajendra | Project Manager |
Santhosh | Director, IT – Project Owner |
Sai Kumar | VP, Manufacturing – Project Sponsor |
Version Control
Ver # | Date | Author | Change Description |
0 | 02/01/09 | Rajendra Santhosh Sai Kumar | Document created |
1 | |||
2 |
Project Charter Purpose
The Project Charter defines the scope, objectives, deliverables and overall approach for the work to be completed. It is a critical element for initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and monitoring the project. It is the absolute master document for the project and as such it should be the single point of reference on the project for goals and objectives, scope, organization, estimates, deliverables, and budget.
There are items within the Charter that are supported by additional project control documents. In these instances the Charter will name the documents involved and describe their purpose and use throughout the project life cycle. This serves to keep changes to the master document to a required minimum while providing a mechanism to monitor and control the key areas of the project on an ongoing basis.
The Project Charter also serves as a contract between the Project Team and the Project Sponsors, stating at a minimum:
· Why are we doing this and what is the overall goal.
· What are the assumptions and constraints going in.
· When do we need to be finished.
· What deliverables must be made to get there.
· What things are not to be done.
· When do the deliverables need to be completed and in what order.
· Who is going to actually do the tasks and where.
· What resources and money (budget) is needed.
· What risks are there likely to be along the way.
· How to keep things on target and monitor progress.
Executive Overview
In the last budget process it was recognized that the legacy Manufacturing Information System needed to be upgraded as vendor support for the old system was to be discontinued within two years. In house staff cannot maintain the old system due to source code not being available. A modern manufacturing software application would provide added functionality and opportunities to reduce inventory levels and product delivery times.
Subsequently, an RFP was issued, a vendor selected and contracts completed to provide the new software. It is assumed the new application will operate satisfactorily on the XYZ hardware. This is a potentially high risk to the project and must be verified in the early project stage.
The new system will be initially implemented in the Display manufacturing facility. It is anticipated that will happen within the first 12 months. Once the system has proven itself and stabilized, then the main Server plant will be brought online within the following 6 months. This timeline must be met to ensure our operating systems are fully supported.
The cost is not to exceed $750,000. This includes the initial software application, custom code development, and consulting costs.
The Director of IT will be responsible for the implementation, and will hire an experienced contract Project Manager to guide the project. The VP Manufacturing is the Project Sponsor and must sign off on all major deliverables. The various company departments will contribute experienced staff resources to the project team for the duration of the project.
Project Scope
Goals and Objectives:
Goals | Objectives |
The project will provide an improved system for controlling inventory. | Achieve an inventory cost reduction of 25% for the Display manufacturing division 6 months after implementation. Achieve an inventory cost reduction of 25% for the Server manufacturing division 6 months after implementation. Reduce total days of component inventory on hand by 30%. Process inventory transactions on a real time basis to achieve 98+% accuracy of online stock status information. |
Shorten product delivery times by implementing new system. | By implementing the new customer order configuration module: The average days to deliver Displays will drop from 8 to 3 days and the Server delivery days will drop from 10 to 5 days. |
The project will provide a flexible, modularized bill of material system. | Interface the bills of material system to the order entry process so that the order entry error rate will be reduced by 75%. |
The new system will require less support costs. | Successfully implement the new software on XYZ hardware in order to cancel third party hardware maintenance. |
Project Deliverables:
ID | Milestone | Deliverable | Due Date |
1. | Display division goes live | -- Deliverable 1: Complete Inventory module Deliverable 2: Complete Bill of Material module Deliverable 3: Complete Order Entry module Deliverable 4: Finalize testing and training | 02/01/10 05/01/09 08/01/09 11/01/09 01/15/10 |
2. | Server division goes live | -- Deliverable 1: Complete Inventory module Deliverable 2: Complete Bill of Material module Deliverable 3: Complete Order Entry module Deliverable 4: Finalize testing and training | 06/01/10 01/01/10 02/01/10 03/01/10 05/15/10 |
NB: A Gantt Chart produced by a suitable project planning software application is essential to understanding all of the project deliverables and activities, their interrelationships, completion due dates, and progress status. Once the project plan details have been completed, the gantt chart will become an attachment to this document.
Deliverables Out of Scope:
- No new PCs or monitors will be installed at employee workstations.
- There will no Internet access to the new system during this implementation project.
- RFID technology will not be a part of the initial system implementation.
Project Estimated Costs by Milestone:
NB: labour costs include consulting and internal staff. Milestone 1 has high learning component.
ID | Deliverables Included | Estimated Costs | Date Est. | Confidence |
1. | Deliverable 1 | Software costs = $25000 Labour costs = $96000 Total = $121,000. | 02/01/09 | High |
Deliverable 2 | Software costs = $25000 Labour costs = $96000 Total = $121,000. | 02/01/09 | Medium | |
Deliverable 3 | Software costs = $25000 Labour costs = $96000 Total = $121,000. | 02/01/09 | Medium | |
Deliverable 4 | Labour costs = $48000 | 02/01/09 | Low | |
Total milestone costs: | Software = $75,000 Labour = $336,000 Total = $411,000. | 02/01/09 | Medium | |
2 | Not available yet | 02/01/09 |
Project Conditions and Controls
Project Assumptions:
- The new software application will operate properly on XYZ’s hardware platform.
- Sufficient internal staff resources can be made available to the project team.
- An experienced Project Manager will be hired to run the project.
- Facilities and workstations will be made temporarily available for the project team
- The project can be implemented within the cost budget.
- Required software enhancements will be made to handle XYZ specific needs.
Project Constraints:
- The economy is bad – the cost budget cannot be exceeded.
- It may be difficult to free up the required internal staff when needed.
- No new temp hires are allowed with the exception of the PM.
- The timeline must be met to decommission legacy system before support stops.
Project Interdependencies:
List any other projects in process or planned that have a relationship to this project. Describe how those projects impact the implementation of this project.
Project | Impact |
Facilities expansion | Need space for project team |
IT hardware upgrade | Need increased capacity on XYZ servers to handle new application functionality. |
WAN installation | Need to be able to connect users online at all facilities |
Organizational Impacts:
The high level view of changes by organization can be listed in the following table.
Organization | Impact to and Participation of Organization |
Materials Management | Heavily involved in setting up new inventory databases and training on new system inputs. Staffing project team. |
Product Engineering | Training on new system to develop new bill of materials. Staff project team. |
Finance | New period closing reports and procedures to be learned. Staff project team. |
Sales | Learn new product structures to be able to properly configure systems. |
It is recommended that the Project Change Management and Project Change Planning documents be referred to and used to address these concerns at a more detailed level.
Note: This section is essentially about Change Management. Projects almost always bring significant change to organizations and are therefore disruptive. People inherently dislike change and are sceptical towards those things that bring about the change. Those that aren’t directly involved with the project team are likely worried about their role and what might happen to them as the changes take place in the organization. It’s up to the project team to recognize this as a serious matter and plan the appropriate communications to ensure correct expectations.
Project Scope Change:
In spite of having done the very best up-front planning and definition of project requirements, inevitably someone will want to change the scope of the project. Scope “creep” impacts the project deliverables and has been the downfall of many a project.
It is necessary to strictly control project scope to avoid confusion, wrong expectations and the possibility of project failure. This is done by implementing a formal project scope change procedure. The Project Scope Change Request and Project Scope Change Request Log forms are designed to support the formal procedures. No changes are to be made to the approved project scope and deliverables without obtaining approval through the formal scope change management process.
The Project Scope Change Request form is divided into three sections to fully document input from the requestor, reviewer, and decision maker. It supports a cost / benefit type of impact analysis for every requested change. The use of this form is the only way to request and obtain a change to the project scope.
The Project Scope Change Request Log form is maintained by the Project Manager and provides an overview and status of each and every change requested. A history of all changes is maintained on this form.
Regularly scheduled, frequent reviews of all open change requests are to be done to ensure all requests are dealt with in an expeditious manner and to protect the integrity of the project plan. These review meetings are to be included in the Project Communications Plan.
Project Risk Management:
Effective project management is about identifying and managing risks to the project. The risks should address both people resources and other resource areas. The Project Charter specifies the Risk Management Plan including; activities, roles and responsibilities – samples are given below.
Individual risk items are tracked on the Project Risk Management Item Tracking document. The Project Manager is responsible for maintaining this document.
Risk Management Plan
Activity | Description | Ownership |
Identification | At the beginning of the project, the major risks will be identified and documented for tracking purposes. A specific risk management meeting will be held with the key project management to establish the project risks. | Project Manager IT Director VP, Manufacturing |
Reporting | A monthly meeting will be held to review the overall project risk status. Provide a status update to the Project Risk Management Item Tracking document, and add any new risks as applicable. | Project Manager |
Role | Responsibility | Assigned To |
Project Manager | The Project Manager is responsible for the Project Risk Management Plan being implemented and for reporting to the Project Sponsor. | Rajendra |
Project Owner | Provide management assistance and guidance to the Project Manager and team. Act as the main management interface between the Project team and company functional management. | Santhosh – IT Director |
Project Sponsor | As the senior manager of the manufacturing operations, provide acceptance criteria and sign off on all major project deliverables. | Sai Kumar – VP Manufacturing |
Project Resource Planning:
The Project Resource Plan defines; the project organization chart, the staff resources required by skill set to complete the various project activities, and the non-people resources required to support the project team.
Project Organization Chart
The following organization chart shows the proposed project team structure.
Resource Requirements by Skill Set
Following are the estimates for project resources.
Resource Type | Quantity | Duration in Weeks | Supplier | Estimated Cost |
Project Manager | 1 | 72 | Consultant | $216,000 |
Programmer | 1 | 26 | Internal IT | $39,000 |
IT network analyst | 1 | 26 | Internal IT | $39,000 |
Business Analyst | 2 | 12 | Internal staff | $50,000 |
Materials specialist | 2 | 50 | Internal staff | $80,000 |
Product Engineer | 2 | 40 | Internal Staff | $150,000 |
NB: A detailed resource plan by timeframe will be made available from the project planning software when the detailed level plan is completed.
Non-People Resources Required
Following is the list of desired items.
Item | Description | Quantity | Comments |
Workstations | Standard programmer type stations used in internal IT department including computers and LAN access. | 9 | Open concept space for non-management staff. |
Office | Private office | 2 | One office designated for Project manager plus one for general team use. |
Meeting rooms | Rooms to hold up to 12 people | 2 | Need LAN access and LCD projectors. To be used for general meetings and training sessions. |
Project Communications Planning:
Effective communications are a vital part of successful project management. A communications plan is to be established at the very beginning of the project and communicated to the entire team. The plan describes all mandatory regular communications activities. These should include topics such as; reporting, meetings, notices and team building. This plan sets out the timing and responsibilities of essential items; for example, the Project Status Reports for the individual teams and the overall project.
The Project Team Communications Plan document is used to define and communicate the plan. The Project Manager is responsible for establishing and maintaining the plan.
Project Reporting – General Items:
An important part of successfully running a project is to specify up front the general tools and templates that are to be used throughout the project for meetings and reporting. This standardizes the documents to be used and facilitates a structured approach to setting up and maintaining centralized project documentation storage and retrieval. These and all other project documents are to be stored electronically in a centrally located and managed set of folders.
The following document templates are available to handle the key repetitive project tasks:
Project Meeting
AGENDA
| Project Name | XYZ Computer System |
| Project Team: | Engineering |
| Meeting Leader: | Kamalaker |
| Role | Team Lead |
| Date | 03/02/09 |
| Meeting Details | |
| Meeting Title: | Bills of Material review |
| Meeting Objectives: | Update progress status |
| Location: | Team meeting room #1 |
| Date: | 03/04/09 |
| Time: | 9:00am |
| Participants: | Engineering project team (email to alias) PM |
Agenda Items:
| # | Time | Duration | Item Description |
| 1 | 9:00am | 30 minutes | Review open action items and update status |
| 2 | 9:30am | 1 hour | Update status on Display model 200 BOM setup |
| 3 | 10:30am | 1 hour | Update status on Display model 300 BOM setup |
| 4 | 11:30am | 30 minutes | General progress discussion |
Action Items:
The list of open action items is attached. The status of each item is to be updated at meeting.
Reference Material
Project Gantt chart showing Display BOM completion targets.
Project Meeting Minutes
AGENDA
| Project Name | XYZ Computer System |
| Project Team: | Engineering |
| Meeting Leader: | Kamalaker |
| Role | Team Lead |
| Date | 03/02/09 |
| Meeting Details | |
| Meeting Title: | Bills of Material review |
| Meeting Objectives: | Update progress status |
| Location: | Team meeting room #1 |
| Date: | 03/04/09 |
| Time: | 9:00am |
| Participants: | Engineering project team (email to alias) PM |
Agenda Items:
| # | Time | Duration | Item Description |
| 1 | 9:00am | 30 minutes | Review open action items and update status |
| 2 | 9:30am | 1 hour | Update status on Display model 200 BOM setup |
| 3 | 10:30am | 1 hour | Update status on Display model 300 BOM setup |
| 4 | 11:30am | 30 minutes | General progress discussion |
Action Items:
The list of open action items is attached. The status of each item is to be updated at meeting.
Reference Materials:
Project Gantt chart showing Display BOM completion targets.
MINUTES
Summary of Main Items Discussed:
| Topic | Discussion Summary |
| Action items | All action items are on track – open item status updated |
| Display model 200 | BOM setup progressing on schedule. No problems encountered. |
| Display model 300 | BOM setup falling behind. Need some questions to be resolved by software vendor. |
| General discussion | Initial learning curve with new system seems to be over. Everyone basically likes the ease of use and capabilities of new system. |
New Action Items:
NOTE:
Transfer the new action items raised in the meeting to the Open Action Items list for tracking
and follow-up. Attach the updated Open Action Items list showing the status updates from the
meeting to the meeting minutes
| # | Description | Action By | Due Date |
| 1 | Contact vendor to resolve BOM setup questions | PM | 03/05/09 |
| 2 | Put additional effort on Model 300 activities to make up time lag. | Raj K | 03/06/09 |
| 3 | Replace Mary’s PC – needs rebooting several times a day. | Raj K | 03/05/09 |
Issues Raised:
| Issue Summary | Raised By | Issue Form Due Date |
| Design spec for new display model not received yet from supplier. Will impact schedule in two weeks | Raj K | 03/05/09 |
Action Items – Open
| Project Name | XYZ Computer System | Team Leader | Kutumba Rao |
| Team Name: | Engineering | Date Updated | 03/04/09 |
| No | Description/ Comments / Updates | Assigned To | Date(mm/dd/yy) | ||
| | | | Opened | Due | Closed |
| 3 | Contact vendor to resolve BOM setup questions | Ram | 03/04/09 | 03/05/09 | |
| 4 | Put additional effort on Model 300 activities to make up time lag. | Shiva | 03/04/09 | 03/06/09 | |
| 5 | Replace Sitha’s PC – needs rebooting several times a day. | Shiva | 03/04/09 | 03/05/09 | |
Action Items – Closed
| Project Name | XYZ Computer System | Team Leader | Diwakar Rao |
| Team Name: | Engineering | Date Updated | 03/04/09 |
| No | Description/ Comments / Updates | Assigned To | Date(mm/dd/yy) | ||
| | | | Opened | Due | Closed |
| 3 | Provide additional training to new team member | Diwarker Rao | 02/16/09 | 02/17/09 | 02/24/09 |
| 4 | Update project plan due dates for Model 300 BOM setup completion | Diwaker Rao | 02/23/09 | 02/25/09 | 03/04/09 |
| | | | | | |
Issue Management Form
Project Name: XYZ Computer System
| Originator Section | |
| Control No. 1 | |
| Date Submitted: | 03/06/09 |
| Submitted By: | Diwaker Rao |
| Division: | Display |
| Department: | Engineering |
| Process or Product: | New display model xxx |
| | |
| Issue Description: | Final specifications not received yet from supplier. Cannot get a new due date. |
| Proposed Solution: | VP Manufacturing to contact supplier CEO to escalate issue and get new delivery dates. |
| | |
| Reviewer Section | |
| Date Reviewed: | 03/10/09 |
| Reviewed By: | Rajendra |
| Reviewers Role: | PM |
| Issue Resolution: | Sai Kumar to travel to supplier site on 03/11/09 to meet with their management to resolve delivery dates. |
| Resources Required: | Sai Kumar – VP Manufacturing |
| Schedule Impacts: | None yet known |
| Systems Impacts: | None |
| Estimated Cost: | $2000 for travel expenses |
| Resolution Target Date: | 03/12/09 |
| Date Returned: | 03/10/09 |
Issue Management Log
| Project Name | XYZ Computer System |
| Project Manager | Rajendra |
| Meeting Leader: | Kamalaker |
| Last Updated: | 03/13/09 |
| Date | 03/02/09 |
| Last Reported: | 02/13/09 |
| Control Number | Issue Description Summary | Date (mm/dd/yy) | |||||
| | | Submitted | Reviewed | Decided | Resolved: Yes, No, Defer | Comments | Open / Closed |
| 1 | Final specifications not received yet from supplier. | 03/06/09 | 03/10/09 | 03/12/09 | Yes | Sai Kumar negotiated new satisfactory delivery date from supplier. | Closed |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Project Name | XYZ Computer System |
Project Manager | Rajendra |
Department Name | |
Department Manager | Team Lead |
Date Prepared | 03/31/09 |
Reporting Period | 03/01/09 to 03/31/09 |
Project Overview Statement:
We are in the early stages of the project and progressing satisfactorily. The project plan has been
updated with detail level activity entries by the various teams and no major snags have surfaced.
The team is receiving application training by the software vendor, and has been trained on using
our project management templates and the overall PM process we are using. There are some
delays in freeing up some staff for project duties but these will be resolved over the next two
weeks. The pilot testing of the new application on the XYZ hardware platform has been
successful and we are confident that it will perform satisfactorily.
Project Risk Management:
All known risks identified from scheduled Risk Management meetings. All items are being tracked
and monitored. No serious exposures at this time. Risk Item log attached.
Project Issue Management:
All identified issues resolved – log attached
Attachments:
• Project Risk Management Log
• Project Issue Management Log
• Project Scope Change Request Log.
