Aerospace Project Management Efficiencies Result from a Product-Oriented Approach
Situation at Hand
A commercial avionics division of a large aircraft engines manufacturer required expert assistance with a commercial airliner development project. In summary, the aerospace project management consisted of the high-quality production for an upgraded, single unit altimeter that needed to be produced within budget and delivered on time to customers.
Problem to Solve
While the company did a great job tracking expenditures and maintaining the budget, they lacked in aerospace project management. In this case, the project lead was using an organization-based Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to manage budgets and tasks, which was not a feasible long-term solution. Moreover, they did not have a comprehensive project management plan in place to coordinate the execution of tasks within pre-set scheduling and milestones.
Approach and Solution
First, we educated the project lead on the advantages of using a product-based WBS. By using a product-based WBS, the objectives could be accomplished more efficiently than the previous organization-based WBS. As a result, the product-based WBS provided the project lead with a more realistic overview of the project’s cost and schedule performance by using a Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI).
Secondly, a systematic aerospace project management plan was put in place to understand the progress of the project. This included a holistic Earned Value Management (EVM) system. The new EVM artifacts included the following:
-Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
-Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
-Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)
-Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
-Control Account Manager (CAM)
Altogether, we helped the project lead efficiently track the cost and schedule of the project.
Results
25%-75% increase in free time…project lead able to focus on other critical areas that needed attention
100% of the essential project data (CPI/SPI)…provided by modification of the EVMS process to have a clear understanding of the project’s progress
If you would like to be introduced to this Aerospace Expert Advisor, contact New Discovery.
CS-1036