Management and the Technology Professional – B302
Case study answer 2
Using critical path analysis, we can find that step 6 is the node that have no float time, which means step 6 is the critical process in the project.If step 6 is not finished on time, it will affect the time of finishing the project.
If I were the supervising engineer responsible for step 6, and discover that I missed one test in the previous day.There is three possible solutions I can take.
1.Do the missed test. The advantage is guarantee the quality of the products, and the disadvantage is delaying the time-to-market of the products because step 6 is the critical process.
2.Ignore the test. The advantage is the progress can be kept on as scheduled, the disadvantage is the risk of product faulty. The Microsoft XBOX360 is a pefect example. In order to insure the time to market in competition with Sony, Microsoft pay a lot for fixing the faulty game consoles.
3.The option I take would be to do a more efficient and quick test by reducing the amount of testing done before Configuration takes place. This can be divided into two main parts:
Perform the same tests on a reduced number of units
E.g. If you usually test a random sample of 10% of units, perform the usual tests on 5% of units instead.
Perform a reduced test on the usual number of units.
E.g. If you normally test every key on 10% of keyboards after manufacturer, test every other key on the usual 10% instead.
Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages. In cheap and/or disposable items or items of simple construction like doors, pens and such, reducing the number of tests per unit would pose few disadvantages.
Performing the normal, full tests on a reduces number of units would be more suitable for more complicated items, such as Processors, Laptop Computers, where performing a reduced test would be similar to performing no test at all.
Other considerations for the Manufacturer would be cost of delay verses cost of an increased failure rate. As an example, is your products’ time on the market limited? If the ‘Merry Christmas’ product is delayed then you may miss the Christmas market dooming your sales to failure. In this example it may well be preferable to accept a higher number of returned products than being unable to sell any at all.
The cost to accept a return should also thought through, especially when your Brand is important, it may be preferable to accept a loss on this particular product in order to protect your ongoing Brand reputation.
Finally, The market needs to be considered. Mission-critical products like building-construction materials, contraceptive products and airplanes need to work, whatever the delay to market as failure of these products could have life-changing repercussions, or even lead to loss of life. If a consumer camera fails, the consequences are likely to be much less disastrous.
