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With no clear standard operating procedures or defined chain of command, the project met with near-continual impasses and delays. For example, two critical company leaders with important decision-making capabilities were on vacation, while the manufacturing drawings for equipment awaited approval. Delays resulted in spiraling costs (Wideman, 1993, Design). However, the outsourcing of the project, it could be argued, was already a 'disaster waiting to happen.' Expert Industrial Developers (EID) was offered an hourly rate, which essentially gave it a reward to work longer, given that this would generate more revenue for EID (versus a flat fee) (Wideman, 1993, Design). EID's employment of Schemers and Plotters (S&P) for the building and industrial design work further dissipated the control over the project and increased the risk of delays (Wideman, 1993, Design).
Woody 2000 would not yield the expected profits for the company, unless it was met in a timely fashion. It was designed to take advantage of a particular set of macroeconomic circumstances (Wideman, 1993, Opportunity). EID should have been paid a flat fee, and completing various phases of the company at specified times should have been stipulated in its contract. There should have...
A clear delegation of authority should govern every component of the project. Additionally, a more limited project scope would have been advisable to see if expanding the production facilities was really going to yield a profit. Solely installing the production train or finishing shop, before taking on such a costly endeavor might have been a better idea. Research as to why these projects were necessary, and what potential profit they could yield should have been clear, as opposed to a vague sense that this was an alternative to moving Woody's site of production (Wideman, 1993, Opportunity). Finally, if the project was undertaken, the benefits to the workers should have been clearly communicated, to keep morale high under difficult circumstances. Improving the company offices but not ensuring that valued and trained workers share in the expected benefits sends the wrong message to the skilled, capable labor force on which Woody built its reputation.
References
Wideman, Max. (1993). Woody 2000. Expert Project Management.
Retrieved October 25, 2010 at http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/woody2000/intro.htm
Woody 2000 The project proposed herein involves identifying optimal approaches to the expansion of the existing workspace and installation of a production train for The Custom Woodworking Company (hereinafter alternatively "Woody's" or "the company"), a custom furniture and millwork manufacturer headquartered in British Columbia. The company's longstanding reputation for high quality products has created a need for this additional workspace and more efficient manufacturing processes. Overview of Plan and Implementation The overarching objective
Woody 2000 -- Project Outline The Woody 2000 project represents an industrial facilities expansion for a growing small-to-midsize (SME) business that produces custom furniture and cabinets. This SME, The Custom Woodworking Company, has designated a seventeen million dollar project budget with the goal of adding an equivalent of twenty five percent to their existing production floor space as well as introducing some modern equipment with some level of automation. The project
Woody's Project Management: The Custom Woodworking Company is relatively a medium sized cabinet and furniture making firm whose headquarters are at Industrial Estates, BC. The founder began the company in 1954 following his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker before moving to the current location in 1959 together with his wife. Woody's currently manufactures custom furniture, typical kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and various wholesaler or retailer furniture products. Following its continual growth
For example, the company did create a monthly cash flow chart for the modernization project. However, this flow chart was not regularly re-evaluated over the course of the project on a regular and timely basis, once delays became a problem. There was no talk of scaling back or reformulating the approach, once it became clear that the project was going to be more expensive and take longer than anticipated.
When Leadbetter was made aware of these issues, he contacted only the subcontractors working on individual aspects of the project, attempting to micromanage without coordinating through the project leaders at the two major companies that had been hired to complete this project (EID and S&P) (Project Management Case Study 2000). All told, the project that had been slated to take a year to complete took over two years, ran into
Even a good plan cannot account for all subcontracting-related delays. Intuitively it might seem that a plan of such magnitude could not be completed on time, at least not with so many subcontractors. When in doubt, common sense should 'win out' when allowing for delays. The only conceivable way for a good baseline plan to have accounted for more contingencies within the project would be to work with all subcontractors