Ringold’s Pool and Patio Supply
John Ringold, Jr., just graduated from a local university with a degree in industrial management and
joined his father’s company as executive vice-president of operations. Dad wants to break John in slowly
and has decided to see how he can do on a project that John Sr. has never had time investigate. Twenty
percent of the company’s sales are derived from the sale of above-ground swimming pool kits. Ringold’s
does not install the pools. John Sr. has asked John Jr. to determine whether or not they should get into
that business. John Jr. had decided that the easiest way to impress Dad and get the project done is
personally to estimate the cost to the company of setting up a pool and then call some competitors and see
how much they charge. That will show whether or not it is profitable.
John Jr. remembered a method called the work breakdown structure (WBS) that he thought might serve as
a useful tool to estimate costs. Also, the use of such a tool could be passed along to the site supervisor to
help evaluate the performance of work crews. John Jr’s WBS is shown in the table below. The total cost
John Jr. calculated was $185.00, based on 12.33 labor-hours at $15.00/labor-hour. John Jr. found that, on
average, Ringold’s competitors charged $229.00 to install a similar pool. John Jr. thought he had a
winner. He called his father and made an appointment to present his findings the next morning. Since he
had never assembled a pool himself, he decided to increase the budget by 10 percent, “just in case.”
Work Tasks
Prepare ground surface
Clear
Rake
Level
Sand Bottom
Lay out pool frame
Bottom Ring
Side panels
Top ring
Add plastic liner
Assemble pool
Build wooden support
Layout
Assemble
Fill and test
Total
Labor-Hours
(Estimated) Unit
breakdown
Labor-Hours
(Estimated)
Aggregate
Predecessor
1
1/3
1
1/3
1
½
1
1
2
12.33
Q1. Complete the aggregate hour totals for each parent above.
Q2. Put the information from the table above in MS Project and then create your own set of
predecessors.
Q3. Is John Jr. making a compelling case to his father to get into the pool installation business—consider
this from a business strategy position.