Woody 2000 Case Study
Table of Contents
TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. 3
WOODY 2000 PROJECT .......................................................................................................................................... 4
A1.
2.
3.
B1.
2.
C1.
2.
PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................4
Project Sponsor: ...........................................................................................................................................4
Project Objectives: ........................................................................................................................................5
Problems mentioned in the case study:........................................................................................................5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN METHODOLOGY AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES .......................................................................8
Planning Methodology .................................................................................................................................8
Resources used in the planning ....................................................................................................................8
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) ................................................................................8
Feasibility Study............................................................................................................................................8
The Scoping Process Group ..........................................................................................................................9
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3.
Assign a project manager ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Develop a high-level project execution method statement. .................................................................................... 9
Review the project headlines with the sponsor. .................................................................................................... 10
Identify the components of the project management plan.................................................................................... 10
Secure the sponsor approval to plan the project. .................................................................................................. 12
Hire and assign project management team. ........................................................................................................... 12
The Planning Process Group .......................................................................................................................12
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.




h.


i.
j.
k.


l.
4.
The Launching Process Group ....................................................................................................................24
a.
b.
c.
d.
D1.
Create project work break down structure WBS. ................................................................................................... 12
Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list. .......................................................................... 13
Estimate the activities duration. ............................................................................................................................. 15
Estimate activities resources. ................................................................................................................................. 16
Estimate project cost. ............................................................................................................................................. 17
Sequence the activities, and adjust activities duration .......................................................................................... 18
Allocate cost and manpower to the activities ........................................................................................................ 19
Original Manpower histogram: .......................................................................................................................... 19
Leveled Manpower Histogram ........................................................................................................................... 19
Primavera Cash Flow:......................................................................................................................................... 20
Microsoft Excel Cash Flow: ................................................................................................................................ 20
Develop risk management plan. ............................................................................................................................. 21
Mitigate the risks: .............................................................................................................................................. 21
Transfer the risks: .............................................................................................................................................. 21
Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan. ................................................................................................. 21
Setup the project progress evaluation criteria ....................................................................................................... 22
Create drawings and materials tracking logs. ......................................................................................................... 22
Shop drawings log: ............................................................................................................................................. 22
Materials tracking log: ....................................................................................................................................... 23
Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project. .................................................................................................... 24
Recruiting the project team .................................................................................................................................... 24
Establishing the scope change management process............................................................................................. 25
Managing team communications: .......................................................................................................................... 25
Finalizing the project schedule: .............................................................................................................................. 25
UPDATE OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN .........................................................................................................25
The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group .........................................................................................25
a.
Report project performance: .................................................................................................................................. 25
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b.
c.
d.
2.
E-
Call for weekly meeting: ......................................................................................................................................... 26
Monitor the project risks and identify new risks. ................................................................................................... 26
Process project changes: ........................................................................................................................................ 26
The Closing Process Group .........................................................................................................................26
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................................27
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Table of Figures
Figure 1 : Work break down structure WBS ............................................................................................... 13
Figure 2: Activity list .................................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3: Activities duration ....................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 4: Activities resources ..................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 5: Estimate project cost.................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 6: Sequence the activities ................................................................................................................ 18
Figure 7: Original Manpower histogram .................................................................................................... 19
Figure 8: Leveled Manpower Histogram .................................................................................................... 20
Figure 9: Primavera Cash Flow .................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 10: Microsoft Excel Cash Flow ....................................................................................................... 21
Figure 11: Shop drawings log ..................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 12: Materials tracking log ................................................................................................................ 24
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Woody 2000 project
Reference to (Wideman (n.d)) case study subject of the woody 2000 project, Author divided the
project into five main topics. First topic is project background information, which highlight the
project sponsor, project objectives and identified problem in the case study. Second topic is the
project management plan methodology and the planning tools / software used in the project. Third
topic is the project management plan, which include the project feasibility study, Scoping Process
Group, Planning Process Group, and Launching Process Group. Fourth topic is the update of the
project management plan to monitor the project progress and close the project. Finally, the fifth
topic is the author conclusion and recommendation of the case study.
A- Project Background information
1. Project Sponsor:
The sponsor of the woody 2000 project is a custom woodworking small-to-medium
sized company specialized on custom furniture and cabinets for wholesaler/retailers.
Ron Carpenter established the company in 1954, and later on, his wife Mrs. Emelia
Carpenter was involved on running the company on his behalf. Their son, John
Carpenter, was involved on the company project management recently; he opened a
new channel of subcontract work to the company by supplying and installing countertops, cabinets and similar fixtures for new commercial construction. The company is
known as “woody” referring to its creator, and it has a good reputation in the local
market.
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2. Project Objectives:
Because of the limited space of the manufacture area, and the mini-boom in commercial
construction in 1989, there was a good market to expand the company production, and
develop the production area. The project objectives defined by the sponsors was as per the
following:
a. Add additional 25% of the existing floor area.
b. Install air-conditioning and a dust-free paint.
c. Construct a semi-automatic woodworking production train.
d. Renovate the President and Executive Vice Presidents' offices.
e. Project budget cost is $17 million.
f. Project duration is18 months.
3. Problems mentioned in the case study:
After the author study of woody 2000 project, and reference to (Wysocki 2012) project
management life cycle (PMLC), Author highlighted the problems/ mistakes done in the
case study, and the correct action as per the process group, and as per Table number 1.
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Table 1
S.N
Process
Group
A
A.1
Scoping
Process
Group
A.2
B
B.1
Planning
Process
Group
Problems/ Mistakes
Project budget cost was roughly
estimated and the cost of office
renovation was ignored.
Assign Ian as Woody's Project Manager
while he lacked project management
training and experience.
Cash flow is not calculated correctly and
not linked to project schedule.
Cost plus contract is a high risk contract
B.2
Changing the project specs without
modifying the project plan “The change
in production train specification made it
necessary to add another five feet to the
length of the new building”
Moneysworth and Leadbetter added new
risk to the project by accepting “take
over the procurement of the production
train” without a clear procurement plan.
B.3
C
C.1
C.2
C.3
The
Launching
Process
Group
No scope change management process
which leaded to delays because of misscoordination “This was only discovered
when holding-down bolts for the new
train were laid out on site, long after the
perimeter foundations had been poured”
Poor management of team
communication “he dealt directly with
Amos Dent of Tinknockers Associates,
the mechanical sub-contractor. This led
to strained relations on the site.”
Correct Action
Project budget cost should be
reasonably estimated and not to
ignore part of the project cost
by performing a feasibility
study.
Assign an experienced project
management manager.
Cash flow should be calculated
with reference to the time
schedule and resource
allocation.
To mitigate cost overrun risk, a
fixed price contract is preferred
with defined completion date.
Any changes to the original
plan should be performed by
the change order process to
reflect the impacts on other
activities.
Woody should keep
procurement risks transferred to
EID. Woody may assist EID
technically, but procurement
should remain with EID.
A clear scope change
management process should be
created to deal with any scope
changes and re-plan
accordingly.
Communication plan and
project organization chart
should be created to ensure the
proper distribution of the
information and avoid strained
relations on the site.
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D
There was lack of monitoring the project
progress, in result the following delays
occurred.

D.1

Delay the approval of the
manufacture drawings delayed
the procurement two weeks.
Scheduled Tie-In of power and
other utilities delayed two weeks.
An effective monitoring plan
could highlight the manufacture
drawings approval importance,
prevent the delays of its
approval, and reschedule the
Tie-In of power and other
utilities -if required- as per
project progress.
Monitoring Monitoring risk, Discovering and solving
and
problems was not part of project
Controlling
procedures, and as a results:
Process
Group
 Local inspection authority did not
approve the surplus paint
disposal.
D.2
 Project delayed 6 months.
 Project cost overrun.
 Customer delivery dates were
missed.
 Some general contractors
cancelled their contracts.
Monitoring risks and discover
problem before they happened
will give the opportunity to
plan to solve these problems in
a proactive way; this
monitoring includes the internal
and external stockholders. In
addition, this will ensure that
the project will continue on
track as per specification, on
time and budget.
E
The closing process group
should be part of the project
management plan and should
include the following:
E.1
Closing
Process
Group
There was no plan for closing the project
“neither Moneysworth nor Leadbetter
had prepared any meaningful planning
for completion such as owner's
inspection and acceptance of the
building, or testing, dry-running and
production start-up of the production
train. They also failed to insist that EID
obtain the building occupation
certificate.”
 Gaining client approval of
having met project
requirements
 Planning and installing
deliverables
 Writing the final project
report
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B- Project Management Plan methodology and external resources
1. Planning Methodology
Project management plan based on (Wysocki, 2012, p64) Five Process Groups:
a) Scoping Process Group
b) Planning Process Group
c) Launching Process Group
d) Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
e) Closing Process Group
In addition, to feasibility study as per (Kerzner, 2009, p419)
2. Resources used in the planning
The author used the oracle primavera v.8.1 to sequence the activities, drew network
diagram and Gantt chart. Moreover, Microsoft Excel 2013 to drew the cash flow. All the
outputs from different software embedded in this final project Microsoft Word document.
C- Project Management Plan and Statement of Work (SOW)
1. Feasibility Study
Woody’s company maintained a good reputation in the local market and the mini-boom in
commercial construction will increase the wood’s product demand. Therefore, expanding
the production area by 25% will return tangible profits; will maintain woody’s client
reputation and delivery timing commitments.
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2. The Scoping Process Group
a. Assign a project manager
None of the wood’s company available resources can manage the project;
therefore, the author assumed a professional project management named John
to be assigned as a project manager. John has a project management skills and
15 years of experience managing projects.
b. Develop a high-level project execution method statement.
After the new project manager John discussion with the production people, he
created a high level project execution method statement as a starting point, the
method statement defines how and what will be executed in order to finish the
project on time, within budget, as per the sponsor requirements, and as per the
following:
S.N What to do
1
Add additional 25% of the
existing floor area
2
Install air-conditioning
and a dust-free paint
3
Construct a semiautomatic woodworking
production train
4
Renovate the President
and Executive Vice
Presidents' offices
How to do
Hire a specialized firm to do the design,
Hire a contractor to execute the works
The Deign office will create the design;
the contractor should submit shop
drawings and materials for designer
approval before proceed with the
execution.
The additional 25% space would take the
longest duration, Therefore it is the first
priority and should be coordinated with
the automatic woodworking production
train requirements and Installation of airconditioning and a dust-free paint. The
renovation of the president’s office will
stay to the end of the project.
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c. Review the project headlines with the sponsor.
After the creation of the high-level method statement, the project manager
john called for a meeting with the company directors to review the main
headlines and proceed with the next step. John persuaded the sponsors to
finish the project design before starting the execution to mitigate risks of
reworks.
d. Identify the components of the project management plan.
John is a project management professional (PMP), therefore he based his
project management plan on the (Project Management Institute 2008) process
groups, and because he studied MSc in Liverpool University, he used the MSc
text book (Wysocki 2012) to add more value of the project management plan.
John identified the project management plan components as per the following:
I.
The Planning Process Group

Create project work break down structure WBS.

Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list.

Estimate the activities duration.

Estimate activities resources.

Estimate project cost.

Sequence the activities; draw a project network diagram, and a Gantt
chart.

Allocate cost and manpower to the activities to create cash flow and
manpower histogram.
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
Develop risk management plan.

Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan.

Setup the project progress evaluation criteria

Create drawings and materials tracking logs.

Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project.
II.
The Launching Process Group

Recruiting the project team

Establishing the scope change management process

Managing team communications and create an organization chart
clarifying the roles and responsibilities for every team member.

III.
Finalizing the project schedule.
The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

Report project performance using Earned Value Management (EVM)
to compare the Earned value (EV) against Planned Value (PV) and
keep the forecast completion date on target by taking proactive not
reactive actions.

Call for weekly meeting to discuss the project progress and risks with
the project team.

Monitor the project risks and identify new risks.

Process project changes as per scope change management plan.
IV.
The Closing Process Group

Perform testing and commissioning.
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
Secure all project documents, such as warranties, certificate of
completion from subcontractors, maintenance manuals and local
authority’s approvals.

Gaining sponsor approval of having met project requirements.

Writing the final project report
e. Secure the sponsor approval to plan the project.
After listing the project management plan component, John called for a meeting
with the company senior management to secure their approval in order to
proceed and hire the project management team.
f. Hire and assign project management team.
After the Sponsor / senior management approval of the project management
plan content, the project manager proceeded and hire the Designer Firm, and
the project management team. John signed a contract with a Design Office, and
employed a construction manager and planning engineer.
3. The Planning Process Group
a. Create project work break down structure WBS.
The Project Manager with the planning engineer created the project WBS
using Primavera software as per the following figure 1:
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Figure 1 : Work break down structure WBS
b. Define all the works in the project by developing an activity list.
The project manager created a workshop with the production people,
construction manager, and the planning engineer to identify the project activity
list as per Figure 2:
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Figure 2: Activity list
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c. Estimate the activities duration.
After the creation of the activity list, Project team estimated the activities
duration as per figure 3
Figure 3: Activities duration
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d. Estimate activities resources.
After the estimation of the activities duration, the project team assigned the
manpower required to execute each task on the chosen duration as per figure 4
Figure 4: Activities resources
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e. Estimate project cost.
After the estimation of the required manpower for each activity, the project
team estimated the project cost by assigning each task with the expected cost.
The project manager founded that the project budget will exceed the proposed
budget 17 Million $ by 280,000 $, he informed the sponsors officially by issuing
the project cost estimation document as per figure 5
Figure 5: Estimate project cost
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f. Sequence the activities, and adjust activities duration
Project duration is18 months, using Oracle Primavera scheduling tool to draw
a project network diagram, and a Gantt chart as per figure 6
*This Gantt chart was revised after the resource leveling
Figure 6: Sequence the activities
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g. Allocate cost and manpower to the activities
To create cash flow and manpower histogram, manpower and cost should be
allocated to the activities as per the following:

Original Manpower histogram:
After the allocation of manpower and cost, Original manpower
histogram from primavera as per figure 7
Figure 7: Original Manpower histogram

Leveled Manpower Histogram
It was noticed that the manpower needs leveling to reduce the risks
associated with performing too many tasks at the same time. Therefore,
Project manager and the planning engineer started some non-critical
activities earlier to level the resources as per figure 8 (this change will
affect item 3f, Gantt chart revised accordingly)
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Figure 8: Leveled Manpower Histogram

Primavera Cash Flow:
After leveling the resources, the cash flow is created from Primavera
as per figure 9
Figure 9: Primavera Cash Flow

Microsoft Excel Cash Flow:
Using Microsoft Excel for better presentation, figure 10 showing cash
flow created with Microsoft Excel.
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Figure 10: Microsoft Excel Cash Flow
h. Develop risk management plan.
The plan to manage risks associated with this project divided into two main
topics as per the following:

Mitigate the risks:
By leveling resources to avoid doing too many tasks at the same time.

Transfer the risks:
By instructing, the contractor to procure all the materials and assign the
design office to review all the contractor engineering works.
i. Develop closing, testing and commissioning plan.
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The project schedule allow for 30 days to close the project, before starting this
tasks, project team should identify what exactly is required to close the project
probably. Project team should also focus on the local municipality requirements
to secure all the permits required.
j. Setup the project progress evaluation criteria
Progress evaluation criteria is based on Earned Value Management EVM.
Mainly to measure the progress planned value and earned value are the main
key performance index KPI.
k. Create drawings and materials tracking logs.

Shop drawings log:
After finalizing the time schedule, each task has a shop drawing should
be submitted by the contractor and approved by the design office as per
the following table in figure 11
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Figure 11: Shop drawings log

Materials tracking log:
to mitigate the risks of materials being delayed and delay the related
task, the material tracking log is very important document to keep focus
on material submittal by the contractor, approval by the design office,
issuing the purchase order by the contractor, start the manufacture,
shipment, and delivery to the site as per figure no 12
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Figure 12: Materials tracking log
l. Gain the sponsor approval to lunch the project.
After the creation of the project management plan, it should be submitted to the
sponsor for approval to start the project. However, in some cases, the planning
process group is being done parallel with the execution process group, which
consider high risk. In this case, study it is recommended to finish the planning
process group and obtain the sponsor approval before starting the lunching
process group.
4. The Launching Process Group
a. Recruiting the project team
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After the approval of the project management plan, the project manager is
authorized to hire all the project team.
b. Establishing the scope change management process
Any changes to the original scope of work, should be done within the scope
management process and revise the project schedule, cash flow, manpower
histogram, shop drawings log and materials log accordingly.
c. Managing team communications:
Create an organization chart clarifying the roles and responsibilities for every
team member. The project manager setup a weekly meeting to discuss the work
progress, and another technical meetings to solve any problems could delay the
project.
d. Finalizing the project schedule:
Project schedule could be impacted with different process, for example, the
resource leveling affected the cash flow and the Gantt chart, any modifications
to the project management plan components should be reflected on the schedule
by issuing any revision of the schedule as per the latest inputs.
D- Update of the Project Management Plan
1. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
a. Report project performance:
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Using Earned Value Management (EVM) to compare the Earned value (EV)
against Planned Value (PV) and keep the forecast completion date on target by
taking proactive not reactive actions.
b. Call for weekly meeting:
To discuss the project progress and risks with the project team.
c. Monitor the project risks and identify new risks.
Mainly to keep monitoring the schedule performance, cost performance, shop
drawings log, and materials log.
d. Process project changes:
As per scope change management plan.
2. The Closing Process Group
a) Perform testing and commissioning.
b) Secure all project documents, such as warranties, certificate of completion
from subcontractors, maintenance manuals and local authority’s approvals.
c) Gaining sponsor approval of having met project requirements.
d) Writing the final project report
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E- Conclusions and recommendations
This project represent a great opportunity to Wood’s company to expand the production,
increase the company profit, and fulfill the company commitments towards their clients. In
order to effectively manage the project, a professional project manager with project
management background is required to manage this project. The project should be designed
by expert design office, and executed by a professional contractor. The project manager
role is to manage and coordinate between the design office and the contractor, create and
monitor the project management plan. Resource leveling performed to mitigate the risks of
executing too many activities at the same time. by assigning a designer office and
contractor to supervise and execute the works respectively, Woody’s company transferred
the associated risks to the third party. However, the project manager is responsible to
manage the performance of all parties and report the progress as per the project
management plan to the sponsor.
References:
KERZNER, H., 2009. Project management [electronic book] : a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling / Harold Kerzner. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2009; 10th ed.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, 2008. A guide to the project management body of
knowledge (PMBOK guide). 4th edn. Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute.
Wideman, M. (n.d.) Project management case study: the custom woodworking company Woody 2000 project [Online] Available from
http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/woody2000/intro.htm [accessed 11 November 2013]
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WYSOCKI, R.K., 2012. Effective project management. 6th edn. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley.
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