Project Management

1. Project Management • What is a project? • What management tools are being used? • UH-specific solutions • US regulations • International comparison of best practices

2. Project: A (linear) Progression of Tasks • Scientific goal • Scientific requirements • Technical requirements • Conceptual Design • Cost estimate • Preliminary Design • Final Design • Industrialization • Fabrication • Integration • Testing • Commissioning • Operation

3. Planning Tools • Gantt chart • Resource load chart • Funding/Spending profile

4. Gantt Chart

6. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

7. Different Accounting Methods US: All costs are being charged to the project, including labor costs. Europe: Labor is usually paid from Institutes’ base budget, only materials, subcontracts, supplies etc. are charged to the project.

8. Contractual Models • Grant • Federal Contract • Other Contracts • UH-specific constraints: • No “cost plus fixed fee” contracts • Purchase orders • Fixed price contracts • Cost-reimbursable service agreements

9. UH vs. RCUH • Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii • A company set up to get around UH purchasing and personnel rules • Most instrumentation projects service order their project to RCUH. • Biggest difference are purchasing rules and the ability to hire staff on a temporary basis.

10. Financing and funding • UH and RCUH usually work under the model of a federal grant: funds get granted in each budget year, get used, and the funding agency gets billed in regular intervals. • Most other contract partners understandably wish to pay after a product (instrument) got delivered. • UH can provide bridge funding in the form of interest-free advance-spending accounts.

11. Purchasing (RCUH) • 3 quotes above $ 2500, but you can select who receives the requests for quotes. • Sole brand purchases • Sole source purchases • Price reasonableness form

12. Personnel Management • Faculty time (G-funded) • Salary buyout • Summer overload • Direct staff hires • JOS

13. Job Order System • A system set up to allow staff allocation by the hour • Gives flexibility. • Controls on spending are difficult. • Control over resources is split. • Team coherence is difficult to achieve.

14. ITARInternational Traffic in Arms Regulations • A cold-war relict to protect key military technologies from falling into enemy hands. • Administered by the State Department • Complex and constantly evolving regulations • Our problem: IR detectors are military equipment • Our other problem: UH is still learning • Technology Assistance Agreements • Screening of publications • Export License process

15. Cost Estimates: • Comparison with similar projects • Cost scaling • Inflation adjustments • Bottom up cost estimate after CDR • Best cost estimation method: • Initial estimate based on comparable projects • Final cost not defined at onset of project • Step-by-step approach to funding • Conceptual Design (error 50%) • Preliminary Design (error 20%) • Critical Design (error 10%) • Contractual contingency • Contract amendments • Incentives (e.g. observing time) for on-time, on-budget delivery

16. The Ideal Project • Project goals and requirements are stable • Sponsor support and funding is stable • Project success is undisputed goal • Resources must be matched to the project • Resources must be controlled by the project • Project team “owns” the project It is rare to find all these conditions fulfilled.

17. The Real Project • Usually less than ideal conditions • Problems create distractions for management • Management must bring perturbances under control, or the project might become chaotic. For astronomical instrumentation: Cost overruns have ranged from 10 % to 400 % Schedule overruns from zero to infinity (never delivered)