Background: Project Titan is a high-priority initiative led by the Department of Education in partnership with FutureTech Systems, a leading EdTech provider. The goal is to launch a Smart Classroom infrastructure across 150 schools in underserved communities within 120 days. This includes digital boards, high-speed networking, teacher training tools, and a central management platform for IT control and performance analytics.
You have been appointed as the Project Risk and Quality Manager. Your primary responsibility is to ensure that all project phases are executed without major delays or quality lapses, while actively identifying and responding to key risks.
The CEO of FutureTech emphasized in a recent meeting:
Failure is not an option. Weve committed to a deadline, and our reputation depends on clean execution, effective risk response, and zero defects in deployment.
Activity Breakdown (High-Level Work Packages)
|
Activity |
Description |
Predecessor(s) |
Duration (Days) |
|
A |
Build and test initial Smart Classroom prototype |
Start |
12 |
|
B |
Finalize curriculum and UX design with educators |
Start |
8 |
|
C |
Secure government permits and privacy clearance |
Start |
5 |
|
D |
Manufacturing of hardware units (based on A, B) |
A, B |
10 |
|
E |
Develop cloud-based control platform |
B, C |
7 |
|
F |
Source and configure server equipment |
B |
11 |
|
G |
Begin school installations and configuration |
D, F |
7 |
|
H |
Conduct quality testing and pilot reviews |
E, F |
4 |
|
I |
Final integration, onboarding, and rollout |
G, H |
4 |
|
Finish |
Project close-out and reporting |
I |
|
As the Project Risk and Quality Manager, your challenge is to ensure timely delivery, mitigate risks, and uphold enterprise-wide quality standards across a distributed implementation.
Calculate for all activities:
- Earliest Start (ES), Earliest Finish (EF)
- Latest Start (LS), Latest Finish (LF)
- Slack/Float
Identify the Critical Path.
Determine total project duration.
You must submit:
- A visual project network diagram in Word or Excel (Similar to the one depicted in the video), mapping all dependencies and highlighting the Critical Path
Scenario: A global chip shortage delays the server equipment delivery (Activity F) by 5 days.
- Recalculate the new project duration
- Identify which activities are affected
- Recommend a response strategy using:Project crashing
- Vendor diversification
- Risk sharing or transfer
Useful Resources for the Assignment:
Understanding the key concepts below will help you calculate the project timeline, determine the critical path, and evaluate slack or float for each activity.
1. Earliest Start (ES)
Definition: The earliest time an activity can begin based on the completion of its predecessor(s).
Formula:
- If no predecessors: ES = 1 (start of the project)
- If one or more predecessors: ES = Maximum EF of all immediate predecessors + 1
2. Earliest Finish (EF)
Definition: The earliest time an activity can be completed.
Formula:
- EF = ES + Duration – 1
3. Latest Finish (LF)
Definition: The latest time an activity can finish without delaying the project.
Formula:
- For the last activity (based on project duration): LF = Project Duration
- For other activities: LF = Minimum LS of all immediate successors – 1
4. Latest Start (LS)
Definition: The latest time an activity can begin without delaying the project.
Formula:
- LS = LF – Duration + 1
5. Slack (Float)
Definition: The amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the project completion date.
Formula:
- Slack = LS – ES (or equivalently, Slack = LF – EF)
Activities on the Critical Path will have zero slack.
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