Project Selection Process And Essential Documents For Smart Vacuum Cleaner Development Essay.

Five Project Proposals

The first section of the report aims to go through the project selection process. The company is a home appliance company and is a manufacturer and producer. The primary mission of the company is to become a global leader in the industry of home appliances, and at this moment, the company has five potential project proposals. In this section of the report, all the five project options will be evaluated, and out of the five projects, one particular project will be selected.

The home appliance company has five project proposals in hand-

Proposal 1: Smart (robot) vacuum cleaner

Proposal 2: Electric Kettle

Proposal 3: Electric Digital Toaster

Proposal 4: Electric Stand Fan

Proposal 5: Electric Food Processor

The above-listed five projects are analysed on the basis of the must and want objectives of the company. The selection process is presented in the following table-

Must Objectives		Must meet if Impacts	Proposal 1	Proposal 2	Proposal 3	Proposal 4	Proposal 5
Meets all legal, safety, energy-consuming and environmental standard		Y=Yes N= No N/A= Not Applicable	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Receiving or Eligible for CE Marking		Y=Yes N= No N/A= Not Applicable	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
No Adverse Effects on Other Operations (current and planned)		Y=Yes N= No N/A= Not Applicable	Y	N/A	Y	N/A	Y
Want Objectives	Relative Importance 1-100	Single Project impact definitions	Weighted Score	Weighted Score	Weighted Score	Weighted Score	Weighted Score
Be nominated for winning the UK's home appliance award of the year	60	0- No Potential 1- Low Potential 2- High Potential	120	60	120	0	60
Create and attract a strong media attention	20	0- No Potential 1- Low Potential 2- High Potential	40	20	40	0	20
Time to Market	50	0- More than 1 year 1= between 7-12 months 2= less than 7 months	50	50	100	100	50
Generate profit greater than 20%	80	0<20% 1= 20-24% 2>24%	160	0	80	80	0
Advance state of the art in home appliances innovation and preserve the firm's reputation	40	0= No Impact 1= Some Impact 2= Great Impact	80	0	80	0	40
Provide the basis for the development of a new home appliance product	10	0- No Potential 1- Low Potential 2- High Potential	20	10	20	0	10
Total Weighted Score			470	140	440	180	180
Priority			1	4	2	5	3

 
Table 1: Showing the project selection process

Based on the analysis of the proposals as per the must and want objectives of the company, the first project, which is the smart vacuum cleaner project, is prioritized. The choice of proposal 1 is made as it covers almost all the want and must objectives. However, proposal 3 also covers all the must and want objectives; however, the first proposal is chosen as it has a more weighted score as per the analysis presented in table 1.

Skills 

The chosen project of developing a Smart (robot) vacuum cleaner requires the presence of certain key skills that will contribute to better management of the project delivery. In the development, delivery and management of the undertaken project, the project manager and the team members are required to possess the key skills related to effective project communication, leadership, necessary technical expertise for the product coding, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, along with the skills of risk management. Having proper leadership skills is necessary for this project, considering the fact that the duration of the chosen project is high.

 Project Structure 

Project organisation structure can be described as an essential configuration that determines the hierarchy of people and their function or responsibility in managing a particular project or an organisation. The organisation structure for the Smart (robot) vacuum cleaner project is presented as follows-

 

The above chart presents a detailed understanding of the organisation structure to be followed in this project. The resource allocation and the reporting requirements will be planned on the basis of the indicated structure.

This section of the report aims to provide a detailed understanding of the explanation of the project documents that are essential for the successful delivery of the Smart (robot) vacuum cleaner project. The essential project documents that will be presented in this section of the report include the project brief and scope statement, the WBS and Gantt chart, network diagram, stakeholder assessment plan, risk management plan to be followed in the project and the evaluation of the project success.

Project Brief/Background: A project of Smart (robot) vacuum cleaner development has been undertaken by a home appliances firm. In the project, a vacuum cleaner will be developed that can be operated autonomously. Furthermore, the system to be developed will be completely safe and will be eligible for CE marking. The maximum time that will be required for the product to be developed is 12 months and the budget set for the project is £1.1m.

Project Selection Process

Scope: The scope of this project is to develop and deliver a smart vacuum cleaner in 12 months within a budget of £1.1m.

Objectives: The primary objectives of this project are listed as follows-

• To develop and deliver a smart vacuum clear
• To ensure that the vacuum cleaner is energy efficient and green manufactured.
• To ensure that the product meets all the safety standards
• To ensure the development and delivery of a product that will receive CE marking
• To ensure that the project has a minimum ROI of 20%
• To deliver the project within 12 months

Deliverables: The primary deliverables associated with the project are presented as follows-

• Business Case
• Project Charter
• Project Plan
• Product Design
• Product Delivery
• Testing
• Documentation

The achievement of the project is largely reliant on the successful delivery of the above-listed deliverables (Radujkovi? and Sjekavica 2017).

Milestones: The primary milestones associated with the project are-

• Approval of Project Charter
• Approval of Project Plan
• The product is ready to launch
• Project Completion

Assumptions: The planning and delivery of the vacuum cleaner project will be based on the following assumptions-

• It is assumed that the project budget is approved.
• It is assumed that there will be a continuous resource availability
• It is assumed that the chosen project complies with all the must and want objectives of the company.
• It is assumed that the undertaken project will have more than 20% ROI

Constraints: The primary constraint associated with the project is time. The Vacuum cleaner development project is to be completed within 12 months to ensure the project's success and to ensure that the project meets all the must and want requirements. Since time is a constraint, the project cannot be delayed (Kerzner 2022). The project schedule is to be done considering this particular constraint.

Technical Requirements: The project involves the development of a smart vacuum cleaner. The technical requirements of this project are listed as follows-

• Airspeed and CFM
• Suction pressure
• Electric motor power
• Noise level
• Autonomous Operations
• Green Manufacturing
• Digital control
• IoT connectivity

The above-listed points indicate the primary technical requirements of the project. The design and product planning process should include the above-listed technical requirements (Heagney 2016).

Acceptance Criteria: The acceptance criteria for the vacuum cleaner project are presented as follows-

• The project should be delivered within 12 months.
• All the safety considerations are necessary to incorporate into the product.
• The product should be eligible for CE marking
• The project should provide at least 20% ROI

The vacuum project will be considered successful only if the above-listed acceptance criteria are met (Meredith, Shafer and Mantel Jr 2017).

WBS

The WBS of the project is presented as follows-

 

Figure 1: Sowing the Hierarchical View of the WBS

Gantt Chart

The Project Gantt chart showing the detailed project schedule is identified in the following figure-

 

Figure 2: Showing the Project Gantt Chart

Network Diagram 

The network diagram as generated from the MS Project software is presented as follows-

   

Figure 3: Showing the Network Diagram

(Source: Generate from MS Project)

The tasks that are indicated in red in the above network diagram form the critical path of the project.

Stakeholder Assessment Plan 

In project management, management of the stakeholders’ involvement with the project is necessary (Harrison and Lock 2017). In this part of the report, a detailed plan for stakeholders' assessment will be presented. As the first step of stakeholders’ management, the list of stakeholders associated with this project is documented in the stakeholder register below-

Stakeholders	Power/Influence on the Project	Interest in the project
Project Manager	Low	High
IT Manager	High	High
Employees	Low	Low
Customers	Low	High
Business Analyst	High	Low
Resource Manager	Low	Low
Private Investors/Sponsors	High	High
Vendors	Low	High
Software Consultant	High	Low

Table 2: Showing the Stakeholders’ Register

In the stakeholders' register presented above, the particulars of the primary stakeholders and their power and interest in the project are listed. Based on the information taken from the stakeholders' register above, a detailed stakeholders' analysis can be indicated in the stakeholders' matrix below-

Low                Power                 High	Keep Satisfied - Business Analyst - Software Consultant	Manage Closely - IT Manager - Private Investors/Sponsors
	Monitor - Employees - Resource Manager	Keep Informed - Project Manager - Customers - Vendors
	Low                                                          Interest                                                High

Table 3: Showing the stakeholders' matrix

The detailed stakeholders' assessment is presented in the stakeholders' matrix above. Based on the assessment done, a stakeholders' management plan is prepared. According to the assessment result, the stakeholder who has high power and interest in the project is required to be managed closely, while the stakeholders having low power and interest are needed to be monitored (Nguyen, Mohamed and Panuwatwanich 2018). The stakeholders who have high power in the project but low interest is required to be kept satisfied, while the stakeholder having high interest and low power are to be kept informed.

Key Skills for Project Delivery

As a part of the plan, the stakeholders should be regularly communicated about the project's progress to ensure their maximum involvement with the project (Pedrini and Ferri 2018).

Risk Management Plan 

In project management, risk management is an important process that enables the project team to address the risks and uncertainties linked with the project in a timely manner (Kerzner 2019). The risk management plan for the smart vacuum cleaner project is presented in this section of the report.

Risk Identification 

Risk identification is the first step of risk management (Aven 2016). In the following risk register, the primary risks that can influence the positive delivery of the project are presented-

Risk ID	Risk Description	Likelihood of Occurrences*	Risk Severity*	Risk Score
R1	Technical Difficulties	4	4	16
R2	Resource Shortage	3	3	9
R3	Cost Overrun	2	5	10
R4	Uncontrollable Delays	2	5	10
R5	Stakeholders’ Unrest	3	4	12
R6	Lack of training	2	5	10
R7	Testing Difficulties	3	5	15
R8	Lack of effective product Marketing	2	4	8

*Measured on a scale of 1-5

Table 4: Showing the Risk Register

Risk Assessment 

Risk Assessment is the next step in risk management. Based on the information presented in the risk register, the risk assessment is done with the help of a risk matrix, shown below-

Likelihood	Near Certainty	5
	Highly Likely	4				R1
	Likely	3			R2	R5	R7
	Low Likelihood	2				R8	R3, R4, R6
	Not Likely	1
			1	2	3	4	5
			Minimal	Minor	Moderate	Significant	Severe
Severity

Table 5: Showing the Risk Matrix

Risk Mitigation 

Based on the risk matrix presented in the previous section, the mitigation approaches for the risk are identified as follows-

Risk ID	Risk Description	Impact	Owner	Mitigation Approach
R1	Technical Difficulties	High	IT Team	Transfer
R2	Resource Shortage	Medium	Resource Manager	Mitigate
R3	Cost Overrun	Medium	Project Manager	Avoid
R4	Uncontrollable Delays	Medium	Project Manager	Avoid
R5	Stakeholders’ Unrest	Medium	Project Manager	Mitigate
R6	Lack of training	Medium	IT Team	Avoid
R7	Testing Difficulties	High	IT Team	Avoid
R8	Lack of effective product Marketing	Medium	Administration and Marketing Team	Avoid

Table 6: Showing Risk Mitigation Approach

Risk Monitoring and Control 

The mitigated risk can return to the project, and hence, continuous risk monitoring and control are recommended as a part of this project (Brewer and Dittman 2018). The project manager will be in charge of risk supervision.

Evaluation of Project Success 

The Vacuum cleaner development project is a high-priority project for the company. The success factors for this project are listed as follows-

Factors	Description
Factor 1	The project is completed within 12 months
Factor 2	The product is fully autonomous
Factor 3	The product is eligible for CE marking
Factor 4	ROI is 20% or more
Factor 5	The Maximum budget for the project is £1.1m
Factor 6	Energy efficiency is high
Factor 7	Green Manufactured Product
Factor 8	Generates profit within 3 months

Table 7: Showing the success factors

The success of the autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner project will be analysed on the basis of the factors presented in the above table.

Conclusion 

The report presents a detailed discussion on the selected autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner project. The necessary project documents are presented in this section of the report. On examination of the project requirements, it can be decided that the execution of this project will be beneficial for the company as the product to be developed has a good ROI, eligible for CE marking and is capable of being nominated for the product of the year award.

References 

Aven, T., 2016. Risk assessment and risk management: Review of recent advances on their foundation. European Journal of Operational Research, 253(1), pp.1-13.

Brewer, J.L. and Dittman, K.C., 2018. Methods of IT project management. Purdue University Press.

Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.

Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.

Kerzner, H., 2019. Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H., 2022. Project management case studies. John Wiley & Sons.

Meredith, J.R., Shafer, S.M. and Mantel Jr, S.J., 2017. Project management: a strategic managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Nguyen, T.S., Mohamed, S. and Panuwatwanich, K., 2018. Stakeholder Management in Complex Project: Review of Contemporary Literature. Journal of Engineering, Project & Production Management, 8(2).

Pedrini, M. and Ferri, L.M., 2018. Stakeholder management: a systematic literature review. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 19(1), pp.44-59.

Radujkovi?, M. and Sjekavica, M., 2017. Project management success factors. Procedia engineering, 196, pp.607-615