Project Management in Manufacturing and High Technology Operations (Wiley Series in Engineering and Technology Management)

Managing high technology and manufacturing projects presents special challenges, whether it involves the automation of a plant, installation of manufacturing system cells, new product development, or plant-wide capacity planning analysis. This book presents a new, flexible approach to project management designed to generate and sustain communication, cooperation, and coordination in a project environment--and it's applicable to very large systems or small sub-contracted projects. Covers major scheduling methods, including PERT, CPM, and precedence diagramming--and introduces the composite allocation factor (CAF), which effectively allocates resources to competing activities. There are also revealing case studies, including an analysis of the management events that led to the space shuttle accident.