Project Management Essay: The Jaguar Project by Teradyne Corporation

Description of Project Management Tools

The jaguar project was done by Teradyne Corporation which is the largest supplier of equipment used to test semiconductors. This project was to come up with highly flexible tester platform in the market. They used several management tools so as to force discipline in the development process.

Work Break Structure (WBS) is the major tool used which shows detailed descriptions of all the work that is required to complete the project. It further shows their interrelationships. The other tool used was Earned Value Analysis (EVA) which was used to measure the progress of the project. To measure the progress effectively, the tool used three metrics which are a budget of costs of scheduled work, the cost of the work done and the budget costs of work performed.

Comparing And Contrasting Teradynes Traditional Project with Jaguars Approach

Teradynes traditional method was different from jaguar project in several ways. Teradynes traditional project was mostly focused on the results of the project rather than the tools which were utilized to come up with the project. On the other hand, the Jaguar project always checked each tool which was used to implement the project.

In Teradynes traditional method, their plans were not well worked and forced employees to add some operations while implementing the project. This made the project to be delayed due to poor performance. On the other hand, jaguars project paid much attention to the product planning so as to satisfy customers needs. The project was finished in time, and each employee was very efficient, and managers were answerable if there were delays in implementing the project.

However, both projects were aimed at effective project management by encouraging their employees so as to make an effective product which will meet the needs of their customers. Both used efficient management tools though Teradynes tools did not provide enough information.

MRP System

Sources of Demand in an MRP System. Are They Dependent Or Independent?

The MRP system contains item demands which are both dependent and independent. The dependent demand comes about from the planned production of other products while independent demand is the demand from an outside source. For the spare parts of a car, demand for car water pumps comes specifically from the production lines which manufactures the cars. However, there are other demands of the same water pumps from spare parts division which will replace the original pumps in case of failures.

The major sources of demand occur through the master production schedule which is mostly of independent origin. The other sources throughout the system will be dependent on the master production schedule. The dependent demand tends to be not smooth while the independent demand is fairly stable. Managers use economic order sizes and economic production quantities for independent demand products while on the other hand, managers can choose a wider variety of plans to determine the lot sizes in the dependent demand systems.

How They Are Used As Inputs to the System

The orders for spare parts and repair parts are usually of the low amount that is why they do not go through the master production schedule. Only large amounts of the demands which have required a load on the productive system go through the master production schedule. Therefore, the demands are fed into the inventory records file ignoring the master production schedule channel.

Once it has reached inventory records file, they are exploded into the concrete materials and parts needed during the usual course of the MRP run. These show that the materials and components used to make the spare parts are dependent demand.