Planning: the foundation
Planning: the foundation
Planning: the foundation
Planning: the foundation for improving
for improving
for improving
for improving
the engineering change process
the engineering change process
the engineering change process
the engineering change process
Britte de Boer
Britte de Boer
Britte de Boer
Britte de Boer
Thesis
Planning: the foundation for improving
the engineering change process
Author: B. de Boer
1389041
brittedeboer@quicknet.nl
University: University of Groningen
Faculty of Management & Organisation Technology Management
Supervisors of the university: Drs. Ing. G.J. Nanninga Drs. J. Veldman
Company: Freelift BV
Newtonstraat 35
1704 SB Heerhugowaard
Supervisor of the company: J. Schuitema
Preface
To nearly finish my Technology Management study at the University of Groningen, I conducted a research project at Freelift BV. I want to thank to the people who contributed to this report and helped me to complete this project.
I carried out this research in four months with a lot of pleasure. This is mainly due to the friendliness of the employees at Freelift. The results of this research were found thanks to the employees, who were willing to provide all information during the project. I would also like to thank my supervisor at Freelift, Jeroen Schuitema, because he provided me with feedback during the research.
Also, I would like to thank my supervisors at the university, Gejo Nanninga and Jasper Veldman. A special thank you to Jasper Veldman, because he did more than he was expected to do as second supervisor. They both provided me with feedback and comments on my work during the research. These feedback sessions gave me inspiration and lots of work for me to do when I got home.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents, sister and boyfriend for supporting me and for providing me with valuable advise during this research project.
Management summary
Management summary
The Quality manager at Freelift BV wants to improve the insight in who, what and when tasks should be carried out during the engineering change process. The intention of the Quality manager is to improve the engineering change process in order to improve the quality of a stair lift. However, it should be investigated whether this will bring the expected improvement. Therefore, the following question has to be answered, ‘Which problems and
shortcomings arise during the engineering change process, and what is their influence on the quality of a stair lift?’. To answer this question, the engineering change process is described, after which the process is evaluated
by ten critical success factors for a project. A problem holder analysis is executed and a theoretical framework about the relation between engineering changes (EC) and the quality of a product is given. From that, it is concluded that many problems and shortcomings can be solved by a good planning of the engineering change process. Planning mainly solves the problems and shortcomings of a lack of communication and supply of information. The informal character of the engineering change process will eventually decrease. Delays in the engineering change process, not informing people about an EC and not asking people to check the feasibility of an EC have a negative influence on the quality of a stair lift. By planning the process, these issues can be overcome. However, problems concerning the AS/400 system and not documenting test positions will not be solved by making a project plan.
To overcome the problems and shortcomings which are related to planning, the following question must be answered ‘Which recommendations can be made for the planning process for engineering changes at Freelift?’. Answers to the fist question, are used as input for the second question. An engineering change process can be used as a guideline for a project plan and to understand how the project should be planned. A new engineering change process (figure 1) is designed. Explicit go/no go decisions are included as well as a planning phase. Phases can be taken iteratively or can be combined, depending on the kind of EC. The project plan will not be completed during the planning phase, because not all tasks are known at the beginning of the project. The plan will be elaborated further after each go decision.
Figure 1 - Proposed engineering change process
process. The EC Committee is responsible for making go/no go decisions, prioritising ECs, determining the goals and the requirements for the next phase, and for executing the preliminary investigation. The managers Marketing & Sales, Operations and Controlling are suggested as members of the EC Committee. It is also suggested to include the Quality manager as member. The project team consists of members who carry out the project. It depends on the EC, who is included. The project manager allocates people to the project in agreement with the supervisors of the concerned departments. The senior managers of the EC Committee must agree on the allocation of these people.
The project plan should include additional information and the plan. The project of an EC should be divided into phases, which are the phases of the engineering change process. Each phase will be separately planned. Planning is divided into initial planning and elaborated planning. Initial planning is concerned with defining the scope, which is done by the EC Committee. The committee defines goals and requirements for the whole project, and smaller goals and requirements for the phases. The elaborated planning is how the scope should be accomplished by making a work breakdown structure for costs and timetable and by forming a project team. This can be accomplished by undergoing ten steps: 1. Break phase into tasks. 2. Estimate time of each task. 3. Determine the relations between tasks. 4. Allocate tasks to a schedule with date and time. 5. Determine milestones for phases. 6. Allocate human and non-human resources to tasks. 7. Estimate costs of each task. 8. Evaluate the project plan. 9. Make possible adaptations. 10. Make a final report of the project plan. The results of these steps should be included in a project plan.
The project manager leads the meetings of the EC Committee and summarises the results of a project. The project team places remarks on intranet and gives feedback to the project manager. The project manager should inform the introducer of an idea after each go/no go decision. Revisions of the project plan should be send to the members of the project. The plans should be placed on intranet as well. Especially critical tasks should be monitored and controlled, because then delays can be detected and suitable measures can be taken.
Table of contents
Table of contents
Preface ...3
Management summary ...4
List of abbreviations...8
Introduction ...9
1.1 Freelift’s background...10 1.1.1 Freelift’s history ...10 1.1.2 Freelift as an organisation...11 1.1.3 Products of Freelift ...121.1.4 Primary process of Freelift ...13
1.2 Paper outline ...13
2
Research approach ...15
2.1 Motivation of the research ...15
2.2 Research method ...15
3
Research design of the diagnosis phase ...17
3.1 Problem definition of the diagnosis phase...17
3.2 Methodology of the diagnosis phase ...19
3.2.1 Data sources used in the diagnosis phase ...19
3.2.2 Measuring and observing methods of the diagnosis phase...19
3.2.3 Analysis methods of the diagnosis phase ...21
4
Diagnosis phase ...24
4.1 The engineering change process...24
4.2 Problem holder analysis...27
4.3 Shortcomings of the engineering change process...30
4.4 Impact of problems and shortcomings on the quality of a stair lift ...35
4.5 Relation between shortcomings and problems with planning ...37
4.6 Conclusion of the diagnosis phase...40
5
Literature review about planning ...43
6
Research design of design phase...46
6.1 Problem statement of the design phase...46
6.2 Problem definition of the design phase ...46
6.3 Methodology of the design phase ...48
7.1 Redesign of the engineering change process ...49
7.2 Structure of the engineering change process ...54
7.3 Creating a project plan...57
7.3.1 The beginning of the project planning phase...57
7.3.2 Creating a project plan for a phase ...57
7.4 Managing the project plan ...59
7.5 Checklists for planning an engineering change ...61
7.6 Conclusion of the design phase ...61
7.6.1 Answer to the research question of the design phase ...61
7.6.2 Recommendations resulting from the research project...64
References ...65
Appendices are shown in an other report. The report contains the following appendices: Appendix 1 – Organisation chart of Freelift.
Appendix 2 – Primary process of Freelift. Appendix 3 – Engineering change request. Appendix 4 – Engineering change order.
Appendix 5 – Mapped engineering change process.
Appendix 6 – Communication among departments during the engineering change process. Appendix 7 – Problem holder analysis.
Appendix 8 – First page of a project plan. Appendix 9 – Ten steps for elaborated planning.
List of abbreviations
List of abbreviations
Adm. – Administration department.
CS – Customer support.
DDC model – Diagnosis, design and change model.
EC – Engineering change.
ECO – Engineering change order.
ECR – Engineering change request.
Eng. – Engineering department.
Freelift – Freelift BV, Freelift NL BV and Freelife BV.
Mech’s – Mechanic department.
Old part – Part of a product before an engineering change is processed. New part – Part of a product after an engineering change is processed.
PM – Project manager.
Introduction
Manufacturing companies should be prepared to change its product. Changes can be mandatory or optional1. Mandatory changes occur because of safety reasons and should immediately be incorporated into the product. Optional changes should be evaluated, before they are incorporated. The next is an enumeration of major reasons to change a product. Changes are made2:
To benefit from improvements in technology.
To improve the life, reliability, maintainability, serviceability, safety, attractiveness, et cetera of the product. To cut costs (production, distribution, et cetera), to facilitate changes at the supplier, et cetera.
To overcome the loss of supply for a particular part.
A change is most often incorporated to improve a product or to gain benefits from it. However, the change affects the day-to-day work of many departments. According to Huang and Mak3, the two major reasons of failure in change are:
Poor communication.
Problems are discovered too late, which leads to panic and ad-hoc solutions.
Changes to products are called engineering changes (EC).
“An engineering change is an alteration made to parts, drawings, documents or software that have already been released during the design process. The change can be any size or type, can involve any number of people and
can take any length of time.” (Clarkson & Eckert, 2003, p. 2684)
Freelift wants to research its engineering change process to possibly improve this process and to bring more qualitative products onto the market. Freelift is producing stair lifts. Last year, Freelift processed 80 engineering changes into stair lifts.
To form a notion of the impact of an engineering change in a company, an example is described on the next page.
1 Dale, B.G., 1982, The management of engineering change procedure, Engineering Management International, 1: 201-208. 2 Dale, B.G., 1982, The management of engineering change procedure, Engineering Management International, 1: 201-208. 3 Huang, G.Q. & Mak, K.L., 1999, Current practices of engineering change management in UK manufacturing industries,
International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 19(1): 21-37.
4
Introduction Stair lifts must satisfy the European regulations about lifts. When changes are made to these regulations, it affects Freelift. Imagine that a change of these regulations means that the joystick of the stair lift of Freelift should be replaced. Then, the following issues should at least be taken into account.
The new joystick must satisfy the new regulations within six months. However, new joysticks are just ordered. Freelift should check whether this order can be adjusted or cancelled. New drawings of the joystick and related parts of the product must be created. Freelift must check whether other engineering changes can be processed together with the change of the joystick. A prototype must be ordered. After this, the prototype can be tested. Adjustments to the joystick should possibly be made. Suppliers must be informed about the engineering change. A decision must be made about the consequences of the stock of the old joysticks at Freelift, dealers and
suppliers. Perhaps old joysticks can be adjusted in order to satisfy the new regulations. The new joystick must be examined by an external authority.
At the moment a definitive version of the new joystick is chosen, dealers should be informed. Changes must be made to the work instructions of employees of the production departments and of mechanics, who install a stair lift. Perhaps employees should be trained to assemble the new joystick. User manuals for the customers should be renewed. Pictures of the joystick on intranet and brochures must be changed. Freelift must check whether the engineering change has consequences for the cost price and/or selling price. Test formations of stair lifts, show rooms, et cetera must be provided with the new joystick.
Concluding from above, an engineering change has impact on all the aspects in a company.
1.1 Freelift’s background
Before explaining the research in this paper, a description of the Freelift company will be given in this chapter. Sub paragraph 1.1.1. describes the history of Freelift. After that, the current organisation is described and which department this research is involved with (sub paragraph 1.1.2). Freelift delivers different kinds of products, these products are described in sub paragraph 1.1.3. The primary process of Freelift is explained in sub paragraph 1.1.4. To make it easier to find particular topics of this research, a paper outline is written in paragraph 1.2.
1.1.1 Freelift’s history
in stair lifts. Liftenfabriek Brinkman Jan Hamer became an independent company in 1996. The name Liftenfabriek Brinkman Jan Hamer was changed into Freelift in 1997 5.
1.1.2 Freelift as an organisation
The name Brinkman Jan Hamer is still used administratively. Brinkman Jan Hamer is the parent company of Freelift BV, Freelife BV, Freelift GmbH and partly of Freelift Ltd. Freelift B.V. is the owner of Freelift NL BV. Freelift BV is the manufacturing company of stair lifts and the other companies are responsible for selling the stair lifts. Freelift BV is producing stair lifts for the selling companies of Freelift, but also for other dealers. The end user of the stair lift can purchase a stair lift in two ways:
Via the private sector. End users buy a stair lift by themselves.
Via the public sector. End users buy a stair lift with a grant on request from the municipality.
The organisation chart of Freelift BV is shown in appendix 1. As shown in the organisation chart, Freelift NL as well as Freelife are part of the organisation of Freelift BV (yellow marked box). Therefore, the name Freelift is used in this report to refer to the companies Freelift BV, Freelift NL BV and Freelife BV. The research is resulting from Quality Assurance, which is blue marked in the organisation chart. Freelift has about 130 employees.
Freelift was a small company in 1996. Plans made on one day, could be skipped the next day. However, with the ageing of the population and the tendency of elderly to live on their own longer, the demand for stair lifts is increasing. This growing demand has consequences for the size of the company, because a larger amount of people and production facilities is necessary. This has consequences for the working methods. Before the growth, it was possible to walk around to inform the necessary people and to change plans and procedures continuously. Now, more structured working methods are needed. Nevertheless, there is still an open culture. Employees do know each other by name and they are willing to cooperate.
Freelift is striving for a leading position in the world market of stair lifts. They try to do this by providing quality, security, reliability, suitability and availability6.
Introduction
1.1.3 Products of Freelift
Broadly speaking, a stair lift consists of two products. The first product is the lift (the rail on which the chair is rolling). The second product is the chair, which consists of a seat and a unit. The unit is holding the motor and related elements. Freelift produces several types of lifts as well as several chair types7.
Freelift produces four different types of lifts, the Mondriaan, the Van Gogh, the Rembrandt and the Vermeer. Pictures of the types of lifts are shown in figure 2.
The Mondriaan is a straight lift. The rail is rectangled and can be bought beforehand. After ordering, the rail
only has to be cut to the right size. It is available in one colour.
The Van Gogh, the Rembrandt and the Vermeer are all curved lifts and are available in the colours grey,
brown and cream. The lifts are made from pipes that are already curved at the supplier. All the pipes are custom tailored. Each type of stair lift has some differences. The Van Gogh is fitted to the outside of the stairs (the outside bend) and the Rembrandt is fitted to the inside of the stairs (inside bend). The Vermeer is a multi-storey stair lift, which is usually fitted to the inside.
Figure 2 - Lift types, respectively the Mondriaan, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Vermeer
Freelift produces five different types of seats: the Basic, the Classic Seat, the Select, the Select Comfort and the Panda Seat. Pictures of the seats are shown in figure 3.
The Basic seat is the cheapest seat and is available in four colours. Options on this seat are the location of
the joystick, the shape of the footrest and the shape of the armrests.
The Classic Seat is the most sold type of seat. The seat is available in four colours. Options on this seat are
the location of the joystick and the shape of the footrest. Other options are the ‘auto-swivel’ and the ‘footrest linkage’. Auto-swivel means that the seat automatically turns at the end of the drive. With a footrest linkage it is possible to fold the footrest by turning on a handle near the seat instead of folding the footrest by hand.
The Select is a more luxury seat which is available in three colours. The select has options for the location of
the joystick, the shape of the footrest and the ‘auto-swivel’. An other option is the Select XL. A bigger seat is created by widening the distance of the arm-rests.
The Select Comfort has the same specifications as the Select. However, the Select Comfort has a technique
which helps the person standing up from the seat.
7
The Panda Seat is a seat especially made for children up to 12 years old.
Figure 3 - Seat types, respectively Basic, Classic, Select, Select Comfort and Panda
As mentioned before, a chair consists of a seat and a unit. There are two types of units, one type for the straight lifts and one type for the curved lifts.
1.1.4 Primary process of Freelift
Freelift manufactures stair lifts that are sold to end users (private and public sector) and to dealers. As a consequence, two primary processes are modelled. Appendix 2 shows the primary process regarding the end user and the primary process regarding the dealer. The main difference is seen at the end of the process. The primary process of selling stair lifts to an end user ends with the installation at the end user’s. The primary process regarding the dealer ends with the delivery of a stair lift at the dealer’s.
The production can be divided into two processes. One process is the Rail construction for curved lifts, the other process is the Assembly of the chair. When the drawing of a stair lift is made, an order for the curved pipes is send to the supplier. Units can be made beforehand by the Assembly department. Seats can not be made beforehand, because of the possible changes in colour, location of the joystick, the footrest, et cetera.
Freelift is working with the AS/400 computer system, which has its own server and operating system. Parts, orders to suppliers, orders from customers, finance, product configuration, et cetera are kept up to date in this system.
1.2 Paper outline
Introduction and observe will be described in sub paragraph 3.2.2 in order to answer the sub questions. Lastly, the used analysis methods are outlined (3.2.3).
Chapter 4 answers the sub questions and the research question of the diagnosis phase. Paragraph 4.1 gives a description of the current engineering change process at Freelift. The results of the problem holder analysis are described next, after which the information is put into an Ishikawa diagram (4.2). Paragraph 4.3 discusses the shortcomings of the engineering change process based on ten critical success factors for projects. The influence of the recognised problems and shortcomings on quality is discussed in the subsequent paragraph (4.4). During the research, it was found that planning the engineering change process can solve many problems and shortcomings. The relation between planning with these problems and shortcomings are described in paragraph 4.5. An answer to the research question of the diagnosis phase is given in paragraph 4.6.
Chapter 5 is the theoretical framework of planning. After that, the research design of the design phase is described in chapter 6. The problem statement is outlined in paragraph 6.1. Paragraph 6.2 describes the problem definition of the design phase, after which the used methodology to answer the sub questions is clarified (6.3).
2 Research approach
The company Freelift and the goal of this research are explained. But why should the research be executed? The research is resulting from Quality Assurance. The reason for the Quality manager to execute this research is explained in paragraph 2.1. The chosen research method for this research is described in paragraph 2.2.
2.1 Motivation of the research
This research is carried out, because the Quality manager wants to improve the insight in who, what and when tasks should be done during the engineering change process. Currently, no supervision is present during the process, therefore, the execution of the necessary tasks is dependent on the responsibility of employees. Also, there is no feedback about the progress of the engineering change process. These issues result to the fact that it is not known when new parts (of a product) are ordered, not known when new parts will be delivered at Freelift and that it is not known when new parts will be used in stair lifts. Also, mechanics, who install a stair lift at the end user’s, are not informed about an engineering change. ECs affect the communication, drawings and work instructions.
The Quality manager wants to improve the engineering change process, because this will improve the quality of a stair lift. This idea of improving the quality of a product by improving processes, is derived from the quality concepts used at Freelift, namely ISO 9001:2000 and the Six Sigma methodology. ISO 9001:2000 is a norm aimed at keeping up and improving the processes in order to improve the quality of a product8. However, ISO does not provide special techniques and tools to manage that. Six Sigma does provide techniques and tools to improve processes, through which a higher level of quality can be achieved9.
2.2 Research method
The DDC model of De Leeuw10 will be used to distinguish the several phases of the research. DDC stands for diagnosis, design and change. The model starts with a problem situation which is outlined in the previous paragraph. Figure 4 shows the used DDC model.
8 Freelift, Quality Handbook Freelift B.V., 2005.
9 Manual, D., 2006, Six Sigma methodology: reducing defects in business processes, Filtration & Separation, 43(1): 34-36. 10 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2002, Bedrijfskundig management: primair proces, strategie en organisatie (2nd edition), Koninklijke
Research approach
Figure 4 - DDC model (De Leeuw, 2002, p. 29111)
The model is applicable to this research, because the exact problem is not determined yet. The problem situation is transformed into a management problem in the diagnosis phase. An important aspect in the diagnosis phase is to look at the problem situation pluriform, which means looking at the problem situation from different points of view. Other aspects of the diagnosis phase are assessing, describing and analysing the problem situation. The diagnosis is described in chapter 4.
The management problem formulated after the diagnosis phase will be worked out into a solution during the design phase. The design phase is described in chapter 7. The new design will be implemented during the change process. Because of the limited time available, this phase will not be carried out during this research.
When problems must be solved, a scientific research can be divided into two phases. Therefore, two problem definitions are formulated12. The first problem definition functions as a starting point for the diagnosis phase and is aimed at determining the problem. The second problem definition is a result of the diagnosis phase and is used to generate solutions for the problem during the design phase. The problem definitions of both phases will be described separately. The problem definition for the diagnosis phase will be described in the next chapter. The problem definition for the design phase will be described after the diagnosis phase is carried out, chapter 6.
11 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2002, Bedrijfskundig management: primair proces, strategie en organisatie (2nd edition), Koninklijke
Van Gorcum: Assen.
12 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2002, Bedrijfskundig management: primair proces, strategie en organisatie (2nd edition), Koninklijke
3 Research design of the diagnosis phase
Two problem definitions are formulated for this research. The problem definition for the diagnosis phase is described in the first paragraph (3.1). A research framework is also shown in paragraph 3.1. Answers should be given to the research question and the sub question. The used methodology to answer these questions, is described in paragraph 3.2. The data sources that are used during the diagnosis phase, are described in sub paragraph 3.2.1. The data sources should be measures or observed. Sub paragraph 3.2.2. explains the measuring and observing methods used in the diagnosis phase. When data is measures and observed, it should be analysed. The analysis methods are described in sub paragraph 3.2.3.
3.1 Problem definition of the diagnosis phase
A problem definition consists of an objective, a research question and limiting conditions. The limiting conditions are the limitations to which the research results and methods should comply13.
The Quality manager has a request to improve the insight in who, what, and when tasks are carried out, and to improve the supervision and the overview of an engineering change process. However, it should be explored whether these topics are the real issues of the engineering change process. An improvement of these issues should improve the quality of a stair lift. Therefore, the objective of the diagnosis phase is:
Execute a diagnosis to discover which problems and shortcomings arise during the engineering change
process and whether they are related to the quality of a stair lift.
The following research question can be derived from this objective:
Which problems and shortcomings arise during the engineering change process and what is their influence
on the quality of a stair lift?
Sub questions are formed in order to answer the research question.
In what way is the engineering change process organised?
An engineering change process starts with an idea to improve a product and ends with processing that idea in a product. The tasks to carry this out, will be laid out. During this research question it is also investigated which people/departments are related with the engineering change process and in which way. As a result, an understanding of the process will be created. This sub question is described in paragraph 4.1.
Which problems are recognised at the problem holders during the engineering change process?
13 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2002, Bedrijfskundig management: primair proces, strategie en organisatie (2nd edition), Koninklijke
Research design of the diagnosis phase A problem is the variance between a current and a desired situation. Problem holders will be identified. An understanding of the problems and opinions of problems holders will be created. This sub question is described in paragraph 4.2.
What shortcomings are there during the engineering change process?
The research covers the engineering change process. Possible shortcomings will be detected during this engineering change process. This sub question is described in paragraph 4.3.
What is the negative influence of the recognised problems and shortcomings, of the engineering change
process, to the quality of a stair lift?
The relation between problems and shortcomings with quality will be investigated to finally conclude whether the improvement of the problems and shortcomings will improve the quality of a stair lift. This sub question is described in paragraph 4.4.
According to De Leeuw14, two kinds of limiting conditions exist; product and process limited conditions. Product limited conditions of the diagnosis phase are:
The result of the diagnosis should be useful for Freelift as well as for the researcher.
Process limited conditions of the diagnosis phase are:
The research will be carried out according to scientific norms. The research has a maximum period of 2 months time.
Figure 5 shows the research framework which is formed from the problem definition.
Figure 5 – Research framework diagnosis phase
The engineering change process will be investigated. Problems will possibly arise from this engineering change process, which will be recognised by problem holders of the engineering change process. The engineering change process possibly has shortcomings, which will be identified based on literature. There after, the relationships between the identified problems and shortcomings with the quality of a stair lift will be investigated.
14 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2002, Bedrijfskundig management: primair proces, strategie en organisatie (2nd edition), Koninklijke
3.2 Methodology of the diagnosis phase
The used methodology for the diagnosis phase is described in this paragraph. The used data sources for the diagnosis phase are discussed (3.2.1). The outline is given about what the used measuring and observing methods are (3.2.2) and the analysis methods are described per sub question (3.2.3).
3.2.1 Data sources used in the diagnosis phase
Six data sources can be distinguished regarding a practical problem. These sources are documents, media, reality, imitated reality, data banks and knowledge of the researcher15. Used data sources in this research are:
Documents (literature, internal documents Freelift); Media (internet, journals, intranet of Freelift); Reality (employees Freelift);
Data banks (data banks which contain journals); Knowledge of the researcher.
3.2.2 Measuring and observing methods of the diagnosis phase
The data sources are measured and observed to obtain data. A distinction can be made between registering and measuring through stimulus16:
Observations, documents and media are studied as registering. Surveys and interviews are carried out to measure through stimulus.
In order to answer sub questions, the methods used to measure and observe these questions are explained:
Sub questions diagnosis phase:
In what way is the engineering change process organised?
Registering and measuring through stimulus. Documents from the quality handbook and information on intranet are used. The quality handbook of Freelift describes processes, including the engineering change process. Interviews are held to gather data about the engineering change process, because interviews can provide specific knowledge. One of the interviews is carried out with the Quality manager. The Quality manager is a member of the Idea Committee. This committee decides whether a new idea will be further investigated or implemented in the beginning of the engineering change process.
Questions to be asked are:
Research design of the diagnosis phase
▫ Who are the members of the Idea Committee?
▫ How and with the help of which criteria are the ideas checked?
▫ What are the activities and the results when an idea is (dis)approved?
Other interviews are held with the following persons: manager Customer Support, manager Engineering, director Operations, manager Warehouse, manager Production, manager Mechanics, director Freelift NL and employees of the departments Engineering, Purchasing & Planning, Warehouse and Quality Control. These people are picked through recommendation from the Quality manager and by recommendation from the interviewed persons.
Questions to be asked are:
▫ Who informs you about an engineering change?
▫ Which activities should be accomplished by your department regarding engineering changes?
▫ Do you inform other departments about an engineering change?
▫ Do you provide feedback about the progress of the engineering change process in your department to someone else?
▫ Do you get feedback of other departments on the progress of the engineering change process?
▫ Are there any other issues you want to discuss further?
Which problems are recognised at the problem holders during the engineering change process?
Measuring through stimulus. Interviews are arranged with problem holders of the engineering change process to generate the necessary pluriformity. These problem holders are: manager Customer Support, manager Engineering, Quality manager, director Operations, manager Warehouse, manager Production, manager Mechanics, director Freelift NL and employees of the departments Engineering, Purchasing & Planning, Warehouse and Quality Control. Problem holders are chosen by recommendation from other problem holders. It is assumed that people from one department will experience the same problems during the engineering change process.
Questions to be asked are:
▫ Which problems are recognised at your department with regard to the engineering change process?
▫ What kinds of problems are recognised and what went wrong?
▫ What are the consequences of these mistakes?
What shortcomings are there during the engineering change process?
Registering and measuring through stimulus. The information gathered from the first sub question ‘In what way is the engineering change process organised?’ is used to answer this question. Also information from interviews from the previous sub question is used.
What is the negative influence of the recognised problems and shortcomings, of the engineering change
process, to the quality of a stair lift?
Registering. The problems and shortcomings identified during the previous sub questions are used to answer this question, as well as the six quality characteristics of Slack17; functionality, appearance, reliability, durability, recovery and contact. These quality characteristics are used, because of the pragmatic nature of the book.
3.2.3 Analysis methods of the diagnosis phase
An analysis is carried out to gather relevant information from the acquired data18. The analysis methods will be discussed per sub question.
In what way is the engineering change process organised?
The process is shown through a simple flow chart. Key decisions and sequence are identified with this kind of chart and only the main elements of a process are mapped19. Figure 6 shows the elements of a simple flow chart. After this, a description of the process is given.
Figure 6 – Used elements in the simple flow chart
17 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrsion, A. & Johnston, R., 1998, Operations Management (2nd edition), Pearson
Edcuation Limited: Harlow.
18 Leeuw, A.C.J. de, 2001, Bedrijfskundige methodologie: Management van Onderzoek, Koninklijke Van Gorcum: Assen. 19 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrsion, A. & Johnston, R., 1998, Operations Management (2nd edition), Pearson
Research design of the diagnosis phase
Which problems are recognised at the problem holders during the engineering change process?
The obtained problems are described per problem holder. After that, the problems are put into an Ishikawa diagram to derive an overview of the problems. This type of diagram is also called a cause and effect diagram. The diagram envisions the causes of a particular effect. The main causes are people, procedures and equipment. Figure 7 shows the way the Ishikawa diagram is used.
Figure 7 - Ishikawa diagram, example
What shortcomings are there during the engineering change process?
A definition of a project is as follows:
“A project is a collection of linked activities carried out in an organised manner with a clearly defined start
and finish point, to achieve some specific results that satisfy the needs of an organisation as derived from the
organisation’s current business plans.” (Young, 2003, p. 920)
Each change in a product can be seen as a project. The starting point is the generation of a new idea. The finishing point is when an EC is processed in a stair lift and delivered to the customer. The reasons behind these changes are:
o The stair lift is not safe.
o The stair lift is not reliable.
o A customer’s need.
o The stair lift becomes cheaper.
o More easy to produce or maintain.
20 Young, T.L., 2003, The handbook of project management: a practical guide to effective policies and procedures (2nd
o The specifications are incorrect.
These reasons should make the stair lift more qualitative, secure, reliable, suitable and available. This is in line with the mission statement of Freelift. Therefore, it is possible to analyse the performance of the engineering change process by the ten critical success factors of Slevin and Pinto21, which are related to project implementation success. These factors are chosen, because of their universality. The factors are:
o Project mission.
o Top management support.
o Project plan.
o Client consultation.
o Personnel.
o Technical tasks.
o Client acceptance.
o Monitoring and feedback.
o Communication.
o Trouble shooting.
The engineering change process is coming short when it does not meet the critical success factors of Slevin and Pinto.
What is the negative influence of the recognised problems and shortcomings of the engineering change
process on the quality of a stair lift?
The quality characteristics will be defined regarding stair lifts and Freelift. These definitions will be used to refer the relation between the shortcomings and problems to the quality of a stair lift.
21 Pinto, J.K., 1990, Project Implementation Profile: a tool to aid project tracking and control, International Journal of
Diagnosis phase
4 Diagnosis phase
The previous chapter described the research question and sub questions of the diagnosis phase as well as the methodology. The methodology is used to answer the research question and sub questions. This chapter provides the answers on these questions. The first paragraph contains a description of the engineering change process (4.1). Then, the problems of the problem holders of the engineering change process are determined (4.2). This paragraph gives a description of the problems based on the Ishikawa diagram. Paragraph 4.3 discusses the shortcomings that arise during the engineering change process. An improvement of the problems and shortcomings of the engineering change process must result in an improvement of the quality of a stair lift. Paragraph 4.4 describes the relation between the problems and shortcomings with the quality of a stair lift. During the execution of the diagnosis phase, it was found that the problems and shortcomings are related to planning. Paragraph five discusses these relations. A conclusion to the research question of the diagnosis phase is given at the end of this chapter.
4.1 The engineering change process
An engineering change process starts with an idea for a change to a product. This idea will be approved or disapproved by the Idea Committee. When approved, it will be decided to investigate an EC. After this investigation, it can be decided to implement an EC. This order will be used to describe the current practices. Figure 8 shows the current engineering change process.
The Idea Committee consists of the director Operations, the director Freelift NL, the Quality manager, the manager Customer Support and the manager Engineering. Each employee at Freelift is allowed to give ideas about possible improvements to a stair lift at any moment.
Each employee with a new idea for a stair lift can fill out a ‘change report’. These ideas arise because:
The stair lift is not safe. The stair lift is not reliable. It is a customer need.
The stair lift becomes cheaper. It is more easy to produce or maintain. The specifications are incorrect.
The change report is put into the idea box, after which the reports are collected by the management assistant. After that, the management assistant puts these changes into the Product Data Management system with information about the reason and description of the change, concerning parts (numbers), serial idea number and idea introducer. This information is also shown on the intranet of Freelift.
The Idea Committee decides whether an idea will be approved or disapproved. The committee meets once every two weeks. The members check the ideas by asking the following questions:
Does the customer benefit from this new idea? Will this new idea bring in more sales? Is the idea an improvement?
What are the costs to implement this idea?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing this idea? How soon should it be implemented?
Does the company have enough capacity available?
Diagnosis phase ECR is given in appendix 3. ECRs are published on intranet, where information can be filled out. The introducer of the idea will be informed about each decision whether the EC will proceed or not.
The ECR is also put into the engineering system. An EC should be investigated on its feasibility. The investigation is managed by an engineer, who is chosen by the Idea Committee. The Idea Committee decides what should be investigated. For example, the consequences of the EC for concerned departments should be gathered. The Idea Committee or the leading Engineer decides, based on experience, who the concerned persons are and who should investigate the feasibility and consequences in more detail.
An important aspect during the investigation of an EC is the negotiation of the Purchasing department with the supplier, because the supplier has to agree on the EC. When a supplier does not agree on a drawing, changes have to be made by the Engineering department or another supplier should be found. After the agreement of the supplier, a new part is possibly not immediately manufactured by the supplier. This is because a supplier can still have old parts (without the new EC) in stock which should be used up first. There is a lot of interaction between the Engineering department and the Purchasing department. The Engineering department and other departments have less interaction during the investigation.
After this investigation, it can be decided to implement an EC or not. This decision is based on the results of the investigation. When it is decided to implement an EC, an engineering change order (ECO) is made. The concerned departments must agree on this ECO and the results of the investigation. An example of an ECO is given in appendix 4. An ECO gives an overview of the consequences of an EC.
The concerned persons are informed by an ECO in hard copy. Again the Idea Committee or the leading Engineer decides who the concerned persons are. ECOs are placed on intranet. The implementation of the engineering change process is not managed. When the concerned persons are informed about an EC, they must take up tasks. These tasks have a wide range of activities. Some examples of these tasks are:
Change prices in ‘spare parts’.
Adjust tools or production line.
Change training presentations, showroom and test construction. Change sales and service guide.
Inform dealer. Adjust parts list.
Adjust contracts with suppliers.
Create a new location for parts in warehouse.
These are just a few examples. The tasks of the engineering change process are shown in a simple flow chart, which is given in appendix 5. It depends on the kind of EC, which tasks should be carried out. Making a bigger hole in a frame, will not have consequences for a user manual, for example. However, a new type of remote control for a stair lift does have consequences for the user manual of the remote control.
When tasks are carried out, a remark can be placed at the ECO on the intranet. By doing so, other people are informed about the progress of an EC. Adding and checking remarks on intranet is not obligatory.
The tasks in appendix 5 are categorised per department and the tasks are placed next to each other. Please note that tasks placed on one line, does not mean that the tasks are carried out at the same time. But otherwise the scheme becomes too large. The communication between departments are shown in a separate simple flow chart, this chart is shown in appendix 6. The communication between departments is not drawn in the scheme of appendix 5, because otherwise the scheme would become unclear.
4.2 Problem holder analysis
A problem holder analysis (PH-analysis) is executed to find the problems concerning the engineering change process. This analysis is placed in appendix 7. A
PH-analysis looks at the problem situation from the points of view of the concerned departments and, with that, a pluriform notion of the problem situation is formed. Please note that the problems and possible solutions concerning the engineering change process are mentioned by the problem holders. The results of the PH-analysis are put into an Ishikawa diagram. Figure 9 shows this Ishikawa diagram. An Ishikawa diagram distinguishes the causes and effects. The causes are linked to people, equipment and procedures. The
Elaborated examples of problems
Diagnosis phase remainder of this paragraph explains the problems in the Ishikawa diagram.
The information sharing and communication between concerned people is a problem, concludes the PH-analysis. For example, people are not informed about expected delivery dates. Expired drawings are still placed on intranet without a remark, or remarks are not placed by an expired part in the AS/400 system. On the other hand, drawings of new parts are already placed on intranet, while old parts are still ordered and used in production. People do not receive ECOs and no feedback is given about accomplished tasks and, therefore, people do not know when to initiate action.
Because feedback is not provided, the execution of the engineering change process is uncertain. The process is also uncertain, because ECOs end up among other documents on the desk, and the process is not checked. That is why, the execution of the necessary actions depend on someone’s sense of responsibility. Furthermore, the text in an ECO can possibly be misunderstood (jargon).
Problems do also arise because of the AS/400 system.
Estimations of how many old and new parts are in stock are hard to make when only the revision is changed instead of a part number. It is also hard to keep up how many old parts are ordered. Changing the product configurator is also difficult in the AS/400 system. Another problem is that the AS/400 system does not categorise the parts into production, service or cancelled parts.
A problem is to create an overview of an EC or an engineering change process. An overview of an EC is not obtained when ECRs and ECOs are not filled out completely. An overview of the engineering change process is missing because no feedback is given about what actions are carried out. No checklists are available. Then, people can not create an overview of the possible actions that should be carried out, and actions are possibly forgotten to be carried out.
It is hard to make estimations because of the AS/400 system, as described above. Estimations of expected delivery dates of new parts are also hard to make, because several suppliers deliver the same part and several changes are processed in one part at the same time.
Elaborated examples of problems
Example 2 – A dealer asked a Customer Support department employee whether it was possible to order a particular part. The person checked in the AS/400 system whether these parts were in stock and concluded that these parts were in stock. However, a location of the part in the warehouse was missing in the system. The person went to the warehouse to ask for the location and then he was told that the parts were no longer available.
Elaborated examples of problems
Diagnosis phase Consequences of an EC are sometimes misunderstood.
Some problem holders mentioned that an EC was implemented while the EC was not tested well enough or tests were not finished yet. Consequences are also misunderstood, because information from departments or from a customer panel is not used. Another problem is that it is not clear which people should check the feasibility and consequences of an EC or people are not asked to check it. Other problems are that go/no go decision are not made explicit and are not discussed in detail.
People are not prepared for an EC, because of the before mentioned problems. Sometimes, new and old parts are delivered to the production departments mixed up. This can make it also difficult to be prepared for a particular EC.
4.3 Shortcomings of the engineering change process
To identify shortcomings on the engineering change process, the process is analysed by ten critical success factors for projects22. Each factor is defined, after which it is outlined whether the factors are realised during the engineering change process at Freelift.
1. Project mission; clearness of goals and general directions.
Broadly speaking, the engineering change process of Freelift can be divided into two sub projects. The first sub project is the investigation of an EC, which begins when an ECR is created. The second sub project is the implementation of an EC, which begins when an ECO is created.
22 Pinto, J.K., 1990, Project Implementation Profile: a tool to aid project tracking and control, International Journal of
Project Management, 8(3): 173-182.
Elaborated examples of problems
Example 4 – When a part changes and it is not downward compatible with the old part, it will get a new part number. When this happens, the Planning department should be informed, because that department changes the part number in the product configurator. The product configurator is used to write off the used parts in the AS/400 system. Stair lifts consist of parts that are described in the product configurator. When a stair lift is produced and ready to be transported to the customer it is scanned, parts are then written off via the parts that are in the product configurator and the stock kept up in the AS/400 system will be lowered.
The goal of the investigation is to check the feasibility and the consequences of an EC. After this, it is decided whether the EC will be approved or disapproved. When it is approved, an ECO is created. Therefore, the goal can be considered as clear, because it is plain to see what should be processed in an ECO.
How to get to an ECO is not described in the quality handbook of Freelift, but it is known through the experience of the employees. The way to check the feasibility is also not written down in the quality handbook of Freelift. It is unclear to employees who checks the feasibility. Some employees thought, for example, that the Idea Committee checks the feasibility. Therefore, the general directions to investigate an EC are not clear.
The goal of the implementation of an EC is to deliver an EC at the end user. The goal can be considered as clear. The EC can be processed in a new stair lift or it can replace an old part in an already installed stair lift.
Despite of departments knowing which tasks they must carry out to implement an EC, communication between the departments is not taking place, and the required tasks are not documented in the quality handbook of Freelift. The current engineering change process does not correspond with the engineering change process documented in the quality handbook of Freelift. That is why Freelift will loose knowledge when an employee leaves the organisation. Furthermore, departments do not know when to initiate action, because of the lack of communication. As a result, the general directions are clear per department, but are not known at the entire company and communication is not always taking place when it is needed.
2. Top management support; Top management should be willing to make the required resources and authority available to make a project a success.
The members of the Idea Committee are all part of the management at Freelift. The Idea Committee decides which ideas will be investigated or implemented. Therefore, the management is willing to make the project a success in the beginning of the engineering change process. However, the Idea Committee does not track the progress of the engineering change process.
Diagnosis phase of top management to make a project a success. During interviews it became clear that it was not obvious to employees which people evaluate ECs.
3. Project plan; detailed specification of the tasks per entity which are necessary to implement the project.
Project plans are not made during the engineering change process. Only a prioritisation is given by the Engineering department to design the EC. Nobody at Freelift has an overview of which tasks are being done and by whom. Departments are informed about an EC by the Engineering department, after which the departments decide by themselves which tasks should be done and by whom. For departments it is not clear which tasks are carried out by other departments. Furthermore, milestones are not determined and interdependencies are not described. It is not described when resources are needed.
4. Client consultation; communication, conferences and listening to all concerned clients.
A client is the final user of the project23 and regarding the engineering change process, the client is an internal customer of an EC. The internal customers are the people who should work with an EC, which are the Mechanic, Production and Service departments.
Internal customers need to know what the EC exactly comprehends. Internal customers should be informed about the status of the project, too. The expected delivery date of the EC should be announced to the internal customers, which does not happen at the moment.
Internal customers should have the opportunity to provide input early in the project. However, the wishes of the internal customers are not always asked. They also do not get information about why their wishes are not processed in an EC.
5. Personnel; Recruitment, selection and training of the personnel who carry out the project.
It can be assumed that the people who realise the project are capable to do their work. That is because these people are assigned to realise a project by their supervisor, and it is likely that supervisors have good knowledge about the capabilities of their employees and have experience to make that decision.
23 Pinto, J.K., 1990, Project Implementation Profile: a tool to aid project tracking and control, International Journal of
6. Technical tasks; availability and know-how of the necessary technology to carry out technical actions.
The result of the project is technical, namely an EC. Therefore, engineers are needed, who are contracted by specific procedures. Therefore, an engineer at Freelift is supposed to be competent. ECRs and ECOs are published on intranet and no specific knowledge is required to make an ECR on intranet. ECOs are published on intranet by the Engineering department through a specific program. Other people can place remarks at an ECO via intranet, which is quite easy. A possible difficulty is the technical description of ECs in ECRs and ECOs. Concerned people of the EC possibly do not understand the technical description.
7. Client acceptance; actions to sell the ultimate project to its intended internal customer.
Internal customers do not know the progress of a project and are not always informed about an EC. This results in less client acceptance of the engineering change process. Internal customers are in some way forced to work with an EC or to carry out a project. When internal customers are allowed to participate during the project, the goal commitment and productivity will possibly enhance24. This is positive for the engineering change process, because then, the internal customers are expected to be more willing to make the project and the EC a success.
8. Monitoring and feedback; supply of control information in time at each phase in the project.
An important aspect of monitoring is a project manager. According to Slack25, every project should have a project manager. A person of the Engineering department is the project manager during the investigation of an EC. However, the implementation of an EC is not managed.
During each important step in the process, the people concerned should be informed about the progress. Regular meetings can be held to discuss the progress of a project, but these do not take place. No information about the progress of the project is given to departments at Freelift. Moreover, nobody in the company has an overview of the progress of the engineering change process. Problems can not be identified, because an overview of the progress is missing and no project plan is created. Remarks can be placed at a
24 Ambrose, M.L. & Kulik, C.T., 1999, Old Friends, New Faces: Motivation Research in the 1990s, Journal of Management, 25(6): 231-292.
25 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrsion, A. & Johnston, R., 1998, Operations Management (2nd edition), Pearson
Diagnosis phase particular ECR or ECO on intranet, but this option is not always used. Perhaps remarks are not placed, because of the lack of control.
9. Communication; supply of a suitable network and required data to all key entities in the project.
The project team, internal customers and the organisation are supposed to communicate with each other26. ECRs and ECOs are published on intranet. However, ECRs and ECOs are hard to find, because the serial number of an ECR or ECO has to be known to be able to find it. Normally, the concerned departments receive an ECR or ECO in hard copy. The ECRs and ECOs are sometimes not filled out completely.
The Idea Committee can be seen as the organisation, because the members are part of the management of Freelift. The Idea Committee creates the ECR and after that, the Idea Committee is not or barely informed about the status of the EC.
The communication between the project team and the internal customers is already discussed at the success factors ‘client consultation’ and ‘client acceptance’.
The communication between the members of the project team is partly discussed in the success factor ‘monitoring and feedback’. The people concerned do not get information about the progress. The option to inform using intranet, is not fully used. Moreover, meetings between the members of a project are not arranged.
Project members can be seen as internal customers, because the execution of some tasks is dependent on the execution of other tasks. A preceding task can be seen as a product, which will be used for the next task. Therefore, an indication should be provided when the preceding task will be finished and the next task can be carried out. That supply of information is not always given at Freelift.
Product information is kept up in the AS/400 system. However, remarks about expired parts are not always placed. Furthermore, the AS/400 system makes it difficult to estimate how many old and new parts are in stock and when new parts should be ordered. As a result, expected delivery dates are difficult to estimate and, therefore, information is not provided, or too late.
26 Pinto, J.K., 1990, Project Implementation Profile: a tool to aid project tracking and control, International Journal of
10. Trouble-shooting; ability to handle unforeseen emergences and variances to the plan.
Members of the project can identify problems beforehand by brainstorming about which problems possibly may occur. Then, members can decide how they will react when a particular problem arises. Brainstorming or other methods to detect potential problems are not used at Freelift.
Immediate reaction is needed when problems arise. Freelift is doing this correct. However, members of the engineering change process do not know where to go for help, when they are affected by a problem. People probably discuss problems with the Engineering department. To create an understanding of the problems and to recognise relations between problems, the problems need to be communicated to one person.
Concluding from above, the critical success factors project mission, top management support, project plan, communication, client consultation, client acceptance, monitoring and feedback, and trouble-shooting are coming short. This means that almost all critical success factors for projects are not well suited.
4.4 Impact of problems and shortcomings on the quality of a stair lift
Quality should be defined, to be able to conclude whether the problems and shortcomings from the engineering change process are related to the quality of a stair lift. According to Slack27, quality consists of six quality characteristics. These characteristics and their definitions are:
Functionality; capability of serving a purpose well28
.
Appearance; visible aspects of a thing.
Reliability; the duration of failure-free performance under stated conditions29.
Durability; ability to perform over a long period by avoiding or overcoming injuries30
.
Recovery; ease of solving problems of the product.
Contact; nature of interaction between employees and customers.
These characteristics can be further defined regarding stair lifts and Freelift:
Functionality; capability of driving the chair up and down stairs as intended. Appearance; shape, colour and other visible attributes of a stair lift.
27 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrsion, A. & Johnston, R., 1998, Operations Management (2nd edition), Pearson
Edcuation Limited: Harlow.
28 Die.net. Accessed August 2007: http://dict.die.net/functionality/
29 Barringer. Accessed August 2007: http://www.barringer1.com/reliability.htm
Diagnosis phase
Reliability; time to failure of a stair lift.
Durability; useful lifetime of a stair lift including repairs. Recovery; ease of repair of a stair lift.
Contact; knowledge, patience and courtesy of contact staff.
The reasons to change a product are:
The stair lift is not safe. The stair lift is not reliable. It is a customer need.
The stair lift becomes cheaper. More easy to produce or maintain. The specifications are incorrect.
The first three reasons and the fifth reason to change a product are related with quality. Making a stair lift safer, can influence the functionality, reliability, recovery and the durability of a stair lift. Making the stair lift more reliable will influence the reliability of a stair lift. When an EC is a customer need, it can in fact influence all six characteristics of quality. Making the EC more easy to produce or maintain, influences the recovery of a stair lift and with that, the durability.
As a consequence, a delay in the engineering change process will influence the quality of a product, because ECs are intended to improve the quality of a stair lift. The current engineering change process has delays. People do not know when to initiate action or are not informed at all, and as a result, persons carry out tasks too late. The lack of supervision and the dependence on the sense of responsibility can also delay the engineering change process. Delays also exist, because no plan is made and, therefore, variances to the plan are not recognised. As a consequence, suitable measures are not being made, or too late, which delay the process.
The lack of communication diminishes the knowledge of the contact staff. When the staff is not informed about an EC, they can not tell customers about it. The lack of communication also reduces the ease of repair. The Service department or mechanics must be informed about an EC, otherwise it is hard for them to solve problems in a particular EC.
compared with previous tests and, therefore, it can not be decided whether the EC improves the quality of a product.
Concluding from above: an improvement of the engineering change process enhances the quality of a stair lift. This can be achieved by overcoming delays during the process, and informing and supervising people. The quality of a product can also be improved by estimating the consequences and the feasibility of an EC correctly, and by providing correct information about used test positions.
4.5 Relation between shortcomings and problems with planning
As mentioned in the introduction of this chapter, it was discovered during the diagnosis phase that planning is important for the engineering change process. This paragraph shows the relations of the identified problems and shortcomings with planning.
The purpose of planning is:
“The purpose of planning is to achieve a common understanding of the task to be, to obtain an overview of the work to be carried out, to lay the foundation for allocating and committing resources, to be able to form a
suitable organisation of work and to define a programme of monitoring and control.”
(Andersen, Grude and Haug, 1995, p.5131) Planning is deciding who, what, when and how tasks should be carried out. The decisions are written down in a project plan.
Some critical success factors are related to the purpose of planning. These factors are:
Project mission. Project plan.
Top management support. Communication.
Client consultation. Client acceptance. Monitoring and feedback.
31 Andersen, E.S., Grude, K.V. & Haug, T., 1995, Goal Directed Project Management (2nd edition), Kogan Page Limited:
