Engineering Project Management aka How do you get

Engineering Project Management, aka: “How do you get a bunch of engineers to work together to actually make a product? ” Helder Carvalheira Engineering 10 10 -27 -04 H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Product Development Pick a product, any product l ¡ ¡ l Most require more than one Engineering discipline to develop. Some need many disciplines, including (but not limited to): Design Engineering ¡ ¡ ¡ Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering Software Engineering Packaging Engineering Industrial Design Research & Development l l Quality Engineering ¡ Product Assurance Engineering ¡ Software Quality Engineering ¡ Supplier Quality Engineering ¡ Reliability Engineering Manufacturing Engineering ¡ ¡ Tooling Engineering ¡ Process/Manufacturing Engineering ¡ H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Industrial Engineering Test Engineering Chabot College / Engineering 10

Product Development l But wait, there’s more! ¡ Also need NON-ENGINEERING groups to make a product l Financial Analysts l Product Managers l Marketing Communications l Sales, Order Entry, Account Managers l Customer Service / Field Service l Production Control l Purchasing & Commodity Management l And many more, depending on the industry. . . Overwhelming? Yes! But there’s a solution. . . H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

How do you tie this mess together? Two words: PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project Management is the means to coordinate, control, and drive all the individual elements required to develop a product to achieve performance, cost, schedule, and customer satisfaction requirements. H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Dissecting the Definition of Project Management l Coordinate ¡ ¡ l Control ¡ ¡ l Make sure all the disciplines are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things, and working together to achieve the product’s objectives. Communicate project status to upper management, other divisions & locations, employees, customers Ensure that all the disciplines are on track. Manage problems and issues as they arise and help find creative solutions. Ensure that cost, schedule and performance objectives will be met, and redirect the team immediately if any are in jeopardy. Drive ¡ ¡ Get people to work! Convince them why they should do what you ask. Exert your influence, because that’s your main tool. Learn from the team members. They have valuable input. Use their input to help make better products faster! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Dissecting the Definition of Project Management l Performance ¡ ¡ l They key features of the product. What the customer wants from the product. How the customer interfaces with the product. What the product delivers to the customer. Cost ¡ ¡ ¡ Unit cost l Materials, labor, overhead, and shipping costs. Development cost l Development labor cost l Contractors and consultants l Prototype materials and tools Equipment cost l Production test equipment l Production tooling l Production line equipment H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Dissecting the Definition of Project Management l Schedule ¡ ¡ ¡ l WHEN the product will be ready for: l Design l Prototype build l Testing l Customer samples l Volume production l Customer shipment Create the schedule, then use it as a development roadmap Define all the product development tasks Customer Satisfaction ¡ ¡ Happy, delighted customers that want to buy your product. If you do all the above, you’ll probably have happy customers! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Dissecting the Definition of Project Management The Project Manager has the ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY to develop and ship a new product. Sounds heavy? Sometimes, it’s heavy. Sounds exciting? ABSOLUTELY!! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Q: How Does a Project Manager Do This? A: Using Project Teams • Product Marketing – Subproject Leader • • • Finance – Subproject Leader • Information Technology Finance Channel Marketing Sales PR Advertising Marketing • Product Management – Subproject Leader • Product Assurance – Subproject Leader • • Production Quality Supplier Quality Engineering Software Quality Assurance Technical Assistance Quality • Systems Engineering – Subproject Leader Electrical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Software Engineering Acoustic Engineering Services H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Product Management Team Leader Engineering • • • Industrial Design Project Manager Operations • New Product Introduction Manager – Subproject Leader • • • Manufacturing Engineering NPD Procurement Tooling Test Engineering Packaging Engineering Chabot College / Engineering 10

Q: How Does a Project Manager Do This? A: Using a Product Development Process Key Questions Stage Objectives Concept • Evaluate the market opportunity • Clarify the product concept Go/ No Go Definition & Planning Go/ No Go • Validate the opportunity • Develop the product • Clearly define the product • Develop production and support processes • Fully plan the project • Assess strategic fit Does the product warrant further definition? Development Go/ No Go Pre-Production • Transition the product to volume production • Begin market introduction • Plan the market introduction Does the product meet customer needs, and does it warrant investment in full development? H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Does the product meet expectations and remain viable within the required time frame? Go/ No Go Production • Ramp-up production • Verify distribution and support processes • Achieve stable operations Do test results and market introduction preparations demonstrate launch readiness? Chabot College / Engineering 10 Have project objectives been achieved, and can the Core Team be disbanded?

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Project Objectives ¡ ¡ ¡ Develop an all-new Bluetooth Wireless headset for a major cell phone manufacturer within 12 months. Meet their performance, cost, and production requirements. Match the style of their phones. H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Where do we start? ¡ ¡ Assemble a worldwide “core team”: Engineering, Operations, Marketing, Product Management, Quality, Finance. Clearly define what the customer wants. Review and agree upon the specifications. l Ongoing effort throughout the duration of the project Define the major design elements required l Example: Need wireless circuits, software, battery, speakers and mics, ear interface, mechanical Define the tasks and timing necessary to develop the major elements l Break down the elements above into discrete tasks l Define interrelationships and deliverables l Define task timing. l Team effort driven by project manager H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Now, we actually plan the project ¡ ¡ ¡ l System design elements to meet performance requirements Product Specification Detailed tasks to design and implement the product into production Project Schedule Resources required and timing to execute the tasks above Resource Requirements Labor, equipment, contractors Project Budget Project budget, volumes, unit cost Profit Margin This becomes the Project Plan. ¡ When everyone agrees, we can start designing and building! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Now, the interplay starts! ¡ ¡ ¡ l Subproject teams are formed to tackle their own areas. ¡ l Software Engrg Elect. Engrg Industrial Design Product Reqmnts Mech Engrg Mfg Feed data and designs to other teams and to the core team Contractors and consultants ¡ l Working sessions between the core team members Project manager facilitates and drives team to ensure the product requirements are met Lots of tradeoffs: you NEVER get everything you want Finance To augment specific technical areas Subsystem and full-system design reviews H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10 Quality Product Mgmt

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l After numerous “paper” iterations, the team determines if the design is ready for prototyping ¡ ¡ ¡ l Most risks are addressed Design addresses the performance requirements First-cut design is complete First-cut manufacturing, test, and verification plans are developed Product cost is triple-checked: is it still profitable? When ready, prototyping begins ¡ ¡ ¡ Order components l Printed circuit boards, machined parts, plastics tooling, stamped parts, paint, speakers & mics, wires & batteries. Order equipment l Test, programming, production, tools, tables & chairs. Assembly plan: l Location, resources, timing, quantities & testing. H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Then, we test the prototypes ¡ ¡ l Invariably, there will be design changes ¡ ¡ l Quality, performance, or manufacturing failures Customer doesn’t like it Now, more tradeoffs! ¡ ¡ ¡ l In-house verification in test labs Field & customer testing Redesign elements contradict each other Development cost vs. budget Unit cost vs. component adders to fix problems Schedule impact because of redesigns and delays Customer getting angry ‘cause it’s late! The Project Manager is at the CENTER of these issues. ¡ ¡ Project manager provides guidance on tradeoffs Technical background with business sense is CRITCAL here! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l After tweaking the design, we build more prototypes ¡ Each one getting closer, product keeps getting better. Each one impacting the development budget ¡ Each one is compressing the schedule ¡ ¡ l l Product cost may also get strained here Need to obtain more resources for sticky problems l Software, Electrostatic Discharge, Mechanical Reliability l More contractors and consultants Customer is getting more satisfied, but the pressure is still on ‘cause the schedule is running out! The Project Manager is STILL at the center of this Prototypes and design changes continue until. . . H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Eventually, the product is close enough for customer acceptance ¡ ¡ ¡ l Now we can start limited production. But wait! ¡ ¡ l Meets nearly all requirements Might have one or two non-critical issues Customer says: “Good enough to start, but ya gotta fix the remaining issues ASAP!” Are your suppliers ready to start shipping parts in volume? Is your production line ready? Test equipment in place, production processes qualified? Line workers trained? Are the distribution warehouses ready to accept pallets of product? Shipping methods (air, ship, truck)? Is the end user ready to accept the product: shelf space, advertising material, etc. The Project Manager is STILL at the center of this. H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l Now that product is hitting the stores, go back to fix the open issues ¡ Software updates ¡ Circuit design improvements ¡ ¡ l Submit the product for final full customer acceptance ¡ ¡ l Test equipment improvements Production yield improvements. If they like it, them go to FULL production! Make sure that Sales and Production Control are fully engaged so that orders flow straight to production and the product will ship on time. Now the Project Manager can take a break, because THE PRODUCT IS SHIPPING!!!! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Real-world Example: The Korva Project l The Glory Days. . . ¡ The product is making money for the company The product is selling very well ¡ The customer is satisfied. ¡ ¡ l The team achieved what appeared to be IMPOSSIBLE at the beginning of the program An unbelievable feeling of accomplishment for yourself, the company, and the team. Time for a vacation! H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Career Planning for Project Management l Technical background and experience ¡ Engineering degree and/or equivalent experience Know what the team is talking about and what they are doing ¡ Understand their tasks, but DON’T DO IT FOR THEM ¡ ¡ l Best to experience a few different technical disciplines l e. g. Electrical + Software, Mechanical + Manufacturing, Software + Quality, etc. Understanding of business concepts ¡ ¡ Finance, marketing, supply chain, others Know how all the elements tie together to make a profitable product for the company H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Career Planning for Project Management l Communication and People Skills ¡ ¡ l Need to drive the team, but not alienate them INFLUENCE is your most powerful tool, not authority. You need them more than they need you, but they need you to be a leader. Need to communicate clearly and effectively to all levels in the company. Organization and detail management ¡ ¡ Project management requires superior organization skills to deal with all the data and decisions that must be made Be comfortable with details. H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10

Questions? H. Carvalheira 10 -27 -04 Chabot College / Engineering 10