• Assessment 2: Project budget, schedule and resources
  

  Building on Assessment 1, you are a project manager on a major project, and are now required to prepare the relevant documentation for the project budget, scheduleand resources. Base your responses on current recommended practice, as described in contemporary literature and personal research into the industry of the Case Study. The focus is to be on the selection and application of appropriate theory, tools and techniques not how accurate your budget, schedule and resourcing are.

  Read your project case study carefully. As you work through these three tasks, identify any areas where you do not yet have sufficient information, and may need to ask further questions from your project sponsor.

• Develop an appropriate budget for the Case Study project. Include details of all assumptions you have made in preparing this budget. (Approximately 400 words)
• Prepare a schedule for the Case Study project, identifying the key milestones for the project deliverables. Discuss the relative merits of the methods, tools and techniques used and compare these with any that you chose not to use. (Approximately 700 words)
• Finally, estimate the resources required for successful completion of the Case Study project. Integrate this with the schedule and identify potential resourcing stress points for the “critical path” that will need careful management. Identify tools and techniques that might be used here. (Approximately 700 words)

A report format is acceptable, but must include explanation of the approaches used throughout the project life-cycle. Diagrams, charts, tables and illustrations may be used to communicate or describe an approach. These should be supported by a written discussion and not relied upon to tell the story themselves.

Assessment will be based on your discussion of tools and techniques considered and used to develop and manage the budget, the schedule and to estimate resources. You should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach considered and support your chosen approach to each component for the case.

Make sure you read the Assessment 2 marking criteria carefully before you start your work. Submit your assessment as a Word document of no more than 1800 words.

Tips on preparing your assessment:

• Base your report on academic sources, e.g. journal articles, books, chapters in books.
• You may refer to other sources, such as internet sites, magazines, or newspapers, as long as you Include a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed academic resources
• Communication skills are important, so proofread your work carefully before you submit. The standard of your writing will impact your communication and through this your mark.
• Case Study details
  

  Organisation Background

  Your organisation is a large multinational oil company with multiple storage facilities located around Australia. They own and operate their tank farms in each state to supply the domestic market with automotive fuels. The Project Management Office (PMO) based in Melbourne determines which projects take priority, the scope, and goals for each project along with the terms and conditions for engaging contractors to complete the works.

  The Revenue Division of the company has developed a business case for substantial repair works to be completed to reduce environmental fines and optimise availability and throughput of all locations. Throughput equals profit!

  Your role:

  You are the Project Manager, employed to plan and manage a project to bring the Western Australian storage facility up to the required standard, while normal operations continue.

  You report to the clients Program Manager in the Project Management Office (PMO) in Melbourne

  Situation

  Currently 30% of the company’s unleaded petrol (ULP) storage capacity in Western Australia (WA) is bordering on collapse due to the age and condition of the tanks and associated infrastructure. The condition of the largest tank in WA is particularly bad due to the tank being over 50 years old and of a complex and outdated design. The company is currently paying $20,000/month in environmental fines due to detected leakage of petroleum products into the surrounding soil.

  You are the third Project Manager to be appointed to this project due to performance and personal issues affecting prior appointments. The Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager has worked with you before, but your relationship is tarnished from a disagreement with your in-house HSE Manager.

  The Terminal Manager has taken over responsibility for operations in the last 4 months after a promotion and is still working through the logistical challenges of the site. Operations must continue to provide revenue streams and continuity of supply to fuel outlets.

  Fuel deliveries for the tanks under repair have been rescheduled to coincide with the planned completion of works as per the schedule.

  Required works for the Western Australian site

  Tank 1

  Capacity: 1 million litres unleaded petrol (ULP)
  4 Steel Patches averaging 2m² in size.
  4 Steel anchors required on top of tank for working at heights
  Cleaning and repaint of outside of tank

  Tank 2

  Capacity: 3 million litres unleaded petrol (ULP)
  7 Steel Patches averaging 3m² in size.
  4 Steel anchors required on top of tank for working at heights
  Cleaning and repaint of outside of tank

  Tank 3

  Capacity: 7 million litres unleaded petrol (ULP)
  6 Steel Patches averaging 1.5m² in size.
  4 Steel anchors required on top of tank for working at heights
  Replacement of main supply valve. Size: 300mm Diameter, in Stainless Steel.
  Cleaning and repaint of outside of tank

  Site challenges

  The site is a tapered triangular shape. The longest side is bounded by the loading docks. Another side has a dead-end road leading to the container terminal.

  The final side is bounded by a small specialist oil distribution company. The site is on a rise with loading gantry site below the tanks. In order to work on the tanks you will need to use one large crane, one small crane and scaffolding.

  When a tanker docks to deliver fuel, all works stops due to highly flammable vapours venting from tanks as they fill.

  Time to fill each tank;

  Tank 1: 4 to 6 hours

  Tank 2: 8 to 10 hours

  Tank 3: 18 to 20 hours