Different ways to manage the margin at project or program level and at the workpackage level.
The introduction of margins inside a schedule is a normal process. The decision could be taken by the program & project management or by the WP managers themselves.
At the program and project level, the margin should be global for risk mitigation. This margin should be set at the end of the networks or logic (end of project or final events as such as design reviews, flights, delivery of qualification software,...).
All the activities are set “at the earliest” (as soon as possible).
The project (or program) keep this margin and request to the WP manager to achieve their activity as soon as possible. The workload is spread in accordance.
If the first workpackage has some delay, the warning will appear on all the activities. The planning & control cells should identify the originator of the global delay.
In case of delays, the P&C cells should also advise the WP manager for the re-forcasting of the workload.
At the workpackage level, the manager could and should have is own margin (on deliverables, ). To keep this margin internally to the WP, the interface should be kept at the commitment date (not as soon as possible).
If some delay appears but inside the margin, no outside warning will appear at the project level.
The only think to keep in mind is that if the 1st deliverable is achieved in advance, the beginning of the WP04 in advance will be subjected to the availability of WP04 resources.
For external constraints, it is obvious that for external (to the project) deliveries, some margin should be taken. For example the request of special equipments (provide by external company) should be requested earlier than the need.
Some cases could be managed in “just in time” :
- Very expensive items
- Very important (in volume) items requesting a large storage facilities
- Special items requesting storage condition (control of temperature & humidity, dangerous goods,...)
Mis à jour le samedi 6 août 2005.
