Recommendation and implementation. 5
Monitoring and control 6
Conclusion 6
Works cited.. 7
Executive summary
There were various issues that existed in the Denver International Airport (DIA) that called for the changes in the baggage handling system. The integrated baggage handling system was proposed in order to manage luggage delivery and save on time. The overall reason for the incorporation of the baggage handling system was to save the time that would be wasted in the manual baggage handling and sorting. The risks in the project include the large-scale of the project, the complexity of the system, technological challenges, technical and project uncertainties. There is also the time the project would take to be completed. The contract was given to Carollton; Texas-based engineering consulting and manufacturing company, BAE Automated Systems Inc.
The issues encountered in the building of the system led to delays in the opening of the airport and the operation of the integrated baggage handling system. The challenges encountered in the project are outlined below. The problem with the project was the coordination of the project implementation. The management failed in the strategies it employed leading to a delay in the opening of the airport, and the operation of the baggage-handling system.
This report will also discuss the recommendations to deal with these challenges and how they can be implemented. Furthermore, the monitoring and control system for ensuring that these recommendations are valid have been discussed. The project management team failed on its part, since it had a responsibility to ensure that the project ran smoothly. However, the project had numerous and grave issues. These issues are discussed in length.
Problem identification
One of the challenges in the integrated baggage handling system was the death of the chief airport engineer Slinger that resulted in the appointment of Gail Edmond to replace him (Montealegre 11). The project faced challenges after Gail took office because he employed a different approach to the management of the project. Slinger was a real problem solver in the management of the project. Gail was overwhelmed by her responsibilities and her desire to get the project running as efficiently as it did under the leadership of her predecessor. The unrestricted access that was employed in the construction compromised the activities of the constructors and other workers. The unrestricted access made some departments have their work areas blocked by other department's building materials. There was also the accumulation of fumes that caused some of the BAE workers to leave. As a result of this, BAE’s work was interrupted with no intervention from the city (Montealegre 11).
The airlines also wanted to have some changes done to the system design while it was still running. These changes led to massive changes that had to be made by BAE. For example, BAE had to do away with the loop of track from Concourse B, and the United was allocated one loop instead of two. The adjustments employed in the system design led to time wastage and cost wastage. The costs that resulted as a consequence of the changes in the system design resulted in an overstatement of the budgets. The time wasted could also not be recovered, and this could eventually lead to a delay in the opening of the airport and the installation of the entire integrated baggage system (Montealegre 12).
The other problem faced by the building of the integrated baggage handling system was the inability of the city to provide clean electricity. The lack of clean electricity was a challenge to the electricians and engineers, building the system since some of the equipments were sensitive to power surges and fluctuations. These equipments included the motors and circuitry. This problem has taken longer to be resolved since the filters and other equipments ordered by engineers to rectify the problem were not delivered on time. As a result of this, the program could not achieve the set timelines.
The other issue affecting the project was albeit dispute that challenged the jobs contracted to different companies. The argument involved the jobs whereby a particular percentage was supposed to be contracted to minority-owned companies. BAE’s contacts did not comply with the hiring requirements, and this resulted in a denial of the contract by the City of Denver. The negotiations over this contract led to a two-day strike of three-hundred millwrights and two-hundred electricians. BAE eventually lost this maintenance contract (Montealegre 12).
There was also a challenge to keeping track of all the changes that were done in the project design. This lack of a proper system of monitoring the changes further resulted in the employment of another system that could help in keeping track of these changes. The tracking system took three years to be fully functional.
Lawsuits followed as a result of the continuous postponement of the opening of the airport. The team players were very concerned because even the integrated baggage handling system had so many errors. These errors were caused by the computer software and mechanical system malfunctioning. Power struggles and lack of proper communication between the relevant stakeholders was also a challenge in the implementation of the project (Montealegre 13).
Environmental and cause analysis
The issues in the implementation of the project resulted from the economic factor. There were more workers who were employed than it was intended in order to fasten the construction process. The increase in workers was as a result of the delays in the building process. For example, the construction volume exceeded $100 million per month in mid-1992. There were also very many unnecessary contracts that were awarded to different companies. The many contracts were straining the financial budgets that had been laid down for the project (Montealegre 6).
The changes in the system’s design led to an increase in costs since some constructions had to be undone, and more systems had to be built in areas where they were not initially agreed. The strike by the workers also led to losses. There were also financial disputes that were filed by conflicts since none of the team players wanted to be a loser.
Alternatives
Since there seemed to be many disputes in different aspects, it was important to rally all the team players together. The disadvantage of the approach used is that it facilitates political influence. The various leaders involved in the management of the program seemed to have differing opinions on various issues. The management also did not involve all the stakeholders in various issues and this resulted in the differences. From project management to be effective, there should be teamwork. Teamwork facilitates the togetherness of all the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the project. Teamwork rallies together people to work towards the achievement of the same goal. Consultation of all parties is helpful in ensuring that the budget is followed. The project development should also have been done comprehensively to prevent the encountered issues when the project is already running. The disadvantage of is the numerous costs incurred during the changing of the project design.
Recommendation and implementation
The implementation can be done successfully through reducing the number of contracts given to the various companies. The reduction saves time and costs. The roles and responsibilities of the partners should also be clearly defined. This process of implementing these recommendations would involve the meeting with the program management team in order to conduct a review of the project. The review will accommodate how the contracts to the various companies will be reduced to save on costs. The management team will also determine the roles and responsibilities of partners and then email them to all the leaders of the various departments. The team will also call a meeting to address the issue of commitment towards the project completion. The team also should carry out adequate research before implementing a project to ensure that the program is fault free as much as possible.
Monitoring and control
In the monitoring and control, the leaders from the various departments are used to determine the progress. The leaders are expected to have detailed reports of the activities in their dockets, including the financial budgets, reviews, challenges and the meetings held with their workers to determine progress and challenges. The reports will be handed in at the end of every two weeks for close monitoring. The team cannot manage to do the monitoring on the ground. Therefore, it is the work of the persons in charge of the various departments to provide management feedback. In addition to this, the tracking system is a meaningful way of monitoring and controlling the project.
Conclusion
In supply chain management, all the necessary activities need to be implemented effectively in order to get the desired outcomes. The planning, forecasting, purchasing, product assembly and construction were done wrong in this case. The approach to building a new airport and install an integrated baggage-handling system was perfectly okay. However, the activities in the planning and management were done wrongly leading to the identified challenges/issues. With a few adjustments as stated in the recommendations, the project can run smoothly.
Works cited
R, Montealegre. BAE automated systems (A): Denver International Airport baggage-handling system. Harvard Business School, 1996.
