As an engineering manager, you will be faced with challenges that occur now as issues, and challenges that could occur in the future as risks. As th
Overview
As an engineering manager, you will be faced with challenges that occur now as issues, and challenges that could occur in the future as risks. As the project leader, you must implement a systematic approach or methodology to solve those issues and risks and effectively communicate their solutions. In the field, these methodologies are documented within the project management plan (PMP).
In the second final project, you will once again assume the role of an engineering manager of a project—the development of a thermally stable lithium battery. This case scenario was also used in EMA 600; however, in the version for this course, the case has progressed three months into the future, and there are new challenges to address. Armed with broader knowledge and more advanced skills, you must apply the communication methods and problem-solving strategies discussed in this course to systematically solve the new and more complex engineering management problems facing the team. The results of your inquiry and your recommendations for moving forward will be compiled into an engineering project assessment for your senior management.
The final project represents an authentic demonstration of competency because it utilizes an engineering project case scenario that requires you to assume the role of manager. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Six and Seven. The final project will be submitted in Module Nine.
Prompt
Refer to the scenario document as you complete this project. Your engineering project assessment should address the following critical elements:
I. Introduction: Summarize the key details of the provided scenario, including sufficient information for your audience to understand your assessment and proposal.
II. Project Issues A. Complete an Ishikawa chart for each of the three issues, identifying at least five root causes for each issue in the scenario, which details possible program or management causes for the new program failures. Specifically, you must identify the most likely causes based on a thorough review of all relevant categories. Defend your analysis with specific evidence. Remember to submit an Ishikawa diagram for each of the three issues as part of your response.
B. Referring to your analysis of the program failure causes, propose specific corrective actions to effectively solve each issue and prevent the issue from reoccurring. Defend each recommendation by citing specific principles discussed in the course.
IV. Communication
A. Explain the importance of project communication as it applies to the successful outcome of a project. Defend your response with specific principles discussed in the course.
B. Explain the communication approach that you would employ to drive project success. Illustrate your approach with a communication matrix. Specifically, include how you would communicate project status to include cost, schedule, requirements, issues (root causes and project risks), and their mitigation strategies.
C. Finally, explain your strategies for preventing potential communication breakdowns. How will you keep the internal and external communications flowing effectively moving forward? For example, what sort of feedback mechanisms might you employ? Defend your recommendations by citing specific principles discussed in the course.
Guidelines for Submission: Your engineering project assessment should be 5 pages (including your Ishikawa diagrams, and risk matrix and table) use double spacing, 12-pt. Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and citations in APA format.
EMA 630 Scenario VALID Short-Circuited Battery: Three Months Later
Introduction and Context: This case study builds on the case study presented in EMA 600: Introduction to Engineering for Engineering Managers. We will revisit the company VALID, Inc., three months after the scenario presented in EMA 600. For the purposes of this final project, remember that we do not assume that you have an engineering or technical background. The focus is on the big picture of project leadership and how to ask the right questions and think critically to solve problems. There are no clear answers to the issues in this scenario, so think critically and creatively, and always keep the rubric and your overall goal in mind. Background: In this scenario, we have adequately and successfully tested the new design. The production line is in full operation, and VALID is delivering batteries to satisfied customers. Marketing is very happy because there are new customers ready to place orders that will bring the company close to full production capacity. Human resources (HR) is in hiring mode to meet the new demand. Management is thrilled with the new revenue stream. Battery subcontractors are in production and delivering raw materials and subcomponents on time and within quality standards. This is great, but what could go wrong? Three Issues: Ishikawa Diagram
1. Instructions: Use the Ishikawa diagram to identify the potential root causes of the following issues. Choose the best root cause(s) and propose appropriate corrective action.
a. The production line is currently yielding 100 units/day. Full capacity with three shifts can yield 150 units/day. For some reason, when the production manager performed a test yield run to determine if the production line could produce the 150 units/day, the production line only yielded 110 units/day. This is a big issue because marketing is already signing orders with new customers, which will increase production demand. What could be the root cause of this issue?
b. There have been five cases of production line workers experiencing headaches on the assembly line. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is involved and investigating. OSHA has threatened to close the production line unless a quick root cause is found. The union is investigating the incidents and is demanding a quick resolution to the issue. What could be the root cause of this issue?
c. At the final quality checkpoint in the production process, QA engineers perform acceptance tests to determine if the batteries are delivering constant voltage and steady heat dissipation. QA has been witnessing batteries with out-of-specification low voltage measurements. The issue is not constant across all production units. The result has been the rejection of these batteries, which has adversely affected production quantities. What could be the root cause of this issue?
Three Risks and Mitigations: Define, quantify, and mitigate the following risks using the risk matrix:
1. You hear on the news that there could be political unrest in the country in which one of your key international suppliers resides. The opposition party’s major platform is higher wages for workers in order to gain popularity with the majority of voters. The upcoming national elections are nine months away. What are the risks that this political unrest could possibly affect the production line?
2. Management wants to reduce costs by moving some production facilities to a country where labor costs are cheaper. Even though this move is consistent with current trade agreements, the move is counter to the policies of the new executive administration of the federal government, which is promoting made-in-America products. The move would be legal, but the federal government is threatening increased tariffs and taxes to companies that do not comply with the buy-American initiative. What are the risks to the company and the production line if management decides to move the production facility?
3. The production line is staffed with union workers. The four-year union agreement is coming to an end in 12 months. Previous negotiations have been cooperative, but there have been discussions of union discontent with current worker benefits. On the other hand, raising worker benefits could affect VALID’s profits, which would cause the company’s stock value to drop and adversely affect stockholders. If there were a union strike, the production line would be directly affected. What are the risks?
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Corrective Action Proposal:
Issue: Lack of full production capacity
Ishikawa Diagram Issue #2
Corrective Action Proposal:
Issue: Production line workers experiencing headaches
Ishikawa Diagram Issue #3
Corrective Action Proposal:
Issue: Random batteries with out-of-specification low voltage measurements
*Note: If you do not want to use this template, you can create your own Ishikawa diagram template using other tools. Make sure that it includes all of the elements contained here, specifically the headings: Machinery, Methods, People, Measurement, and Materials, and a Corrective Action Proposal.
**Note: You can move or delete text boxes to accommodate multiple lines of text.
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Case Study
VALID: Short Circuited Battery
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a new manager case report.
As you have learned in this course, an engineering project can be thought of as a complex system with many interrelated parts. In your role as an engineering manager, you must be aware of the typical problems that can disrupt that system. Sometimes you may be brought into an existing project—perhaps because of a restructuring in the organizational chart or because that project has gone off-track and is in need of new leadership. When that happens, it is important to thoroughly assess the project dynamics before implementing new management strategies.
In this assessment, you will assume the role of a newly hired engineering manager for a company called VALID, and you have been brought in to diagnose and fix the problems plaguing an important project for —namely, to develop safer, thermally-stable lithium-ion batteries. Your task is to assess the root cause issues and identify possible strategies for addressing each to present to the executive leadership team. The main areas of dysfunction include methodological or "handoff" failures between the different teams; interpersonal and communication breakdowns across the technical divide; and, potential ethical dilemmas in balancing engineering integrity with business needs. You must apply your knowledge gained throughout this course in developing a new manager case report aimed at transforming the project into a well-functioning system.
Introduction and Background
You have accepted a position as engineering manager for the lithium-ion battery development team (LiBDT) of VALID, Inc. (VA=powered lithium-ion devices), a highly respected engineering firm with an illustrious history of bringing cutting-edge energy storage to the marketplace.
You accept the management position fully aware that in the recent past several news stories have surfaced about problems with lithium-ion batteries. The first thing you do as a new manager is some research into the problem. You find the following related news stories.
Consumer Reports: Why Lithium-Ion Batteries Still Explode and What’s Being Done to Fix the Problem?
Chemical & Engineering News: Periodic graphics: Why Li-Ion batteries catch fire
CBS New Report: Are Lithium-Ion Batteries Safe? (2:11)
Joint Center for Energy Storage Research: Energy Storage Has the Potential to Change the Way We Live
Electropaedia: Lithium Battery Failures
Phys.Org: Researchers Advance Ground Breaking Water-in-Salt Lithium-Ion Battery Technology
MIT News: Doubling Battery Power of Consumer Electronics
Although VALID has not been implicated in any of the stories, its market share has suffered significant drops, nonetheless, and the bad press for lithium-ion batteries is affecting sales. This situation coupled with a growing discord within the development team and the recent internal testing failure of the new lithium-ion battery line, led VALID’s executive leadership team to dismiss the former manager, Peter Q. Robin, and downsize the group by 20%. The company was upfront with you when you interviewed for the position to replace Mr. Robin as manager of the lithium-ion battery development division. They acknowledged conflict within the engineering team as well as the decline in company’s market share.
It is understood by the executive leadership team that you do not have engineering expertise. You have been hired for your management leadership skills. You job is to thoroughly assess the project dynamics before implementing new management strategies by assessing the root cause issues and identifying possible strategies for addressing each. You are charged with rebuilding a cohesive and collaborative LiBDT team to release a new safe, high-energy battery. VALID believes that LiBDT needs to lead the industry with safer, thermally-stable lithium-ion batteries if the company is to recover a solid market share.
To begin, the executive leadership team has asked you for a project analysis in the form of a “case report,” analyzing the details of project methodology, the project team, and ethical concerns. They would also like your opinion on the overall health of the project and your general recommendations.
Problem Statement: In the recent VALID prototype failure there was a mismatch between the residual heat generated and the battery’s capacity to dissipate that heat. Consequently, the battery exceeded the established safe temperature limits. The prototype development followed the standard engineering design process, using industry standard software tools to simulate the conditions, the battery response, and to determine the design of the thermal packaging. Testing followed industry standards as well, but in the final tests the battery temperature was significantly different from the predicted simulation values. Simultaneously, the marketing division had already sent out pre-release advertisements enthusiastically promising a new, more powerful battery for all your toys and tools.
Project Structure: The lithium-ion battery development team is comprised of two sub-groups. The electrical and chemical engineering group works on developing higher electron density packing factors. The mechanical engineers and materials scientists address the electric anode/cathode isolating materials and the heat dissipation enclosure designs.
Challenges: It is unclear at this time what led to the discord within the team, but it is interfering with productive development and has become a critical factor in meeting the delivery schedules promised by the marketing division. The last prototype failed internal testing due to overheating, and the previous manager was trying to get the product released to satisfy the marketing department’s schedule and promises made to clients. Your role as manager is to understand the root causes for the disturbances and bring the team together. An important part of this is to build cooperation between the two primary teams and relieve the pressures felt by the other divisions’ expectations.
Notes: As you flip through the files you see some notes left by the previous project manager, Peter Q. Robin:
· Disharmony among groups? Why? Root causes? Can it be rectified? How?
· Ethical issues?
· Product testing? Internal inspections? Product release? Constraints? Limits? Reliability? Safety?
· Communication w/marketing? Communication w/stakeholders? Communication w/engineering team? How to restore trust? Why should stakeholders trust us after the battery problems our competitors had?
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