Patent Publication Number: US-2003233268-A1

Title: Multi-dimensional interdependency based project management

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates generally to project management and, more particularly to techniques for managing a project using a project model having multi-dimensional interdependency data.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] Effective project management is a crucial factor in the success of a project. Among other activities project management involves planning, tracking, cost-estimation and forecasting for various entities during the life-cycle of a given project. Examples of such entities associated with a project include people, money, time, machines, skills and goals. One of the core functions of project management is to coordinate entities with respect to various activities. Another major function of project management is to communicate to all entities their respective responsibilities with respect to each slice of time and objective. Several tools exists to help a project manager plan and track a project.  
       [0003] Several techniques are available to manage projects. Techniques like project evaluation and review technique (PERT) charts, critical path method (CPM) charts and Gantt charts are very useful tools in project management. PERT charts show multiple tasks connected to successor tasks. In a typical PERT chart, a first task starts with a node and all the tasks together form a network of nodes and connecting lines. CPM charts indicate the critical path of a project. Gantt charts are matrices that represent all the tasks to be performed on one axis and the estimated task duration, skill level needed for the task etc. on another axis. The aforementioned techniques are able to relate tasks based on some relationships, and principally based on a time sequence for performing the tasks. However, entities are often related by multiple types of dependencies. Effective project management is decreased when such dependencies are not accounted for during project management. Thus, there is a need for modeling and managing a project that accounts for the multiple interdependencies between project entities.  
       [0004] Computer-based project management tools are available. These tools mostly focus on providing basic project management features and computer implementations of known techniques, such as PERT, CPM, Gantt etc. Conventional project management tools implemented on a computer mostly focus on tracking estimated and actual timelines, and not necessarily on the various interdependencies between the elements of a project. Therefore, the conventional tools do not promote effective collaboration between people working on a given project. Thus, there is a need for techniques and tools which account for the multidimensional interdependencies associated with a given project.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] Project management is improved by utilizing the multidimensional interdependencies. The project is modeled as consisting of subprojects that are further composed of tasks. Each one of the tasks is to be executed by a designated responsible entity. By using the multi-dimensional interdependencies, the capture of interrelationships between various project elements, for example, between two subtasks or two responsible entities is done in a simple and efficient manner. The multidimensional interdependencies consist of multiple dimensions representing various types of relationships between project elements like tasks. Multidimensional interdependencies are generated by one task as an output and consumed by the other task as input. It is also possible that multidimensional interdependencies are generated by multiple tasks and are consumed by other multiple tasks.  
       [0006] It is possible to build different views of the project and relationships between various project elements using the multidimensional interdependencies. The multidimensional interdependencies support iterating during the project planning phase, and hence help to reduce the expensive iteration costs during the execution phase. The iteration process allows making changes to interdependencies during the planning phase itself. A project model to store and process the multidimensional interdependencies can be built in a variety of ways depending upon the particular tool and applications.  
       [0007] Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0008]FIG. 1A is an exemplary representation of a project model;  
     [0009]FIG. 1B illustrates multi-dimensional interdependencies between two tasks of a project;  
     [0010]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary graphical representation of the multidimensional interdependencies for a given project model;  
     [0011]FIG. 3 is a chart depicting a tabular form of interdependency data extracted from the project model of the present invention;  
     [0012]FIG. 4 is a graph depicting a comparison between a conventional project management approach and an improved project management approach that employs the project model of the present invention;  
     [0013]FIG. 5 is a screenshot depicting potential change analysis information that may be extracted from the project model of the present invention; and  
     [0014]FIG. 6 is a screenshot depicting hierarchical views of vehicle component information that may be extracted from the project model of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0015]FIG. 1A is an exemplary representation of a project model  10 . Information about a project includes a vast number of items. For example, schedules, teams, budgets, technical reports, designs, bill of materials etc. An improved project management system should be able to capture and track a critical quantum of such information parameters at appropriate times and should be able to produce useful output by processing project information. Such a system will require a versatile data-model in order effectively manage a project. The present invention implements such a data-model to store the project information.  
     [0016] A project can be viewed as consisting of several subprojects that in turn are composed of multiple tasks. A data model for storing various kinds of project information is disclosed. The data model for storing project information is called the project model  10 . The exemplary representation of the project model is shown as a cube. The project is composed of multiple subprojects  14 . Each of the sub-projects  14  is further subdivided into a plurality of tasks  16 , such that each one of the tasks is assigned a responsible entity  18 . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the cube is a non-limiting representation of a project model  10 . Similarly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other compositions of a project are also possible.  
     [0017]FIG. 1B illustrates multi-dimensional interdependencies between two tasks of a project. In this example, a first task  22  is related to a second task  24 . A first responsible entity  32  is designated to execute the first task  22 . Similarly, a second responsible entity  34  is designated to execute the second task  24 . The relationship between the two tasks is further characterized by multi-dimensional interdependencies  26 .  
     [0018] Multi-dimensional interdependencies  26  are further illustrated by a non-limiting example. For illustration purposes, a subproject for wheel construction having two constituent tasks is considered. First task  22  concerns designing a wheel and is performed by the wheel design group as represented by the first responsible entity  32 . The second task  24  represents wheel prototyping which is to be carried out by the prototype building group as represented by the second responsible entity  34 . In this case, the multidimensional interdependencies  26  consists of two dimensions: a wheel blueprint  28  and prototyping instructions  30 . The prototype building group  34  is not in a position to effectively build a prototype of a wheel until it receives the necessary information, i.e., the wheel blueprint  28  and prototyping instructions  30 , from the design group  22 . In other words, the first task generates the necessary output that is provided as an input to the second task  24 . The above example shows a simple type of information exchange involving two entities. It is envisioned that a single task can produce output which would be required by many other tasks.  
     [0019] Multi-dimensional interdependencies  26  between tasks may take a number of different forms. Non-limiting examples of such interdependency data includes systems, sub-systems, components, systems requirements, component requirements, interface between components, interface between systems, test descriptions and procedures, task timelines, quality units, lifecycles, functional areas, functional objectives, and architectures. It is envisioned that interdependencies  26  can be classified into categories for easy identification. For example, a design category may include component designs, fluid designs, electrical circuit diagrams etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited by the type of dimensions and different types of dimensions are possible depending upon the given application.  
     [0020] The project model  10  may be implemented in a variety of forms. For instance, the project model  10  may be stored in a memory associated with a computing device and processed by appropriate application software. The project model  10  may be further defined as a series of random access files, in an object oriented form, a database, etc. In addition, various known methods can be used to populate a project model  10  with interdependency data. For example, the interdependency data may be manually identified and input into the project model  10 . Alternatively, such data may be sourced from existing internal databases, databases provided by external agencies, web-services, and/or internet.  
     [0021] Once the project model is properly populated, several project management functions are improved. For instance, it is now possible for a responsible entity to know in advance what are the necessary dimensions or parameters for it to execute its designated task. Similarly, a responsible entity knows how other tasks are dependent upon it. Instead of responsible entities tracking just the timelines, with the multidimensional interdependencies  26  based project management the responsible entities can perform better by tracking the multiple interdependencies along with timelines.  
     [0022] The responsible entities can collaborate between themselves to better track and adjust various tasks to be executed. The collaboration process is shown as  36  in FIG. 1B. For example, one responsible entity can negotiate the time estimated to complete its task with another responsible entity which in turn can adjust its schedules to the newly negotiated timeframe. Another example of collaboration can be that the inventory department can receive requisitions as dimensions and adjust its task of ordering parts based on the fluctuating production schedules. Further, the overall project management process can be improved as the project can be planned and tracked in many different ways apart from the usual parameters, such as timeframes, costs, and responsibilities.  
     [0023]FIG. 2 provides a graphical representation of multidimensional interdependencies for a given project model. The three dimensions shown here are who  38 , whom  40 , when  42  and the description as what  44 . To illustrate, it is assumed that the what  44  represents a transmission system. Dimension who  38  represents the entity that will build the transmission system, the dimension  40  represents for whom the transmission system will be built, and the dimension when  42  represents the time at which the transmission system will be built. A group of all such dimensions is shown as a three-dimensional set of solid bar-graphs. Although three-dimensions are shown, it is readily understood that n-dimension models are within the scope of the present invention. It is further understood that a particular view of the multidimensional interdependencies does not limit the n-dimensional multidimensional interdependencies itself and that it is possible to view multidimensional interdependencies in several different ways depending on the tool and the need.  
     [0024]FIG. 3 depicts a tabular form of interdependency data as extracted from a project model. The tabular view illustrates that multiple views from an n-dimensional project model can be created with relative ease. The table  46  provides columns for different dimensions such as source group  48 , requesting group  50 , required information  52 , and comments  58 . The information required  52  is further composed of an input requirement  54  and needed by date  56 . The comment  58  field accommodates any additional information. As an illustration the first row from the top of the table is considered. The requiring group  56  (‘W1’) needs the input required  54  (‘Production Framer PLP/Holding Locations Defined for BSA’). The requesting group  50  (‘XYZ’) sources the required information from the source group  48  (‘AME’). The illustration shows how multidimensional interdependencies can be used to design and facilitate precise information flow in a project.  
     [0025]FIG. 4 provides a comparison between a conventional project management approach  60  and an improved project management approach  62  that employs a project model having multi-dimensional interdependency data. Specifically, multi-dimensional interdependency data can be used to increase the efficiency of the technical planning phase as will be further described below. The conventional project  60  progresses through a series of phases including technical planning  64 , execution  66 , and launch  68 . During the execution phase, numerous design problems may be identified and corrected. Several iterations may be need to satisfactorily complete the phase. This iterative process often leads to a long and cumbersome execution phase.  
     [0026] In addition to the conventional project phases, the improved project management approach  62  further includes an additional first phase of project modeling  70 . The project modeling phase  70  primarily consists of building and populating a project model having multi-dimensional interdependency data as described above. Technical planning  64  can now be performed with improved accuracy and predictability as all relevant interdependent information has been stored in a project model populated in the modeling phase  70 . Further, it is possible to iteratively perform different segments within the technical planning phase  72 . in order to pin-point future changes or problems. Such iteration reduces the probable cost and time overruns which may occur during the execution phase  74 . If a particular change is carried out, it is easy to find out what other project elements may be affected using the project model. By performing the iterative steps of identifying and correcting design problems during the technical planning  74 , it is possible to minimize remedial costs throughout the project.  
     [0027] Various queries of the interdependency data contained in the project model provides the information needed to better manage the project. For instance, queries based on user supplied time or quality units can be generated to track the progress of the project. External data sources can be coupled with the project data-model to provide real time queries. In another instance, the marketing information system can be linked to the project model to match production schedules to varying product demands. The product model could then vary the related dimensions and generate new tasks for the appropriate responsible entities. Tools for querying the project model may be designed as independent or integrated systems. The invention is broad enough to encompass a wide variety of query tools and those skilled in the art would appreciate that particular tool design would depend upon specific application.  
     [0028]FIG. 5 is a screenshot from a tool performing a potential change analysis. A potential change view  76  may be used to assess the effects of a potential change on a project. For example, a quick analysis of changes to be made on all the interdependencies is assessable if a change is made to the timeframe of vehicle build plan  78 . Change assessment using multi-dimensional interdependency data helps all parties involved in a project to assess the impact of changes before a change is undertaken. The potential change view  76  is a non-limiting example. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that different views and suitable tools may be designed for different applications and thus the present invention is not limited by the use of a particular view or tool.  
     [0029]FIG. 6 is a screenshot from a tool that provides hierarchical views of vehicle components. The hierarchical component view  80  illustrates the interdependencies between vehicle components. For example, if a user clicks on the chassis system  82 , the user is shown each of the components required to build the chassis system. To reveal additional interdependency data, the user may then click on a given chassis component  84 . The user is then shown detailed component data, such as engineering data, materials, past failure test reports, who is building it, timelines for building, etc., related to that particular component. Again, the hierarchical component view  80  is a non-limiting example.  
     [0030] In sum, the present invention uses multi-dimensional interdependencies for managing a project. The multidimensional interdependencies are n-dimensional and can be used for effectively capturing intra-project and inter-project relationships. Use of multidimensional interdependencies leads to decreased project costs and better utilization of resources. The above description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.