Improvement of planning and time control in the project management of a metalworking industry - case study

Abstract

Due to the competitiveness in the job shop nature of the metalworking industry, project management plays an important role in improving performance, efficiently and effectively managing its performance. Many of the generic problems observed in project management in metalworking industries were in the domain of document management, communication, multiple projects simultaneously, organizational structure, and poorly time estimation of project activities. The aim of this study was to improve the planning and time control in the project management of a metalworking industry in order to reduce the delivery delays. Using the existing data, an analysis of the project management process was carried out with the view to optimize the production system. In order to meet the established objectives, some of the project management tools were used, such as the Ishikawa diagram, PERT (three points estimating times), Monte Carlo simulation, as well as the involvement of people in the estimation and sequencing of activities, and holding weekly meetings to ensure the alignment of professionals. After the implementation of the actions proposed for the production process, there were gains of 50% and 38% in the average of deviations of times for two different projects of the case study and the Monte Carlo gave the best approximation.