- Information
- AI Chat
Capstone Project - Final Submission
Operations and Project Management Capstone (QSO700)
Southern New Hampshire University
Recommended for you
Preview text
Running Head: CAPSTONE PROJECT 1
CAPSTONE PROJECT
Module Ten Mansour Alhusayni Southern New Hampshire University QSO – 700 May 19th, 2019.
Table of Contents
- Service Launch Strategy and Planning
- Overview
- Company Background
- Rationale
- Problem or Opportunity
- Project Initiation
- Company
- Project Charter
- Project Stakeholder’s Analysis
- Stakeholders Detail
- Approach
- Methodology and Planning
- Project Tasks
- Gantt Chart
- Service Resource Scheduling and Inventory Management
- New Solar Electricity Service
- Inventory Management Strategy
- Supply Chain Utilization
- Proposed Supply Chain for Solar Electricity Service
- Capacity Planning
- Process Flow Chart
- Financial Assessment and Resource Planning
- Economic Fit
- Operational Costs
- Benefits
- Resources – Staffing & Materials
- Cost Justification
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
Service Launch Strategy and Planning
Overview
This paper will be used to analyze the proposal and launching of a newly designed product by Husk Power Systems Corporation. The case selected here is ‘HUSK POWER SYSTEMS: SCALING UP A STARTUP', where a new service is to be proposed for HPS company. The proposed idea is about utilizing solar panels in place of Rice Husk to produce solar electricity for local villagers of Indian remote areas.
Company Background
Husk Power Systems is an India based company involved in supplying electricity to local and remote villages through supplying the power to generators by consuming rice husk. The idea of using rice husk was subjective as the availability of rice husk was seen as an encouraging factor by HPS company. Since the company introduced electricity to remote villages, it progressed faster to have seven electrifying generators with a capacity of each one was 35- kW power generation. Before the utilization of rice husk as an energy source, villagers were relying on diesel and Kerosene as a source of energy [ CITATION Har12 \l 1033 ].
Rationale
The reason for the selection of this case is available potential for solar electricity in the modern world. Solar power is procured from directly converting sunlight into energy, which can provide electricity to small households. The photoelectric process is behind converting PV (Photovoltaics) into electric current. There's much to be relied heavily upon utilizing solar-based energy as the sun produces 1589-49,837 EJ of solar energy, more than seven times an earth consumption.
While mentioning about the Husk Power Systems, it uses Rice husks as their main source of energy to run their generators and power stations. It has been seen that since the availability of Rice Husk as an energy source is limited in Indian remote areas surrounding the Rice Belt, there's a significant risk that supply of Rice husk can be disrupted. There might be some occasions where seasonal fluctuations might leave an impact on Rice crops due to floods or any other damage that can be caused to Rice crops. Flourishing of Rice crops has been associated with the production of rice husk, although India is one of the top Rice cultivating countries around the world [ CITATION Mar17 \l 1033 ].
Problem or Opportunity
As mentioned previously, electrical solar panels can light up remote Indian villages across the Bihar region according to the case study. Consumption of Rice husk carries its associated risks, as the process involves burning Husk, producing gas through gasifiers and then supplying it through generators and power plants. As the HSK company is facing problems relating to the availability of good gasifier equipment and having a suffering relationship between its key suppliers. In the company's supply chain, the only sole supplier is associated named as Prakash Genset. The total dependence on a single supplier can limit the bargaining power for HSK systems. Just because the size of a company is small, supplier relations should not be based on the business deals regardless of their magnitude. While the trend of solar energy is shaping its face faster than ever and its utilization is absolutely free of any human and industrialized waste. These proposed solar panels will wipe out the dependence on Husk suppliers as well as suppliers of gasified equipment's. The HSK must develop its own indigenous systems to develop solar panels to be operated for daily use by Villagers.
Project Initiation
As the HSK already has captured sizeable market share of those unelectrified villages, it further needs to look beyond its operational processes. The motive behind utilizing husk-based power suppliers was providing uninterrupted power supplies to villagers, which was involved in a very arduous approach. While the all new solar panel systems were proposed to be developed under the new program, it will be a clean and green process involving procurement of raw panels and then installing the solar absorbing technology over it.
By introducing solar-powered systems, HPS company will achieve its objectives in a better way. It will be more competitive compared to other rivals of HPS company as the cost to procure solar systems will be as cheap as green. There will be zero dependence on raw material suppliers as in the case of rice husk and gasified equipment. The low-cost advantages will provide fair competitive advantages to HPS against their rivals in the market [ CITATION Gul14 \l 1033 ].
Project Initiation
The outlining of project charter will enable the firm to carry out their project activities as planned, incorporating project objectives, project scope and ensuring timely completion of the project through different stages. This charter will enable the project managers to monitor and draw conclusions regarding the project activities, communication with key stakeholders involved, resources required to accomplish the project and predicts the throughout project costs. The launch of new service to produce electricity through solar panels will involve the following critical elements to be covered in the project charter [ CITATION Nad11 \l 1033 ].
Project Name Production and supply of electricity through solar panels DateProject Sponsor May 10Subhendu Goswamith, 2019
Project Purpose The purpose of carrying out the project is to produce the electricity through Strategical Objective solar panels service within the existing facility. The objective is to replace the consumption of rice husk, which leaves an environmental footprint by supplying steam to the power plants for the generation of electricity. Through introducing solar systems, power plant maintenance costs associated with husk power plants can be brought down to zero, as the cost related to this system relates heavily with the maintenance. Project Budget Cost of the solar panel set, from which electricity will be generated, is around 10k to 12 USD, so the project is about to be completed within the Project Timelines same budget horizon initiallyTimeline for the project is 6 months Project’s Scope Scope of the project will be widely open for procurement costs of raw solar panels, cost-benefit analysis, economic feasibility for the HPS company, Risk Involved service launching, and marketing of newly introduced services-availability of local supplier providing parts and raw solar equipment’s. Risks involved with poor marketing and lack of understanding by customer. Unknown lead times can disrupt the supply chain systems. Lack of skilled Project’s Personnel’s workers to provide solar panels service in the remote area. Nikhil Morarka: Project Manager Nikhil Morarka: R&D Abhishek: Finance Analyst/Marketing Dr. Lutengano Mwakahesya: Strategic Planning Assistant
Project Stakeholder’s Analysis
Stakeholders in this project have been identified and they have been assigned their task and functional roles, they need to undertake for the successful execution of this solar service provision. CEO Manoj Sinha will provide the vision regarding the launch of new service, as the
[ CITATION Mar19 \l 1033 ]. TMQ qualitative and quantitative tools must be placed within this new service project including sampling, run charts and cause and effect diagrams.
Application of TQM system will also help eliminate the unnecessary costs within the supply chain of HPS corporation. Continuous failure analysis will also be underway to rectify any process disorders while starting the new solar service program. Efficient and cost-effective suppliers can play their part in improving the supply chain systems. As the HPS company plans to operate in remote villages, it will be a challenge for him to find a cost-effective supplier, from which continuous supply if raw panels can be continued. Sole reliance was placed on one supplier previously, which carried the associated risk of disrupted supplies of power generators. Allowing for approved vendors list who can supply efficient solar panels and other raw materials for electricity production, can be helpful in scoring well on customer satisfaction index.
Methodology and Planning
The best-suited methodology I would recommend for the launch of the solar panel project
is Waterfall methodology. That methodology works best for service developments across the
globe. Project managers and senior executives tend to follow waterfall methodology because it
involves different project tasks assigned with each step with chronological orders [ CITATION Tog
l 1033 ]. Preconditions are set before the launch, including assigning relevant tasks to the project
team members, concepts, designs of introducing the new service and continuous monitoring of
projects with sequential orders. While the HPS corporation has decided to launch the solar panels
and then supplying electricity through this new service launch, waterfall methodology will pave
the way for the company to create separate project teams assigning their concerned roles as
marketing, customer assessment, service designing, planning and implementation of new service
technicians.
The first phase of implementing waterfall methodology is assessing the requirements to introduce the new service in HPS company , which includes the feasibility studies for introduction of solar electricity. The other phase is network design for HPS, which will assess the supply chain mechanisms and define that how will the supply chain for solar electricity is going to work. It will then followed by integration and testing phase for the initial customers, afterwards it goes along with providing maintenance services.
That methodology is sequential in nature, which means that target marketing teams have assigned their tasks of identifying the potential market for their new service launch and then the next step including the process and service designing is to be followed after the successful completion of the first step. Identification of target markets is not an arduous task for HPS, as the company already operates in that area, where the local farmers and households lack electrical facilities. Furthermore, the availability of solar panel sets can be a crucial factor, while setting the path for the project scope statement [ CITATION Eli10 \l 1033 ].
Project Charter
The project plans and its tasks are categorized for a project scope statement including the inclusion of the Gantt Chart. The detailed project plan is presented as follows:
Sr. No. Task Name Duration Start Finish
1 Execution of solar panel service project 365 days
Mon 13/05/ 8:00 AM
Fri 02/10/ 5:00 PM
2 Identification of potential customers 20 days
Mon 13/05/ 8:00 AM
Fri 07/06/ 5:00 PM
5:00 PM
12 Forecasting demands of solar panels fromconducting customer surveys 10 days Tue 01/10/198:00 AM
Mon 14/10/ 5:00 PM
13 Set the production levels according to thepredicted demand levels 5 days Thu 17/10/198:00 AM
Wed 23/10/ 5:00 PM
14
Getting the solar systems through the testing phase before the official launch 15 days
Fri 01/11/ 8:00 AM
Thu 21/11/ 5:00 PM
15
After a positive response from the rural population of India, officially launching the new service
15 days
Mon 02/12/ 8:00 AM
Fri 20/12/ 5:00 PM
Gantt Chart
Service Resource Scheduling and Inventory Management
New Solar Electricity Service
villages is that systematic and gradual reduction of kerosene oil, which can cause damage to the environment [CITATION Hus12 \l 1033 ].
Inventory Management Strategy
Inventory management is an important aspect and it's important for the continuation of the supply chain in the service provision system. An organization needs to look for upstream and downstream integration with customers and suppliers. This will help the organization to tackle any supply disruptions from the suppliers and at the same time fulfilling the customer orders in the event of an unprecedented surge in demand. This equilibrium should be achieved by applying strategic techniques to support a transparent inventory management system [ CITATION Joh \l 1033 ].
Inventory is present in shape for solar panels to supply aggregate energy to solar powerplants paves the way to inventory management, as the HPS company has decided to launch the new service to arrive at the end product. In my view, JIT systems can be put in place as the supply chain is relatively new compared to the last one using rice husk. JIT system can work as a reactor to the demand generated by marketing teams of HPS corporation. The challenge is to find the suitable supplier of solar panels and for other raw materials in the remote Indian villages and then initially until the first phase is completed, Inventory should be kept to minimum levels [ CITATION Avo18 \l 1033 ].
That JIT system would be beneficial for the HPS corporation in order to minimize the costs of storing inventory. Introduction of JIT systems would potentially mitigate the risk of having obsolete solar panels, as the new service is relatively new, the pull-based demand system would suit the HPS corporation. Inventory management largely depends on demand created for
the new solar service and it is directly linked to the marketing strategies applied by the company to induce customers to go for the new service instead of traditional husk-based electricity [ CITATION Fis13 \l 1033 ].
Local and international suppliers might be willing to provide raw solar panel sets, based on the financing needs. JIT system would provide the opportunity to the company to procure only the required number of items. Forecasting techniques would be applied in the supply chain to account for the accurate levels of demand. Accurate forecasting will help the company to achieve objectives of executing a JIT system within the supply chain.
Piling too much in inventory for HPS company would leave drastic effects. It’s ideal for the companies initiating solar projects to utilize software technologies. HPS would be willing to incorporate barcode techniques on their inventory counts, which would assist them in tracking down their solar sets and other related types of equipment through the serial numbers of barcodes. The proposed barcode system will assist the HPS company to achieve maximum efficiency starting from procurement of raw solar panel sets and going forward until the production of electricity takes place from solar powerplants.
Cloud-based inventory solutions can also be beneficial for the HPS corporation to account for their physical solar inventories, that can ultimately reduce their inventory holding costs by spending less finance on purchasing further inventory into the warehouse. Overinvestment in stocks can tie up the cash for the company, use of software technology can allow for accurate forecasts and requirements of further orders into the warehouse. Moreover, another aspect of having too much inventory for HPS would be detrimental in terms of rapidly revolving solar technologies and innovations in the industry [ CITATION Cam18 \l 1033 ].
These approaches are beneficial for the service organizations like HPS corporation, which will aim to achieve a decline in operating, production and the aggregate supply chain costs. The advantages achieved by the project managers in implementing these approaches are obvious in form of enhanced customer satisfaction, given that the supplies of services can be provided on time and more efficiently [CITATION The \l 1033 ].
Project managers are responsible for implementing the deliverables for the project, which will involve looking for new suppliers offering competitive prices, business design for solar systems, process engineering to arrive at the end solar panel, accounting for the inventories including future demand projections for the solar sets based on marketing tactics and assessing customer satisfaction index. Supply chain mechanisms for HPS would involve raw material procurement including Crystalline/Multi-crystalline (which consists of silicon cells), raw solar panels and thin-film includes absorption of photovoltaic light from the natural solar energy.
The next phase of the supply chain is to tie up the ingot casting, from the material is assimilated into a metal cone. The next step is to procure silicon wafers, which constitutes majority part of crystalline cells. Afterward, the wafers are grouped into the semiconductor cells with aluminum frames, and then the solar panel is developed through the conversion of DC's into AC's followed by production of electricity through solar powerplant and then supplying it to the customers.
The whole supply chain involves procuring raw materials until the deliveries of electricity to the customers through large scale solar powerplants. The more detailed supply chain is depicted in the following diagram.
Proposed Supply Chain for Solar Electricity Service
Raw Material
Supply Chain Utilization
Crystalline (Silicon)
Looking for new crystalline suppliers to achieve economies of scale, efficiency and cost advantages. Securing contracts with suppliers from the local and international market, thus ensuring uninterrupted supplies to the supply chain.
Thin Film (For light absorption)
Process Engineering Process Designing Solar cells (Semiconductor cells)
Process designing, integrating silicon wafers and crystalline to create a solar cell
Customer Satisfaction Index
Supplying uninterrupted electricity through solar powerplants
Getting customer's feedback, assessing the needs of customers, supply/demand planning according to the projections.
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is termed as the internal assessment of an organization to analyze its resources and manpower to successfully run a project. The purpose of undertaking the new service is to meet the projected customer demands, that for the HPS company, will depend on demand created through its strong marketing channels. Capacity planning does include allocation of project budgets for carrying out specific tasks within the project and accurately forecasting demand patterns to account for the procurement of raw items required for the service provisions.
Capstone Project - Final Submission
Course: Operations and Project Management Capstone (QSO700)
University: Southern New Hampshire University
This is a preview
Access to all documents
Get Unlimited Downloads
Improve your grades
