Why Do Manufacturing Projects Fail?
The Secret to Achieving Accurate Progress Tracking
Managing projects in the manufacturing industry presents unique challenges. Success depends on two critical elements: precise progress tracking while managing tasks and resources, and effective deliverable management. These complexities are precisely what Aras Innovator, developed by Aras Japan, is designed to address.
Published: November 1, 2024
Original Source: なぜ製造業のプロジェクト管理は失敗するのか 正確な進捗把握を実現する秘訣 by ITmedia
The Four Critical Resources of Project Management
Manufacturing projects often encounter roadblocks due to fragmented management of key resources. "Project management is not just about scheduling," explains Masahiko Hisatsugu, President of Aras Japan. "To ensure smooth execution, you need centralized control and coordination of the four essential resources: people, materials, budgets, and time."
The reality for many manufacturers, however, is that resource management is still heavily reliant on Excel. While Excel is easy to use and widely adopted, it comes with significant limitations. Updates to progress and resources depend on manual input, which can lead to errors or omissions.
(Right) Masahiko Hisatsugu, President of Aras Japan
(Left) Kazuhiro Ito, Executive Officer and Head of the Application Services Division at Zionex
"Delays in one task can have a cascading effect on subsequent tasks," Hisatsugu elaborates. "With Excel, those adjustments have to be made manually across the entire plan. If updates are missed, resource management becomes chaotic, and confusion spreads."
Moreover, Excel’s lack of version control makes it difficult to track deviations from the original plan or to see who made changes and when. These shortcomings often hinder effective resource management and delay decision-making.
To overcome these challenges, many manufacturers are turning to specialized project management tools. Yet even these tools sometimes fail to address the industry’s specific needs, such as comprehensive deliverable management.
"In manufacturing, it’s not enough to simply manage schedules," Hisatsugu emphasizes. "You need to link tasks and deliverables to resources like people, materials, budgets, and time. Additionally, you must integrate data from ERP and MES systems to adapt to changes in product requirements and maintain version control for deliverables."
Solving Manufacturing’s Project Management Challenges
Aras Innovator’s Program Management feature offers a tailored solution to the unique challenges of manufacturing projects. By leveraging PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) capabilities, Program Management enables seamless project execution.
"The ability to connect data through a digital thread allows us to view complex information holistically," Hisatsugu explains. "Centralized management centered on the Bill of Materials (BOM) makes it much easier to track and control project progress."
An illustration of project management using Program Management
Provided by: Aras Japan
Key Features of Aras Program Management
-
Seamless Deliverable Management
-
Automatically tracks deliverable revisions and integrates changes into workflows.
-
Ensures all related data is connected through a digital thread for streamlined management.
-
-
Centralized Resource Control
-
Assigns resources effectively and tracks workload in real-time.
-
Simplifies progress updates with a one-click system that integrates seamlessly into daily workflows, providing accurate insights into progress and resource utilization.
-
-
Robust Security and Version Control
-
Implements stringent access controls to protect project data.
-
Logs all changes, ensuring transparency about who made updates and when.
-
These features not only address the challenges of assembly manufacturing but also extend to process manufacturing, linking critical data like recipes and formulas for better project control.
Customizing Project Management with Dynamic Task Manager (DTM)
To build on the capabilities of Aras Program Management, Zionex has developed the Dynamic Task Manager (DTM) as an add-on solution for Aras Innovator. DTM provides a user-friendly interface and additional functionality tailored for manufacturing projects.
"DTM manages the entire product lifecycle—from concept and design to prototyping and mass production—as a unified project," explains Kazuhiro Ito, Executive Officer at Zionex. "By promoting cross-functional collaboration through Gantt chart visualizations, it helps task owners and managers stay aligned on progress and priorities."
DTM offers flexible customization to meet the specific project management priorities of its user companies. This flexibility enables features such as automatically determining task completion status and updating progress based on factors like the number of deliverables, actual work hours, and remaining estimated time. These capabilities have been highly praised, leading to DTM’s adoption by more than a dozen companies, primarily in the manufacturing sector, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Key Features of DTM in the Project Management Process
Preparation Phase:
DTM supports the definition of requirements by following templates designed in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) format for new projects. Users can set schedules, check resource load, add checklists and linked information, edit planned deliverables, and prepare sub-projects, all during the initial setup phase.
Planning Phase:
In this phase, managers create detailed schedules using Gantt charts, adjust resources, and establish an overall project outlook.
Execution Phase:
Team members review their assigned tasks, register deliverables, and update progress. Managers can monitor individual task progress and workload status using features like color-coded Gantt chart bars and resource load graphs. They can also make real-time adjustments to the project plan as needed.
Monitoring and Management Phase:
DTM simplifies tracking the overall project plan and individual task progress through tools like Earned Value Management (EVM) and development progress graphs. These features make it easier for managers to stay informed and respond effectively.
A Key Feature: CCPM for Optimized Deadlines and Buffers
One of DTM's standout features is its support for Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), a crucial methodology for optimizing deadlines and buffer management.
“With CCPM, you can visualize the critical path of activities in the Gantt chart at a glance,” explains Kazuhiro Ito. “It allows you to quickly see how delays in tasks consume buffers and evaluate their impact on the overall project plan based on task progress rates and buffer consumption rates. This makes it possible to take swift and appropriate countermeasures.”
DTM's advanced features and integration with methodologies like CCPM make it a reliable and versatile tool for enhancing project management in the manufacturing industry.
Overview of Project Planning with CCPM
Looking Ahead: The Future of Manufacturing Project Management
Together with partners like Zionex, Aras Japan is committed to advancing project management solutions for the manufacturing industry. A key focus is incorporating cutting-edge technologies like generative AI to further streamline workflows and improve efficiency.
"By utilizing PLM data with large language models, we can simplify project management and enable teams to focus on higher-value tasks," Hisatsugu predicts.
Zionex is also exploring innovative ways to enhance user engagement. Ito shares, "For example, incentivizing team members to update daily reports could encourage more proactive data input, leading to even more accurate progress tracking."