Project Techniques for Product and Service Improvement

Industrial activity often involves the creation of a "project" as a means of bringing about an improvement. Such projects vary in size from, say, the production of a new airliner down to a quick mail-shot about a cheap holiday offer. However, projects do not just happen. Successful ones are chosen carefully, analyzed to maximize benefits, implemented logically and kept in control until their termination. Projects are not always new ventures. Most are inititated to bring about relatively minor improvements to existing products and services. Unfortunately, the "divisions of labour" and specialist skills that are needed in large organizations mean that no individual can accomplish the project aims. With complex products and services it is rare that even a small team has all the required knowledge, flair and determination to drive a project through to its best possible conclusion. Much of the content of this book is suitable for incorporation into PC software and some of the techniques are available as a matter of routine among commercial packages. However, it is the purpose of this text to introduce several project-oriented topics at a basic level, upon which more complex procedures may be built. The topics are presented at undergraduate level and include many examples relevant to manufacturing and service industries.