Review the below Lewton Telecom – Engineering Prototype Project quality management case.   

1. Explain how this project fits with the mission and strategy of the organization.

2.  What project artifacts does the project manager have in the initial  phase of the project based on the case study in this chapter, and how  would they be used in developing a quality management plan?

3. What type of data analysis  methodologies should the project manager design into the quality  management plan, and how would they be used?

4. Which components of the  triple constraints would the project manager be most concerned with  during the development of both prototypes required for this project?

5. Based on the case study in this chapter, establish quality metrics that would be used throughout the project lifecycle.

6. Develop a comprehensive quality management plan for this project

CASE STUDY:  Lewton Telecom – Engineering Prototype Project
Lewton  Telecom is a midsized company with an aggressive growth strategy that  develops telecom products for the cellular phone industry based in the  United States. The company mission is to provide cutting-edge affordable  products for the telecom industry that can have immediate application.  This company has two locations one is the headquarters where corporate  management, accounting, and human resources, as well as all engineering  and development, reside, and a second small production facility. After a  review of a customer-detailed specification for a new cellular phone  base station amplifier, it has been determined that the project will be  approved for the development of a prototype amplifier.

A project manager has been identified at Lewton Telecom and has been  given the task of developing a project management plan to manage the  goal of creating the prototype amplifier. The project manager starts  with a comprehensive and detailed specification provided by the  customer, and a brief overview statement of work that was developed by  the initial evaluation team at Lewton Telecom. As this project manager  is one of the senior project managers at Lewton Telecom, she has managed  several projects of a very similar type and, based on her experience,  would be the best selection for meeting the objectives of this project.  Lewton Telecom has several design engineers seasoned in power amplifier  development, as well as an extensive staff of both manufacturing and  process engineers who have seen these types of projects to high-volume  production. There are also research scientists with PhDs specific to  this type of product who will be tasked with the development of new  technologies required to meet various customer demands.

As Lewton Telecom has accomplished these types of prototypes several  times in the past, the project manager sees little challenge with items  that are unknown in developing the overall project plan. The challenge  will be to meet the customer’s price expectations in volume production,  as this may influence how the prototype is created and evaluated. The  project manager and project team have decided to create the original  prototype as usual with US-based manufactured products to verify form  fit and function for product approval. Lewton Telecom has most of their  products in high-volume production using their own manufacturing center  and Asia in order to control prices and be competitive with other  US-based manufacturers. The project manager and project team have  determined that, in addition to the first prototype, a second prototype  should be made using the Asia-based supplier materials to confirm  quality, as well as form fit and function. The project manager will be  challenged with maintaining the quality of the second prototype to  ensure the Asia-based suppliers can provide materials that would meet  the quality expectations of the customer. The typical products used in  this base station amplifier include: a machined aluminum housing typical  of a US-based machine shop rather than a cast aluminum housing that  would be used in high-volume production, circuit boards, RF cables, and  ribbon electrical cables.

The project manager now has an added challenge of a second prototype  that will need to be made and qualified with Asia-based materials to  confirm not only the product conformance to all customer specifications,  but also meet price targets in volume production. This creates an added  challenge of time as well as project cost, and a very high sensitivity  to product quality to ensure the sustainability of this product for the  organization and the continued good relations between the customer and  Lewton Telecom.