ENGIEERING PRODUCTS AND PROJECTS ANALYSIS DESIGN 13/11/24

SECTION A

PROCEDURES FOR ARRENGENING AND PRESENTING PROJECT, THESIS AND

DISEERTATION IN RESEARCH

PROJECT, THESIS AND DISEERTATION – Are generally presented in five chapters

which are these:

1) CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION

2) CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
3) CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS OR METHODOLOGY
4) CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
5) CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Each of these chapters has special features to address in the course of thesis or dissertation
writing as can be seen below:

(A) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

This comprises of the following:

1.1 Background to the Study – this surveys the topic under study to reveal the nature,
features and its importance in engineering and technological life in the society.
1.2 Statement of the Problem – This reveals the problem(s) to address and reasons to
tackling the current problem (s)

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study -

1.3.1 Aim is what you are looking forward to address or to solve

1.3.2 Objectives are step by step methods of achieving sound and robust designs in tackling
the associated problems.

1.4. Significance or Justification of the Study- This presents reasons why the work
of the study should be continued. It shows the economical, social, commercial, socio-
cultural, etc needs
1.5. Scope of the Study- This is the areas of coverage in the study or investigation.

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 1.6. Limitations to the Study – These are factors that can hinder the extension of
scope of the Study.
1.7. Theoretical Frame Work – This is a theoretical concepts of the study framed
to reveal the landing space or foundation of the work.

(B). CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Herein present any relevant aspect of the chosen topic discussed in the literatures
researched by men, their scope of work, procedures used, findings, the unresolved
issues and recommendations. There will be need to extract the necessary
information and technicalities to tackle the current work. Finally, to reveal any
research gap to cover in the course of the current work, this will be outstanding and
significant.

(C). CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS OR METHODOLOGY

3.1 Materials – These include the equipment, tools, facilities, components, parts, and
materials of all types: liquid, solids and gaseous required in the research work.
3.2 Methods – These are technological procedures to accomplish the research such as the design,
fabrication, models, data collections, experimental design, analytical techniques and method of
validation of results.

It has been discovered that ‘Materials and Methods’ best suits purely research work and
Methodology is recommended for Machines and Systems design projects.

In Machines Systems design projects, accordingly is- METHODOLOGY

3.1 Preliminary Design

This should embody the design concept after going through literature review in
chapter -2.

3.1.1 Isometric View

Figure 3.1 Shows the isometric (Design Concept) view of the machine while
figure 3.2 shows the orthographic view. This is communicating the design
concept in engineering language. In the isometric view of the machine, the
components should be numbered. Then present a table of component parts.

NB: There is no dimensioning because the design analysis or calculation has not
been done.

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Table 3.1 shows the component parts without dimension.

Table 3.1: Component Parts of the Machine

S/N Item Quantity Remark

1
2
3
.
.
N

3.1.2 Principle of Operation

This is how it works to be described.

3.1.3 Description of the Machine or Product

_____________________________________________________________________

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 _______________________________________________________________
______

_______________________________________________________________
______

Then, briefly present the major component parts of the machine.

3.1.4 Component Parts:

No.1

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
______

_______________________________________________________________
______

No.2

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
______

_______________________________________________________________
______

No.3

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
______

_______________________________________________________________
______

Etc.

3.2 Design Analysis

3.2.1 Design Considerations

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 _________________________________________________________________
___

_______________________________________________________________
______

_______________________________________________________________
______

NB: Most often the capacity of the machine should be indicated here because the
capacity is normally assumed.

3.2.2 Design Calculations

Here the component parts are designed to get their size or capacity specifications.

3.3. Production Drawing

3.3.1 The Machine Drawing in Orthographic View

Figure 3.3: Orthographic View with Dimensions

3.3.2 Components Parts

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Title Block: Here all information needed to produce the component are indicated or
given.

Figure 3.5: Orthographic View.

Title Block: Here all information needed to produce the component are indicated or given.

NB: A page should contain the orthographic views of two component parts, each
occupying half a page. The orthographic views must have dimensions since the
specifications are now available from the design calculations.

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Also if the machine was fabricated, the picture(s) of the machine should be shown under
appendix, marked Plate 1, Plate 2, etc.

4. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1. Results – Results are generated from most information from the methods section of
the chapter three. They are presented tables and figures with title on top and bottom
respectively. Some kind of the result can be kept in appendices

Figure 4.1: Isometric View of the Designed Product (with labelled parts dimensions)

Figure 4.2: Orthographic View of the Designed Product (with labelled parts dimensions)

4.1.1 Test Performance and Results

Students should explain the step by step test performance procedure and present data
collected from the test performance operation of the machine in tables and figures. These
help to discuss the characteristic behavior of the developed machine. The data collected will
be used to calculate the efficiency of the machine given as:

A. Tables Data Generated From Test Results.

B. Graph of Data Generated From Test Results to show the behaviour of the fabricated
machine

C. Efficiency of the Machine

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 ƞeff =

4.2. Discussions

These are based on the information given on the tables and figures generated in the
results section to state what each table and figure stand for in the investigations.
Behavioral pattern and characteristics of the study must be established and findings
stated as the research gap.

4.2.1. Efficiency of the Machine

Discuss the efficiency results and what should be done to improve on the
efficiency

4.2.2. Choice of Materials of Construction

Discuss the materials used and give reasons for the choice of materials

4.2.3. Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation

Table 4.1: Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation

S/N Item Unit Quantit Cost Remark

y
1
2
3
4
…
n

(E) CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Conclusion
This section has many things to evaluate, such as:
i. Does the problem is tackled?
ii. Does the aim actualized?
iii. Were the objectives realized in the processes?

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 iv. Does the result significant enough to justify the requirement of the study?
v. Does the aim of the study is sufficient enough to complement the
robustness of the part produced.

How the above items were actually arrived at must be stated or discussed.

5.2. Recommendations

You have to determine relevant recommendations to support further work

improvement in the study

5.3. Contribution to Knowledge

(F) REFERENCES
You have to use APA Style to write the references. Ensure that the in-text references
are reflected in the reference section.

s(G) APPENDICES – (Where necessary) especially the isometric diagrams of the

components.

SECTION B

2.1.1 The Concept of Value Engineering and Analysis of Products Design

Value Analysis: While value engineering is the technique often used before a product has been
fabricated, value analysis is the technique used to analyze an existing product. The goal of value
analysis is often to review an existing set of costs and benefits with the intention of enhancing its
value.

The value analysis is a study that seeks to give greater value to a product, process,
or service through the understanding of the components that make it up and their associated
costs. Its subsequent objective is to find improvements to the components either through cost
reduction or by improving the functions' value.

2.1.2 Value Engineering: Definition, Meaning, and How It Works

a. What Is Value Engineering?

Value engineering is a systematic, organized approach to providing necessary functions in a

project at the lowest cost. Value engineering promotes the substitution of materials and methods
with less expensive alternatives, without sacrificing functionality. It is focused solely on the

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functions of various components and materials, rather than their physical attributes. Value
engineering is also called value analysis.

b. Key Takeaways

 Value engineering is a systematic and organized approach to providing the necessary

functions in a project at the lowest cost.
 Value engineering promotes the substitution of materials and methods with less
expensive alternatives, without sacrificing functionality.
 Value engineering is often broken into six steps or phases starting with generating ideas
and ending with change implementation.
 Value engineering is primarily focused on the use, cost, esteem, and exchange values.
 The ultimate formula for value is often defined as function divided by cost, with value
engineering striving to maximize function while minimizing cost.

2.1.3 Understanding Value Engineering

Value engineering is the review of new or existing products during the design phase to reduce
costs and increase functionality to increase the value of the product. The value of an item is
defined as the most cost-effective way of producing an item without taking away from its
purpose. Therefore, reducing costs at the expense of quality is simply a cost-cutting strategy.

The concept of value engineering evolved in the 1940s at General Electric, in the midst of World
War II. Due to the war, purchase engineer Lawrence Miles and others sought substitutes for
materials and components since there was a chronic shortage of them. These substitutes were
often found to reduce costs and provided equal or better performance.1

With value engineering, cost reduction should not affect the quality of the product being
developed or analyzed.

2.1.4 Ratio of Function to Cost

Miles defined product value as the ratio of two elements: function to cost. The function of an
item is the specific work it was designed to perform, and the cost refers to the cost of the item
during its life cycle. The ratio of function to cost implies that the value of a product can be
increased by either improving its function or decreasing its cost. In value engineering, the cost
related to production, design, maintenance, and replacement are included in the analysis.

Product Value = Function / Cost (1)

Product Value = Cost / Function (2)

For example, consider a new technology product is being designed and is slated to have a life
cycle of only two years. The product will thus be designed with the least expensive materials and
resources that will serve up to the end of the product’s life cycle, saving the manufacturer and
the end-consumer money. This is an example of improving value by reducing costs.

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Another manufacturing company might decide to create added value by maximizing the function
of a product with minimal cost. In this case, the function of every component of the item will be
assessed to develop a detailed analysis of the purpose of the product. Part of the value analysis
will require evaluating the multiple alternate ways that the project or product can accomplish its
function.

Keep in mind that the steps below may slightly vary depending on the precise organization
defining the steps. For example, it's common to see a step between "Gather Information" and
"Think Creatively" for work done to review and analyze what needs improving, eliminating, or
creating (usually defined as "Function Analysis".

2.1.5 Steps in Value Engineering

Value engineering often entails the following six steps, starting from the information-gathering
stage and ending with change implementation.

Step 1: Gather Information

Value engineering begins by analyzing what a product lifecycle will look like. This includes a
forecast of all the spending and processes related to manufacturing, selling, and distributing a
product.

Value engineers will often break these considerations down into more manageable data sets. In
addition to assigned financial values, value engineers may prioritize processes or elements along
a product's manufacturing plan. Value engineering may also call for expectations regarding time,
labor, or other resources for different manufacturing stages.

Step 2: Think Creatively

With the core baseline expectations for the product having been documented, it's now time for
the value engineering team to consider new, different ways for the product to be developed. This
includes trying new approaches, taking risks on things never been done before, or creatively
applying existing processes in a new way.

Levering these creative ideas, value engineers will re-imagine how the product will be created
and distributed from state to finish. This phase is the "idea-generation" stage where members of
the team should be encouraged to brainstorm freely without fear of criticism.

Examples of thinking creatively may include changing the materials used, changing the product's
design, removing redundant features, trading off reliability for flexibility, or changing the
steps/order of the manufacturing process.

Step 3: Evaluate Ideas

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With a bunch of ideas now on the table, it's time to decide which are reasonable and which aren't
Each idea is often assessed for its advantages and disadvantages. Instead of focusing on the
quantity of each tally, the value engineering team must consider which pros and cons outweigh
their counterpart.

For example, a single change may result in five new benefits. However, doing so would outlaw
distribution to a country that the company exports the most goods to. In this case, the five
benefits may not outweigh the one disadvantage.

Step 4: Develop and Analyze

Once the ideas are ranked, the best ideas are taken and further analyzed. This includes drafting
model plans, detailing changes and their impacts, producing revised financial projections,
redesigning physical renderings, and assessing the overall viability of the change.

Be mindful of timeline constraints and considerations when analyzing changes, especially if

other departments will be negatively impacted by pushed out schedules or deadline changes.
Also, consider how the break-even point of a product may change as a result of the adjustment to
ensure the strategy aligns with the philosophy and financial capability of the organization.

Step 5: Present Discoveries

With plans devised and presentations pulled together, it's time to deliver the best ideas to upper
management or the board for their consideration. Often, more than one idea will be presented at a
time so the deciding group can consider and compare alternatives. Each alternative should be
consistently presented with fair representation across each choice.

Value engineering calls for enhancing the value of each product; therefore, presentations should
begin and end with how the change will benefit the company. Presentations should also include
revised timelines, financial projections, drawings, and risks. Often, management may seek
specific answers on changes or desire to see different analysis performed than what is presented.

Step 6: Implement Changes

As management gives confirmation to move forward with changes, value management shifts
from a theoretical practice to an change management implementation process. When proposed
changes are accepted, new teams are formed and assigned areas of oversight. Value engineer
team leads often remain engaged with the changes to monitor what is being adjusted and how
expectations are being aligned with new realities.

If a company lacks the required expertise to brainstorm changes, it may rely on external third
parties to manage the first five steps (with the company taking over once it has decided what
changes to make).

2.1.6 Guiding Principles of Value Engineering

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Regardless of the steps a company chooses to perform when value engineering, there are a
handful of high-level, vague guiding principles of value engineering. These principles include:

I. Function-Oriented Approach: Value engineering starts with a focus on understanding the

essential functions that a product or process must perform. This principle shifts the attention
from the physical attributes of the product to its purpose.

II. Cost-Worth Analysis: As we looked at in the earlier section, there's a balance between
functionality and price. This principle involves a detailed examination of the costs associated
with each function of a product or process, comparing them to their value or worth, and
removing functionality that does not meet cost-benefit thresholds.

III Team Collaboration: Value engineering relies on a multidisciplinary team approach. It

brings together professionals from various fields such as engineering, design, manufacturing,
and finance. This diversity of expertise and perspectives is crucial for comprehensive
problem-solving and identifying the key aspects worth keeping and aspects worth dropping.
For instance, consider whether a marketing professional should calculate present value
cashflows or whether a finance professional should redesign a social media communication
strategy.

IV Client-Centric: The client-centric approach involves regular communication and

feedback from the client throughout the process. Though the bullet above talks about internal
teams working together, the company needs to also loop in clients for their feedback. By
prioritizing the client's needs and requirements, value engineering ensures that the solutions
provided are aligned with what the client values most (who are ultimately the ones that
define what "value" is).

V Documentation and Feedback: A related concept to being client-centric, value

engineering demands thorough documentation. This involves keeping detailed records of
methodologies, analyses, decisions, and outcomes. Documentation serves as a valuable
resource for future projects, providing insights and lessons learned that can make future
decision-making potentially more efficient and timely.

2.2. Types of Value

When performing value engineering, analysts must often consider how to define 'value'. After
all, one customer's perception of a product may be very compared to another customer based on
their assigned value of the good. In general, there are four primary types of value recognized by
value engineering:

2.2.1 Use Value

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Use value is the primary type of value and it is determined by the attributes of the good. These
attributes define what the product is able to do, how it is used, and what its purpose is. This
heavily ties to product differentiation where consumers can only derive value from a specific
good without competitors.

The use value of a product is the primary purpose of value engineering. Without a use value,
consumers would not initially purchase the good. For instance, if a type of shoe did not
adequately protect someone's feet or make it so they could walk down the street, the shoe has
little to no use value. Without use value, products will ultimately fail because they serve no
purpose.

2.2.2 Cost Value

Assuming we have a good generating use value, it's now time to consider how it takes to make
that good.3 Let's assume the shoes from above are tremendous for hiking, rugged wear, and
waterproof protection. This means the shoes may require experienced labor to craft, specifically-
treated raw materials for its production, and premium quality control for consumer safety.

In this example, all of the variables mentioned above represent different cost variables with
different values. A consumer may value the shoes at $50/pair; if the company determines its cost
value is $75/pair, the company must assess how to rebalance the equation. Alternatively,
charging a customer prices too high will likely yield negative cost value.

2.2.3 Esteem Value

While the use value describes the physical benefit of a product, consumers may also experience
intrinsic value that often extends beyond what the product is. For example, should the shoe
above come from Nike, consumers may be willing to pay higher premium for the shoe because
of the added esteem benefit of the brand recognition.

Though esteem value is often positive and associated with brand recognition, it can also be
negative and correlated to brand dissonance. This is often related to the target consumer of the
product. For example, low-cost, budget-conscious consumers may have negative esteem value
when considering Apple's innovative, higher-cost product line.

2.2.4 Exchange Value

The last and smallest component of value relates to a product's ability to be exchanged. With the
introduction of international shipping and supply chain analytics, it is now becoming easier for
almost any consumer to receive any product in a reasonable amount of time.

Still, a value engineer must how to facilitate the distribution of a product, the physical
characteristics of a product, and other attributions that make it so the good can easily be bought
or traded. Should consumers find it very difficult to buy or receive the good, value may be lost or
destroyed.

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There are countless ways to define or categorize customer value. In reality, value engineering
encompasses every value perceived or received by a customer whether it conforms to the four
primary types above.

2.3. Value Engineering Tools

Different companies can choose what tools they want to use; not all tools listed below need to be
used in every value engineering situation. However, these are the most common techniques
companies leverage when performing value engineering:

a. Function Analysis System Technique (FAST): FAST is an approach where teams can
visualize the relationships between different functions and identify the critical ones that
contribute most to the overall value. This technique involves breaking down the product into
basic functions and categorizing them as primary or secondary. Through this visual
representation, teams can then explore alternative ways to perform these functions more
efficiently and at a lower cost.
b. Brainstorming: General brainstorming encourages team members to think outside the box
and propose innovative alternatives without immediate judgment or criticism. The goal is to
produce as many ideas as possible, which can later be evaluated for feasibility and potential
impact.
c. Benchmarking: Benchmarking involves comparing the project's functions, processes, and
costs with those of similar projects or industry standards. This technique helps identify the
best practices and performance standards so teams can set realistic performance targets and
identify areas for improvement.
d. Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA): LCCA is a technique that evaluates the total cost of
ownership of a product or system over its entire life span. This analysis includes initial costs,
operation and maintenance costs, and disposal costs. By considering the long-term costs,
LCCA helps in making decisions that may have higher upfront costs but result in lower total
costs over time.
e. Value Stream Mapping (VSM): VSM is a visual tool used to map out all the steps in a
process and identify areas where value is added and where waste occurs. Again, like LCCA,
by visualizing the entire value stream, teams can identify non-value-added activities more
easily.
f. Design of Experiments (DOE): DOE is a statistical approach used to plan, conduct, and
analyze controlled tests to evaluate the factors that influence the performance of a product or
process. Companies perform DOE to systematically investigate the effects of multiple
variables and their interactions.
g. Pareto Analysis: Pareto analysis is used to identify the most significant factors
contributing to a problem or cost. This technique involves categorizing and prioritizing issues
or costs so that efforts can be focused on the areas with the greatest impact. By addressing
the vital few factors that contribute most to costs or inefficiencies, teams can try and achieve
significant improvements with relatively little effort.
h. Function-Cost Matrix: The function-cost matrix is a tool used to compare the costs
associated with each function of a product or process. Like many others in this section of the
article, this matrix helps in visualizing the relationship between functions and their costs,
highlighting areas where cost savings can be achieved.

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2.4 Value Engineering vs. Value Analysis

While value engineering is the technique often used before a product has been fabricated, value
analysis is the technique used to analyze an existing product. The goal of value analysis is often
to review an existing set of costs and benefits with the intention of enhancing its value.

While value engineering occurs earlier to prevent value loss, value analysis occurs after-the-fact
and may be used to remediate product deficiencies. Value engineering is generally used to aid
manufacturing, while value analysis may sometimes be used more heavily in the business or
sales department.

Though the two terms may often be used interchangeably, value engineering is the practice of
preventing unnecessary costs or deficient value while value analysis is the practice of eliminating
costs or negative value components. Changes made in response to value analysis may be brought
about during different stages of a product's life span, while value engineering only occurs at the
initial product stage.

2.5 Limitations of Value Engineering

The value engineering process involves a detailed approach to analyzing functions. Teams must
gather and assess extensive data, hold numerous meetings to brainstorm and evaluate
alternatives, and meticulously document their findings and decisions. This substantial initial time
investment pulls valuable resources without the guarantee that products or processes will be re-
engineered with success.

Value engineering efforts can sometimes prioritize immediate cost reductions over long-term
value. This short-term focus may lead to decisions that save money initially but result in higher
costs or lower performance over the product's or system's lifecycle. For instance, choosing
cheaper materials to reduce upfront costs might lead to increased maintenance or replacement
costs in the future. Teams need to balance short-term implications with long-term value.

While reducing costs is a primary goal of value engineering, an excessive focus on cost-cutting
can lead to unintended consequences as well. For example, eliminating certain features to save
money might diminish the product's appeal or performance, ultimately negatively impacting the
cost/benefit analysis. The same could somewhat be said about engineering. In some cases, value
engineering can lead to over-engineering where the pursuit of optimization results in overly
complex solutions. This complexity can ultimately increase costs and complicate
implementation, even when trying to capture very little value.

Last, value engineering is not universally applicable to all projects. Some projects may have rigid
specifications, regulatory requirements, or client preferences that limit the scope for applying
value engineering principles. Projects in highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals or
aerospace may have strict compliance requirements. Companies may also simply lack the

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internal resources or headcount with the necessary skill sets to perform the analysis needed to re-
engineer products.

2.6 Example of Value Engineering

The initial design for the Golden Gate Bridge faced significant challenges, including spanning a
4,200-foot-wide strait with strong ocean currents and high winds. However, financial resources
were limited due to the Great Depression, and initial cost estimates were prohibitively high.

Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss and his team led the value engineering process, striving to reduce
costs without compromising safety or performance. Strauss and his team focused on essential
functions such as providing a safe, durable, and efficient means of transportation across the
strait. They substituted expensive materials with high-strength silicon steel, simplified the design
by eliminating unnecessary elements, and employed innovative construction techniques. Pre-
fabrication of components off-site further reduced labor costs and construction time.

Through these value engineering efforts, the final cost of the Golden Gate Bridge was
significantly reduced to approximately $35 million from the original budget of $100 million. The
bridge met all functional requirements (i.e. millions of travelers have successfully capitalized on
the value of the bridge's transportation capability).45

What Is the Role of Value Engineering?

Value engineering is the process of designing a product to ensure the value a customer receives
is maximized. This is a careful activity of balancing the functions of the product along with the
financial consideration of a product. In general, value engineering strives to maximize the benefit
a consumer receives while minimizing costs.

What Are the Phases of Value Engineering?

Value engineering is often broken into six stages: information gathering, brainstorming,
evaluating, developing plans, presentation, and implementation. The phases range from
collecting relevant data to designing alternatives to see what management thinks of the potential
changes. Keep in mind that some entities may tweak these steps (i.e. emphasize evaluating the
functionality of processes while spending less time on the implementation steps).

Why Is Value Engineering Important?

Value engineering is the process to ensuring your customer's satisfaction and utility of a product
is maximized. Without considering a product's use, cost, or functionality, a good may lose its
place in the marketplace because it doesn't solve a problem or reflect accurate financial prices.
Value engineering is important because it forces a company to evaluate its future plans to
maximize profitability.

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 What Are the Types of Value in Value Engineering?

Value engineering often breaks values into the use, cost, exchange, and esteem value. Though
other departments may use different categories to define consumer benefit, the end goal is to
ensure all benefits of a consumer are captured for analysis.3

2.7 The Bottom Line

Value engineering is the process of ensuring a product doesn't waste away its potential. Products
that lack purpose or drive value will get lost in the marketplace, becoming cost centers for a
company that yields little to no profit. By implementing value engineering, a company evaluates
how a product can better serve its customers, how value can be created, and costs can be
minimized.

SECTION C

3.1 Product and Project Analysis

Product analysis is an important project management process that is necessary for projects that
have products as part of the deliverable.

3.1.1 What is product and project?

While products are ongoing endeavors focused on creating value for customers, projects are
temporary efforts aimed at achieving specific objectives. By recognizing the unique
characteristics of each, companies can maximize their success in both product and project
management.

3.1.2 Engineering Product Design Analysis

Engineering design analysis is a systematic process used by engineers to evaluate and optimise
the design of a product, structure, or system. This process involves using mathematical and
computer-based simulations, experimentation, and prototyping to evaluate and validate the
design.

3.1.3.1 Engineering Products

A. Building and Construction. All Building and Construction. ...
B. Electrical and Electronics. All Electrical and Electronics. ...
C. Flow Control and Fluid Transfer. ...
D. HVAC and Refrigeration. ...
E. Material Handling Equipment and Systems. ...
F. Mechanical Components and Equipments. ...

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G. Materials, Chemicals and Plastics.
3.1.3.2 What Are Engineered Products
I. Plastics (Injection molded or other)
II Electronics (PCBA)
III Metal (Casting, stamped, extruded)
IV Rubber (Compression molded)

3.1.3.3 What is the engineering product category?

An engineering product category provides a basis for creating a specific engineering product.
Each category establishes a set of default values and policies. Therefore, when you create an
engineering product, you first select the category to create it from.

3.1.3.4 What do you mean by product engineering?

Product engineering is creating and seeing a product through its entire life cycle from conception
to end-of-life. Product engineers are responsible for designing, developing, testing, and
maintaining products.

3.1.4 What is Project Analysis? Types and Importance

Project analysis (PA) is the process of evaluating a project's current status and identifying
potential problems as the project progresses. Project managers who practice PA are more likely
to see their projects succeed than those who don't. If you're managing a project, understanding
how to analyse a project using different methods could help you to keep your projects on track.
In this article, we explore what project analysis is, what types of analysis exist and how regular
analysis could help your project to succeed.

3.1.4.1 What is Project Analysis?

Project analysis (PA) is the regular and periodical analysis of a project. Project managers
conduct regular analyses to ensure that the project is progressing according to plan, staying under
budget and due to finish on time. Analysing your projects regularly may help you to identify
problems and challenges before they arise and allow your team to react quickly to respond to
these challenges and keep your project on track. Analysing the progress of your project involves
assessing each expense, cost, problem or concern relating to your project and evaluating the
outcome of the problem once you have solved it.A lot of project assessment and analysis occurs
before the project starts because this helps project managers to allocate tasks, resources and
labour effectively across all aspects of a project. Some analysis requires project managers to
conduct semi-regular checks throughout the project to ensure the ongoing success of a project.
Unexpected delays and challenges are almost inevitable, especially in larger projects, so careful

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monitoring helps managers identify and tackle challenges.Related: What are the basics of
project management? With phases

3.1.4.2 Types of Project Analysis?

There are four primary types of PA, each offering benefits and drawbacks. It's possible to use
different types of PA to identify and monitor different aspects of your project, such as risk, cost
and efficiency. Below is a guide to the four most common risk analysis types:

3.1.4.3. Ongoing Project Risk Analysis

Ongoing project risk analysis is a type of PA that helps project managers to identify potential
risks to their project before they occur. Common project risks include a teammate suffering an
illness or injury and taking multiple weeks off work or a piece of essential equipment
malfunctioning and causing substantial delays. Carrying out regular project risk analyses helps
project managers to anticipate risks like these and mitigate the impact they have on the
project.Conducting a project risk analysis involves defining a critical path or setting out which
tasks to complete first before it's possible to work on other tasks. This allows project managers to
monitor the progress of individual tasks, and if there's a delay or problem in one task they can
predict how this could affect tasks further down the critical path. Managers then create a
contingency plan on how they might deal with those risks if they materialise and communicate
this plan clearly with the project team.Related: Advantages and disadvantages of critical path
analysis

3.1.4.4 Project Cost Analysis

Project cost analysis is regularly monitoring the costs associated with a project to keep the
project under budget. Project managers always begin a project with a particular budget, but
delays, unexpected challenges, missed deadlines and inventory losses often cause this budget to
fluctuate and costs to increase. Conducting project cost analysis and developing strategies to
avoid cost overruns regularly could protect projects with tight budgets.To carry out a project cost
analysis, determine the project goal and clearly define the objectives of the project, then draw up
a project plan that sets out how you intend to reach this goal. Assign each task to a particular
person in the team and estimate the duration and budget of each task. The budget of a task
comprises multiple different elements, including labour costs, utilities, equipment costs and the
cost of other resources. Once you calculate the total cost of the project, add a factor of safety
(FoS) of at least 20% to accommodate unexpected costs.

3.1.4.5 Workload Anaysis

Workload analysis is the process of evaluating the workload of individual members of a project
team to ensure that no staff member is over or under-utilised. Many team members work on your
project alongside other projects, and you won't always be aware of how much work that
employee has from all of their projects. Allocating tasks evenly throughout the group might
mean that some team members have much more work in total than others, so a workload analysis
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may help you to ensure that all team members are equally capable of finishing their tasks on
time.Conducting a workload analysis involves identifying the effort that a project requires and
where the majority of the effort is. For example, break the project down into tasks and evaluate
how long each task takes and how much responsibility each task carries. This helps project
managers to balance the workload of a project equally amongst a team and, where necessary,
move tasks between different team members to ease the burden on overloaded colleagues.

3.3 Process Analysis

Process analysis is a type of PA that involves looking at the processes involved in your project
and assessing their efficiency. This involves considering how long processes take and whether
your team members have the skills and knowledge to carry them out effectively. In some cases, a
process analysis leads to project managers using other processes to speed up the project timeline
and cut down on inefficiencies or potential risks.To carry out a process analysis, define the
processes within your project that you want to analyse. Gather information about those
processes, including past performance and which of your team members have sufficient skills to
carry out the processes. Consult stakeholders to find out which processes they think are efficient
and ask team members how they carry out each process and what their greatest challenges are.
Project managers may then change the processes they use, automate some tasks or adjust the
project timeline to accommodate lengthy processes.Related: 10 popular process mapping tools
(definition and benefits)

3.3.1 Why Is Project Analysis Important?

PA helps project managers to monitor the progress of their projects and anticipate challenges
before they arise. By analysing your project from the perspective of risk, cost, workload and
processes at regular intervals, it's possible to maximise efficiency and reduce the overall
completion cost. Below are three ways PA helps project managers:

3.3.2 Identify Challenges and Risks

Performing different types of PA may help you to identify the challenges that your team might
face in a project before these challenges occur. For example, carrying out a project cost analysis
before you begin a project means that you're prepared for both the expected and unexpected
costs. Identifying these concerns early means that project managers and team members can react
quickly should such problems occur, which usually results in more effective action and fewer
substantial delays to the project's completion.Related: How to perform effective risk analysis
in project management

3.3.3 Stay under Budget and on Time

Almost every type of PA that project managers perform contributes towards keeping a project on
time and under budget. Risk analysis ensures that project managers identify and mitigate
significant risks that could cause delays or disruption to the progress of a project. Workload
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analysis reduces the number of delays that excessive workloads within the team could
cause.Process analysis naturally cuts down the time teams spend on particular tasks, and cost
analysis keeps projects under budget by ensuring that managers fully cost all aspects of a project
before it begins. By identifying how long particular tasks might take and how much money the
project might cost early on and monitoring these metrics throughout, project managers can
massively increase the chances that their project finishes within its goal parameters. This ensures
that stakeholders are happy with the cost of the project and makes projects more likely to be a
success.Related: How to manage a project budget, a step-by-step guide

3.3.4 Plan for the Future

Carrying out project analyses also helps project managers to understand why they make certain
decisions and whether those decisions are useful in the future. Gathering more information about
your project before it begins and while you're making progress means that you're more able to
assess, after the project finishes, how well your team performed and what causes your project's
success or failure. Identifying what went wrong in unsuccessful projects makes it much easier to
avoid making the same mistakes again on future projects.

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