Project Management – Robot Chef Project Plan & Gantt Chart Analysis

PROJECT: Developing a robot chef

Background

Aldi Pte Ltd (shall be known as “Aldi”) runs a popular chain of convenience stores in Singapore.  The firm was founded by its CEO, Mr Alan Tam, approximately ten years ago and it has a small team of 40 operations staff to run the convenience store business while relying on a pool of part-time staff as store clerks.  Aldi operates 30 stores across the island, concentrated mostly in housing estates as well as in the central business district.

Business at Aldi’s convenience stores has been healthy, but growth in the business has been mediocre.  Mr Tam is considering expanding the pre-packed microwave meals market segment to cater to a wider range of taste and customer habits that are everchanging.

Therefore, Mr Tam has directed the senior management of Aldi to initiate the development of a robot chef and this is known as Robot Chef Prototype Project (RCP Project).  (Reference: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/food-servicessector-robots-digital-machinary-jobs-transformation-map-upskill-redesign-3524926

ABB Group (will be known as ABB), a robotic supplier based in Switzerland, will partner with ST Engineering (shall be known as STE), a Singaporean technology and engineering group, to co-develop the robot chef.  ABB will be in charge of producing and assembling the robot hardware, while STE will develop the software as well as supply peripheral devices, like the touchscreen input device and label printer, etc., needed for the RCP Project.

Mr Tam has appointed the following staff to the RCP Project Team, while the project partners will appoint their respective personnel:

• You, an Operations Manager at Aldi, will be appointed as the RCP Project Manager.
• Louis, an Operations Technologist at Aldi, will be in charge of liaising with ABB and working with the vendor to assemble and install the robot chef.
• Mary, an IT Executive at Aldi, will work with STE to procure the necessary IT hardware and equipment, and oversee computer hardware and software development works, including data entry.

Analyse the above case and answer the following questions.

Question 1a

The CEO, Mr Tam, would like the RCP Project to start on 18 September 2025 and try to complete by 16 February 2026, one day before Chinese New Year, so that the robot chef can go “live” on the auspicious first day of the lunar calendar.  The project team must be financially prudent but reasonable expenses with good justifications will be approved.  Mr Tam appreciates that this is the first time robots are used for preparing take-away meals so initial teething problems are expected.  However, the main goal of presenting fully prepared meals according to the customer’s orders must be achieved.

Recommend the priority of the RCP Project and construct a project priority matrix based on the CEO’s direction.

Question 1b

As part of defining and planning the project, the Project Manager has to develop a communications plan for the RCP Project.  To facilitate this effort, a ‘Power/Interest’ map is used to prioritise the following stakeholders’ communication needs:

• Mr Alan Tam, CEO of Aldi.
• Director of Operations of Aldi.
• ABB and STE, the vendors/contractors for the RCP Project.
• Staff at Aldi Store hosting the robot chef.

Plan the communication needs of the above stakeholders by constructing a ‘Power/Interest’ map.  Explain the rationale for placing each stakeholder in one of the four quadrants on the map, and the resultant strategy to be used, by following the template below.  Use the template once for each of the four stakeholders.

__________ (Stakeholder) will be __________ (strategy according to the Power/Interest Map) as the stakeholder has __________ (low/medium/high) level of power and has __________ (low/medium/high) level of interest.  The reason is ___________ .

Question 2

You and the RCP Project Team members discussed and worked out the activities needed to complete the project as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Activity List For Robot Chef Prototype (RCP) Project

Alongside the Activity List above, the RCP Project Team prepared initial costing for the budget approval.

Table 2: Work Resources And Rates

Table 3: Material Resources And Rates

Notes on the costs:

1. All costs stated are in Singapore Dollars.

2. The standard rates for Project Team members in Table 2 are for eight (8) working hours on regular weekdays. The members will not work beyond eight (8) hours per day. For budgetary purposes, the overtime rates are also provided. Team members do not want to work on weekends unless demanded by the Project Manager.

3. All project members’ costs involved in this project will be treated as variable costs. The total cost will be calculated automatically by MS Project software based on the rates in Table 2 and durations of the assigned activities.

4. Each material resource item in Table 3 is quoted on a one (1) lot basis. E.g., “Production” cost is a lump sum charged by the supplier / vendor for fabricating, assembling and installing the robot. “Computer” cost is a lump sum charged by the vendor for the server, peripheral devices as well as coding and developing the software for the robot.

Notes on using MS Project for Question 2 & 3:

5. [Definition of workdays] The project schedule is based on a 5-day work week. Each day has 8 working hours (8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.). No work will be performed on Public Holidays and outside of work hours on weekdays. The team members will not work on Saturdays and Sundays unless stated otherwise or when deemed necessary by PM.

6. [Definition of public holidays] Project work will only be carried out on workdays that are not public holidays.  Singapore’s public holidays that may fall within the project’s implementation period are:

• • Deepavali                 – Monday, 20 October 2025
  • Christmas Day         – Thursday, 25 December 2025
  • New Year’s Day      – Thursday, 01 January 2026
  • Chinese New Year   – Tuesday and Wednesday, 17 & 18 February 2026
  • Hari Raya Puasa      – Friday, 20 March 2026
  • Good Friday             – Friday, 03 April 2026

For contractual purposes, the above list of public holidays is final and there is no need to make adjustment in the event of any changes made to the list of public holidays.

If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the immediate Monday will be a public holiday in lieu. If that Monday is another public holiday, the immediate Tuesday will be the public holiday in lieu. There will be no holiday-in-lieu for a public holiday that falls on a Saturday.

To mark in MS Project all public holidays and holiday-in-lieu as Non-Working Time: Click Project tab -> Change Working Time. Enter the name of the holiday and the date. Then click Details -> click Nonworking.

7. [Task entry] To enter the information in Table 1 into MS Project:

Click View tab -> Gantt Chart, then click View -> Table -> Entry to enter the Task Name, Duration, and Predecessor of each activity into the respective columns. Leave the Resource Name column empty until you have set up the Resource Sheet [Point 8].

Do not change the order of the activities from Table 1 and their respective durations, predecessor relationships, and resource assignments unless needed.  There is no need to rearrange the activities into some form of Work Breakdown Structure.

8. [Entry of resources] To enter the Resource Name, Type and Cost Rates of the resource items in Tables 2 and 3 into the Resource Sheet:

Click View tab -> Gantt Chart -> Resource Sheet.  Enter the Names of the resources, Type, Max, Standard Rate, and Overtime Rate.  Leave Cost Per Use as $0 and choose Accrue under Prorated.

After you have completed setting up the Resource Sheet, return to the Gantt Chart view, click View tab -> Gantt Chart.  In each line of activities on the Entry Table, under Resource Name, use the drop-down list to assign the resource(s) to that activity according to Table 1.

For any reason during Project Planning or Execution that a team member needs to work on a Saturday or Sunday, you need to change that Work Resource’s personal calendar to avoid any impact on the parallel activity done by other team members.

Click View -> Resource Sheet.  Right click on that Work Resource that you intend to assign work during Nonworking Time, click Information -> click Change Working Time.  Enter a short description in Name, the chosen date, then click Detail -> Working -> Set the working time (or choose default time).  Be advised to set one row at a time, check your entry before applying it.

9. [Setting up other requirements] Do the following to complete the MS Project planning:

(i) Set Activity 1 as the highest-level activity by highlighting all activities below and click Task tab -> Right Indent to set them to level 2.  Then click Project tab -> Project Information -> set Start Date as directed by the CEO.  Right click on Activity 1 -> click Information -> click Advance tab -> set Deadline as directed by the CEO.

(ii) To view critical tasks, click Format tab -> check Critical Tasks.

(iii) To view all resource conflicts, select all tasks, right click -> click Auto Schedule.  Then choose Resource tab -> Clear Leveling -> choose clear all.  Observe for any resource conflicts.

(iv) Diagrams, charts, tables, graphs, and all relevant MS Project output must be shown as images in the main report.  The images must be appropriately formatted and presented for easy viewing.  Marks will be deducted if information on those images cannot be read easily.

Question 2a

Construct a Gantt Chart (after Clear Leveling) with Task ID, Information (i), Task

Mode, Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date, Predecessors, and Resource Names columns shown in a single diagram.  State the project completion date and explain if any resource conflicts are observed.

Note: Please include all key diagrams and charts in the main report. Diagrams placed in the appendix will not be considered.

Question 2b

You need to resolve the resource conflicts whilst maintaining the project deadline.

Due to the specific skill sets of the project team members, resource conflicts cannot be resolved by splitting the task, multitasking efforts, transferring task to other persons or adding more resources.  Moreover, team members will also not work beyond the scheduled eight (8) hours per day and on public holidays.  At this point, team members do not want to work on weekends.

As such, you should try to resolve the resource conflicts within available slack by following the steps:

Begin by identifying the task with conflict that has the smallest Task ID, right click on that task and click “Reschedule to available date”.

(i) If an error message appears to inform that the conflict cannot be resolved, click “Stop”.  Skip step (ii) below.

(ii) If the resource conflict is resolved, check the project completion date.  If it exceeds the deadline, press “Control Z” to undo this leveling step.

Continue to the next task with conflict and apply the steps above.  Repeat the above leveling operation, one task at a time and in a sequential manner, until all tasks with resource conflicts are done.  Do not attempt to apply other methods to resolve the conflicts.

Conclude by briefly explaining each step of the leveling operation and the eventual outcome.  Clearly state the project completion date.

Note: There is no need to show any diagrams for Question 2b.

Question 2c

You have decided to extend the completion date further in an effort to resolve the remaining resource conflicts without increasing demand on the resources.  Follow the steps below:

(i) Select all tasks -> right click on selection -> click Auto Schedule.

(ii) Click Resource tab -> click Clear Leveling -> select entire project.

(iii) Execute Auto Leveling by click Resource tab -> Leveling options -> select “Automatic” button and select “Level entire project” -> uncheck all boxes in bottom-half of window -> click Level all.

Assess the changes due to this resource leveling operation.  Identify the completion date and briefly comment on the impact to the project.

Note: There is no need to show any diagrams for Question 2c.                     

Question 2d

You are aware that the launch of the Robot Chef must coincide with Chinese New Year on 17 February 2026.  As such, you will exercise your Project Manager’s authority to solve this problem.

Select the tasks that you wish to change and carry out the changes.  Explain the reasons for your choices and clearly present the changes you have made.  Make the necessary modifications to the MS Project software so that the project can meet the original deadline.  Show the settings that you have made to the software.

Question 3

The CEO approves those changes made in Question 2.

To proceed, set the Status Date (click Project tab -> Status Date) as 22 September 2025.

Save the plan as a Baseline Plan (click Project tab -> Set Baseline -> check Entire project).  This baseline plan will be used to assess the performance of the project later.

During project implementation, the following incidents occurred:

While the robot components were being prepared for shipment to Singapore, the

Swiss government imposed a ten percent tariff on all exports destined for nonEuropean Union countries, including Singapore.  This would affect robot components like the chassis and engine.

Activity 10 (Test robot arms) took longer than expected and one (1) additional day is needed to make sure the setup is problem-free.

Update all relevant tasks and costs in the MS Project file to incorporate the changes due to the above incidents.

The project goes on to completion.

Set Status Date to the working day after the last activity, then update the MS Project file (click Project tab -> Update Project -> click Entire Project).

Note: Please include all key diagrams and charts in the main report. Diagrams placed in the appendix will not be considered. 

Question 3a

Set up in a single diagram the Tracking Gantt Chart from the MS Project software with Task ID, Information (i), Task Mode, Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date, and Predecessor columns shown.  State the RCP Project completion date.

Question 3b

Present a MS Project generated Cost Report or Table with the Cost Performance Index (CPI).  State the values for the Budgeted Cost at Completion (BAC) and the Estimated Cost at Completion (EAC).

Formulate the Cost Performance Index and compute the overall CPI manually.  Comment on the CPI.

Question 3c

Two incidents took place during project implementation.

For each of the two incidents, discuss one (1) action that could have been taken to prevent the two incidents from happening or to minimise their impact on the project.

Question 4

The CEO of Aldi requested a project debrief one week after the completion of the RCP Project.  You, the Project Manager, are informed to give a short presentation to illustrate to Aldi’s Senior Management on:

1. The objectives and priorities of the project, and are these met?
2. Changes to the schedule and what are the contributing events?
3. Changes to the costing and what are the contributing events?
4. What are the recommendations for future projects?

Prepare a video recording of your presentation of at least 3 minutes but not exceeding 6 minutes.  Your presentation must be treated like a formal presentation made in person, not a remote “Zoom-style” meeting. 

Question 5

Prepare a set of PowerPoint presentation slides upon which the video presentation is based. Please note that the PowerPoint file must be converted to a PDF file before submission to Canvas.

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Expert Answers on Above Questions on Project Management

Project priority matrix

The constraints are time, scope and cost. The priority with respect to time is constrained, scope is also constrained and with respect to cost, it should be accepted. For the timing, the launch should be carried out before the Chinese new year. This scope definition is the robot should be able to prepare meals as required, and with respect to cost, a reasonable spending is allowed with justification.

Power/Interest Map

Mr Alan Tam (CEO) – Mr Tam holds high power because of his position and also has high interest, as he is the project sponsor and decision maker.
Director of operations – the director of operations also needs to be adequately satisfied as the stakeholder has high power and medium interest.
ABB & STE – this particular stakeholder also has high power and high interest because of their role in the project, as they are responsible for the delivery aspect in the project.
Store staff – this particular take holder will be kept informed because they have low power and high interest. They are responsible for using the system but do not influence any major decisions.
Gantt chart – the can chat is prepared and included in the appendix section which shows the estimated completion date and also indicates about the resource conflicts which mainly includes Mary and Louis because of the multiple overlapping tasks.

Resource leveling

The leveling of the resources would be carried out by rescheduling tasks on the basis of smallest task ID, and conflicts would be resolved using slack. Some of the conflicts may still prevail because of resource limitation, and the completion date remains near the deadline.

Auto leveling impact

The completion date is extended beyond the deadline which results in delay in the project, reduces any resource conflicts and is not acceptable because of the fixed launch date.
Meeting deadline- the actions taken where to allow the work during weekend, make adjustment to the resource calendars and prioritise critical path. As a result, the project was brought back to its original deadline.
Cost performance – BAC is the initial planned budget whereas EAC is increased because of extra testing days and tariffs.
Incident prevention- with respect to the issue of tariff, risk analysis and contingency planning at the right approach to address the issue, whereas testing delay requires inclusion of a time buffer for better management.

Presentation

The objectives that have been achieved includes functional robot and launch timing and the schedule changes considered are resource conflicts and testing delay. The recommendations are to undertake better risk planning, ensure resource flexibility and buffer time inclusion to ensure timely completion of the project.

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