Engineering Management

Scenario: You are a project manager for a Parcel Post company (e.g. Courier Post, NZ Courier, Fastway Couriers). You have been given a project aimed at giving more visibility to your customers in terms of where their parcels are. Currently, your barcode scanning system, can track the parcel when the parcel is picked up by the courier van, the courier van drops the parcel in a depot the parcel is picked up at the depot by a courier van the courier van drops the parcel at the destination The missing information is tracking of the parcels between the depots (ie when the parcel is on the truck). The proposed solution is as follows: As per current systems, the PARCELs are automatically sorted at the depot and placed in CONTAINERs, which are then loaded on to TRUCKs. The CONTAINERS are to be tagged with RFID tags (currently they are just collapsible metal or plastic boxes without any RFID tags). The TRUCKS currently have GPS tracking devices, but do not have sensors to identify which CONTAINERS are loaded. So they need to be fitted with such a device. We need a SOFTWARE developed to track which PARCEL is in which CONTAINER, which CONTAINER is in which TRUCK, and the GPS location of the TRUCK. At the destination depot, we need to make sure the CONTAINER is disassociated with the TRUCK when it is unloaded. The current online tracking portal, where customers are tracking their parcel is to be modified to read the new tracking information from the new SOFTWARE. Everybody involved needs to be trained appropriately to maintain the system. Here are some other facts about the project We have 100 TRCUKS in operation in the country 40 of the TRUCKS are independently owned and operated by individuals and are contracted out to us. They will be responsible for paying for purchasing and maintenance of the devices installed on their TRUCKS. 60 of the TRUCKS are owned by us. We have 10,000 CONTAINERS. They are mostly sitting at depots and loaded and unloaded to and from the TRUCKS by forklift. Forklift drivers treat the containers very poorly, and they are often knocked and need repair due to rusting, ware and tea and collisions. Maintenance is provided by a third party Nationwide. We need to engage with an external party for developing the SOFTWARE. We have not worked with such a company before. We have not been able to find a local supplier of the RFID tags (for CONTAINERS) and sensors within our price range. We have found a supplier in China, who does not have a local representative and have not sold them to a company in NZ before. We have been communicating via email and have got a quote from them. The project is not time-critical and the the most important aspect of the project is for the whole system to work reliably and without a glitch. The budget is limited but we have some freedom to ensure the right technology is purchased and implemented. An internal team of 2 Business Analysts and 1 Solution Architect have been assigned to you (the Project Manager). The ultimate responsibility of operating and maintaining the implemented system is on the company's Asset Manager.