Engineering data management through different breakdown structures in a large-scale project

1、International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 375384/locate/ijpromanEngineering data management through di erentbreakdown structures in a large-scale projectA.-P. Hameria,*, P. NitterbaHelsinki Institute of Physics and CERN, EST and LHC Divisions, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerla

2、ndbSingle Source Inc., Ho sveien 70 B, N-0262 Oslo, NorwayReceived 7 July 2000; received in revised form 28 November 2000; accepted 16 March 2001AbstractThis document discusses the benefits stemming from managing di erent project breakdown structures with an engineering data management system. The s

3、tructures discussed are project breakdown structure (PBS), assembly breakdown structure (ABS), as-built structure and hardware breakdown. Each structure is presented from the quality management point of view and a practical example of each of the four structures is given to illustrate their di erenc

4、es, and to show what kind of engineering information is to be stored in these structures. The main underlying case is that of CERN and its global, over a decade-long Large Hadron Collider project. The approach used for managing the new particle accelerator project is benchmarked against the way larg

5、e-scale ship-building projects are managed. It is concluded that several structures are needed to manage complex system projects, and that linking information between structures plays a crucial role for the overall success of the project. Information technology and WWW are envisaged to provide the m

6、eans to manage complex structures among geographically distributed project organisations. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.Keywords: Project structures; Large-scale projects; Configuration management; Engineering data management; Distributed operations1. Motivation and resea

7、rch designTo accomplish goals requiring creative engineering, geographically distributed e ort and significant finan-cial commitments set great challenges for project man-agement. These one-o type projects span over several decades, comprising design, engineering and construc-tions phases, which are

8、 further followed by long opera-tional and maintenance phases. The body of project management knowledge 15 provides clear guidelines on how to proceed with planning and control of practi-cally any kind and size of project. The basic approach provided seems to be sound, yet in many representa-tions t

9、he large-scale projects and their special require-ments are not treated in su cient detail. An excellent thrive into this direction is made by Laufer and Ho man 6, which collects the experiences and tacit knowledge from almost a hundred project management veterans. This article focuses on the variou

10、s project/product* Corresponding author. Tel.: +41-22-767-9596; fax: +41-22-767-8890.E-mail address: Ari-Pekka.Hamericern.ch (A.-P. Hameri).breakdown structures needed to manage documents, data and interaction among people in large-scale and capital projects.Several sources have reported that operat

11、ional fail-ures and problems in project operations are often rela-ted to ignorance, obsolete data and actions based on false intentions 7. Practically all these problems are related to information dissemination within the organi-sation. In large-scale projects the undelivered informa-tion forms a ma

12、jor threat to project success, which further reduces down the management of the informa-tion related to various phases of the project. Following this reasoning, the paper limits itself to structures rela-ted to document and information management, which are more commonly known as project breakdown s

13、tructure (PBS), assembly breakdown structure (ABS), as-built ABS and the hardware breakdown. To main-tain coherence, other structures like work breakdown structures (WBS) and cost breakdown structures (CBS) are excluded from the mainline study, yet references to them are briefly discussed.The fundam

14、ental motivation for managing product and project information through various structures in0263-7863/02/$22.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.PII: S0263 - 7863(01)00029 - 1376A.-P. Hameri, P. Nitter / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 375384large-scale

15、projects is based on the traceability and flex-ible accessibility of the information throughout the project life cycle; as it is known that fluent access to design information eases and lessens the costs of opera-tion and maintenance phases. To achieve this, systems with engineering and product data

16、 management func-tionality are used, although experience shows that managing more advanced functions, like product ver-sions and variants, are seldom automated, yet various structures are being managed with the help of modern information technology. The paper will provide an example of how a distrib

17、uted project can benefit from WWW-based communication, and how structures are used in di erent phases of the project to store informa-tion.The underlying case used to characterise the di erent structures is based on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN,1 which designs and constructs a pro

18、-ton collider with 7 Tev beam energy. Scheduled for operation in 2005 it follows a more than decade-long design and engineering phase during which a multitude of technological challenges have had to be solved, equipment manufactured, prototyped, tested, installed and, finally placed in operation. Th

19、rough global parti-cipation from more than 50 countries, this project forms a multi-project environment beyond comparison with any other project in its class. LHC, with its particle physics experiments is a highly complex system with requirements that cannot be solved with conventional technologies,

20、 nor without the experience obtained from the numerous experimental instruments built in the past 50 years 8.Knowing the uniqueness of the underlying case biases the presentation, a brief reference case from a large-scale shipbuilding project is used to benchmark the processes and approaches, i.e. h

21、ow di erent structures are used to store and manage information throughout the projects life cycle. It should also be noted that all the data concerning the manufacture (new materials, procedures, machine settings, etc.) and testing must be available when commissioning this unique machine. Hence, th

22、e requirement for a secure storage of vast amounts of data, some of which could never be used, but a small part could be invaluable in explaining any unexpected observation. Furthermore, the classification of the LHC as a nuclear facility implies a complete tra-ceability requirement of the collider

23、components throughout its lifetime.1 CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,

24、 Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United King-dom. Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and Unesco have obser-ver status (for more see http:/www.cern.ch).The rest of the paper is structured in the following way. First the de

25、finitions and uses of di erent structures are discussed, this is followed by a trivial example on how these structures are used in practice and what kind of information is to be stored in them. Then a WWW-based implementation of the example is shown. Finally, conclusions are drawn.2. Definition of t

26、he di erent structures at CERNPBS has been defined as a structured inventory of all the equipment and services, which together completely define the LHC Project during its conceptual and design phase. This includes the infrastructure, i.e. civil engi-neering works. The PBS divides the overall projec

27、t into sub-projects in order to make it easier to handle. For the LHC Project the PBS is used as the structure to store the baseline design, which in the engineering document management system (EDMS, or more gen-erally product data management system, PDMS) hosts documents and other information relat

28、ed to the project design phase. This information is typically documented in engineering specifications, technical specifications and descriptions, drawings, links to parameters and so on. All sub-projects in the PBS have a responsible pro-ject engineer, who is contacted if needed and who is used as

29、the one to whom information on project status and changes should be disseminated 9,10.According to its definition, at CERN, the PBS hosts both physical parts and services, which are to be pur-chased or otherwise acquired in order to complete the project. The PBS exists actively throughout the projec

30、ts existence and serves via the EDMS as the ultimate source of information concerning the whole project fra-mework. In general, the PBS in the EDMS contains only released information, which have gone through configuration management procedures. This informa-tion is stored in an appropriate format al

31、lowing the users to view and print the information, but not to modify it. Another feature of the PBS is that the sub-projects and structures are displayed with the respon-sible Project Engineer. In cases where no Project Engi-neer is indicated, it is inherited from the level above. A general convent

32、ion for naming components and their location in the final operational site is used.ABS describes the components of the final product to be produced by subdividing it into subcomponents and associating each to its relevant documents (reports, descriptions, procedures, parameter lists) related to its

33、design. In the LHC project ABS maintains the relation-ship between the assembly, its subassemblies and parts for any selected assembly. It is used to structure the detailed design and documentation of the main assem-blies. An ABS shows the types and quantity of assem-blies, sub-assemblies, equipment

34、 and parts, which areA.-P. Hameri, P. Nitter / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 375384377needed for final system assembly. In fact, it is the same information that is provided in a parts list on a specifi-cation drawing. The only di erence is the drawing only shows one level at

35、a time, while ABS when managed through an EDMS provides users with an access to all levels of the structure.By focusing on di erent types of physical items the ABS is used to host the manufacturing procedures, instructions for test procedures and models for non-conformity reports encountered during

36、the manufacture of a particular com-ponent. When the manufacture of a particular component starts, all data pertaining to the raw or manufactured materials used, manufacturing procedures, machine set-tings, and tests results, are entered into the as-built ABS. The as-built ABS is a blueprint of the

37、corresponding ABS, which describes the design of the assembly. The structure represents the physical parts after delivery from the manu-facturer and each of them has a unique identifier attached to them. It contains an entry for each and every manu-factured component, which will be finally physicall

38、y installed in the LHC. The test results taken during manufacturing are entered to the as-built ABS via a manufacture and test file (MTF). One such file exists per item manufactured, which will accompany the item throughout its life and will also capture the maintenance and radiation exposure data.T

39、he hardware breakdown provides information on the physical location of the assembled items. In doing this it links all operational and design related information of the system finally assembled. A leaf in the hardware breakdown can be seen as an empty slot in the con-struction site where a piece of

40、equipment of the type described in the ABS and for which an as-built ABS, is to be installed. The hardware breakdown is frozen dur-ing the installation phase of the project. When the machine is in operation, modifications and improve-ments will occur and they will a ect the hardware breakdown. The l

41、atest version of the hardware break-down should always mirror the current assembly of components that constitute the machine.The PBS remains active and may change during the projects life cycle. The other structures should be frozen at certain points in time, namely the ABS when the production comme

42、nces and the as-built ABS when operational period begins. The hardware breakdown is frozen during installation, but may change according to its natural evolution during operational period (Fig. 1). In practice, as di erent sub-projects progress in di erent phases, the structures and their evolution

43、take shape in parallel. Table 1, in turn, summarises which information generated along the project life cycle is to be stored into which breakdown structure. At CERN, various quality assurance manuals describe in detail the use of the structures, yet the ones discussed here concern the overall LHC p

44、roject. Numerous minor projects that eventually make up the whole collider are using their own lightweight EDMS workspaces to manage infor-mation related to their work and progress. It is not until these workspaces want to make something available for the whole LHC consortium, that the information e

45、nters the formal validation process, and finally configuration management of the project attaches it to the right structure.3. An example of how the structures are usedIn the following section, a practical example is given to explain how the di erent structures are used in the LHC project. An explan

46、ation on the practical purposes and benefits of each structure is also given. The convic-tion is, that it is necessary to use di erent structures to keep track of information generated throughout the lifecycle of each component and their di erent types. This includes all data and information related

47、 to the initial design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing, operation and maintenance. To make the example both powerful and simple, a real-life case with only two dif-ferent structures has been chosen. The case concerned is that of standard aperture quadrupole cold mass, aFig. 1. Di erent structur

48、es during the project life cycle.378A.-P. Hameri, P. Nitter / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 375384component in the matching section in the long straight section (Fig. 2).The quadrupole magnets in the matching sections consist of the same general elements (parts/sub-projects)

49、of which only a few change from one type to the other. The PBS of the LHC Project displays this in a tree structure. All the ingredients necessary to build equip-ment of a particular type appear in the tree of sub-pro-jects. As the purpose of the PBS is to give a project overview, it does not detail

50、 all the di erent types of quadrupole magnets. The nodes in the PBS-tree are used to collect relevant information on design and parameters in the form of documents, drawings or models.In the ABS, the di erent types will be shown in detail. In our example we have a family of two magnets that di er in

51、 their length: there is a standard version and a long version of the magnets (Fig. 3). In the end the PBS will house all the parts that build the LHC, but does not contain how they are assembled. The ABS and the documents attached contain complete information on the assembly of the two di erent type

52、s of quadrupoleTable 1Where to hook the di erent types of informationmagnets in this example. The structure and its contents describe how the components are put together, and how many of each component type are needed for the final system. This information is equivalent to the one found in the parts

53、 lists of a drawing. Following the EDMS vocabulary 11, this list is often referred to as Bill of Material (BoM). To have a BoM in an EDMS eases information extraction for various purposes, like estab-lishing cost estimates, manufacturing readiness reports, etc. Fig. 4 shows the ABS for the quadrupol

54、es in the matching sections. This structure enables to manage several types of the magnets with some parts being unique only for a certain type of magnet.From the document management point of view, this means that some documents will be linked to both PBS and ABS. From the EDMS point of view, this m

55、eans that a document is stored in one place, but linked to several structures, all this being transparent to the user. Documents that are only relevant for a certain type will only be stored in the ABS. Also, information about the production sequence and instructions will be stored in the ABS togeth

56、er with what procedures to go throughPBSABSAs-builtLayoutEngineering specificationsEngineering change requestsDocumentation of manufacturingInstallationprocessTechnical specifications forDetailed drawingsWhere installed-informationLogging of physicalinvitation to tenderpositionGeneral engineering dr

57、awingsAssembly drawingsHolds social security numberTransport informationEngineering cchange requestsPhysical parametersTest results (MTF)Conceptual 3D modelsQuality assurance test proceduresLog of use (MTF)ContractsFEM calculationsLog of maintenance (MTF)Physical parametersManufacturing proceduresPl

58、anning documentsAssembly proceduresManagement reportsMaintenance ProceduresFig. 2. The straight section of the LHC.A.-P. Hameri, P. Nitter / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 375384379Fig. 3. The PBS of quadrupoles as displayed in the LHC hardware baseline.Fig. 4. The ABS for the two types of quadrupo