Maintaining the project schedule did prove to be a challenge for the Veggie Blaster Team as result of various issues the team encountered along the way. Some issues were internal, and some issues were external. In terms of the budget the team did manage to remain close to the initial estimate and final estimated budget at completion values (EAC Value) puts the project only $19.08 over budget despite the scheduling setbacks. The final EVA values for the project were SPI = 0.8722 and CPI = 0.9982. The following two sections of the report highlight in detail the reasons for variance in both scheduling and budget. Figure 45. Final EVA Graph posted below illustrates the final status of the project at the time of Final Report submission on April 15, 2022.

Schedule

Below the initial and actual Gantt Chart (Figure 46. and Figure 47.) are posted and will be referenced in detail in the following paragraphs to provide clarity on the variances. Figure 48. shows a comparison in scheduled dates vs. actual dates in table format.

When looking at the two Gantt Charts above, there is a clear difference in number of phases the team took to complete the project. There are two main reasons why phases of the project had to be adjusted and removed. The first reason as was discussed in previous sections, was the loss of the Engineering Drawings and Device Models. The team had spent considerable time on these tasks and the loss of the documents made a large impact on the project. As was stated above, the team created the files on an older version of SolidWorks (2021) off-campus and after working on the files on-campus using a newer version of the software (2022) the files would then not open on the older version. The team tried to alter creation dates of the document so that the older version would open the files and in the process of doing so, the files were rendered corrupt. On February 13, 2022, every file used in the modelling and drawings of the device had been lost and the team had to start over. When referencing the Initial Gantt Chart above, the completion date for the Mechanical Design Phase of the project was scheduled for completion on February 18, 2022. After the issue with Solidworks, the team was not able complete the Engineering Drawings and models until March 11, 2022. This can be seen in the relatively large continuous drop in SPI values on the EVA Graph Posted above after the date of February 25, 2022, until the date of March 18, 2022.

As result of this setback, the Material Acquisition Phase scheduled for completion on February 25, 2022, had to be removed and the tasks involved were moved to the Prototype Creation Phase. For the remainder of the project, almost every technical component required, relied on these documents and the loss pushed every task back 2-3 weeks. When the team reached the Prototype Creation Phase of the project the Initial Gantt Chart required the team to begin machining components of the device but as the start date of this phase was February 28, 2022, the team had not yet finished the drawings on the components. As a result, valuable time that had been planned to machine the components was lost and needed to be regained in other tasks. After lengthy discussions among the team members the decision was made that the focus should be placed machining key components of the device to complete as much as the project as possible. This is the reason the Final Complete Product Phase of the project was removed on the actual Gantt Chart posted above. With the time remaining in the project the team would be able to complete prototyping and create the final version of the device.

The second reason the project phases were adjusted, and completion requirements were altered was a result of a shortened schedule in the Machining Lab at Fanshawe College because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic forced the college to limit access to the Machine Shop until the end of the Winter Semester Reading Week (March 7, 2022). Once the Machine Shop opened the team booked as many slots as they needed to machine the components they discussed they could complete before the end of the project. As the initial Gantt Chart states, the team needed to start machining components as of February 28, 2022. Even without the setback from the loss of the Engineering Files the team would not have been able to start machining components until a week after the required completion date of this task.

Overall, as it relates to the schedule of the project, the team was able to make up time in many of the tasks in the phases after the issues encountered in the Mechanical Design Phase as can been in the increase in SPI values on the graph above after March 18, 2022. At the time of Project End the final SPI Value was 0.8722 with 83.88% of the project being complete. Despite the team being unable to complete the physical product, and with the exception of missing the completion date for the Assembly Modelling and Drawings, all other tasks were completed on time and in full.

Budget

In contrast to the scheduling of the project, the team performed much better in maintaining the budget throughout the project. At the time of completion, the final actual budget was $8777.00, and the initial budget projected a final cost of $10 415.28. Even though these values vary by a difference of $1638.28, it is only because some tasks initially planned for did not occur. When referencing the EVA the planned value for tasks completed was $8736.00, when comparing to that value, the project was over budget by only 0.47%. The final CPI Value of the project was 0.9982. Below the Initial Budget (Figure 49.), Final Budget (Figure 50.), and a graph illustrating the differences are posted (Figure 51.).

When looking at the time planned for completing a task there actually is little variance compared to the actual hours spent on the task. The large variance between the two documents was largely because the initial budget calculated costs on the entire project being complete and the final actual budget only calculates costs based on the tasks completed. Despite this large difference currently when looking at the final update of the EVA (April 15, 2022) the Estimate at Completion Value (EAC) is calculated to be $10 434.36 and the variance at completion is only -$19.08. Meaning if the remaining tasks were completed within the planned time allocated for each task the project would come in overbudget by only $19.08.

When looking at the material costs, the reason for the large variance is because the team did not purchase most of the material needed as a result of only being able to manufacture certain key components of the device.

As the data above suggests, despite setbacks in various tasks of the project and lost time, the team did succeed in maintaining the budget.