Denver International Airport Baggage

YOSHITHA MANJUNATH (010725182)

11/01/2016

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BAGGAGE

ISE 251

Table of contents

Abstract        3

Introduction        4

Modes of failure and use of CCMP to overcome these failures        5

Key decisions that led to failure        6

Strategy Change        6

The decision to proceed        7

Schedule,  scope, and budget commitments        8

Acceptance of change requests        10

The design of the physical building structure        10

The decision to seek a different path and other technical failures        11

Violation of NSPE Code of Ethics during the conduct of project        11

Change of course during the conduct of project        15

Conclusion        18

Work cited        18

Abstract

The article states the various reasons that led to the failure of DIA baggage handling system project. The Project Management lacked communication skills and had a poor sense of planning. They underestimated the project’s complexity. Consequently, the outcome was catastrophic resulting in a severe monetary loss, time loss and intense work sessions and pressure. The article further discusses How the implementation of CCMP elements and NSPE principles would’ve saved the project from being disastrous. It is concluded by stating that the Denver project lacked guidance and principles which caused the management to make reckless decisions without considering the consequences. We can also infer from the conclusion that the management had poor skills and limited knowledge. Hence it needed an external consultant to review which would’ve helped the management to limit its scope.

Introduction

Decision making is a very crucial factor which has its respective positive or negative consequence depending on how well the decisions made by a group or an induvial is executed. A dysfunctional decision can cause destroy a project which includes pivot ideas behind decision making. Denver project was a typical example of bad decision making which has disastrous consequences. Denver being the largest airports in the United States came up with this project which included baggage handling system. The main objective of this project was to automate baggage handling thus reducing the aircraft turnaround time simultaneously increasing the efficiency (Calleam Consulting Ltd, 2008).

 However, due to the complexity of the project, the problems kept escalating causing a delay in the airport’s opening. In this article, we are going to see in detail the factors that led to the failure of this project. There should be a set of rules and regulations that bind the engineers and the people who are authorized to make decisions. We will be considering two fields in this article. The NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers and CCMP (Critical Chain Project Management Theory and Practice) (Stratton, 2009), (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2016).

CCMP implements certain techniques and elements that keep the project execution on track. NSPE Code is a set pf rules and obligations for engineers that help them work with honesty and integrity (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2016).

Modes of failure and use of CCMP to overcome these failures

There are numerous reasons that led to the failure of Denver International Airport(DIA) project. One of the major reason was the decision makers did not think through the complexity of the project. They were not prepared for the consequences. As mentioned above Denver Airport was one of the biggest and busiest airports. The baggage system was the most complicated project ever executed. The system was directly proportional to its complexity. The bigger it got the complexity increased. The complexity was due to one main issue being “line balancing” (Calleam Consulting Ltd, 2008).

The baggage system was required to send out empty carts throughout the airport to pick up new bags. The airport being huge obviously had numerous pickup points over hundreds. Each picks up point was required to have enough number of empty carts to suffice the number of bags that was to be picked up. The algorithm used to forecast or predict the number of empty carts that was sent to each pickup point failed due to its complexity. The calculations were not doable. This resulted in failure in predicting the number of empty carts that had to be sent to the pickup points, simultaneously this led to a delay in the baggage system hampering its goals. Another failure due to the complexity was the project started late. The time estimated to design and construct this project was two years which didn't seem feasible due to a late start. Another crucial factor that led to the delay was the deadline that was set to finish the project. The airport opening date was planned to be in 2 years. Hence the schedule pressure was high and a complex project like this need more time. The complexity was overlooked, and the effort involved in doing this project was also ignored.

Key decisions that led to failure

Strategy Change

Before executing a project one of the most important things to be done is make a prior plan on how the project should proceed. The project’s success is completely dependent on a good strategic plan. The Denver project lacked this. There was a strategic plan mishap. The airport’s Project Management team assumed that individual airports would have their individual baggage handling requirements. They were ignorant about the requests of integrating the system.

Eventually, the Project Management realized that not all airports had their baggage handling requirements, and hence they decided to change their plan and take over all the individual airlines. Despite the complexity and waste of time, the airport’s opening date was in 2 years’ time. This gave them less time and increased the workload pressure. If the strategic plan was to be done thoughtfully considering all circumstances and with a good amount of knowledge, there would’ve been right enough time for the designers to understand the baggage system and develop it.