Appendix B: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Study notes of Project Management

Download Appendix B: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and more Study notes Project Management in PDF only on Docsity! NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Version 4.0 Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B-1 February 2015 Appendix B: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B.1. Introduction The WBS and WBS dictionary are effective management processes for planning, organizing, and administering NASA programs and projects. In accordance with NASA directives NPR 7120.5E (“NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements”), NPR 7120.7 (“NASA Information Technology and Institutional Infrastructure Program and Project Requirements”’), and NPR 7120.8 (“NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements”), the WBS and WBS Dictionary are mandatory elements of a project’s management baseline. The goal is to develop a WBS that defines the logical relationship among all program elements to a specified level. The WBS integrates technical, cost, and schedule parameters, giving the Project or Program Manager (PM) a tool to forecast cost and schedule performance, among other management objectives. With respect to the NASA cost estimator, a project’s WBS will significantly affect two areas: the development of the Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) and the generation of the required inputs into the Cost Analysis Data Requirement (CADRe) database. The development of a WBS with those requirements considered in the early stages will save significant “mapping” and reconciliation efforts for the cost estimator at a later stage. Accordingly, these items are the focus of this appendix. For complete WBS development guidance that includes the WBS as a basis for assigned project responsibilities, provides project schedule development, simplifies a project by dividing the total work scope into manageable units, and provides a common reference for all project communication, refer to NASA’s WBS Handbook,1 which follows the guidelines found in NPR 7120.5E2. B.2. Developing a Product-Oriented WBS A Product-Oriented WBS, which is what is commonly meant by “WBS,” is a hierarchical organization of all of the hardware, software, services, and other deliverables necessary to successfully complete a space flight project.3 The purpose of the WBS is to allocate the work content into manageable segments to enable the planning and control of cost, schedule, and technical content. The typical space flight system WBS is product oriented. The product-oriented WBS begins with the end product at the highest level (such as spacecraft) and subdivides the work content into lower-level elements until sufficient detail is achieved for management (or cost estimating) purposes. A WBS relates the elements of work to one another and to the end product. The WBS is the foundation that relates all project disciplines to a common framework that supports the planning, monitoring, and control of progress and status of engineering efforts, cost and schedule resources, and technical progress and performance. 1 NASA Work Breakdown Structure Handbook, SP-2010-3404, http://evm.nasa.gov/handbooks.html. 2 NASA NPR 7120.5E, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements, w/ Changes 1–10, http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_7120_005E_&page_name=AppendixB&search_term=7120%2E5E. 3 References to WBSes of varying types may be confusing. For the purposes of this document, and due to common usage, a WBS refers to a Product-Oriented Work Breakdown Structure, an FBS refers to a Functional Work Breakdown Structure, and an OBS refers to an Organizational Work Breakdown Structure. NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Version 4.0 Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B-2 February 2015 One of the first tasks that must be performed by the cost estimator when developing a new cost estimate is to either obtain or develop the WBS (step 2 in NASA’s 12 step cost estimating process). The WBS is critical because it is the primary source for development of a CBS. If composed with cost information, a WBS may serve directly as a CBS. Otherwise, it may be loaded with cost information attributed to its respective elements to create the CBS. If the project has advanced into Phase B, the Project Manager should be able to provide a WBS. If, however, the project is in the early concept study phase (including Analysis of Alternatives [AOA]), the cost estimator may need to develop a WBS. When the project or study lead provides the WBS, the cost estimator needs to determine if the WBS addresses the total scope of work and is suitable for cost estimating. Depending on the specific cost models or estimating approaches the analyst has chosen, the project WBS may not have sufficient granularity, or misalignment may exist between the WBS and the estimating methods. Any adjustments that are made to the project WBS must be coordinated with the project or study lead to ensure that the changes will not cause issues with understanding or communicating the estimate. If adjustments to the WBS are not feasible, it is the responsibility of the analyst to make whatever CADRe WBS The NASA Standard WBS required by NPR 7120.5E only proceeds to level 2. This increases the degrees of freedom for the Program/Project Manager to construct a WBS that best facilitates project accomplishment. However, the cost estimator and project lead must be aware that there are managerial data demands that must map from the project’s WBS. Construction of a WBS that considers these requirements may alleviate significant PM level of effort at stages of the project beyond initial WBS formulation. For each Agency project, the WBS established by the project must use the NSM numbering scheme and also must correlate exactly through level seven to the corresponding financial accounting structure utilized for each project within the NASA Core Financial System. In addition to the NASA Core Financial System requirements, projects must submit data into the CADRe system under the CADRe WBS format, shown at right. These data are used by the Agency for reference in future cost estimates. Construction of a project WBS that mirrors or easily maps to the CADRe structure will achieve savings in future level of effort and is considered a “best practice.” NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Version 4.0 Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B-5 February 2015 Figure B-2. NASA Standard Space Flight Project WBS Note that Figure B-2 only proceeds to level II in its depiction. The standard does not intend that this is the lowest level required. Rather, the standard grants significant freedom to the Project or Program Manager to select which branches require lower levels. In addition to the Flight Projects Standard WBS, there are lower-level standard WBSes defined in NPR 7120.8, Appendix K.7 The standard CADRe WBS is also consistent with the NASA Standard WBS but goes to more detailed levels. MIL-STD-881C8 is another resource. PCEC has multiple standard WBS templates that may be helpful to the analyst.9 B.3. Alternative WBSes In addition to the product- or cost-oriented WBS, there are alternative ways of organizing the work and presenting the cost. This section discusses three of these approaches: the Organizational Work Breakdown Structure (OBS), the Functional Work Breakdown Structure (FBS), and Elements of Cost (EOC). The relationship between these different breakdown structures is shown in Figure B-3. 7 http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_7120_0008_&page_name=AppendixK 8 MIL-STD 881C Work Breakdown Structure for Defense Materiel Items, 3 October 2011, https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=482538 9 PCEC will contain the following WBS templates: NASA NPR 7120.5, NASA CADRe, NC12 Earth Orbiting Spacecraft, NC12 Planetary Spacecraft, NC12 Uncrewed Spacecraft, NC12 Crewed Spacecraft, NC12 Launch Vehicle Stage NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Version 4.0 Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B-6 February 2015 Figure B-3. Multidimensional WBS Relationships Each WBS approach draws on the same cost data but applies a different categorization. Therefore, each dollar spent can be assigned to a product WBS element, an organizational unit, and a function and identified with an element of cost. It is important for the cost engineer to understand and appreciate these different views. While the estimate is typically tied to the product WBS, other reporting and management systems may use an Organizational Work Breakdown Structure or Functional Work Breakdown Structure, or a combination of the three. Note that performance management systems such as Earned Value Management (EVM) will establish control accounts at a level where individual products intersect with individual organizations, thus linking the product to the OBS.10 The following subsections explain each of these alternative WBSes in greater detail. B.3.1. Organizational Work Breakdown Structure (OBS) The OBS accounts for the costs via the individual organizational units that perform the work. Since most organizations are structured hierarchically, this approach mimics a WBS in appearance. However, the OBS is used by the performing organization to track fiscal performance, whereas the WBS is the project manager’s approach to organizing and tracking the work. For large projects of long duration, it is common for the performing organization to reorganize so that the WBS and OBS are aligned. B.3.2. Functional Work Breakdown Structure (FBS) The FBS organizes work by activity (or function). For example, the work to design an avionics box may consist of the following functions: engineering, procurement (of materials), assembly (of the test unit), and testing. The FBS is independent of both product and organization, though there may be overlaps with those two structures. Most WBSes contain enabling functions within their breakdown structure. Typical enabling functions include project management, systems engineering, mission assurance, and systems integration. In NAFCOM, these crosscutting functions are captured as systems integration costs. 10 More information on the use of EVM at NASA can be found at http://evm.nasa.gov/. NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Version 4.0 Appendix B Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) B-7 February 2015 FBSes are typically seen in recurring activities. Both mission operations and ground processing lend themselves to an FBS, where the work required to either prepare flight hardware for launch or operate the hardware post launch is best described using action (or functional) terms (vehicle processing, for example). An FBS is sometimes referred to as an activity-oriented structure. An activity-oriented structure contains all the activities needed to develop a mission. It is also usable for any subset of the mission. It focuses on work that must be done, rather than on end products. The activity-based structure is not tied to any particular architecture because it is a list of the needed functions, not the elements, of the architecture.11 The following is an example of an activity-based structure: • Project Management • Systems Engineering • Systems Design • Detailed Design • Prototype/Brassboard Manufacturing • Prototype/Brassboard Integration • Prototype/Brassboard Qualification Testing • Protoflight Manufacturing • Protoflight Recurring Engineering • Protoflight Quality Assurance • Protoflight Integration • Protoflight Testing and Checkout It should be noted that these activities are performed in support of a number of the aforementioned WBS elements (e.g., payload, spacecraft, and ground systems). Each of the above activities is a part of each of the WBS elements and can even be assigned to individual subsystems or components. The activities are typically performed by different organizations, with engineering performed by the engineering organization and manufacturing by the manufacturing organization. Contractor or civil service labor may be recorded in systems that are first organized by function and then by end item. Data may be available for both. Every contractor manages its projects differently. Some manage by products, some by functional activities, and others by both. The estimating community has traditionally focused on the cost by WBS, but the activity-based or FBS may be utilized to either develop a grassroots estimate or to normalize data for inclusion in a parametric cost model. With the introduction of JCL (see Appendix J), obtaining actual costs by both WBS and activities will become more critical. So as more data are collected, the Agency will have better historical data to improve future JCL estimates. During project execution, use of activity- or function-based data displays may also provide very useful insight into both plans and actuals and offer analysts the ability to quickly identify problems or disconnects between planned expenditures or staffing and project schedules. 11 The Functional Breakdown Structure and its Relationship to Life Cycle Costs,” DeHoff, Levack, and Rhodes, 45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, August 2009.