Systematic Plant Selection

Name: Mikus Cirulis (student number 6042248) Course: Civil Engineering Module: Construction and Business Management (ENG 3140) Date of submission: 12/05/2011

Introduction
The plant manager wishes to purchase a truck, however, he is not competent enough to choose the optimum truck based on economic considerations. A meeting between the managing director, financial director and plant manager has been held and some information of current market situation has been obtained. The aim of this report is to evaluate the MUSTS and WANTS of the brief according to the Kepner and Tregoe method and advise the company on which truck has a potential to be the best investment.

Analysis of market situation

The Kepner and Tregoe method suggests that the must have properties of each product are evaluated first. Additional considerations based on adverse possibilities: Harris 30T: Cost of repair = cost of pump + cost of delay = 300 + 150 =450 With probability of 1 in 10 cases the additional cost of crane = 0.1 x 450 = 45 McCaffer L25: Cost of gearbox repair = probability x cost = 0.05 + 3000 =150

Ref 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ref 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

MUSTS Max lift = 25 tonnes Max purchase price = 80,000 Delivery less than 3 months 20m long boom Hydraulically positionable fly jib Conformation to ISO standards Purchased from home country MUSTS Max lift = 25 tonnes Max purchase price = 80,000 Delivery less than 3 months 20m long boom Hydraulically positionable fly jib Conformation to ISO standards Purchased from home country

Harris 30T 27.5 79000 + 45 3 months 24m Power ass. Yes Yes Hydracon 26 80000 6 months 28.7m Power ass. Yes Yes

Go/No go

McCaffer L25 25 75000 + 150 4 weeks 25.97m Power ass. Yes Yes Superlift 30 78000 2 months 26.3m Manual Yes Yes

Go/No go

Go/No go

Go/No go

After reviewing the must have specifications it turned out that delivery time for Hydracon is more than 3 months, hence this option is eliminated. As a result, further 2

analysis is based on the list of WANTS that any of directors have requested. Each WANT is ranked in scale from 1 to 10 and the crane having the highest score is then selected for purchase. The WANTS table is based on specifications table for each truck given in Appendix A.
Ref 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Wants Price Delivery Period Maximum Lift Boom length Fly jib One-operator Fully telescopic boom Simple operation Hoisting speed Fail-safe brakes Four-wheel drive Travelling speed Engine horsepower Turning radius Safe load indicator Overall length Overall width Travelling weight Cab comfort Outriggers Gearbox Power asissted steering Accessories Slewing speed Boom telescopic speed Cost of spares Back-up services Low running cost Economic element Technical element Total Ranking Harris 30T McCaffer L25 Superlift E/T E T Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score E 10 8 80 10 100 9 90 E 10 7 70 10 100 8 80 T 10 8 80 7 70 10 100 T 10 9 90 10 100 10 100 T 10 5 50 5 50 3 30 E 7 7 49 7 49 7 49 T 7 7 49 7 49 7 49 E/T 9 9 8 72 72 4 36 36 4 36 36 T 6 6 36 4 24 8 48 T 10 10 100 10 100 10 100 T 5 8 40 8 40 8 40 T 7 7 49 8 56 7 49 T 6 7 42 8 48 9 54 T 6 7 42 8 48 6 36 T 9 5 45 5 45 5 45 T 1 5 5 7 7 6 6 T 5 6 30 6 30 6 30 T 2 6 12 4 8 5 10 T 6 6 36 7 42 8 48 T 8 8 64 8 64 8 64 T 6 8 48 6 36 6 36 T 5 6 30 6 30 6 30 E/T 4 4 7 28 28 8 32 32 5 20 20 T 5 6 30 7 35 5 25 T 6 5 30 6 36 5 30 E 6 7 42 5 30 8 48 E 8 5 40 7 56 6 48 E 9 7 63 5 45 6 54 31% 63 444 448 425 69% 143 1008 986 986 100% 206 1452 1434 1411

Evaluation table above shows that based on the Kepner and Tregoe method of analysis the Harris 30T has achieved the greatest score, hence, should be chosen for purchase.

Review on method utilised

The Kepner and Tregoe method emphasises on the rational rather than creative problem solution. The basis for method is to prioritise the needs from product classifying them in MUSTS and WANTS. The alternatives are then rated against the service quality provided for each product. The best option is the one scoring the highest. Finally the selected product is then re-evaluated against expected results. In this instance the plant manager already mentioned that the Harris 30T is his favourite option. (mycoted, n.d.)

The advantage of this method is that comparison between several products is based on service that they provide. The method also distinguishes the priority of key features required by client. Also the solution is based on overall performance of the product rather than few aspects eliminating creative way of solving the problem.

Feedback to client
After assessment of current market situation regarding companies needs the plant Harris 30T is recommended as most suitable for purchase.

Appendix A Crane specifications

References
Mycoted (n.d.) Kepner and Tregoe method. Available at http://www.mycoted.com/Kepner_and_Tregoe_method [Accessed: 3rd April, 2011]