Simulation of Gantt Chart associated to a research project in the composite materials field using Microsoft Project software.

Micu, Adrian ; Micu, Angela ; Capatina, Alexandru 等

1. INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Project provides the opportunity to organize project's activities according to their complexity, using "indent" tool which allows the division of main activities in secondary ones. (Kerzner, 2001) We proposed a composite materials promotion project which involves three stages, emphasizing two complementary market researches, one at the global level of composite materials and other focused only on the composite materials resulted from the project and the implementation and evaluation of a marketing plan which will be able to promote the competitive advantages of the composite materials. The method that we used to plan this research project is Gantt Chart and in this way we had the support of the powerful project management tools provided by Microsoft Project software.

In the present highly competitive era, the mass production requirements in the engineering industries have increased the demand for forged components and composite materials. (Gohild & Maisuria, 2008) Composite materials make up a very broad and important classification in engineering materials. The promotion plan is focused on the main features of composite materials--with their unique properties of high stiffness, high strength, and low density, which are expanding in aircraft, cars, ships, biomedical products, and energy production. (Isaac & Ori, 2005)

The research results that we promote in this project involves reinforced composite materials with particles (SiC, SiO2, Al2O3) in Al-Si metallic matrix, with multiple technical applications in the materials science, structural mechanics and nanomechanics. Composite materials represent the fastest growing "materials" market segment. Sporting goods, Aircraft, automobile, shipbuilding, are just a few examples.

We consider that the main result of our project proposal is the original interdisciplinary approach based on the complementarity of management, marketing and engineering concepts.

We think that we can develop in the future partnerships between academics and companies which focus their businesses on project management principles.

2. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS PROMOTION PROJECT

2.1 Gantt Chart associated to the promotion project's phases

The first stage of this project concerning the promotion of research results in the domain of composite materials has in view to accomplish two goals related to the following activities: the scientific and methodological foundation of the research study on composite materials market and the planning of the market research in composite materials field. (fig. 1) Fig. 1. Gantt Chart associated to the first phase of promotion project in the composite materials field

The tasks associated to the first goal are seeking to the information gathering, selection and identification of offer evaluation criteria on composite materials market, choosing composite materials' offer relying upon certified competences of project's partners and using multi-criteria models simulation in order to select the best composite materials' offer which will be promoted. The specific activities referring to the planning of the market research in composite materials field include: the definition of composite materials' market segmentation criteria, target group identification and selection of the tools for market research in composite materials field and the management of the activities associated to the market research planning.

The identification of the segmentation criteria on the composite materials market allows to choose the target where the relevant offer resulted after the implementation of the research project will be positioned. The management activities involve the selection of the appropriate market research tools, the project research team building and the allocation of the tasks to each participant as well as the coordination of research activities based on complementary competences.

The second stage of this project concerning the promotion of the composite materials research results supposes the following three main activities: the auditing process concerning the degree of awareness of composite materials resulted from the project in order to design the relevant offer, the development and promotion of a website in view to increase the visibility of composite materials resulted from the project and the evaluation of perceived reputation of the composite materials resulted from the project.

During the first activity related to this project's stage, the following tasks must be taken into account: the selection of the tools and techniques of Market investigation for composite materials resulted from the project (questionnaires, focus-groups, semi-structured interviews), the information processing and positioning of composite materials resulted from the project on the degree of awareness and the dissemination of market research results on target groups.

During the second activity, the following tasks must be accomplished in order to reveal the project's visibility in the on-line environment: the design and the implementation of a website which will promote composite materials resulted from the project, the website promotion via banner-exchange, viral marketing and the optimization of the website in specific search engines.

During the third activity related to this project's stage, we propose the following task list: an on-line research focalized on target groups (potential customers and investors), the participation to international fairs and show-rooms in composite materials domain and the analysis of the feedback resulted from online research and participation to fairs and show-rooms. (fig. 2)

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The third stage of this project concerning the promotion of the research results in the domain of composite materials involves three main activities: the implementation of the marketing strategy for the composite materials resulted from the project, the evaluation of the marketing strategy for the composite materials resulted from the project using a Balanced

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As the promotion of the composite materials involves an industrial marketing approach, we propose the association of "4T" model to the classical "4P": Targeting (the segmentation of composite materials market in view to emphasize the relevant offer), Tailoring (the adaptation of the relevant offer to target group demands and requirements), Tying (cost control management at each stage of this project) and Tapping (the correlation of the offer to the specificities of each target group). (Nistor & Capatina, 2005)

The evaluation of the marketing strategy supposes the following tasks: the definition of the performance key indicators for the marketing plan, the attachment of a Balanced Scorecard to the results of the marketing plan and the analysis of the marketing strategy for the composite materials resulted from the project using Balanced Scorecard Designer software.

From the dissemination ways of the research project results, we can mention: research papers on prestigious BDI and ISI ranked publications, business environment certification for project's results and feedback from target groups in order to improve the project's results in the future.

The links between the activities involved in composite materials promotion project represent the success key for project management organization; in many cases, the activities are linked by a Finish-to-Start relationship which reflects that the deadline of an activity determines the start date of the next activity. There are situations in which the project manager decides that two activities must be developed in the same time, the link between them being designed as a Start-to-Start relationship. (Chatfield & Johnson, 2002)

3. CONCLUSION

The application of project management functions offers to the users of Microsoft Project the possibility to plan and manage a project efficiently and assures the balanced optimization between the composite materials promotion of the project's dimensions: objectives, resources, costs.

The organization of the activities involved by the promotion of a research results in composite materials domain, the setting of their duration after the resources allocation, the cost control views and the online collaboration tools for project team represent the strengths of this software that will be among the leaders on project management software market.

This promotion project concerning the results of the research in the composite materials domain will be proposed for a grants competition in order to assure its financing and implicitly its practical value.

4. REFERENCES

Chatfield C. & Johnson T. (2002)--Microsoft Project, Editura Teora, ISBN: 973200651X, Bucuresti

Gohild. & Maisuria M. (2008)--Computer Simulation Technique for the Closed Die Forging Process: A Modular Approach, Proceedings of the 7th WSEAS International Conference on System Science and Simulation in Engineering ^ (ICOSSSE '08), ISSN 1790-2769, Venice

Isaac M.& Ori L. (2005)--Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials. Second Edition, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515097-X, New York

Kerzner H. (2001)--Project Management--A System Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Ed. Wiley & Sons, ISBN-10: 0471225770, New York

Nistor R., Capatina A. (2005)--Management and Marketing Simulations and Projects, Ed. Academica, ISBN: 9738316-80-04, Galati