Problem Case Summary
Wilmont’s is a top-ranked US retail pharmacy with more than 8,000 stores nationwide. The company is secretly considering delivering prescriptions by flying
drone. DroneTech, a small firm in San Francisco, CA announced the approach in March, and Wilmont’s has made an agreement with DroneTech to prototype
this project in the San Francisco area. DroneTech will provide the drone technology as well as the drone piloting and delivery systems, but will customize its
systems and business process to conform to Wilmont’s requirements.
You are the project manager assigned to lead this project.
Wilmont’s has limited the project expenditures to a maximum of US$1,750,000 for this prototype project and will implement it first in only four stores.
The project begins next January 5 and the first customer delivery flight should take place no later than November 30 to avoid harsh weather in the San
Francisco area.
You will need to plan tasks and assign team members to them from a list of people involved in the project. Regular meetings need to be held with the
team and stakeholders as well as other forms of communication.
Approval points are needed through the project sequence.
Risks, testing, quality control and provision issues may develop.
Issues in security, reliability, integrity, interfaces between the systems of the two organizations and customer interaction are all considerations that must
be made as you plan the project.
User training and other preparations will be required for system implementation. The Wilmont’s Change Management Team will assist you in this effort.
Final schedules need to show a certain level of completion based upon a given date.
Problem Case: Part 1
Wilmont’s is a top-ranked US retail pharmacy company based in St. Louis, MO with
more than 8,000 stores nationwide and in all 50 states, and employing more than 244,000
people overall.
The company has engaged in a number of innovative business practices, and now they
are once again secretly considering breaking ground with an even newer concept – delivering
prescriptions and drugstore items by flying drone.
The concept isn’t new – a small firm named DroneTech in San Francisco announced the
approach in March, and they are looking to develop a relationship with drugstores nationwide
to launch the concept for real. Wilmont’s may be the big break they are looking for!
The Operations Vice President (George Cranston) of Wilmont’s wants to develop a pilot
project to get something moving and see how this works. George will provide the funds and will
oversee all aspects of this initiative. You are the Project Manager on Wilmont’s business
operations side who will manage the project generally for Mr. Cranston.
Mr. Cranston has made an agreement with DroneTech CEO and founder Jordan
Kempler to prototype this project in the San Francisco area, which is the home location of the
DroneTech organization where it developed the system. DroneTech will customize its systems,
interfaces and business process to conform to project requirements from Wilmont’s.
Mary Pearson is the Project Manager for Wilmont’s internal IT department, and she has
been assigned by CIO, James Connor, to lead the information systems development that will be
needed to support the initiative. Phillip Greenberg is the project manager at DroneTech who
will work with you. Generally, from the Operations perspective, the project will likely need to
accomplish the following:
Develop a Wilmont’s online order entry process that will allow customers in the San
Francisco area to register their willingness to have a drone deliver their orders by means
of online entry or smartphone entry. There will be significant restrictions on the
approval of customers for this service, so there will need to be a segment of the process
to allow. Wilmont’s management to approve the customer, send a confirmation to the
customer, etc.
Create reports for Wilmont’s management to provide information on sales, customer
reactions and key performance indicators that senior management will define for you.
Create communications for customers electronically through email, online and through
mobile alerts as the customer requests.
DroneTech will handle piloting the drones and delivery of the products.
They already have processes that handle order entry, delivery confirmation and a
mobile app, but they need to be customized for Wilmont’s so that customers don’t see these as
two separate companies. Eileen Seymour is the point of contact on the information systems
sidewith DroneTech and will be overseeing the team on their side. A price for this system
customization is not yet determined and the development of this proposal will be a part of your
project plan. You will need to build in the contract negotiations between Wilmont’s and
DroneTech as you develop the project plan as well. Members of the legal teams of both
organizations will assist you with this.
Ensure that the relationship between DroneTech and Wilmont’s does not compromise
the security of Wilmont’s business information, the customer’s privacy and the
proprietary information about how Wilmont’s will use the drones for delivery. You will
work with Wilmont’s Information Security Management Team to accomplish this, and
William Scott is the project lead on that team for this project.
You will need to identify basic business process requirements and then determine your
team members from the list of people given in this document as you move toward final
project planning.
It has been determined that only four (4) Wilmont’s pharmacies will participate in the
prototype delivery system. These are in a close geographic area to one another, and
they are in a non-city environment consisting mainly of suburban homes and small
businesses. Customers in apartment buildings will not be permitted in the prototype
due to delivery issues. You will need to ensure that the four participating pharmacies
are fully ready to engage in this prototype by the time for first flight, and the drone
deliveries need to be seamless enhancements to Wilmont’s already top-quality delivery
processes for customers.
The IT folks have determined that no additional IT infrastructure will be required for this
project from Wilmont’s, as all of that specialized technology is only on the DroneTech
side, and they will be including it in their proposal and a separate project plan that they
will give to you as a part of their contract. Wilmont’s can accommodate operating this
prototype system within their existing infrastructure that handles customer orders, but
those processes need to be enhanced in order to provide this delivery option and all the
management processes that must accompany them.
Wilmont’s has allocated a maximum of $1,750,000 for this prototype project, although
this is only an ultimate constraint – you will eventually need to tell Mr. Cranston what
your project estimate will be, but you don’t have enough information about the project
design yet to be able to give such a budget figure. You have been asked by
Mr. Cranston to ensure that your project not only does not go over this figure, but that it is
under that total if possible. The two companies agreed that they would like to begin the
project on next January 5, and that their first customer delivery flight should take place no later
than November 30 to avoid harsh weather in the San Francisco area.
Of course, you also need to include specific steps and processes for:
Regular Meetings with the Team, Stakeholders, and Cross-impacted areas of the
company.
Approval points as needed through the project sequence.
Points at which you will refine cost and staffing requirements (you do not need to
calculate costs or total staffing at this point)
Points at which you will produce the various Project Plan documentation deliverables
discussed in class.
Testing, quality control and provision for issues that may develop.
User training and other preparations for system implementation. The Wilmont’s
Change Management Team, headed by Shirley Johnson, will assist you in this effort.
Summary of Personnel Involved in the Project (name initials are in brackets):
DroneTech Corporation Staff:
Jordan Kempler (JXK), CEO and Founder
Phillip Greenberg (PAG), Project Manager – main point of contact
Stephanie Williams (SMW), Senior Business Analyst
Gerald Hasper (GPH), Flight Operations Manager
Eileen Seymour (ERS), Project Lead, IT Systems
Katie O’Ryan (KRO), Corporate Attorney – DroneTech
Wilmont’s Staff:
George Cranston (GWC), Operations VP
James Connor (JFC), CIO
Mary Pearson (MJP), Project Lead, IT Systems Team
William Scott (WKS), Project Lead, Security Team
Julie Green (JRG) Pharmacy Manager Store #35864
Steve Haskell (SLH) Pharmacy Manager Store #32185
James O’Donnell (JLO) Pharmacy Manager Store #38734
Wilma Marcy (WPM) Pharmacy Manager Store #33001
You as Project Manager on the Business Operations side (Come up with your own
initials)
Mary Kerstner (MJK), Business Systems Analyst
Jonathan Perry (JSP), Retail Operations Assistant
William Postner (WKP), Marketing Analyst
Sherry Loganthorpe (SPL), Social Media Specialist
Linda Thornton (LET), Online Customer Process Analyst
Gerald Peritoni (GEP), Testing Specialist
Elizabeth Walton (EMW), Senior Testing Specialist
Shirley Johnson (SPJ), Change Management Coordinator
Alan Swanson (AES), Attorney – Legal Department
Denise Delgado (DLD), Financial Operations Analyst
Problem Case: Part 2
Please review the Part 1 Case Problem information as it is the general background and
requirements of the case. This information should be added to the following clarifications
regarding the project schedule:
1. Total Project Cost must not exceed Project Constraints. Project Schedule should begin
January 5, and should meet the schedule constraints as per the case for completion, etc.
You may assume 100% (1.0FTE) allocation to this project for each resource in the list
below. Load leveling is NOT required for this assignment, and over-allocation warnings
on your WBS will not be counted as a problem as long as the resource effort allocation is
reasonable.
2. It is critical that your assignment WBS is specific to this case problem in detail. You must
ensure that all required deliverables appear in your WBS specifically, and that each
includes design, development, testing and implementation as appropriate. Your WBS
must include project management steps for the charter/scope, risk management plan,
WBS, schedule, training and the required meetings to conduct and manage the project.
Do not include things like “procurement management plan” or “staffing plan” or “quality
management plan” as these are not a part of this case problem. A generic WBS is not
acceptable for this assignment. This is practice for you to see how you might deliver
such a detailed schedule for this case problem to your boss, and it will be evaluated that
way.
3. It is up to you to add the project management, communication, testing and training
tasks as needed to make the project successful. Use the information in the case and the
other assignments, along with your own ideas about how much effort is involved to
ensure a quality implementation overall throughout the project. Be sure that you do
not exceed the project constraints.
4. Remember that this project will be tight in terms of time and cost, so do not include
steps that are not really necessary for this particular project. You should schedule the
project from the beginning, including Charter/Scope, planning meetings, Risk
Management and Communication Plan development, WBS and schedule development –
these items need to appear in this schedule along with resource assignments and the
appropriate costs that go along with them.
5. Finally, you are required to indicate an appropriate quantity of tasks that have likely
been already in progress or completed. Assume that we are looking at your schedule on
June 27. Show which work packages would probably be at what stage of completion by
this specific time in the schedule. Use your own judgment based on the work package
finish dates, but be reasonable!
6. The personnel involved in the DroneTech Corporation do not have billing rates per hour
because their cost is being absorbed by the fixed fee specified in their proposal below.
These people should be listed in your resource sheet, but with $0.00 standard rate, and they should be assigned to the appropriate tasks for the project.
1. Jordan Kempler (JXK) – CEO and Founder
2. Phillip Greenberg (PAG) – Project Manager – main point of contact
3. Stephanie Williams (SMW) – Senior Business Analyst
4. Gerald Hasper (GPH) – Flight Operations Manager
5. Eileen Seymour (ERS) – Project Lead, IT Systems
6. Katie O’Ryan (KRO) – Corporate Attorney – DroneTech
They should be assigned to project tasks as appropriate using the information in the case and the details below.
7. DroneTech Corporation Contract Fees and Dates:
After a complicated negotiation, Wilmont’s has signed a contract with DroneTech specifying the following phased payment plan that is linked to specific
dates or deliverables. You are responsible for ensuring that the payments occur on time, but are only made if the appropriate conditions have been met. Be
sure to include the necessary tasks in your WBS to accommodate evaluating, and paying for, these contract activities:
7. Total DroneTech fee for customizing order entry, delivery confirmation and mobile application software to Wilmont’s’ specifications: $423,592.00 with
payments to be received as follows:
February 2 – Initial payment due: $42,000
After Wilmont’s approval of DroneTech Customization Design Phase: Payment of $45,000
After Successful demonstration of Order Entry module: Payment of $35,000
After Successful demonstration of Delivery Confirmation module: Payment of $55,000
After Successful demonstration of Mobile Application module: Payment of $25,000
After Production System Test Approval by Wilmont’s: Payment of $85,000
After Successful Implementation Signoff by Wilmont’s: Final Payment of $136,592
8. Wilmont’s Staff, Internal effective hourly rates and official abbreviated names (initials):
George Cranston (GWC), Operations VP ($200/hr)
James Connor (JFC), CIO ($150/hr)
Mary Pearson (MJP), Project Lead, IT Systems Team ($55/hr)
William Scott (WKS), Project Lead, Security Team ($50/hr)
Julie Green (JRG) Pharmacy Manager Store #35864 ($60/hr)
Steve Haskell (SLH) Pharmacy Manager Store #32185 ($60/hr)
James O’Donnell (JLO) Pharmacy Manager Store #38734 ($60/hr)
Wilma Marcy (WPM) Pharmacy Manager Store #33001 ($60/hr)
You as Project Manager on the Business Operations side (Come up with your
own initials) ($55/hr)
Mary Kerstner (MJK), Business Systems Analyst ($45/hr)
Jonathan Perry (JSP), Retail Operations Assistant ($40/hr)
William Postner (WKP), Marketing Analyst ($52/hr)
Sherry Loganthorpe (SPL), Social Media Specialist ($45/hr)
Linda Thornton (LET), Online Customer Process Analyst ($40/hr)
Gerald Peritoni (GEP), Testing Specialist ($38/hr)
Elizabeth Walton (EMW), Senior Testing Specialist ($49/hr)
Shirley Johnson (SPJ), Change Management Coordinator ($40/hr)
Alan Swanson (AES), Attorney – Legal Department ($60/hr)
Denise Delgado (DLD), Financial Operations Analyst ($40/hr)
9. The following is the estimated total EFFORT HOURS for only the business process
enhancements and reporting to the customer and Wilmont’s management for the
prototype systems. (these do not include the time for process design requirements,
project management activities, testing, training, final implementation or meetings – you
will need to add those additional steps and estimates for each):
Wilmont’s/DroneTech Legal Contract Negotiations (250 hours)
Wilmont’s Inventory Management Process Modifications (180 hours)
Wilmont’s Pharmacy Customer Information Modifications (180 hours)
DroneTech Reporting Interface – Wilmont’s Side System (150 hours)
Website/Mobile App Content Update – Wilmont’s Side (175 hours)
Social Media Strategy and Implementation Plan – (75 hours)
Customer/Management Reporting (135 hours)
Store Management Reporting (135 hours)
Credit Card Processing (75 hours)
Wilmont’s Sales Management Reporting (150 hours)
You need to determine who on Wilmont’s and DroneTech’s staff should be involved in
the various deliverables based upon what you think best, and how their positions and
skills relate to the tasks.
