Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Taylor, and I'm really pleased you can join me for our learning today.

Our lesson today is "Time Planning: Polymers, and Timbers," and this is part of the Iterative Design, Nature unit.

The outcome, I can plan the manufacturer of my design using a timeline.

We have three keywords, time planning, which is organising and scheduling tasks efficiently, Gantt chart, which is a way of displaying tasks in a horizontal bar chart, and the stages of making, which is the sequential steps involved in creating something.

There are two learning cycles in this lesson, the first is time planning and the second, Gantt charts.

Let's get started with time planning.

Strong project management skills can lead to successful outcomes.

Project management skills include time planning, communication, and that can be in different forms, words, pictures, and verbally, problem solving, risk management, budgeting, refers to all the economic considerations regarding money, decision making, and collaboration.

Collaboration is working with others.

Time planning is crucial in project management because it ensures tasks are completed efficiently, deadlines are met, and resources are used effectively.

It helps to meet deadlines, increased productivity, improve resource allocation, reduce stress, and enhances decision making.

Let's have a check.

What is crucial in project management? Is it a, stress planning, b, work planning, c, time planning, or d, office planning? Pause the video and have a go.

Brilliant.

Let's check.

That's right.

It's c, time planning.

Well done! Manufacturing a product from start to finish can present many challenges.

Planning time efficiently can help to reduce those challenges.

Manufacturers will produce detailed plans for the manufacture of their products.

This ensures consumer demand is met, cost efficiency, identifies and prevents bottlenecks, highlights supply chain delays, and improves productivity.

Let's have another check.

Being able to plan time during the manufacturing stage can improve a, demand, b, productivity, c, iterations, or d, efficiency.

Pause the video and have a go.

Wonderful.

Let's check.

That's right.

It's both b and d.

It's productivity and efficiency.

Well done! An example of when time planning could have been better is the manufacturer of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing planned to deliver the first aircraft by 2008, but the first commercial flight didn't happen until 2011.

Boeing relied heavily on global suppliers but failed to properly coordinate timelines, leading to delays.

Suppliers struggled to meet deadlines and Boeing had to take over some production processes.

The impact was a three-year delay resulted in billions of dollars of extra costs, the airline suffered financial losses due to postponed deliveries, and the reputation damage for Boeing as customers lost confidence.

A way of improving time planning during manufacture is to use the just-in-time, or JIT, strategy.

JIT is where materials and components are delivered only when needed, reducing waste, storage costs, and production delays.

It was first pioneered in the 1950s and is now used widely in manufacturing to improve efficiency.

Let's have a check.

Just-in-time, or JIT, is where materials and components are delivered.

a, every day, b, after when needed, c, every month, or d, only when needed.

Pause the video.

Brilliant.

Let's check.

That's right.

It's d, only when needed.

Well done! A lead time refers to the time it takes from initiating a project or order until the final product or service is delivered or completed.

Different sectors of the industry have different lead times.

The construction industry is known for long lead times.

This is due to the time needed to acquire permits, procure specialist materials, or coordinate labour.

Task A, think about making a hot drink at home, like a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.

Part a, identify the major stages of making for this drink in six steps or less, and part b, predict a lead time for this activity by thinking about how long each stage would take to complete.

Part 2, you will now apply project management thinking to making this hot drink and answer the following questions.

Part a, identify two bottlenecks that contributed to wasting time during the task, and part b, how could you apply a just-in-time strategy to this task to minimise wasting time? Pause the video and have a go.

Brilliant! Let's have a look at some of the answers you may have come up with.

Jacob explains his answer to part one.

Making a cup of tea.

Fill up and put the kettle onto to boil, he estimates two minutes.

Find a mug or a cup and put a tea bag in, 30 seconds.

Pour the water into the mug and allow it to brew, 1 minute.

Get the milk from the fridge and pour into the mug, 30 seconds.

Remove the teabag and stir the drink, 30 seconds.

So, part b, Jacob explains, I predict the lead time for this task would be 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

Alex explains his answer to part two, two bottlenecks that would waste time during this task are waiting for the kettle to boil and for the teabag to brew.

Part b, applying a just in time strategy means components are delivered when needed.

A quick boil kettle or a boiling water tap will deliver hot water when needed.

Collecting the milk and the spoon as the teabag is brewing is an efficient use of this time and enables these components to be delivered when needed.

Well done! We now move on to the second learning cycle in today's lesson, titled Gantt Charts.

Gantt Charts, a tool that is well known and used in project management for time planning is a Gantt chart.

Please note that there are two T's at the end of Gantt.

A Gantt chart is a way of displaying tasks in a horizontal bar chart that visually displays a schedule over time.

Gantt charts can be used to plan entire projects, but using them for individual phases, like making, can improve efficiency at crucial stages.

Let's have a check.

A tool that is well known and used in project management for time planning is a.

Pause the video.

Brilliant! Let's check.

That's right.

It's a Gantt chart.

Aisha has designed an accessible herb planter.

She wants to produce a time plan for the manufacturing stage.

Aisha has decided to focus on one component at a time.

The first step is to identify the stages of making involved in manufacturing the component.

It can be helpful to do this using numbers in a list.

For example, Aisha says, number one, "Source the mdf and card," and number two, "Mark out the template for the base and the large shelf on the card." Aisha will now use those stages of making to help her construct a Gantt chart.

Making stages are in the column on the left, the additional details in the subsequent columns, and the time period in a row across the top.

Here we have a check.

Referring to a manufacturing Gantt chart, what is on the left in a column? Is it a, stages of time, b, stages of making c, stages of designing, or d, stages of the week? Pause the video.

Great! Let's check.

That's right.

It's b, stages of making.

Aisha goes through each making stage and fills in the box, or cell, for when the stage of making will happen on the timeline.

You can see here that the cells or the boxes that have been coloured in black identify which week each task will happen.

So, making stage six will happen over weeks three and four.

Aisha adds a key to indicate the meaning of the status column to help with tracking the progress of making.

Green means completed, amber, pending, and red, not started.

This is the status key.

Additional details are filled in, a title and component name is added, quality control checks are considered, and Aisha has a completed Gantt chart.

Task B, using a previous design that you have created, construct a Gantt chart for the manufacturing stage.

Complete this for one component only and use the same format as below.

Pause the video.

Wonderful! Let's have a look at some of the answers you may have come up with.

Did you remember to include the status key? What about the date? And how easy was it for you to describe each of the making stages in advance? Well done! We have a summary of our learning here today.

Strong project management skills can lead to successful outcomes.

These skills include time planning.

Manufacturers will produce detailed plans for the manufacture of their products.

Time planning ensures tasks are completed efficiently, deadlines are met, and resources are used effectively.

Lead times are calculated, and the strategy just in time, or JIT, is used to reduce waste.

A tool used for time planning is a Gantt chart.

This is a way of displaying tasks in a horizontal bar chart that visually displays a schedule over time.

A Gantt chart supports in the scheduling of tasks and helps with organisation, tracking, and quality control.

I'm so pleased you could join me for our learning today.

Well done!.