Documentation Flow Analysis

Abstract

Current challenges at Damen Technical Cooperation (DTC), regarding an imperfect procedure for documentation sharing, misalignment and quality issues in documentation flow, are the motivation for this master thesis. DTC is a company within the Damen Group that offers a unique service for shipyards; a variety of material and service packages to make local building possible. Project management is one of these services. Although their approach is unique, are the faced challenges not uncommon; similar issues are reported in shipbuilding literature. However, due to their method is documentation flow essential for good performances of DTC-projects. In shipbuilding projects project information is stored in project documents. Documentation is a term that includes both information storage and retrieval systems. Documentation quality concerns quality of the documents and the retrieval systems. The challenges faced at DTC can be described by documentation quality. This study aims to improve the documentation sharing strategy, and so project execution, of DTC-projects. In line with this aim, the central research question is: In what manner can project execution at DTC be improved, by providing insight into the effect of the quality of shared project documentation on project success? From the literature, it is found that project success requires process integration and process integration demands process understanding. Documentation flow modelling is seen as an attractive tool to obtain process understanding, that can lead in the direction of process integration. Out of four models, the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) is chosen to model documentation flow. Subsequently, a DSM-based discrete-event Monte Carlo simulation is used to analyse the documentation flow of a DTC-project. Documentation flow is studied by analysing the effects of flow interruptions. Rework is an example of a flow interruption. Based on the literature, multiple causes of document-flow related rework, document quality attributes, are simulated. Documentation quality attributes are ranked on 7 criteria: mean, median, 25th percentile, 75th percentile, standard deviation, the likelihood for the unacceptable outcome and schedule risk. These criteria rank the impact of the documentation quality attributes in the following order, where the highest impact is ranked highest: 1. Mistakes in documentation 2. Input changes in the documentation 3. Poor communication of the documentation 4. Delayed documentation - wait for documentation 5. Delayed documentation - use assumptions to start tasks early A detailed analysis is carried out to identify activities that have a large impact on total project outcome, when rework occurs. From the detailed analysis it is concluded that: 1. Rework on the below-listed activities has the most impact on project duration. - Detailed engineering tasks, specifically: a. Ship construction drawings b. Mechanical diagrams - Block outfitting, specifically a. Equipment b. Hot work - Zone outfitting, specifically: a. Equipment b. Hot work c. Remaining outfitting tasks 2. A balance exists for waiting on delayed documentation and using assumptions to start activities early. - Projects that have a forecasted overrun that exceeds 11% should use assumptions to start activities early. - Projects that have not a forecasted overrun that exceeds 11\% should force activities to wait on delayed documentation and prioritise activities that can continue. To end, this thesis underlines the importance of documentation quality in shipbuilding projects. Conclusions identify areas for improvement for DTC-projects. At the same time, the outcome serves as a guideline for project managers.