Project Cost Control at Raytheon's Wayland laboratory

This paper was written to assist those who wish to install a Project Cost Control system in their own organization. It does not provide the detailed procedures or computer programs, but it does discuss in some detail: 1) the development and implementation of the system, 2) the definitions of responsibility and authority required to make the system work, 3) the roles and interrelationships of the controller, line management and project management, 4) the requirement for, and methods of, dividing projects into manageable pieces both in terms of size and of time, 5) the paperwork required for documentation of both data inputs and data outputs (reports), and 6) the interpretation of reports in terms of project, organization and individual performance. The system described does not introduce any radically new approaches to management; it is clearly evident, however, that the application of the well-established principles discussed in the paper will produce worthwhile improvements in Project Cost Control with an attended improvement in management as a whole. The Cost Control System is an excellent base for PERT/COST. The “work package” approach and the “manageable size task” approach are, in effect, synonymous. The changes required to produce data outputs in accordance with customer interpretations of the PERT/COST requirements are small. A major step toward PERT/COST, that of “fine grained” cost control, is provided by the system.