Smart Locker Project

Smart Locker Project

Introduction

Many organizations face issues with fleet management, whereby employees do not take the company cars assigned to them, and difficulties establishing which workers cause traffic violations and accidents. This project proposes a facial recognition access control system for an automated locker that will store vehicle keys as well as identify the eligible employee and the assigned vehicle key. The facial recognition system leverages industry-leading technology to provide a multifactor authentication mechanism that includes employee I.D and their facial features. Besides, this technology is tamper-proof, and no one can modify or manipulate it. In principle, this technology will help with fleet management by ensuring management can keep track of all the vehicles and ensure employees are using the cars assigned. The facial recognition will obtain the necessary verification information data from each user before they can access the vehicles keys. The system is scalable, standard-compliant, high performance and easy to integrate.  There are literary journal sources and websites that will be used in this project. Ballesteros-Pérez, Larsen & González-Cruz (2018) explain the importance of using Gantt charts. Ormazábal (2018) describes the role of Stakeholders. Schoenhard (2017) and Kahootz and Schoenhard (2019) explore the importance of stakeholders.

Stakeholder‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍Perspectives

Fleet management is a company function that enables organizations that depend on vehicular transportation to minimize and remove risks associated with car investment across various stages, including acquisition through to car disposal. It helps companies enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and guarantee compliance with laws. Accordingly, one of the stakeholders in the project is law enforcement, whereby the system will reduce traffic violations among company drivers. Ormazabal (2018) explains that stakeholder is anyone who has the potential to benefit from the firm Full compliance with traffic laws will give the company the right image among the law enforcement community as well as the general public. Further, other relevant stakeholders include the company shareholders since when the company incurs losses due to car damage and traffic fines, their earnings are reduced. Therefore, an efficient fleet management system will reduce the likelihood of losses emanating from car repair and traffic fines, thereby increasing the dividend earnings for the shareholders. Kahootz explains that shareholders can slow down or speed up the progress of projects. Thus, many project managers view managing stakeholders as a form of risk management. Additionally, stakeholders are essential to a project because they can provide expertise, uncover risk, enhance project success and grant project acceptance (Schoenhard, 2017).

Project scope statement

The project scope statement procures the details about high-level requirements, project deliverables, key milestones, primary objectives, assumptions and constraints. Accordingly, the project goal is to develop an access control that incorporates face recognition mechanism. The justification for the project is that it will reduce vehicle damage and losses emanating from traffic infractions. One of the project goals is to communicate effectively and have a close working association with the client. Another project goal is to get all the resources that are needed for the project. The milestones for the project include the start date designing the system and procuring the resources required. The halfway point milestone includes installing the system and testing the system. It will also include staff training. The milestones for the completion date include system handover to the company management, including its I.T department. The technical requirement includes ensuring that all that uses company cars can use the system while management can monitor the overall system using the generated reports. The deliverables are facial recognition access control system for an automated locker that will store vehicle keys as well as identify the eligible employee and the assigned vehicle key. The system should also generate a log report to the managers.  The constraints that might be encountered include logistical problem while procuring the sources required for the project. The exclusion of the project is that the project will only work with the available company lockers.

Time Management

The Gantt software and critical path analysis will be used to develop an overall schedule for the project. The critical path analysis will help during the planning process to develop and test the project to ensure that it is scalable. Critical path analysis will also help identify tasks that must be finished on time to ensure that the whole project ends on time. It will also help determine which tasks will be delayed if need be if the resources allocated are insufficient. The project time will be managed using Gantt software. The Gantt app is an effective method of getting everything in project planning since it has powerful functionality and friendly interface. Ballesteros-Pérez, Larsen & González-Cruz (2018) explain that the Gantt charts are beneficial due to their simplicity and user-friendliness. The software will allow us to set the project objectives, set milestones and timeframes, deadlines and dependences addition to assigning tasks and delegating them to all persons involved in the project.

Figure 1: Gantt chart for the project

Cost Management

The cost associated with such a project is a product of resources, time and team members. Some of the expenses involved with the project include the costs to acquire hardware including RPI and SD Card, Arduino, 3x9g servo motors, 3xoptical and RFD. Costs will also be incurred during travel and training. The cost associated with the project will be estimated using the bottom-up estimating technique. The method entails determining the cost of every single activity before calculating the overall project estimate. Estimating the cost of each activity will ensure that costs are more accurate and realistic. For instance, the cost of travel will take a relatively small portion of the total cost.

In conclusion, many companies face challenges with fleet management whereby employees do not take the company cars assigned to them, and difficulties are establishing which workers cause traffic violations and accidents. This project provides a facial recognition access control system for an automated locker that will store vehicle keys as well as identify the eligible employee and the assigned vehicle key. Stakeholders such as law enforcement and investors will be considered. Critical path analysis and Gantt charts will be used for time management. The cost estimation will entail the use of bottom-up estimating technique

References

Ballesteros-Pérez, P., Larsen, G. D., & González-Cruz, M. C. (2018). Do Projects really end late? On the shortcomings of the classical scheduling techniques. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 8(1), 17. doi:10.3926/jotse.303

Kahootz. (2019, September 4). The importance of stakeholders in project management success. Retrieved from https://www.kahootz.com/why-stakeholder-management-is-an-important-part-of-project-management/

Ormazábal, G. (2018). The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research. Foundations and Trends® in Accounting, 11(3), 193-290. doi:10.1561/1400000053

Schoenhard, L. (2017, June 4). 4 Ways Stakeholders are Important to a Project. Retrieved from https://proficientlearning.com/4-ways-stakeholders-are-important-to-a-project/