PD-Trak™ NPD Project ManagementThere's more to project management than preparing a project plan in a Gantt chart format. PD-Trak™ provides a set of tools and functions to help plan and manage projects from initial conception of a product idea through production/ deployment/implementation. PD-Trak™ provides a flexible approach to managing projects. Some organizations with large, more complex development projects need a comprehensive approach to project management using a dedicated project management tool such as MS Project® with a network schedule/gantt chart, resource planning and leveling, task statusing, and performance measurement. PD-Trak™ can work effectively with this more sophisticated project management approach. Other organizations rely more on using a defined NPD process with standard stage durations and avoid the complexities of a dedicated project management system. PD-Trak™ provides the Task Plan worksheets for teams to status accomplishments and plan upcoming work while avoiding the need for a comprehensive project management system. PD-Trak™ is unique in also providing a management summary of the status of all projects with the Master Project Schedule. The Project FileThe Project File is the basis for this NPD Project Management system. The Project File provides a consistent, structured solution for documenting projects and sharing project-related information. The Project File components may be accessed directly using MS Office applications or may be accessed via Internet Explorer. The Project Home Page provides intuitive navigation to information stored in each project's file. It uses a standard Windows® folder structure for storing and archiving project documents. The Project File contains the following elements:
The Master Project ScheduleThe Master Project Schedule extracts information from the Project Files to compile a concise management summary of key information for each project. Functional and executive management use the Master Project Schedule to monitor all projects or all projects in a particular business unit or product line. There are three views that can be selected, each one showing a different set of information within the Master Project Schedule. All views aid in managing the portfolio of projects and tracking actual vs. planned accomplishment. For example, the "Calendar" view below shows the planned and actual checkpoint dates in a timeline format (the top line represents the original plan, the bottom line the current plan). SummaryThese functions and tools provide a more complete solution to managing NPD projects than traditional project management software. They also provide an alternative to the complexity of a traditional project management system for less complex projects. For further information, please contact us at: info@pd-trak.com or at 925-484-8436. Portfolio Management Software
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