...Teradyne Corporation: The Jaguar Project As Jack O’Brien, project lead of Teradyne’s Jaguar project, sat in traffic on his way to work he pondered his team’s efforts over the past eight years. Teradyne, a manufacturer of semiconductor test machines, had long been awaiting the arrival of their new full-range testing equipment. The project marked a number of firsts for Teradyne including up-front project planning, formalized tools for project tracking, and a structured development process. Despite the learning curve all new methodologies impose, O’Brien’s project had become a success in the hardware department, yet the software group struggled through much of the implementation, and was still working on deliverables. Had the new tools and techniques hindered the development processes? This paper will analyze Teradyne’s traditional project execution strategies in contrast to those of the Jaguar project, will describe how the new project management tools made an impact on the project, and present the lessons learned throughout the experience. Company History Teradyne, a 45 year veteran of the semiconductor industry, specializes in testing equipment for transistors and other electrical components. The company was founded in 1960 by two MIT graduates with a vision to bring a line of reliable, fast testing equipment to the industry. As the complexity and volume of components manufactured by their customers increased, so did Teradyne’s investment in research and development. By...
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...SUMMARY OF RELEVANT FACTS Teradyne was the world’s largest supplier of equipment for testing semiconductors, with sales of $1.8 billion (in 2004) and over 6000 employees working worldwide. Teradyne initially focused on making equipment to test transistors and other electronic components and their business involved a new breed of “industrial grade” electronic test equipment that is highly reliable however, two main problems were created within these five units. The first problem was caused by engineering organizations over committing to projects, therefore, utilization capacity was estimated at 300% because the projects were poorly planned and goals and scope was often not clearly defined upfront which caused projects to be delayed because engineers and marketers had to think of additional features. The strategy implemented to solve this problem, was Aggregate Project Planning (APP). APP was implement so Teradyne could to stick to the projects that align with the broader strategy of the company and to not over commit by starting projects when appropriate resources are available. The second problem was attributed to the planning and implementation of projects and objectives, therefore, several improvement initiatives were launched Jaguar was initiated in 2001 as an effort to improve Teradyne’s product development process and was aimed to create a highly flexible tester platform that could be adaptable to the needs of different devices. The Jaguar project was set to create an entirely...
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...Case Analysis # 1 Teradyne Corporation: The Jaguar Project Stephen Byrne 10/13/2013 Prepared for Clifford White, MSTM 6034 – Project Management Brief Overview of the Situation: Teradyne Corporation is the world’s largest supplier of equipment used in semiconductor testing with 2004 net sales reaching 1.79 billion dollars (Gino & Piaano, 2006). As the semiconductor market has changed during the 1990’s through to the early 2000’s, the specific requirements for this type of test equipment has changed. The market is looking for test equipment to be able to perform multi-type device testing. Teradyne’s competitors had started developing this equipment as a response to these demands. In 2001, Teradyne management decided to respond in kind with the launch of a project named Jaguar which was headed by Jack O’Brien. The goal of Jaguar was to develop a new flexible test platform that could adapt to different customer demands. In an attempt to bring control and metrics to this project, Mr. O’Brien decided to introduce a mix of project management tools to Jaguar. O’Brien used a work breakdown structure to define the project scope, three point estimation in an attempt to forecast realistic schedule dates, critical path analysis to identify potential bottlenecks, and earned value analysis to provide project metrics. Since this project had both hardware and software elements, there were varying degrees of success in the management of the overall project. It is noted in the...
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...9-606-042 REV: MAY 3, 2006 FRANCESCA GINO GARY PISANO Teradyne Corporation: The Jaguar Project Jack O’Brien looked at the clock in his car; it was 7:38 a.m. and he knew he would need some luck to get to his 8:00 a.m. meeting at Teradyne’s Harrison Avenue headquarters on time. Traffic on Boston’s Central artery choked amidst the lingering construction from the interminable “Big Dig.” O’Brien was looking forward to today’s meeting with Teradyne senior executives to reflect on the lessons learned from the Jaguar project, which O’Brien had led for more than three years. The project had been one of the most important efforts in Teradyne’s 45-year-history. It had set out to create an entirely new semiconductor test-system platform. The resulting Ultra Flex system, designed to be flexible enough to allow customers to test a full range of semiconductor devices, was critical to the success of Teradyne’s new competitive strategy. The Jaguar project had marked a culmination of sorts in Teradyne’s eight-year effort to improve its product development process. The Jaguar team had used a number of project management practices, including intensive up-front project planning, formalized tools for tracking project progress, and a more structured development process. Most aspects of the Jaguar project went exceedingly well. All of the major hardware, for instance, had been developed in record time, and with minimal deviation from the plan. The product had met the vast majority of its target specifications...
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...Teradyne Corporation: The Jaguar Project As Jack O’Brien, project lead of Teradyne’s Jaguar project, sat in traffic on his way to work he pondered his team’s efforts over the past eight years. Teradyne, a manufacturer of semiconductor test machines, had long been awaiting the arrival of their new full-range testing equipment. The project marked a number of firsts for Teradyne including up-front project planning, formalized tools for project tracking, and a structured development process. Despite the learning curve all new methodologies impose, O’Brien’s project had become a success in the hardware department, yet the software group struggled through much of the implementation, and was still working on deliverables. Had the new tools and techniques hindered the development processes? This paper will analyze Teradyne’s traditional project execution strategies in contrast to those of the Jaguar project, will describe how the new project management tools made an impact on the project, and present the lessons learned throughout the experience. Company History Teradyne, a 45 year veteran of the semiconductor industry, specializes in testing equipment for transistors and other electrical components. The company was founded in 1960 by two MIT graduates with a vision to bring a line of reliable, fast testing equipment to the industry. As the complexity and volume of components manufactured by their customers increased, so did Teradyne’s investment in research and development. By...
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...Teradyne Corporation: The Jaguar Project Jack O’Brien looked at the clock in his car; it was 7:38 a.m. and he knew he would need some luck to get to his 8:00 a.m. meeting at Teradyne’s Harrison Avenue headquarters on time. Traffic on Boston’s Central artery choked amidst the lingering construction from the interminable “Big Dig.” O’Brien was looking forward to today’s meeting with Teradyne senior executives to reflect on the lessons learned from the Jaguar project, which O’Brien had led for more than three years. The project had been one of the most important efforts in Teradyne’s 45-year-history. It had set out to create an entirely new semiconductor test-system platform. The resulting Ultra Flex system, designed to be flexible enough to allow customers to test a full range of semiconductor devices, was critical to the success of Teradyne’s new competitive strategy. The Jaguar project had marked a culmination of sorts in Teradyne’s eight-year effort to improve its product development process. The Jaguar team had used a number of project management practices, including intensive up-front project planning, formalized tools for tracking project progress, and a more structured development process. Most aspects of the Jaguar project went exceedingly well. All of the major hardware, for instance, had been developed in record time, and with minimal deviation from the plan. The product had met the vast majority of its target...
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