| Course | MT246 Project Planning and Project Execution |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Estimating exercise |
| Length | About 1,010 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT246 Unit 3
Fifteen Days Guessed, Thirty Built: A Unit 3 Estimating Exercise for a Food Truck's Permits and Build
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT246: Project Planning and Project Execution
Unit 3 Estimating Exercise
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Harlan Street Barbecue, its vendors, the agencies and every duration are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Purpose
The owner's guess of thirteen weeks, about 65 working days, was made the way most first estimates are, by imagining each phase as a block. This exercise rebuilds the estimate from the activities in the work breakdown structure, gives each one a duration and a stated basis, and compares the result with the guess phase by phase. Larson and Gray (2021) recommend estimating at the level where the work is actually assigned, because people estimate familiar, concrete tasks more accurately than broad phases.
Methods
Most durations rest on one of three bases: a written quote from the firm doing the work, a published processing time from an agency, or the restaurant's own records of similar work. Two durations could not be pinned to a single figure, so each was given a best case, a typical case and a worst case. The typical case counts four times, the best and worst once each, and the total over six becomes the expected duration; the gap between best and worst, over six, approximates the standard deviation. The method is worth using only where the spread is real and the source can give all three numbers. The scheduling practice standard describes this weighting and cautions that it is only as good as the three figures behind it (Project Management Institute, 2019).
The Estimate Table
Each activity is listed with its WBS code, working days, method and basis.
Plan approved by owner (1.1): 3 days; judgment; owner's calendar
Step van bought and inspected (2.1): 10 days; record; last vehicle purchase took two weeks including the mechanic's inspection
Upfitter layout drawings (2.2): 8 days; quote; upfitter's written schedule
Health department plan review (3.1): 15 days; three-point; see below
Kitchen upfit (2.2): 30 days; three-point; see below
Generator and electrical (2.3): 3 days; quote; electrician
Fire suppression install (2.4): 2 days; quote; suppression contractor
Fire marshal inspection (3.3): 2 days; published; fire marshal's office schedules within two days of request
Health inspection (3.2): 1 day; published; inspections are booked ten working days ahead and take one visit
Mobile food permit issuance (3.2): 3 days; published; health department's posted turnaround
City mobile vending license (3.5): 9 days; record; the city clerk's issue log for the last twenty licenses shows a median of nine working days after the health permit
Commissary letter (3.4): 3 days; quote; commissary owner
Insurance binder (3.6): 5 days; quote; insurance agent
Draft truck menu (4.1): 5 days; record; pitmaster's past menu changes
Recipe scaling and testing (4.2): 8 days; record; pitmaster's catering menu tests
Supplier accounts and smallwares (4.3, 4.4): 5 days; quote; two suppliers
Wrap design (5.1): 8 days; quote; wrap shop
Wrap install (5.1): 5 days; quote; wrap shop
Hiring two cooks (6.1): 15 days; record; the restaurant's last two hires
Crew training (6.2): 5 days; judgment; pitmaster
First smoke (6.3): 3 days; judgment; pitmaster
Soft launch, three services plus setup (6.3): 4 days; judgment; owner and pitmaster
The Two Three-Point Estimates
Plan review. The health department publishes no fixed time, and its queue varies with the season. The department's reviewer said ten working days is possible in a quiet month; fourteen is typical in spring; and twenty-four has happened when the queue is long. The expected value is (10 + 4 × 14 + 24) / 6, or 15 working days, with a standard deviation of about 2.3 days.
Upfit. The upfitter quoted thirty working days for the build, but said a fast job with all parts on hand could finish in twenty-four and a slow one, with backordered equipment, could take thirty-six. The expected value is (24 + 4 × 30 + 36) / 6, or 30 working days, with a standard deviation of 2 days.
PMI (2021) treats the spread around an estimate as information in its own right, and here it shows which two activities carry most of the schedule's uncertainty.
Phase Guesses Against Task-Built Figures
The owner's four phase guesses sit beside the sums of the activities in each phase.
Truck build: guessed 30 days; built 46 days (layout, upfit, electrical and wrap install in sequence)
Permits: guessed 15 days; built 30 days (plan review, fire marshal, inspection, permit issuance and license in sequence)
Menu and crew: guessed 15 days; built 18 days (draft menu, testing and training)
Launch: guessed 5 days; built 7 days (first smoke and soft launch)
The largest gap is in permits. The owner pictured permits as one office and one visit. In fact four approvals come from three offices, the health department, the fire marshal and the city clerk, and each waits for the one before it: the city will not license a truck without a health permit, and the health department will not inspect until the fire marshal has signed off. On top of that, the health department keeps a review queue.
Each office was quick; the chain of offices was not.
Can the Phases Be Added?
The task-built phase totals add up to 101 days, but the project will not take 101 days, because phases overlap. Menu testing and hiring run during the upfit, and the wrap design is done months before the wrap goes on. The project's length can only be found by linking the activities in a network, which is the next unit's work. What this exercise shows is that the owner's guess of 65 days was too short in every phase, and badly short in permits.
Assumptions
The estimates assume the upfitter starts within a week of plan approval, that equipment for the upfit is in stock, that the restaurant can release the pitmaster for testing and training, and that the fire marshal schedules within two days. Each assumption will be carried into the project's assumption log.
References
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project management: The managerial process (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Project Management Institute. (2019). Practice standard for scheduling (3rd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Reading the MT 246 Unit 3 instructions
The third unit asks students to estimate the duration of each activity in their project and compare the result with a top-down guess. The prompt usually expects a table listing each activity with its code, its duration, the estimating method and the basis for the figure, such as a quote, a published time or past records. Three-point estimates belong where the source can give a best, typical and worst case and the spread is real; elsewhere a single figure with a basis is better. Comparing phase totals with an earlier guess shows where intuition failed. Do not add phase totals to get project length, since phases overlap. Five pages in APA 7, with an assumptions list, is a common length.
How this MT246 Unit 3 example is built
The exercise explains why it rebuilds the owner's 65-day guess from activities, citing Larson and Gray on estimating at the level of assigned work. A methods section describes the three bases and the weighting used where a firm figure is missing, with the scheduling standard's caution. The table lists twenty-two activities with durations and bases, and a note in the margin argues that a named basis invites checking. Plan review and the upfit get their three-point arithmetic, with the PMBOK Guide on spread as information. Phase guesses sit beside task-built sums, and the highlighted line explains the permits gap. A section shows why the 101 task days do not equal project length, and assumptions close it under a third note.
MT246 Unit 3 rubric: what earns full points
Estimating exercises are graded on the quality of the basis for each figure, appropriate use of methods, correct arithmetic and honest comparison. A duration with a named source earns more than one with only judgment behind it. Three-point estimates should be used where the spread is real and calculated correctly, including the standard deviation. Graders reward a comparison that explains why the top-down guess differs, such as sequential approvals, rather than simply reporting the gap. Recognizing that phase totals cannot be added because work overlaps shows understanding of what comes next. A clear table, stated assumptions and accurate citations take the remaining credit. Estimates expressed in working days, with the calendar left to the scheduling unit, keep the figures consistent with what follows.
Common MT246 Unit 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The most frequent error is estimating phases instead of activities, which repeats the guess the unit asks you to test. Another is applying three-point estimates to every activity, which adds arithmetic without information. Some students give durations with no basis at all. Others add every duration together and present the sum as the project's length. Check that working days and calendar days are not mixed, and that each outside office's turnaround comes from its own published figures or records. Share your activity list and whatever quotes or records you have, and a writer can assign each figure a basis and run the three-point estimates where they belong.
Get an MT246 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Is there a phase-level figure in your scenario that needs testing? Pass along the Unit 2 breakdown, whatever quotes, processing times or rates the case supplies, the Unit 3 prompt and rubric, and any method the course names. Expect the first exercise in 24-48h without charge, every duration traced to a source. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More MT246 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- MT246 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- MT246 Unit 2: Work Breakdown Structure
- MT246 Unit 4: Network and Critical Path
- MT246 Unit 5: Project Schedule
- MT246 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- MT246 Unit 7: Cost Baseline
- MT246 Unit 8: Resource Assignment Plan
- MT246 Unit 9: Status Report
- MT246 Unit 10: Change Request Package
- MT245 Unit 3: Business Case
- MT243 Unit 3: Prospect Research Brief
- MT242 Unit 3: Scheduling Exercise
- MT241 Unit 3: Descriptive Analysis
MT246 Unit 3 questions, answered
Why estimate activities instead of phases?
Because an activity has someone who can be asked how long it takes and a basis they can show, while a phase blends several kinds of work under one number. In the example, the permits phase hid four approvals, from three offices, arriving one after another. Estimating each activity on its own exposed a thirty-day chain the phase guess had squeezed into fifteen.
When is a three-point estimate worth using?
When the outcome depends on something the project does not control, such as a review queue or a contractor's backlog, and a single figure would hide how wide the uncertainty runs. The example uses three points on only two rows for that reason. The other rows rest on quotes or records, which carry less doubt and do not need the extra arithmetic.
Can the phase figures be added up to get the project length?
Usually not, and the example says so. Phases overlap: the menu can be tested while the truck is being built, and hiring can run alongside permits. Adding phase durations assumes each waits for the one before it, which overstates the length. The network built in the next unit works out how much of the work actually runs in parallel.
Where can I find a free MT246 Unit 3 sample paper?
The full MT246 Unit 3 estimating exercise is printed here. It re-estimates a food truck launch from twenty-two activities with a basis for each, runs two three-point estimates and compares the result with the owner's thirteen-week guess.
Why do the phase figures in the MT246 Unit 3 sample not give the project length?
They add up to 101 working days, but phases overlap: menu testing and hiring run during the upfit, and wrap design happens months before installation. Only a network can show the true length.