The goal of this exercise is to help you learn the superstructure for progress reports.

The Exercise

Complete the Revision Checklist for Progress Reports as you examine the report below.

The Report

NORTHWEST ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS
Interoffice Memorandum

This is a status report on my study of alternatives to CFC-113 for cleaning circuit boards in our lab.

Because of the ozone-depleting characteristics of CFCs and the anticipated legislative restrictions on their use, you directed me to investigate inexpensive, environmentally safe alternatives to CFC-113 and to recommend the one best suited for our use. Overall, my research has progressed satisfactorily, and I expect to complete this project by August 19, meeting the schedule in my memo of July 21.

Work Completed

In my research I have found several candidate cleaners to replace CFC-113:

Terpenes—oily chemicals from the citrus family.

Deionized water—in solution with small amounts of alcohol.

Alcohol—a mixture of ethanol and isopropanol.

Lemon Juice—a mixture whose primary ingredient is lemon juice.

HCFC-141b—a cousin of CFC-113 but much less damaging to the ozone layer.

This week Bill Porter is using samples of these cleaning fluids in the lab to compare the effectiveness of each with CFC-113. He will report his results on Tuesday.

Problems

Because Bill Porter's work is more tedious than I had anticipated, I expect that he will need between five and six days (I estimated four.) to complete his testing. However, I don't see any impact on my completion date.

Work Remaining

Once I have Bill Porter's data, I will complete my analysis and select the best alternative. Then I will review current cleaning procedures with April Kelly to determine the changes that will be required to begin using this alternative. Also, late next week I will begin writing my final report.

I am optimistic that we will soon have a suitable solution to this problem.