Compression of Project Schedules using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a new method for schedule compression of construction projects using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The method utilizes a multi‐objective decision environment in which activities are queued for crashing based on the priorities established in that environment. Schedule compression is commonly needed in management of engineering, procurement and construction projects. A wide range of methods are introduced in the literature to perform schedule compression utilizing genetic algorithms, heuristic rules, near‐optimum solutions using harmony search and analogy with the direct stiffness method for structural analysis. Although all these methods consider only cost in the process of schedule compression, a recently conducted survey, by the authors, indicates that project managers consider more than one factor in this process. In fact, the lack of consideration of factors beyond cost has been attributed to the limited use of existing methods. The method presented in this paper aims to circumvent the limitation of the existing methods. It utilizes the findings of a recently conducted survey questionnaire as well as the AHP to develop a multi‐objective decision environment to perform schedule compression in a practical and flexible manner. It further allows for consideration of risk associated with the individual attributes considered in setting priorities for activity crashing. A numerical example is analysed to demonstrate the use of the developed method and to illustrate its practical features. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.