Project Scheduling Using Linear Programming, CPM and Crashing Time Technique

Abstract

AbstractProject scheduling is a method by which we can shorten the duration of the project or crash the duration of a project at the expense of certain added cost to meet the specified project deadline. The project might lag behind the given schedule for many numbers of reasons, and this situation may call for measures like crashing some activities by appointing extra resources. This crashing of activities is generally done by trial-and-error method which is not very productive and incurs extra costs. The crashing of activity is to be done in such a way that the project should be completed within the given deadline with minimum additional costs. In this paper, methods like linear programming and critical path methods are used to create a trade-off between time and cost in real-time project of construction of Pune Metro Rail Project (PMRP). Data was collected about PMRP construction, and activities were tabulated along with time, cost and precedencies. After implementing the critical path method (CPM), a linear programming model was created for the PMRP construction, method was given to solve this problem, and finally LINDO software was used to give the final solution. The purpose of the linear programming model is to minimize the total project cost subjected to various project constrains. The time of project was decreased by 22.22% with an increase in cost of project of 4.56%. This is a simple method easy to implement and works on large network projects.KeywordsProject schedulingTime cost trade-offLinear programmingCPMLINDOMetro