Project Critical Path Research Articles

PROJECT SCHEDULING ANALYSIS USING THE CPM AND PERT : A CASE STUDY

This article discusses the scheduling analysis of a project using the critical path method 
 (CPM) and the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) to find the project's critical path so that the overall project time can be determined. This problem aims to optimize the completion time of a project and minimize delays that cause project planning to be inconsistent with what is in the field based on activity time, activity implementation schedule, and project activity costs. This problem analysis is carried out with the help of Excel Solver software. The calculation results show that the optimal project completion time is obtained and the acceleration of project completion can be accelerated by selecting activities that can be accelerated with the project acceleration costs

Evaluasi Perencanaan Proyek Pembangunan SDS X Menggunakan Network Diagram dan Crashing Project Guna Mengoptimalkan Waktu Dan Biaya Proyek

The research focuses on evaluating the project time planning to know exactly when the project will be completed, the estimated budget to be spent, using the CPM and PERT methods to carry out an analysis of the SDS X Development Project Planning Evaluation. The results are with the CPM and PERT methods, the project's critical path is found in activities A – D – E – F – G – H – I – L – M – N with a project completion time using the CPM method is 52 days, while for the PERT method the project completion time is 54 days with a great chance of completing project work of 99, 94%. As for the results of the evaluation of cost planning using the crashing project method, it was found that there was an increase in costs of Rp. 6,902,000. So that the normal cost of a development project which is IDR 372,126.00 becomes IDR 379,028,000

Examining the Indian Metro Rail Construction Industry's EOT (Extension of Time) Claim Process and Including a Case Study

A project is a series of tasks with a predetermined end date. Any action that is on the project's critical path that is delayed will affect the project's completion date and result in time overruns. One of the key determinants of the project's success is time overruns. It might be the result of force majeure, employer error, interface contractor error, or contractor error. Analyzing the reason for the delay is necessary, and if the contractor is not at fault, they are entitled to the extra time. India takes a distinct method while requesting EOT from FIDIC and other foreign agencies since contracts are structured in accordance with CPWD and military engineering services.

A group TOPSIS-COPRAS methodology with Pythagorean fuzzy sets considering weights of experts for project critical path problem

A group TOPSIS-COPRAS methodology with Pythagorean fuzzy sets considering weights of experts for project critical path problem

A New Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Decision Method with an Extended Relative Preference Relation and Entropy to Project Critical Path Selection

Considering uncertainty in multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is an important issue in today's business and management problems. In this article, to use advantages of IT2FSs, a novel interval type-2 fuzzy multi-criteria decision method is presented with an extended entropy and relative preference relation. To tackle vagueness and uncertainty of real-world problems, the IT2FSs are used and applied to a modified MCDM method. Furthermore, an entropy method is developed under an IT2F environment and for obtaining the final weight of each criterion, a relative preference relation is hybridized with an entropy method. Also, the weight of each decision maker (DM) is calculated by a new IT2F-order preference method by means of the relative closeness. Finally, an existing example about the project critical path selection by considering effective criteria, such as time, cost, quality and safety, is adopted from the literature and solved to indicate the capability of introduced method.

Zero-Slack, Noncritical Paths

The critical path method/program evaluation and review technique method of project scheduling is based on the importance of managing a project's critical path(s). Although a critical path is the longest path through a network, its location in large projects is facilitated by the computation of activity slack. However, logical fallacies in oft-repeated statements of the relationship between slack and the critical path make it easy to overlook the phenomenon of zero-slack, noncritical paths. This article points out the fallacies and then describes and illustrates the phenomenon. We conclude with teaching recommendations to avoid suboptimal decisions in reducing project duration.

A robust critical path in an environment with hybrid uncertainty

In this article, we consider the project critical path problem in an environment with hybrid uncertainty. In this environment, the duration of activities are considered as random fuzzy variables that have probability and fuzzy natures, simultaneously. To obtain a robust critical path with this kind of uncertainty a chance constraints programming model is used. This model is converted to a deterministic model in two stages. In the first stage, the uncertain model is converted to a model with interval parameters by alpha-cut method and distribution function concepts. In the second stage, the interval model is converted to a deterministic model by robust optimization and min–max regret criterion and ultimately a genetic algorithm with a proposed exact algorithm are applied to solve the final model. Finally, some numerical examples are given to show the efficiency of the solution procedure.

Excelência no gerenciamento de construção de hidrelétrica de grande porte

Este trabalho verifica a aplicação das práticas gerenciais descritas no PMBOK, na gestão da construção de duas hidrelétricas de grande porte no Brasil. Utilizando o método do estudo de caso, esta pesquisa permitiu a obtenção dos dados práticos referentes a 23 proposições selecionadas do PMBOK. O levantamento de campo, realizado em 2005, ocorreu por observação direta, coleta de documentos, entrevistas estruturadas e abertas. Visando à obtenção de dados sob perspectivas diferentes, foram selecionados para entrevista não só os gestores atuantes nos canteiros de obras dos dois projetos, mas também os executivos da matriz e um consultor. Os resultados atestam que as práticas de gerenciamento adotadas pelos gestores dos dois projetos, caso objeto deste estudo, são aderentes às proposições do PMBOK. Obteve-se também a descrição das práticas de gerenciamento de tempo, custo, comunicação e outras práticas relevantes não contempladas pelo modelo PMBOK. O trabalho permite recomendar que os referenciais relativos a caminho crítico, orçamento e flexibilização das proposições do PMBOK estão entre os aspectos prioritários a serem investigados em futuras pesquisas sobre gerenciamento de projetos.

Raising the Portcullis: The automation of the Parliamentary Archives

The Parliamentary Archives' online catalogue, Portcullis, contains descriptions of three million records conforming to international standards. It was created over five years in a major project which involved the retrospective conversion of 700 finding aids within a controlled project management structure. The process involved analyses of finding aids and user needs, a significant time spent planning, timing and costing, and constant monitoring of the project's critical path and its quality control of converted data. The outcome of the project has provided extensive and wide-ranging benefits to the archives and its users.

ENVIRONMENT UPDATE: 1998 REVIEW, 1999 OUTLOOK

The steady growth and evolution of environmental legislation over the past 10 years has resulted in 'environment' earning its own line in project critical path analysis and scheduling. Regulatory changes throughout 1998 and projected for 1999 ensure that environment will remain firmly entrenched on the collective corporate planning agendas of oil and gas exploration and production companies nationally. By the end of 1999 every state and territory is expected to have environmental protection legislation in place, while proposed legislative changes at the Commonwealth level indicates a possible increased involvement of Federal environmental agencies in industry activities in both state and Commonwealth jurisdictions. Industry is watching carefully the direction that will be taken by regulators in drafting current and future legislation. Industry and some government agencies favour an objective-based, self-regulating system over prescriptive regulations.

In a multi-resource environment, how much is enough?

One of the important elements of strategic management is to establish resource levels over the long run—capacity planning. More specifically, managers are faced with the need to determine resource levels that are sufficient to meet corporate objectives and remain competitive; and, yet, not excessive. This research has explored the relationship between ten different availability levels of resources in a constrained, multiple resource environment and their impact on project completion times and promise date performance measures. It also evaluated four finite scheduling heuristics which use a finite scheduling system and are used to estimate and, then, meet a project's completion date in the dynamic, multi-project environment. As a part of the discussion we examine the tradeoff between project completion times and resource availability levels. This research has found that (1) three of the four tested finite scheduling heuristics can produce/meet very good promise dates; (2)-resources do not need to be provided in quantities that exceed 160% of system requirements; (3) when resources are provided at the 130% or greater level, all four heuristics perform equally well with regard to completion times, and complete projects at less than one and a half times a project's critical path time; and (4) when resources are greatly constrained (110% to 130%) the effects are significant and the choice of heuristic is very important.

Hutton TLP Marine Operations

This paper reviews the planning and execution of the marine operations for the Hutton tension leg platform (TLP), including well template installation, site preparation, foundation installation, temporary anchorages, mating, major tows, and TLP installation. Planning the work to meet project objectives resulted in the use of a number of new techniques and advanced equipment applications. These included underwater pile hammers and special acoustic equipment to provide positioning information during underwater operations. However, the detailed planning that preceded each operation enhanced the effectiveness of the equipment significantly. Further, it contributed materially to the attainment of first oil only 22 days after TLP installation.

Multiproject scheduling: Analysis of scheduling strategies under unequal delay penalties

AbstractThe multiproject scheduling problem is investigated under the assumption that delays corresponding to different projects carry different penalties. Five penalty functions are introduced that simulate typical business behavior. These are: 1) assigning the highest penalty to the project requiring the greatest amount of resources; 2) assigning the highest priority to the longest project; 3) assigning the highest priority to the project requiring the least amount of resources; 4) assigning the highest priority to the shortest project; and 5) random assignment. Justification for each case is provided.Two powerful project summary measures were used to generate the test problems. The first measure, average resource load factor (ARLF), identifies whether the location of the peak requirement of all (i.e., combined) resources is in the first or second half of the project's critical path. If each resource is expressed in terms of dollars, then ARLF identifies the location of the peak cash requirement. Since in practice the choice of the scheduling strategy is influenced by the location of the peak cash requirement, performance of the scheduling strategies is analyzed with respect to values of this measure. The second measure, average utilization factor (AUF), calculates the ratio of resource requirements to availabilities. It is shown that problems tested must have different AUF values in order to be classified different for purposes of experimental design. Thus a factorial model of the form, y = Strategy + Penalty + ARLF + AUF + ϵ was used to generate 385 problems, each requiring 2 to 4 resources, containing 3 to 5 projects and 34 to 63 activities.The computer program used in the study is based on a parallel method of scheduling in which priorities of the activities are determined when the activity is considered for scheduling. Ten scheduling strategies are tested. Some important ones are: 1) to schedule the shortest activity first; 2) to schedule the activity with minimum slack first; 3) to schedule the activity with maximum work content first (i.e., from the project with highest work content); 4) to schedule the shortest activity from the shortest project first; and 5) to schedule the activity with maximum penalty first. Shortest activity first and minimum slack first are popular strategies introduced by other researchers.Using number of times ranked first as our criterion, scheduling the activity with maximum penalty first provides the best results followed by the strategy of scheduling the activity with maximum work content. But when these results are analyzed with respect to existence of a very expensive project (i.e., dominance) in the problem, performance of the maximum penalty strategy improves. When the overall results are analyzed with respect to values of ARLF, a different picture emerges. Then the strategy of scheduling the activity with the highest penalty first provides the best results if the peak requirement is early. When the peak requirement is toward the middle of a project's unconstrained critical path, scheduling the activity with the highest work content provides the best results. When the peak requirement is late in a project's life, scheduling the shortest activity from the shortest project is the best strategy to adopt. These findings were tested for statistical significance by using nonparametric testing procedures and were found to be significant.