Project Scheduling
-Meridith and Mantel
Schedule
A schedule is the conversion of a project
action plan into an operating timetable.
- Serves as the basis for monitoring and
controlling project activity.
- Has utmost importance in projects as
projects lack continuity of day to day
operations.
Introduction
• A project is a collection of tasks that must be
completed in minimum time and/or at minimal cost.
• Objectives of Project Scheduling
– Completing the project as early as possible by
determining the earliest start and finish of each
activity.
– Calculating the likelihood a project will be
completed within a certain time period.
– Finding the minimum cost schedule needed to
complete the project by a certain date.
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objectives contd..
– Investigating the results of possible delays in
activity’s completion time.
– Progress control.
– Smoothing out resource allocation over the
duration of the project.
Basic approach to scheduling is
network of activity.
Network of activity and event relationships
that graphically portrays the sequential
relations between the tasks in a project.
- Interrelationship between activity
Benefits: ref Mantel pg 303
NETWORK
TECHNIQUES
- Mantel and Meridith
• Gantt Charts PERT Vs. CPM
• PERT AND CPM
PERT focused only on
Time Element
PERT – developed in context
of R & D
CPM- was initially designed CPM on control both
time and cost
for construction process
Terminology
• Activity : a specific task , uses resources and
time
• Event : result of completing one or more
activities
• Network combination of all activities and events
• Path : series of activities and intermediate
events
• Critical : activities , events or paths which if
delayed delay the entire project. A project’s
critical path is understood to mean that
sequence of critical activities that connect the
project’s start event to its finish event.
Activity
To transform a project plan into network
–What activities comprise the project
–The predecessor and successor for
each activity
( work break down and establishing
relationships)
• A key strategy of effective planning is to
partition the project into manageable
chunks that can be individually planned
estimated and controlled. The work
breakdown structure is a graphical tool
that displays the project's statement of
work making it easier to understand and
communicate. It is employed from the
earliest stages of project planning.
The role of the WBS is to:
-Partition the major project deliverables into smaller
components to improve the accuracy of cost estimates
-Provide a mechanism for collecting and organizing
actual costs
-Provide a mechanism for performance measurement
and control
- Note that the WBS provides a simple map of what is
to be produced. It does not deal with schedules and
therefore has no time dimension. It is however used as
**entry criteria for schedule development.
WBS levels
Typically 6 or fewer
1 Total project
2 Sub-project
3 Combination of tasks
4 Task
5 Sub-task
6 Individual processes or actions
Example of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Identifying Activities, Example
KLONE COMPUTERS, INC.
• KLONE Computers manufactures personal
computers.
• It is about to design, manufacture, and market the
Klonepalm 2000 palmbook computer.
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KLONE COMPUTERS, INC
• There are three major tasks to perform:
– Manufacture the new computer.
– Train staff and vendor representatives.
– Advertise the new computer.
•KLONE needs to develop a precedence relations
chart.
• The chart gives a concise set of tasks and their
immediate predecessors.
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KLONE COMPUTERS, INC
Activity Description
A Prototype model design
B Purchase of materials
Manufacturing C Manufacture of prototype model
activities D Revision of design
E Initial production run
F Staff training
Training activities G Staff input on prototype models
H Sales training
Advertising activities I Pre-production advertising campaign
J Post-redesign advertising campaign
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KLONE COMPUTERS, INC
From the activity description
chart, we can determine
immediate predecessors for each
activity.
Activity A is an immediate predecessor
A B of activity B, because it must be
competed
just prior to the commencement of B.
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KLONE COMPUTERS, INC
Precedence Relationships
Chart
Immediate Estimated
Activity Predecessor Completion Time
A None 90
B A 15
C B 5
D G 20
E D 21
F A 25
G C,F 14
H D 28
I A 30
J D,I 45 18
