Scheduling and Resource Allocation

SCHEDULING and
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Useful Abbreviations
 CPM - Critical Path Method

 PERT - Program Evaluation and Review
Technique
Background
 Schedule is the conversion of a project action

plan into an operating timetable
 Basis for monitoring a project
 One of the major project management tools
 Work changes daily, so a detailed plan is
essential
 Not all project activities need to be scheduled at
the same level of detail
Background Continued
 Most of the scheduling is at the

WBS(Breaking work into smaller tasks is a common productivity
technique used to make the work more manageable and approachable.
For projects, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the tool that
utilizes this technique and is one of the most important project
management documents. It singlehandedly integrates scope, cost and
schedule baselines ensuring that project plans are in alignment. level, not
the work package level)
 Only the most critical work packages may

be shown on the schedule
 Most of the scheduling is based on
network drawings
Network Scheduling Advantage
 Consistent framework
 Shows interdependences
 Shows when resources are needed
 Ensures proper communication
 Determines expected completion date
 Identifies critical activities
Network Scheduling Advantage
Continued
 Shows which of the activities can be

delayed
 Determines start dates
 Shows which task must be coordinated
 Shows which task can be run parallel
 Relieves some conflict
 Allows probabilistic estimates
Network Scheduling Techniques: PERT
(ADM) and CPM (PDM)
 PERT was developed for the Polaris

missile/submarine project in 1958
 CPM developed by DuPont during the same
time
 Initially, CPM and PERT were two different
approaches
– CPM used deterministic time estimates and allowed
project crunching
– PERT used probabilistic time estimates
 Microsoft
Project (and others) have blended
CPM and PERT into one approach
Terminology
 Activity - A specific task or set of tasks
that are required by the project, use up
resources, and take time to complete
 Event - The result of completing one or
more activities
 Network - The combination of all
activities and events that define a project
– Drawn left-to-right
– Connections represent predecessors
Terminology Continued
 Path - A series of connected activities
 Critical - An activity, event, or path
which, if delayed, will delay the
completion of the project
 Critical Path - The path through the
project where, if any activity is delayed,
the project is delayed
– There is always a critical path
– There can be more than one critical path
 Sequential Activities - One activity must

be completed before the next one can
begin
 Parallel Activities - The activities can
take place at the same time
 Immediate Predecessor - That activity
that must be completed just before a
particular activity can begin
 Activity on Arrow - Arrows represent

activities while nodes stand for events
 Activity on Node - Nodes stand for
events and arrows show precedence
AON and AOA Format
Figure 8-2
Figure 8-3
Constructing the Network
 Begin with START activity

 Add activities without precedences as
nodes
– There will always be one
– May be more
 Add activities that have those activities as
precedences
 Continue
Gantt (Bar) Charts
 Developed by Henry L. Gantt

 Shows planned and actual progress
 Easy-to-read method to know the current
status
Advantages and Disadvantage
 Advantages
– Easily understood
– Provide a picture of the current state of a
project
 Disadvantage
– Difficult to follow complex projects
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Critical Path Method—Crashing a
Project
 Time and costs are interrelated

 Faster an activity is completed, more is
the cost
 Change the schedule and you change the
budget
 Thus many activities can be speeded up
by spending more money
What is Crashing / Crunching?
 To speed up, or expedite, a project

 Of course, the resources to do this must be
available
 Crunching a project changes the schedule for
all activities
 This will have an impact on schedules for all the
subcontractors
 Crunching a project often introduces
unanticipated problems
Fast-Tracking
 Fast-tracking is another way to expedite a

project
– Mostly used for construction projects
– Can be used in other projects
 Refers to overlapping design and build
phases
 Increases number of change orders
 Increase is not that large
The Resource Allocation Problem
 CPM/PERT ignore resource utilization

and availability
 With external resources, this may not be
a problem
 It is, however, a concern with internal
resources
 Schedules need to be evaluated in terms
of both time and resources
Time Use and Resource Use
 Time limited: A project must be finished

by a certain time
 Resource limited: A project must be
finished without exceeding some specific
level of resource usage
 System-constrained: A project has fixed
amount of time and resources
Resource Loading
 Resource loading describes the amount

of resources an existing schedule
requires
 Gives an understanding of the demands a
project will make of a firm’s resources
Resource A
Resource B
Resource Leveling
 Less hands-on management is required

 May be able to use just-in-time inventory
 Improves morale
 Fewer personnel problems
 When an activity has slack, we can move
that activity to shift its resource usage
Common Priority Rules
 As soon as possible
 As late as possible
 Shortest task first
 Most resources first
 Minimum slack first
 Most critical followers
 Most successors
 Arbitrary
Optimization Methods
 Finds the one best solution

 Uses either linear programming or
enumeration
 Not all projects can be optimized
Multi-Project Scheduling and Resource
Allocation
 Scheduling and resource allocation

problems increase with more than one
project
 The greater the number of projects, the
greater the problems
 One way is to consider each project as
the part of a much larger project
Multi-Project Scheduling and Resource
Allocation Continued
 However, different projects have different

goals so combining may not make sense
 Must also tell us if there are resources to
tackle the new projects we are
considering
Resource Utilization
 The percentage of a resource that is

actually used
 We want a schedule that smoothes out
the dips and peaks of resource utilization
 This is especially true of labor, where
hiring and firing is expensive

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SCHEDULING and

 CPM - Critical Path Method

 Schedule is the conversion of a project action

 Most of the scheduling is at the

 Only the most critical work packages may

 Shows which of the activities can be

 PERT was developed for the Polaris

 Sequential Activities - One activity must

 Activity on Arrow - Arrows represent

 Begin with START activity

 Developed by Henry L. Gantt

 Time and costs are interrelated

 To speed up, or expedite, a project

 Fast-tracking is another way to expedite a

 CPM/PERT ignore resource utilization

 Time limited: A project must be finished

 Resource loading describes the amount

 Less hands-on management is required

 Finds the one best solution

 Scheduling and resource allocation

 However, different projects have different

 The percentage of a resource that is

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