Course: Project Management

Exercise: Project Crashing SOLUTION

Exercise 1, Part A.
You are given the following data about the project tasks, network, and crash times/costs. Cal-
culate the cost of the project at all time durations until you can no longer crash the project any
further.

Direct costs
Normal Crash Maximum
ID Time Cost Time Cost Slope Crash Time

A 5 $500 4 $600 $100 1

B 10 $1200 6 $2000 $200 4
C 13 $3600 11 $4800 $600 2
D 13 $300 11 $600 $150 2
E 5 $1000 4 $1400 $400 1
F 10 $2400 8 $5400 $1500 2
G 5 $700 5 $700 $0 0
$9700

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Exercise 1, Part B: Initial Network
Calculate the critical path(s) and the direct costs of this project:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 33 Project Dur: 38

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 38

Total Direct Costs: $9700

Exercise 1, Part C.
If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 37

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 37

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100 (A)

Total Cost at this time period: $9800

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 36

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 36

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100 (A)+ $400 (E)

Total Cost at this time period: $10,200

If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 35

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 35

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100 (A)+ $400 (E) +
$600 (C)
Total Cost at this time period: $10,800

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 34

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 34

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100 (A)+ $400 (E) +
$600 (C) + $600 (C)
Total Cost at this time period: $11,400

If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day:

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 33

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 33

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100 (A)+ $400 (E) +
$600 (C) + $600 (C) + 1500 (F)
Total Cost at this time period: $12,900

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s), and the additional costs of crashing this project by
another 1 day::

Path 1: A->B->D->G Duration: 32 Project Dur: 32

Path 2: A->C->E->F->G Duration: 32

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $9700 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(A)+ $400(E) +
$600(C) + $600(C) + 1500(F) + 1500(F)
Total Cost at this time period: $14400

Exercise 1, Part D.

Tally the Direct Costs that you calculated at Each Duration in the table below. Calculate the in-
centive that you would have to complete the project at the various time periods.

Initial -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7
Dur

Project Duration 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 NA

Total Direct Costs $9,700 $9,800 $10,200 $10,800 $11,400 $12,900 $14,400 NA

Incentives ($500 per

day beyond initial $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 $2500
duration)

TOTAL PROJECT
$9,700 $9,300 $9,200 $9,300 $9,400 $10,400 $11,400 NA
COSTS

Circle the optimum time period to lower costs.

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Exercise 2, Part A.
You are given the following data about the project tasks, network, and crash times/costs. Cal-
culate the cost of the project at all time durations until you can no longer crash the project any
further.

Direct costs
Normal Crash Maximum
ID Time Cost Time Cost Slope Crash Time

A 10 $5000 10 $5000 $0 0
B 12 $1200 11 $1300 $100 1
C 11 $3600 9 $4800 $600 2
D 5 $300 4 $600 $300 1
E 8 $1000 6 $2000 $500 2
F 9 $2400 7 $5400 $1500 2
G 8 $700 7 $1000 $300 1
$14200

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Exercise 2, Part B: Initial Network
Calculate the critical path(s) and the direct costs of this project:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G Duration: 40 Project Dur: 40

Total Direct Costs: $14,200

Exercise 2, Part C.
If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G Duration: 39 Project Dur: 39

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B)

Total Cost at this time period: $14,300

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G Duration: 38 Project Dur: 38

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B) + $300 (G)

Total Cost at this time period: $14,600

If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G Duration: 37 Project Dur: 37

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B) + $300(G) +
$600(C)

Total Cost at this time period: $15,200

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G Duration: 36 Project Dur: 36

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B) + $300(G) +
$600(C) + $600(C)

Total Cost at this time period: $15,800

If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G + B->C->E->G Duration: 35 Project Dur: 35

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B) + $300(G) +
$600(C) + $600(C) + $1500 (F)

Total Cost at this time period: $17,300

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If possible, calculate the critical path(s) and the costs of crashing this project by 1 day:

Critical Path: B->C->F->G + B->C->E->G Duration: 34 Project Dur: 34

Normal Duration Direct Costs: $14,200 Additional Costs of Crashing: $100(B) + $300(G) +
$600(C) + $600(C) + $1500(F) + $1500(F) +$500(E)

Total Cost at this time period: $19,300

Project cannot be crashed to any shorter duration.

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Exercise 2, Part D.
Tally the Direct Costs that you calculated at Each Duration in the table below. You are given
the direct costs at each time period Calculate total project costs.

Initial -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7
Dur

Project Duration 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33

Total Direct Costs $14,200 $14,300 $14,600 $15,200 $15,800 $17,300 $19,300 NA

Indirect Costs $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $500 $250 $0

TOTAL COSTS $17,200 $16,800 $16,600 $16,700 $16,800 $17,800 $19,550 NA

Circle the optimum time period to lower costs.

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