PROJECT SCHEDULING

Chapter 10

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 CHAPTER 10
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Apply lag relationships to project activities.
2. Construct and comprehend Gantt charts.
3. Recognize alternative means to accelerate projects,
including their benefits and drawbacks.
4. Understand the trade-offs required in the decision to
crash project activities.
5. Develop activity networks using Activity-on-Arrow
techniques.
6. Understand the differences in AON and AOA and
recognize the advantages and disadvantages of each
technique.

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 PMBOK CORE CONCEPTS

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) covered

in this chapter includes:
1. Plan Schedule Management (PMBoK 6.1)
2. Define Activities (PMBoK 6.2)
3. Sequence Activities (PMBoK 6.3)
4. Precedence Diagramming Method (PMBoK 6.3.2.1)
5. Leads and Lags (PMBoK 6.3.2.3)

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 PMBOK CORE CONCEPTS

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) covered

in this chapter includes:
6. Estimate Activity Resources (PMBoK 6.4)
7. Estimate Activity Durations (PMBoK 6.5)
8. Develop Schedule (PMBoK 6.6)
9. Schedule Compression (PMBoK 6.6.2.7)
10. Control Schedule (PMBoK 6.7)

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 LAGS IN PRECEDENCE
RELATIONSHIPS
The logical relationship between the start and finish of one
activity and the start and finish of another activity.

Four logical relationships between tasks:

1. Finish to Start
2. Finish to Finish
3. Start to Start
4. Start to Finish

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 FINISH TO START LAG

 Most common type of sequencing

 Shown on the line joining the modes
 Added during forward pass
 Subtracted during backward pass

0 A 6 6 B 11 Lag 4 15 C 22
Spec Design Design Check Blueprinting
6 5 7

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 FINISH TO FINISH
Two activities share a similar completion point (wiring and
HVAC).
 The under construction cannot happen until wiring,
plumbing, and HVAC installation are complete.

30 R 36
Wiring
6

31 S 33 33 T 36 36 U 42
Plumbing HVAC Under construction
2 3 6

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 FINISH TO FINISH LAG
It may be appropriate for two or more activities to conclude at the
same time. For example, a contractor building an office complex
cannot begin interior wall construction until all wiring, plumbing,
and HVAC have been installed; she may include lag to ensure the
completion of all preceding activities all occur at the same time.

30 R 36 Lag 3
Wiring
6

34 S 36 36 T 39 39 U 45
Plumbing HVAC Under construction
2 3 6
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 START TO START LAG

30 R 36
Wiring
6
Lag 3

33 T 36 36 U 42
31 S 33 HVAC Under construction
Plumbing 3 6
2

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 START TO FINISH LAG

 Least common type of lag relationship

 Successor’s finish dependent on
predecessor’s start
20 W 26

6
Lag 3

18 X 20 20 Y 23 23 Z 29

2 3 6

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 GANTT CHARTS

 Establish a time-phased network

 Can be used as a tracking tool
Benefits of Gantt charts
1. Easy to comprehend
2. Identify the schedule baseline network
3. Allow for updating and control
4. Identify resource needs
5. Easy to create

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 COMPLETED GANTT CHART FOR
PROJECT DELTA
(FIGURE 10.8)

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 GANTT CHART FOR PROJECT DELTA
WITH CRITICAL PATH HIGHLIGHTED
(FIGURE 10.9)

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 GANTT CHART WITH RESOURCES
SPECIFIED
(FIGURE 10.10)

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 GANTT CHART WITH LAG
RELATIONSHIPS
(FIGURE 10.11)

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 CRASHING

The process of accelerating a project

Primary methods for crashing:

1. Improving existing resources’ productivity
2.Changing work methods
3. Compromise quality and/or reduce project scope
4.Institute fast-tracking
5.Work overtime
6.Increasing the quantity of resources

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 CRASH PROCESS

 Determine activity fixed and variable costs

 The crash point is the fully expedited activity

 Optimize time-cost tradeoffs

 Shorten activities on the critical path

 Cease crashing when:

 the target completion time is reached
 the crashing cost exceeds the penalty cost

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 TIME/COST TRADE-OFFS FOR
CRASHING ACTIVITIES
(FIGURE 10.14)

To calculate the cost of crashing project activities, suppose that

for activity X, the normal activity duration is 5 weeks and the
budgeted cost is $12,000. The crash time for this activity is 3
weeks and the expected cost is $32,000. Using the above
formula, we can calculate the cost slope for activity X as:

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 TIME/COST TRADE-OFFS FOR
CRASHING ACTIVITIES
(FIGURE 10.14)

In this example, activity X is calculated to cost $10,000 for each

week’s acceleration to its original schedule. Is this a reasonable
price? In order to answer that question, we need to consider:
What costs are associated with accelerating other project
activities?
What are the gains versus the losses in accelerating this activity?

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 TIME/COST TRADE-OFFS FOR
CRASHING ACTIVITIES
(FIGURE 10.14)

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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

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 FULLY CRASHED PROJECT
ACTIVITY NETWORK
(FIGURE 10.15)

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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

Activity Normal Crashed Difference

Duration Duration
A 5 3 2
B 7 6 1
C 3 2 1
D 5 5 0
E 9 6 3
F 4 3 1
G 6 4 2
H 8 5 3
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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

Crashing
Normal Crashed On
Differen Costs
Activity Duratio Duratio Critical Ranking
ce (per
n n Path
day)
A 5 3 2 250 Yes 1
E 9 6 3 1,750 Yes 2
H 8 5 3 2,000 Yes 3
B 7 6 1 300 No
G 6 4 2 300 No
F 4 3 1 900 No
C 3 2 1 1,500 No
D 5 5 0 Yes
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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

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 FULLY CRASHED PROJECT
ACTIVITY NETWORK
(FIGURE 10.15)

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 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COST AND
DAYS SAVED IN CRASHED PROJECT
(FIGURE 10.16)

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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

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 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND COSTS
(TABLE 10.1)

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 ACTIVITY ON ARROW NETWORKS

Activities represented by arrows

Widely used in construction

Event nodes easy to flag

Forward and backward pass logic similar to AON

 Two activities may not begin and end at common nodes

Dummy activities may be required

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 NOTATION FOR ACTIVITY-ON-ARROW
(AOA) NETWORKS
(FIGURE 10.18)

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 SAMPLE NETWORK DIAGRAM
USING AOA APPROACH
(FIGURE 10.19)

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 REPRESENTING ACTIVITIES WITH TWO OR
MORE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS (WRONG)
(FIGURE 10.20A)

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 ALTERNATIVE WAY TO REPRESENT
ACTIVITIES WITH TWO OR MORE
IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS (WRONG)
(FIGURE 10.20B)

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 REPRESENTING ACTIVITIES WITH TWO
OR MORE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS
USING DUMMY ACTIVITIES (BETTER)
(FIGURE 10.20C)

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 PARTIAL PROJECT DELTA
NETWORK USING AOA NOTATION
(FIGURE 10.21)

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 COMPLETED PROJECT DELTA AOA
NETWORK
(FIGURE 10.22)

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 PROJECT DELTA FORWARD PASS
USING AOA NETWORK
(FIGURE 10.23)

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 PROJECT DELTA BACKWARD PASS
USING AOA NETWORK
(FIGURE 10.24)

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 CONTROVERSIES IN THE USE OF
NETWORKS
1. Networks can be too complex.

2. Poor network construction creates problems.

3. Networks may be used inappropriately.

4. Networks pose special dangers because

contractors may create their own networks.

5. Positive bias exists in PERT networks.

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 SUMMARY

1. Apply lag relationships to project activities.

2. Construct and comprehend Gantt charts.
3. Recognize alternative means to accelerate projects,
including their benefits and drawbacks.
4. Understand the trade-offs required in the decision to crash
project activities.
5. Develop activity networks using Activity-on-Arrow
techniques.
6. Understand the differences in AON and AOA and recognize
the advantages and disadvantages of each technique.

Copyright ©2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 10-42

Copyright ©2016 Pearson Education, Inc. 10-43
 PROBLEM

Suppose you are considering whether or not to crash project activities

in order to expedite your project. You have calculated the total costs
per activity for both normal and crashed options. These are shown in
the table below:

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 PROBLEM

a.Which activities are

the most likely
candidates for crashing?

b. The critical path from

this activity network is A
- C - D - F - H. Prioritize
the candidates for
crashing. How does the
activity network change
the decision rule?

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 PROBLEM

a.Prioritizing crashing choices, the

most cost-effective activities to
crash are (1) activity F, (2) activities A
and G, and (3) activity E.
b.The choices for crashing should be
prioritized first by those that are on
the critical path. Therefore, the first
activity to be crashed would be
activity F, followed by activity A.
Because neither activity G nor E is on
the critical path, crashing them will
not reduce the project length but will
add to the overall costs.
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