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Emgt5220 c9 TL
Emgt5220 c9 TL
Resource Allocation
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Critical Path Method
• Time and costs are interrelated in a project
• 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
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What is Crashing / Crunching?
• To speed up, or expedite, a project
• Process of attempting to shorten project activities and in
turn the overall project by assigning additional resources
(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
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Activity Slope
• Used to determine if crashing makes sense
• Does not take risks into consideration that
may be associated with crashing
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Example of Two-Time CPM
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Exercise 1: Given the following network, determine the first activity to be crashed
by the following priority rules:
(a) Shortest task first
(b) Minimum slack first
(c) Most critical followers
(d) Most successors
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Activity Crash Days Δ Crash $Δ Crash $/Day
A 1 $200.00 $200.00
B 2 $75.00 $37.50
C 3 $150.00 $50.00
D 2 $100.00 $50.00
b) Task B is on the critical path and it has the lowest cost per day $37.50 to crash
(additional cost of $75.00). It enables a 13-day completion without making any other new
tasks critical.
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Exercise 4: Given the following highway rerouting project,
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Time Use and Resource Use
• Time limited: A project must be finished by a
certain time
• Resource limited: A project must be finished
without some specific level of resource usage
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The Resource Allocation Problem
• Fixed. If all three variables—time, cost, scope
(specifications)—are fixed, the system is “overdetermined.”
• On occasion, it may be that one or more tasks in a project are
system-constrained. A system-constrained task requires a
fixed amount of time and known quantities of resources.
– The material must “cook” for a specified time to achieve the desired
effect.
• The only matter of interest in these cases is to make sure that
the required resources are available when needed.
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Resource Loading
• Resource loading describes the amount of resources
an existing schedule requires during specific time
periods.
• Gives an understanding of the demands a project will
make of a firm’s resources
• it is also a first step in attempting to reduce excessive
demands on certain resources, regardless of the
specific technique used to reduce the demands.
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Resource Loading
the use of
resources on a
project is often
nonlinear.
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Resource Usage Calendar
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Resource A
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Resource B
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Resource Leveling
• minimize the period-by-period variations in resource
loading by shifting tasks within their slack allowances
• May also be possible to alter the sequence of
activities to levelize resources
• Small projects can be levelized by hand
• Software can levelize resources for larger projects
• Large projects with multiple resources are complex
to levelize
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Resource Leveling-Benefits
• Less hands-on management is required
• Have the supplier furnish constant amounts
• May be able to use just-in-time inventory
• Improves morale
• Fewer personnel problems
• When resources are leveled, the associated
costs also tend to be leveled (hiring and layoff)
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Resource Leveling
8-22
Resource Loading/Leveling and
Uncertainty
• Resource availability, needs, etc may fluctuate over
time such that resources required and capacity
available may not be constant
• Methods to address this issue:
– Attempt to level demand
– Alter supply of human resource availability
• Disruptions, emergencies, maintenance, personnel
issues, inefficiencies
• Schedule scarce resources between 85-90% capacity
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Constrained Resource Scheduling
Failure to include resource availability in risk identification
activities causes resource constraints. Two methods to
scheduling in a constrained resource environment:
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Common Priority Rules
• As soon as possible: Default rule
• As late as possible
• Shortest task first
• Most resources first
• Minimum slack first: Works Best
• Most critical followers
• Most successors
• Arbitrary
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Heuristic Methods Continued
• These are just the common ones
• There are many more
• The heuristic can either start at the beginning
and work forward
• Or it can start at the end and work backwards
• They can also employ simulation techniques,
where a number of possibilities are tested and
the best is kept
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Optimizing Methods
Optimization attempts to calculate the best
solution using mathematical models.
• Finds the one best solution
• Uses either linear programming or enumeration
but are only applicable to relatively small
projects
• Not all projects can be optimized
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