...Chapter 09 Reducing Project Duration Multiple Choice Questions 1. Without any formal planning, the president of a software company remarks in a speech that new technologically advanced software will be available in one year. This may lead to a project that must be done faster than anticipated. This is an example of reducing project duration caused by A. Imposed project deadlines. B. Time to market. C. Unforeseen project delays. D. High overhead. E. Incentive contracts. 2. Intense global competition and rapid technological advances create pressure to develop projects rapidly. This is an example of reducing project duration caused by A. Imposed project deadlines. B. Time to market. C. Unforeseen project delays. D. High overhead. E. Incentive contracts. 9-1 Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 3. A contractor finished a bridge across a lake 18 months early and received more than $6 million for the early completion. This is an example of reducing project duration caused by A. Imposed project deadlines. B. Time to market. C. Unforeseen project delays. D. High overhead. E. Incentive contracts. 4. Adverse weather, design flaws, and equipment breakdown can create negative slack. This is an example of reducing project duration caused...
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...than subcontractors to complete residential construction projects. FHD is interested in reducing costs and increasing efficiency through project management; specifically, they want to take advantage of reducing the completion time of a given task or multiple tasks should the need arise. They are also interested in determining the optimal number of days to complete construction of a typical residential project that minimizes the overall cost. Problem Currently the activities performed to build a house are disorganized. FHD is differentiating themselves by having employees, instead of the industry standard subcontractors, but they are using them as they would subcontractors. If the activities to build a single home were better orchestrated, FHD could reduce the time and cost required to complete one house. FHD has asked us to help them find a solution. Approach We began by mapping out all the activities needed to finish a home in order to understand the constraints on the project. Once the map was complete, we were able to identify the critical path (See Exhibit A), or the longest sequence of events that determines the length of the project. Through linear programming we were able to determine the optimal time for the project. Upon graphing the total costs of crashing, we were also able to give incremental costs for expedited completion times, including the optimal time. Analysis In order to determine the optimal time, we analyzed the data in a linear programming model....
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...PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL FOR REDUCING MANUFACTURING THROUGHPUT TIME Amey Dhar Dubey (fy7096) Arpit Sharma (fe2365) Bhavditya Sisodiya (fw6052) College of Engineering Wayne State University Detroit, Michigan ABSTRACT This paper scans the present state of Production Planning and Control (PPC) regarding the manufacturing industry. PPC needs to undergo internal and external changes by being more dynamic and properly utilizing resources and delivery performance. In order for this to happen, the concept of crashing much be applied to better understand of how different factors affect PPC systems performance. Crashing is reduces project time by overlapping or performing two or more different steps simultaneously using additional resources (PM PrepCast). Crashing the network is the reduction of project duration by contracting and compressing the network at minimum cost. Project duration can often be reduced by appointing more labours to project activities. However, when appointing more labours, the project cost increases due to overtime and more resources being used. Time and cost requirement must be balanced to reduce project duration. The gist of this paper covers production time, along with the cost applying the concept of crashing. In addition, time management with optimum cost is vital for any project. A method to obtain optimum cost and project duration minimization is outlined. This is achieved by fully crashing the critical path or by removing non-added...
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...nature of the project, and its key objectives. 2. Define “Dummy Activities” and describe their role in this project. 3. Describe the key problem(s) in this project and the strategies used to address these problems. Introduction This case example, although for a very small project, illustrates some interesting features of planning using critical path analysis. although there are only 17 activities, the precedence logic is a little complex to draw clearly owing to the number of crossed links, and we show how this difficulty is easily overcome by inserting dummy activities at three of the crossover points. Our case example demonstrates the application of pert (program evaluation and review technique), in which the estimated duration for each activity can be subjected to a probabilistic study in an attempt to forecast the most likely completion time for the entire project. Finally, this case will demonstrate how a project manager need not accept the results of time analysis without question, but can plan to apply extra effort to expedite critical activities (usually for additional cost) to bring the planned project completion date forward. Project Background CEN-CONSTRUCT is a medium-sized business located in Sydney, Australia that is owned and operated by a family. It is principally a consulting company that specializes in aviation civil engineering, having worked on runway construction and paving projects as well as several other airport airside projects, most of...
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... Critical Path Method (CPM): 1) Critical Event: An event in the project which cannot be delayed by any amount of time beyond its earliest occurrence time without affecting total project completion time. 2) Critical Activity: An activity whose start or completion cannot be delayed by any amount of time without affecting total project completion time. Float of critical activity is zero. Necessary and sufficient conditions for identifying critical activities: a) Necessary condition: If the earliest occurrence time (E) and latest occurrence time (L) at the head and tail events of an activity is same (i.e. Ei = Li and Ej = Lj) then that activity may be a critical activity. b) Sufficient condition: If the necessary condition is satisfied and if difference between earliest occurrence time of the head event and the earliest occurrence of the tail event is equal to the activity time, then that activity is definitely a critical activity. i.e. an activity is definitely critical when: 1) Ei = Li and Ej = Lj and 2) Ej – Lj =tij 3) Critical Path: The sequence of critical activities in a network diagram is called as critical path. The critical path is the longest path in the network diagram. The critical path defines the minimum project completion time. It means if the duration of critical path is say 20 days, then the project can be completed at the earliest in 20 days. Any delay in...
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...Chapter 2 | Project Management | | Discussion Questions 1. Software is an essential element for successful management of complex projects. It can provide information on completion performance of critical activities, highlight activities that need additional resources, and suggest the project duration that will minimize costs. However, whether projects are large or small, the people who manage them or perform the activities will ultimately determine the outcome of the project. The project manager must have the ability to coalesce a diverse group of people into an effective team. The organization of the firm must also be conducive to cross-functional inputs. 2. This question is best used when it is given as an assignment prior to class. Responses will vary, but rely on the students with some business experience. The projects do not have to be large ones. Stories in the headlines include natural disasters (earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes), cleanup of oil spills, and delays in the introduction of new products. 3. This question is best used when it is given as an assignment before class so that the students will have a chance to think about it before discussion. Most everyone should be able to describe some project they have been a part of. Common ones include preparing a high-school yearbook, planning a major party, building a new home, and organizing a banquet for a club or student group. Take time to elicit examples of activities and their interrelatedness...
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...provides cleaner energy, at a more efficient rate. The northeast corner of our nation is always in need of energy. Pipeline projects are claimed to be harmful to the environment, yet studies have shown no value in property is lost due to pipelines. This nation needs to add funding and focus towards natural gas production and sale due to the many positive benefits shown. Countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are all major users of Natural Gas. They import an amazing amount of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) every year. They account for one third of the world's natural gas importation. The dense populations and lack of resources causes them to need to pull in millions of barrels of LNG. Their usage of natural gas has far surpassed the use of coal and oil in their country. Japan spent $63.28 Billion dollars on it last year. These asian countries have seen the benefits in this cheap, and clean energy. (NaturalGas.org) Japan is nearly balanced with energy now, where it once was a complete disaster....
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...Project Management, 2e (Pinto) Chapter 10 Project Scheduling: Lagging, Crashing, and Activity Networks 10.1 True/False 1) Finish to start lags are the same as additional activity slack. Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Section: 10.1 Lags in Precedence Relationships Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 2) The least common type of lag relationship occurs when a successor's finish is dependent upon a predecessor's start. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Section: 10.1 Lags in Precedence Relationships Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 3) Gantt charts cannot depict float. Answer: FALSE Diff: 1 Section: 10.2 Gantt Charts Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 4) In order to accelerate completion of a project, the manager must crash critical path activities. Answer: TRUE Diff: 1 Section: 10.3 Crashing Projects Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 5) The critical path may not contain a dummy activity. Answer: FALSE Diff: 1 Section: 10.3 Crashing Projects Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 6) Quite often the marginal gains in employee productivity decrease dramatically with the increased use of overtime. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Section: 10.3 Crashing Projects Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 7) Most project management software employs AOA diagramming Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Section: 10.4 Activity-on-Arrow Networks Skill: Factual AACSB Tag: Reflective 8) AOA is a more useful technique than AON if the project is complex and has many significant milestones. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Section: 10.4 Activity-on-Arrow...
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...Entertainment so much more and still has scope in so many unexplored domains. Since the onset of globalisation in the early 90s, large capital influx and the crises that could be attributed with it have become one of the known risks. Large flows of capital into another country has created currency crisis in most of the countries. The most predominant of these shocks was recorded was in the East Asian countries. India never fell prey to these shocks and was effectively insulated from these shocks, until it has opened up its markets for investment by foreign players. The globalization and reforms of 90s despite opening up India’s market and providing employment and growth opportunities to millions, it comes with itself a huge risk of global market crash which incidentally would create a major shock in inflow of the capital into Indian markets. Capital influx impacts the economy by impacting foreign exchange reserves, this in turn, impact the monetary base when monetary base is impacted the...
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...Project Management A project manager controls costs. He monitors and controls the budget in addition to making sure that the comparison of the actual cost with the baseline cost is met for every operation. This leads to the control cost. The application of the control cost process is based on the project operating within the financial benchmark and management of the project expenditure. Similar to other aspects of cost control, the existence of variance from the baseline makes one to find what brought about the variance. This makes one decide the most appropriate step. The application of earned value management is applied in this case to measure the project cost performance, development and application of cost control. The project manager has to be proactive and not wait for variances to happen, but impact and control issues that lead to variance. Focus is dwelt on the most relevant steps to acquire the actual cost in alignment with the plan through altering other strategies or through altering how work is done. The process is based on cost variance. A positive outcome is beneficial to a company while a negative outcome is disastrous to a company. Generally, cost control is described as assessing the status of the project, keeping tabs on the project budget and managing the alterations that are required to the cost baseline. The Mindjet MindManager to meet his 30 to 60% productivity has to manage his cost in the best way possible. Through this inventiveness, association...
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...management of product development and suggest how shifting the identification and solving of problems—a concept that they define as front-loading—can reduce development time and cost and thus free up resources to be more innovative in the marketplace. The authors develop a framework of front-loading problem-solving and present related examples and case evidence from development practice. These examples include Boeing’s and Chrysler’s experience with the use of “digital mock-ups” to identify interference problems that are very costly to solve if identified further downstream—sometimes as late as during or—after first full-scale assembly. In the article, the authors propose that front-loading can be achieved using a number of different approaches, two of which are discussed in detail: (1) projectto-project knowledge transfer—leverage previous projects by transferring problem and solution-specific information to new projects; and (2) rapid problemsolving—leverage advanced technologies and methods to increase the overall rate at which development problems are identified and solved. Methods for improving project-to-project knowledge transfer include the effective use of “postmortems,” which are records of post-project learning and thus can be instrumental in carrying forward the knowledge from current and past projects. As the article suggests, rapid problem-solving can be achieved by optimally combining new technologies (such as computer simulation) that allow for faster problemsolving...
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...Chapter 6 Allocating Resources to the Project This chapter extends the previous one on scheduling into the area of allocating resources among the activities of a project, or among multiple projects competing for the same resources. The chapter begins with a discussion of expediting project completion times and highlights that by selectively choosing which activities to crash and by how much, we can determine the minimum cost for all possible project completion time. The use of Excel’s Solver optimization routine to facilitate this analysis is also presented. Next, the chapter moves on to the topic of resource loading and in particular highlights the problems of over scheduling resources. The topics of resource leveling and resource allocation naturally follow in the subsequent sections. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of several of the concepts Goldratt raises in his provocative book Critical Chain. Cases and Readings A case appropriate to the subject of this chapter is: Harvard: 9-613-020 Space Constructors, Inc. This 3-page case involves a simple project where partial crashing has already been planned but more, and less, crashing is also to be considered. The network has some special characteristics that offer some worthwhile lessons for the student. Answers to Review Questions 1. Given the fact that a project’s resource requirements are clearly spelled out in the project’s action plan, why are PMs so concerned with resource...
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...MSP 10 Project Management with PERT/CPM One of the most challenging jobs that any manager can take on is the management of a large-scale project that requires coordinating numerous activities throughout the organization. A myriad of details must be considered in planning how to coordinate all these activities, in developing a realistic schedule, and then in monitoring the progress of the project. Fortunately, two closely related operations research techniques, PERT (program evaluation and review technique) and CPM (critical path method), are available to assist the project manager in carrying out these responsibilities. These techniques make heavy use of networks (as introduced in the preceding chapter) to help plan and display the coordination of all the activities. They also normally use a software package to deal with all the data needed to develop schedule information and then to monitor the progress of the project. Project management software, such as MS Project in your OR Courseware, now is widely available for these purposes. PERT and CPM have been used for a variety of projects, including the following types. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Construction of a new plant Research and development of a new product NASA space exploration projects Movie productions Building a ship Government-sponsored projects for developing a new weapons system Relocation of a major facility Maintenance of a nuclear reactor Installation of a management information system Conducting an advertising...
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...9-699-044 REV: NOVEMBER 1, 2001 STEFAN THOMKE BMW AG: The Digital Car Project (A) “Looks great,” thought Chris Bangle as he walked by a picture of the new BMW 3-Series which was about one year away from its scheduled 1998 launch in Germany. Bangle, a former Wisconsin native, who became the company’s director of worldwide design at age 35, glanced at his watch. In just 30 minutes, he would meet with other senior managers about project recommendations that might revolutionize the way cars had been designed over the past eight decades at BMW. The meeting was in the inner sanctum of BMW’s research and engineering building, the Forschungs-und Ingenieurszentrum, known locally as the “FIZ” (pronounced “fits”). Built in 1987, this massive building centralized the work of 40 facilities previously scattered through Munich. All work from product concept to pilot production occurred in the FIZ. But only a privileged few out of the five thousand who worked in the building had ever visited this corner of the company where the meeting was to be held. Bangle pulled out his card key that would let him pass through a sleek space-age security system that resembled an oval chamber. After negotiating a push card entry system, a set of doors slid close behind him and another set opened up to reveal the styling area—a world of future visions, inhabited by many life-size clay models of cars under development that would eventually come to life on roads of the next millennium. BMW had weathered...
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...school, or just being at home enjoying a cup while watching the news (Statistic Brain 2013). Starbucks Corporation is one of the primary reasons drinking coffee has become an everyday activity for most parts of the world. The demographics aspect of the business has no doubt had a major positive impact for the company. Starbucks has currently over 17,000 stores in 40 countries throughout the globe ensuring that anyone who wants a coffee will have a Starbucks nearby (Hoovers 2013). Starbucks was established in 1971 in Seattle, Washington by coffee enthusiasts Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Ziv Siegl (Hoovers 2013). The company’s core objective was to “sell the finest quality whole bean and ground coffees” (Hoovers 2013 pg. 1). By the time 1982 came around, Starbucks had five retail stores and sold coffee to local restaurants in Seattle along with other espresso shops (Hoovers 2013). It was this year that Howard Schultz joined and ran Starbucks marketing and retail sales division. Schultz eventually left the company to pursue his own goals and open a coffee retail shop called Il Giornali, which served Starbucks coffee (Hoovers 2013). It was Schultz’s company that eventually bought Starbucks for $4 million in late 1987 and the named was changed to Starbucks Corporation (Hoovers 2013). Schultz intended to expand the retail company nationally and began opening shops in Chicago and Vancouver along with creating Starbucks first mail-order catalog in 1988(Hoovers 2013). It was...
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