The Application of Critical Path Method - Coursework Example

Research Report in Project Management Name Institutional Affiliation Date Table of Contents Section 1 2 1.0. Executive Summary 2 2.0. Methodology and Results 3 A. Infrastructure Division Project (ID) 4 B. Transport Division Project (TD) 10 3.0. Discussion 12 4.0. Conclusion 12 5.0. Appendices 13 Section 2 14 The risks associated with the implementation of the project schedule determined 14 Actions to be taken by the PPO to mitigate risks and reduce possible impact on the completion of the project 16 Issues which should be taken into account by the HA head if he implements the determined project schedule 17 Possible impact of the issues taken into account on the competitive position and the performance of HA 18 References 19 Section 1 1.0. Executive Summary This report is about Project management and planning which is a very vital initial stage in achieving the intended purpose of the project since it gives the entire project a reasonable direction. There are different types of resources that should be planned and managed in order for the project to be economically and resource-wise be optimised. These resources include finances, human labour, materials and most importantly, time. A well planned project will create room for sharing resources and also allows for maximum accountability between the project manager and the project team (Heerkens, 2002). It also enhances sufficient employee expertise since the labour resource team can plan their assignments in order to get ample time in developing and sharpening their skills. Reliability of a project is one aspect that planning takes care of very well since it helps the project manager and the contractor to estimate the duration of completing the whole or part of the project within a given financial budget. Most projects that are not well planned and executed may stall for very long periods of time due to poor resource utilisation and allocation. It is upon this background that optimisation becomes imperative so that the project can be completed within the allocated resources and in the shortest time possible. To do this, an efficient and reliable network scheduling technique is used. One of such techniques is the Critical Path Method (CPM) that helps in breaking down the work and transforms it into a structure of network presentation ((Heerkens, 2002). The aim of this method is to provide an effective and efficient schedule plan for the project and to determine the projects’ critical activities and the amount of resources needed for the execution of the project main tasks as scheduled. 2.0. Methodology and Results The solution to the problems in the Infrastructure Division (ID) and Transport Division (TD) projects in this report requires application of the network scheduling techniques that will help in deciding how the resources are utilised and allocated with the aim of achieving cost and time objectives. The application of Critical Path Method (CPM) to these two scenarios will help in making decisions like Slacks in activities, Interdependence of activities, Time delays and The most probable time the project will be completed. The stages involved in analysing and solving these two problems are; i. Breaking down the project into activities that are mutually exclusive and identifying the sequential correlation between project activities. ii. Constructing the logical network diagram to represent the sequence portrayed by the activities iii. Identification and estimation of the deterministic periods of each activity iv. Analysis of the network diagram implications and establishment of the path(s) within the network diagram which shows critical activities. v. Reallocation of the resources to help in the identification of a better schedule that is either cheaper or faster overall. A. Infrastructure Division Project (ID) This project is executed in four phases with each phase having activities and the time within which each activity will be completed and the sequence in which they occur. The following assumptions have been made for this section; i. The project starts on Friday, January 2nd, 2015 ii. A week comprises 5 working days The high level structural construction has four phases with each phase highlighting the major activities and finish times as shown in the tables that follow. Phase One: The surface preparation and foundation Activity Precedence Time (Days) Meeting to evaluate the surfacing and foundation work volume - 3 Meeting to determine transportation requirements 1 Fencing of the construction site 3 Building of the management temporary offices 4 Building of a temporary road leading to the construction site 3 Clearing of the site 7 Digging of the foundations on A 15 Digging of the foundations on B 18 Digging of the foundations on C 25 Evaluation meeting 2 Preparation of foundation steel structure 8 Technical requirements of the concrete 2 Laying of the steel structure on the foundation 14 Concrete preparation 5 Pouring of the concrete 6 Concrete curing 5 Engineering verification of the foundations 3 Evaluation of phase meeting 2 Phase Two: The structure construction a) Construction of the terminal ground floor Activity Precedence Time (Days) Construction of a concrete platform on site A 16 Construction of a concrete platform on site B 20 Construction of a concrete platform on site C 28 Erection of concrete columns on site A 24 Erection of concrete columns on site B 20 Erection of concrete columns on site C 22 Technical evaluation 4 Construction of the ceilings on site A 12 Construction of the ceilings on site B 10 Construction of the ceilings on site C 15 b) Construction of the first floor Activity Precedence Time (Days) Erection of concrete columns on site A 12 Erection of concrete columns on site B 15 Erection of concrete columns on site C 16 Construction of the ceilings on site A 14 Construction of the ceilings on site B 18 Construction of the ceilings on site C 16 Link bridge construction from site A to B and C 10 Link bridge construction from site B to C 14 Phase evaluation and report writing meeting 2 Phase Three: The interior building Activity Precedence Time (Days) Meeting with the sub-contractors 2 Wall separation on ground floor on site A 18 Wall separation on ground floor on site B 15 Wall separation on ground floor on site C 12 Wall separation on first floor on site A 16 Wall separation on first floor on site B 14 Wall separation on first floor on site C 15 Laying down of electricity and computer networks on the ground floor 20 Laying down of electricity and computer networks on the first floor 24 Laying down of plumbing and heating network on the ground floor 24 Laying down of plumbing and heating network on the first floor 30 Phase evaluation and report writing meeting 4 Phase Four: The certification of the high level structural construction Activity Precedence Time (Days) Meeting with the sub-contractors 2 Meeting with the construction certification body 2 Structure certification of ground and first floor on site A 6 Structure certification of ground and first floor on site B 5 Structure certification of ground and first floor on site C 7 Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site A 7 Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site B 8 Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site C 10 Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site A 9 Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site B 12 Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site C 10 Formal certification meeting 3 From the annex network diagram shown in the appendix section, if the project commences on 2nd January 2015, the earliest date when the first three phases will be completed is on 1st march 2017. If the project commences on 2nd January 2015, the earliest date when the high level structural construction part of the project will be completed is on 23rd June 2017. The following activities cannot be delayed in phase one which entails the surface preparation and foundation; Phase one Fencing of the construction site Building of the temporary access roads Clearing the site ahead of construction Digging of the foundations in sites A, B and C Preparation of the foundation steel structures Preparation of the technical requirements of the concrete Laying of the steel structure Preparation of the concrete Pouring of the concrete Phase two Construction of a concrete platform on site A Construction of a concrete platform on site B Construction of a concrete platform on site C Erection of concrete columns on site A Erection of concrete columns on site B Erection of concrete columns on site C Construction of the ceilings on site A Construction of the ceilings on site B Construction of the ceilings on site C Erection of concrete columns on site A Erection of concrete columns on site B Erection of concrete columns on site C Construction of the ceilings on site A Construction of the ceilings on site B Construction of the ceilings on site C Phase three Wall separation on ground floor on site A Wall separation on ground floor on site B Wall separation on ground floor on site C Wall separation on first floor on site A Wall separation on first floor on site B Wall separation on first floor on site C Laying down of electricity and computer networks on the ground floor Laying down of electricity and computer networks on the first floor Laying down of plumbing and heating network on the ground floor Laying down of plumbing and heating network on the first floor Phase four Structure certification of ground and first floor on site A Structure certification of ground and first floor on site B Structure certification of ground and first floor on site C Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site A Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site B Certification of electricity and computer networks on both floors on site C Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site A Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site B Certification of plumbing and heating on both floors on site C From the annex network diagram shown in the appendix section, if the erection of the columns in the structure phase takes 27, 23, and 25 days in the ground floor of sites A, B and C respectively, the wall separation in the first floor in the interior building phase lasts for 20, 18 and 19 days in sites A, B and C respectively, and the certification of the electricity and computer networks in the certification phase is delayed by 2 days in each floor of all sites, the new project will delay up to the next month 14th July 2017. B. Transport Division Project (TD) The Hertfordshire Airways (HA) has three customer advantages which include; Prices Schedule Flexibility Luggage Allowance The train operators offer the following customer advantages; Travel Comfort Convenience Price For every HA customer advantage, the train operator advantages and profit/loss are given as shown in the tables below; a) Price Train operator advantage Annual Profit/Loss (£ Million) Convenience 3 profit Travel Comfort 6 profit Price 9 loss b) Schedule Flexibility Train operator advantage Annual Profit/Loss (£ Million) Convenience 14 profit Travel Comfort 8 profit Price 3 profit c) Luggage Allowance Train operator advantage Annual Profit/Loss (£ Million) Convenience 6 profit Price 8 profit Travel Comfort 12 loss HA should adopt the second option which is “Schedule Flexibility” since it has higher returns (£25 Million annually) than the other two. This strategy is a bit hard to implement because a lot of things have to be sacrificed. For example, price and luggage allowance. This implies that low profits will be registered in reality. The elements of the strategy to be implemented are as tabulated below. Train operator advantage Annual Profit/Loss (£ Million) Convenience 14 profit Travel Comfort 8 profit Price 3 profit 3.0. Discussion Critical path method of project planning, scheduling and management is a very useful control and monitoring tool for projects ((Heerkens, 2002). It allows the project manager to compute the actual dates for each task within the project and use these dates to compare the current level of progress of the project with what ought to be the actual progress with the aim of reacting accordingly to avoid working behind the schedule. The activities which are to be undertaken within the project execution period and their related outcomes are represented by a network diagram. The dependencies are displayed to assist in scheduling so that the activities that can run parallel to one another can be evaluated. It is a widely used technique in industries to determine the float and slack times. Project duration can be determined so that direct and indirect costs can be minimised in order to optimise the resources pumped into the project. 4.0. Conclusion In conclusion, CPM and PERT techniques are reliable methods of project management as seen in the above infrastructure division and transport division projects. They help in resources optimisation because activity times can be estimated accurately on order to approximate the amount of time the project will be executed. 5.0. Appendices Network Diagrams for the ID project (The Appendix is Attached) Section 2 The risks associated with the implementation of the project schedule determined There are some risks associated with the implementation of the critical path method in solving project management related issues. These risks vary from more complex to simpler ones that the project planning officer or the project manager cannot mitigate so easily. One of the risks is complexity. This technique involves graphical display of the data and activities that correlate by using a network diagram in order to link the mutually interdependent activities. In the process of doing this, large undertakings and activities have to be broken down into smaller and manageable tasks that can easily be graphically represented to make the scheduling much easier. Unfortunately, the entire graphical method of display tends to be more complex to read and interpret. Another potential risk is the challenge of estimates. This is because the method is most appropriate for projects whose timelines can be easily predicted. In the construction case above, tasks are repeated from one activity to another and therefore the project manager or planning officer easily approximates how long the working team can take in order to perform each activity within the network. In a case where the project is designed in a manner that the planning officer or manager is obligated to make guesses and unverifiable estimations, the critical path method may not be the best technique to be employed in determining reliable solutions because there are higher chances of increase in schedule delays. Apart from complexity and estimate challenges, another more serious risk is resource allocation. When critical path method is used in scheduling and planning a given project, resource allocation is not focussed upon. The technique can estimate the length of an activity time-wise, but the planning team may encounter serious impediments when assumption is made on particular equipment or personnel requirements. A realistic scenario is where experienced personnel takes shorter time to complete a given task within the activity network compared to a newer hire who can take double or more. In such a situation, if the project team plans and budgets with an experienced staff, the project schedule can end up being thrown off in the event that the experienced staff fails to avail himself. Focus is another risk associated with critical path method implementation. As is usually observed with many planning tools, there are higher chances that critical path method may by itself become an end. This is contrary to the intended purpose whereby it is only meant to be a mere instrument to be applied in determining the progress of the project. When the project schedule dominates, other major and crucial program success components are not given the necessary consideration and attention by shear virtue of not lying within the project path. This is true for example, where resources allocation for quality assurance or product testing is sacrificed for another activity which occurs within the critical path. Sometimes this activity that occurs within the critical path may be of less importance with regard to the long-term prosperity of the venture and yet the project officer has to adhesively stick to the schedule. Actions to be taken by the PPO to mitigate risks and reduce possible impact on the completion of the project In order to overcome the risks and challenges involved in the implementation of the critical path method, it is imperative to break down the activities and tasks into smaller and manageable components. A network diagram should be used to represent the progress step by step so that the graph does not wind up into a more complicated network. Another important action to be taken by the project planning officer is flexibility. In case an activity is not listed within the network but it is anticipated to be of importance, it is in order to incorporate it within the network presentation of graphing and analysis. In order to mitigate the risk of focus, the project planning and management team should endeavour to concentrate on the activities encompassed in the network diagram. This ensures that the focus is diverted from the method to the main components. The planning team ought to ensure correct resource allocation to the major project activities within the schedule. In many situations, resources are allocated to unimportant activities by the virtue of the fact that they constitute the activities within the network diagram. A good example is where the planning team approximates the labour cost using an experienced worker whose expertise would put him in an edge over newer hires. This is because they spend lesser time to execute the schedule activities compared to their counterparts who are new in the tasks assigned to them. The result is that more resources will have to be pumped into the project outside the planned monetary budget within a specified financial budget. Focus has been geared towards the critical path method instead of concentrating on the individual activities which constitute the network diagram. Contrary to this, the method is only meant to yield the end result which is time estimates and projected project completion time. Issues which should be taken into account by the HA head if he implements the determined project schedule The solution to the transport division project requires complicated methodology which in turn implies that a more complex chart has to be used. In the above case, pert method of project planning and scheduling is employed. The charts established by this technique are confusing and complicated to interpret because it can represent thousands and hundreds of activities and their interdependency especially where the projects being handled are very large. In addition, the charts can be very expensive to develop, maintain and update. The graphs developed by this technique are greatly reliant on the capability to predict accurate time frames for a lot of tasks. In the event of occurrence of unpredicted events, the activity time estimates can be incorrect. This implies that the technique works best for projects with reliable previous predictions. Possible impact of the issues taken into account on the competitive position and the performance of HA The aforementioned issues and risks have unprecedented impacts with far reaching consequences. It is therefore necessary to make accurate time estimation judgements with utmost predictability and accuracy bearing in mind flexibility to cater for unforeseen future variations and alterations. This move will ensure that reliability of the method is increased in order to enhance its dependability. One of the possible impacts is inaccuracy of time prediction. It is also imperative to break down complex projects into smaller components that are easier to manage and represent with the help of graphs. This will improve the entire project planning, scheduling and execution. It will also help in cutting down the cost to manageable amounts for the activity network diagrams. References Top of Form HEERKENS, G. (2002). Project management. New York, McGraw-Hill. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=75939. Bottom of Form Read More