Resource analysis 2

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Resource analysis 2

• Project management
• (seminar)

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Optimum seeking procedures

• Constraints
• Resource-limited projects
• Time-limited projects
• Resource-limited AND time-limited projects
  (question of priority)
• Methods
• Linear programming
• Levelling
• Allocation
• Smoothing

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Linear programming

• Successful only for small networks (up to about
  200 activities)
• Need for precise data

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Levelling

• Need for a previously produced starting schedule.
• Attempts to level out peaks and valleys in
  resource requirements by rescheduling some
  activities.
• Difficulty of interactions between activities.

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Allocation

• Allocation resources
• Splitting an activity stopping an activity,
  which is currently in progress, by the removal of
  its resources for use on an activity of higher
  priority.
• Two procedures for allocation
• Serial if only a few activities are splitable
• Parallel if many activities are splitable more
  complicated method that needs more time and data

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Allocation when resources are limited

• Serial procedure
• All activities in the project are ranked using
  constant priority rule. The most frequently used
  rule ascending order of the LSTs with a
  tiebreaker of the ascending order of total
  floats.
• Activities are scheduled in the above order at
  the earliest possible point in time consistent
  with the availability of resources and the
  precedence requirements.
• Step-by-step process
• Draw the network diagram for the logical
  connections
• Compute the activity times and total floats
• Plot a Gantt or time-scaled network in tandem
  with a resource-histogram

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Network with single resource data

• Resource limit 5

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Network with multiple resource data

• Resource limits 5A, 5B

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Allocation when resources are limited

• Parallel procedureActivities are considered
  sequentially (sub-lists). Unscheduled activities
  are retained and ranked in the next period with
  new activities.

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The time-limited case

• Balancing the S-curve with milestones
• Forcing early activities to start sooner

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Smoothing

• Aim is to produce a feasible schedule within the
  time constraints provide as smooth a resource
  requirement profile as possible.
• Informational needs of smoothing
• Start time and timeframe
• Priority order of the resources required
• Prioritising activities and selecting them in
  order for scheduling (critical activities have
  supreme priority).
• Finding the best place for the activity
  (placing).
• Repeat the process with the next activity.

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Prioritising activities

• Considerables
• Resource type(s) and importance
• Total work content (resource units per time
  multiplied with the duration for all resources
  used on the activity
• Available float
• Formula
• (Total work content) / (Float remaining)
• In descending order (greatest first).

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Placing

• The best position is the one that gives the
  lowest usage increase in the time span of the
  activity.
• Two ways of finding this position
• Visual
• Sum of squares
• Calculate the sum of squared resource needs of
  each period within the questionable time frame
  (between the ES and LF time of the given
  activity) for every possible positioning
• Choose the position with the lowest value

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Reading

• Lockyer Gordon (2005) Chapter 18

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Thanks for your attention