.

187
5. . 1 EXPEDI TI NG A PROJECT
700
600
500
6
o
a
'o-'
E
17 18 19 20
Project duration
(days)
Figure 6-6 Project cost vs. project
duration for sample crash problem.
Using Excel@ to Crash a Project
ffiiii::#;#lTlti.*?*:j,'i#,rffi
volved inL crashins. occasionallyrnurry ur. i""otu"J'
tt-
6E"r*A;r]Fi"n become quite tedious. In this section, we demonstrate how use of
T"
llt
a
5
>
E
]:
Excel@ spreadsheets can great ivities to crash so
that a project is completed
To illustrate this, the data ;6GTTGG--tt.---into-t-hespreadsheetshown
in Table 6-2.Figure 6-7 shows the network diagram for this project based on the activ-
do make one change to the data in-Tqble 6'1. Namely,
here can handle
not at all, we make this
change to simplify our ensuing discussion
At the top of the spreadsheet is entered and the
calcu-
given in Table
by dividing the incre-
mental cost of crashing the activity as much as possible by the maximum number of
days the activity can be shortened.
In column H the maximum amount each activity can be crashed is calculated by
subtracting the crash duration from the normal duration. Column I corresponds to our
decision, namely, how much to crash each activity. Then based on the values entered
in column I, the cost of crashing each activity is calculated in column
J.
Finally, in col-
umn K the actual time to complete the activity is calculated by subtracting the amount
node in the networ
ode 1 is excluded because we as'
occurs at ttme zero. see. we need to keep track of the
. . -
ttme each event occurs to ensure that the
you
relationships-in the network
r
iw\fi
h'rt
CHAPTER 6 / ALLOCATI NG RESOURCES TO THE PROJECT
Tabl e 6.2 pl e "crash" Probl em i n Tabl e 6-1 Transferred to an Excel @ spreadsheet
e{il
${r
6'
w
diagram are not violated.
until after node 2 occurs.
we need to make sure that node 4 does not occur
A-'
to
rate how Excel's@ Solver can be used to rmine which ac.
tivities to crash so that the entire project is completed withi the minimum
costs. To begin, select Tools from the men., baiand then
Solve# ,n. rr.*i rn".,u
that appears. The solver Parameters dialog box is now displayed (see
Figure 6-8). The
Figure 6'7 AOA network of sample "crash"
problem.
:(F6-E6y(C6-D6)
{copy to cells GZ:G12}
=C6-D6
{copy to cells H7:H12}
=I 6*G6
{copy t o cel i s
J7: J
l 2}
:C6-16
{copy to cells K7:K12}
6. 1 EXPEDI TI NG A PROJECT
.
189
Figure 6,8 Excel's
Solver@ loaded
with data and con-
straints from crash
problem.
Set Tareet Cell
we would like to either
he total cost of complet-
-
we enter 82 in the Set
S"t fr"g"fg[Ield refers to the cell in the spreadsheet that
mlnlmlze or maxrmrze. In our case, we would like tGGrE]F)t
ing the project, which is calculated in cell B2. To specify this,
Target Cell field and then select the Min radio bRtton.
Next we tell Excel{what cells it can changel in order to find the solution with the
mi ni mumtotal proj ectcffi eadsheetshowni nTab1e6.2,theva|.
lf iii,:l;:l:',n:i"':H:"f
;':"'5;xi::'?ifr il'*Hi+Til'::il,T:'*1JT#:
ure 6-8, these ranges were entered in the
$y
Changing Cells field.
onweneedt oent er i st hel i mi t at i onsor const r ai nt sasso.
ciated with this situation. Perhaps the most obvious constraint is that we want to com-
plete rhe project within 20 days
(cell B1). Since node 6
(cell B21) corresponds to the
event of the project being completed, we can specify this constraint as follows:
{-nzi=fl
Another important set of constraints is needed to make sure we don't crash an ac'
tivity more than the maximum number of days that it can be crashed. Constraints to
ensure this could be entered as follows:
16 < H6 (activity a)
I7
<
H7 (activity b)
IB < HB (acti vi ty c)
19 < H9 (activity d)
I10 < Hl 0 (acti vi ty e)
I 11 < H11 (act i vi t y f )
ItZ = Hlz (activity g)
a shorthand approach that capitalizes on a spread'
these seven constraints could be entered as a single
16.112
<H6:HI7
Al temati vel y, by e
sheet's ability to deal w
constraint as
ploying
h ranges,
Another ser of constraints is needed to make sure that the precedence relationships
specified in the network diagram are not violated. We do this by keeping track of the
19O
o
CHAPTER 6 / ALLOCATI NG
RESOURCES
TO THE PROJECT
event times of the nodes. For example, the event time of
Gaannot
occur unril
after activity a has been completed (assuming
,tt"i rtr" pr":"ffit.,,
at time zero). The
time to complete
activity a is its normal time less th"
".o,r.riof
time it is crasheJ
Since cell 817 corresponds
to the event time for .,od"
j,
*"iffi"ri."lly
we could enter
this constraint as follows,
a
Bl 7>C6- t 6
This constraint
says that the event corresponding
to node 2 cannot occur until after ac-
tivity a has been completed.
constraintt fo@ffi.rE$$could
be created in a similar fashion. For example,
theconsrraintsf
or(fi 6Gj-6iiff?]-o-'.rldb.
B1B>C7_t 7
B19>B17+CB_I 8
The constraint for node
4 says in effect that the event corresponding
to node
4 cannot
occur until after the evenr coffesponding to node 2 (cell
Bftj-*.,r^ plus the time it
takes to complete activity c.
Moving on to node 5, nore that this node has.two_ arrows pointing
to it. A node
with more than one arrow poinring to itrvill
"..!_g
riri.uirr, for each arrow.
Thus we need the following
two constrai",, f".6iF"T)
B20>B17+C9_t 9
B2O>81B+Ci O_I 10
This first constraint says that node 5 (cell
B20) cannot occur until after node Z has oc-
curred (cell
817) plus the amount of time it takes ro.o*pt.*
u.,irriry d. The second
constraint says that node 5 cannot occur until after node 3 (cell
B1B) has o..rrrr"a
ft,r,
thea.qmouEof-time
it takes to complete acrivrry e.
I
Nd9r handled
in a similar way to node 5 as follows:
Finally, since it does not make sense to crash an activi
nor does it make sense for a
4g5[to_oqcur
at a tdleG
821
>B19+C11
- t l 1
B2I >820+Ct z- t I }
16.112
>
0
zero, we add con-
Using Excel's@ shorthand
ao-
B17: B21
>
0
In this example we assume thut th. iai"itioiii-b"
Gt
"a-"
rr"ction of a day. If
:i |::Y:1:"^"1?:."_T:
th,a;the activities had to t" .r"rr,.J
"irr,o
l'uhot. day or not at
all, we could easily add additionar constraints to the model ro r"R"., it ii;i#;:::'"'
To enter these constraints,
select the Add button i" ,rr. sofJ"lt to th. Constraints
section of the Solver Parameters
dialog tro*. rne entire set oT.orrrtruints
needed is as
follows:
(
nn =nt
I
16.112
<
H6:HL2
I
817>C6- t 6
I
nr s
>c7
- t 7
I
819>817+CB
_I B
.
191
EXPEDI TI NG A PROJECT
I
gzo>B1z+c9- 19
I
I
B20
>
Bl B + C10
-
I 10
I
BZr > B19 + Cl 1
- I 11
i
nzr
>
B2o + cr?.
-
rrz
I
16: 112 > 0
( B17: B21
> 0
After entering these constraints, the Solver Parameters dialog box appears as shown in
Figure 6-8. Before finding the least costly way to crash the projectdown to 20 days' se-
leJt the
Qptions
. .. brriton and click on the Assume Linear
Model
check box and
then click bK. No* to find the least cost solution, select the
Solve
button in the Solver
parameters
dialoe box. As is shown in Table 6-3, Excel@ identified the same solution
Tabf e 6-3 Excel @ Spreadsheet for Crash Probl em, 20-Day
l ol uti on
and Cost
(F6-E6V(C6-D6)
{copy
to cells G7:G12}
-D6
{copy
t o cel l s H7: H12}
: 16*G6
[ copy
t o cel l s
J7J
l 2]
=C6-16
{copy
t o cel l s K7: K12)
192
o
CHAPTER 6 / ALLOCATI NG RESOURCES TO THE PROJECT
; 700
;
I 650
E ooo
'6'
o
F
500
450
Figure 6-9 Cost/duration graph
3:'.:rr,T
crashing
Project
(
-.,-
that we obtained earlier using the manual approach. Specifically, the solution suggests
crashing activity a by one day
(cell
16). This results in completing the project by day 20
(cel l 821) at a total proj ect cost of9430
(cel l
82).
Having set up the spreadsheet, we can now quickly and easily evaluate the cost of
ffi
ffi
tilru::ili:il:;.Tt::,f;,':x.,n'L.':iTi;i:r#u,'*'';"::ff
:T
#ryJ;ffii"a.g.
Fast-Tracking a Project
In addition to crashing a project in order to expedite it, a project
industry, the term refers
may also
Used primarily in the construction t oane
of a
leted before the building phase is started. Uzually design ana phtt aie finished before f , ; ; i
- - - - - - - - ^- - - ^- b r ^r qv!
! v vsqr l vs
the building is started, soTetting them overlap reduces project duration-if the fact that
design and planning are incomplete does not result in a significant amount of rework
and ghange orders during the building phase.
a large proportion
number of change orders in fast-tracked construction projects is not significantly different
from that for similar projects that were not fast-tracked (Kurtulus
and Narula, l9B2').
\7hen task durations are estimated, an assumption is made that task resources
are set at "normal" levels. This is the "standard practice" assumption. Tradition-
ally, CPM project duration estimates also include a "crash" estimate together
with estimates of the crash time and the resources required to shorten the dura-
tion of project activities. By selectively choosing which activities to crash and
by how much, we can determine the minimum cost for all possible project com-
pletion times. Both manual and spreadsheet methods are illusffated.
ffind
REsouRcE LoAptNG
From the first day on the job,
the PM is concemed with resowrceloading. Resource load-
ing refers to the amounts of specific resources that are scheduled for use on specific ac-
tivities or projects at specific times. It usually takes the form of a list or table. Figure
6'10 is an MSP generated action plan and Gantt chart of a project aimed at producing a