Introduction to planning and management

Over the last four decades, two streams of research have emerged from project management. In the management science stream, numerous academic researchers have studied project networks (the theory) to identify specific problems with PERT/CPM (use of the Beta distribution, limited resources, parallel paths, etc.) or to determine the most efficient algorithm to identify the shortest time to complete a project. In the management arena, numerous academic researchers and practitioners have studied the project management environment to identify human problems (lack of project and technical skills, lack of teamwork, lack of communications, etc.) as causes of project failure. Seldom have these researchers acknowledged the work in the other research stream as possible causes for project failure. In many cases, the management scientists only discussed the problem under study as the cause of project failures. What is required, then, is an examination of the project environment as a system and determination of the causes of project failure.

Activities in construction planning

Defining the Scope of work Identifying activities involved Establishing project duration Defining procedure for controlling and assigning resources Developing appropriate interfaces Updating and revising the plans and diff types of plans

Types of project plans

Time Plan: Time is the essence of all construction projects, and contracts often have clauses outlining awards (bonus payments) or penalties (as liquidated damages) for completing a work ahead or later than a scheduled date. While effort is made to ensure timely completion of work, it should be noted that some of the common reasons for delays could be a sluggish approach during planning, delay in award of contract, changes during execution, alterations in scope of work, delay in payments, slow decision-making, delay in supply of drawings and materials, and labour trouble. Several reasonably well-established techniques are available and commonly used for time planning (or scheduling) activitiesfor example, critical path method (CPM),PERT, LOB. Material Plan: The material plan involves identification of required materials, estimation of required quantities, defining specification and forecasting material requirement, besides identification of appropriate source(s), inventory control, procurement plans and monitoring the usage of materials. Construction Equipment Plan: Modern construction is highly mechanized and the role of heavy equipment in ensuring timely completion of projects cannot be over-emphasised. Machines are used in modern construction for mass excavation, trenching, compacting, grading, hoisting, concreting, drilling, material handling, etc. Induction of modern equipments could improve productivity and quality, besides reducing cost. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that heavy equipments are very costly and should be optimally utilized in order to be productive. It is also important that the characteristics of equipment are kept in mind when drawing up an equipment plan.

Finance Plan: Given the fact that large construction projects require huge investments, and a long time to complete, it is obvious that all the money is not required at any one point in time. Contractors fund their projects from their working capital, a part of which is raised by the contractors using their own sources (e.g., bank loans secured against assets, deployment of resources from their inventory), whereas the rest comes from a combination of avenues such as mobilization advance for the project, running-account bills paid by the client, secured advances against materials brought at site, advance payments, and credits from suppliers against work done. Thus, a careful analysis needs to be carried out to determine how the requirement of funds varies with time.

PLANNING TECHNIQUESTERMINOLOGIES USED

Event and Activity: Event is a point in time when certain conditions have been fulfilled, such as the start or completion of one or more activities. An event consumes neither time nor any other resource. Hence, it only expresses a state of system/project. Activities take place between events. Activity is an item of work involving consumption of a finite quantity of resources and it produces quantitative results. An exception to this rule is the dummy activity as defined below. When breaking down a project into tasks, and so on, it is important to bear in mind that activities should be defined and organized in a manner that there are tangible outputs so that progress can be objectively monitored. An example of activity could be laying of concrete floors. This could be represented as activity i-j. The start (node i) and the completion (node j) of this activity can be considered as events.

Dummy Activity: This activity does not involve consumption of resources, and therefore does not need any time to be completed. It is used to define interdependence between activities and included in a network for logical and mathematical reasons, as will be shown later on in this section. In Figure 6.3, a dummy activity (30, 40) is shown. The dummy activity E(30, 40) has been introduced to represent the dependence of activity D on activities A and C.

Network: Networks consisting of nodes and arrows are the graphical representation of activities, showing logical dependence between them. While drawing a network, certain rules are followed for numbering the events or nodes. For examplesame node number is not to be used twice in the network; tail node number is smaller than the head node; numbering starts from lefthand top and ends in righthand bottom. For details on numbering of nodes, the text on network techniques can be referred to. Now, for construction planning, two kinds of networks can be usedactivity-on-arrow (AOA) and activity-on-node (AON). In AOA, the activities are shown as arrows leading from one node to another node, and nodes here can be looked upon as either the starting or the end point of an activity. In AON, the activities are denoted by nodes and the immediate predecessor relationship between two activities is shown by an arrow connecting two nodes. Precedence: This is the logical relationship implying that an activity needs one activity (or more activities) to be completed, before this activity can start. For example, in order to be able to start plastering, the brickwork needs to have been completed, i.e., logically, brickwork precedes plastering. It is a common practice in most construction projects to represent the precedence of activities in the form of a table, called the precedence table. For preparing the precedence table, a list of activities that should precede a given activity is given. It should also be mentioned that this concept (of precedence) is sometimes referred to as dependence. Now, simply speaking, this implies that if it is identified that activities A, C and D must precede activity X (in other words, X depends on A, C and D), in the parlance of network analysis, precedence can be stated as followsto initiate an activity (i,j), all activities having (i) as the end event should have been completed. A variation of this concept could be for an activity that can be started so long as another activity (which should logically precede) has at least startedfor example, though painting a wall should, indeed, be preceded by plastering, it is not necessary that the latter be completed before the former can be taken up. Painting can be taken up even as plastering is being carried out, provided, of course, enough work front is available. These variations in the concept of precedence are discussed in greater detail subsequently in the chapter.

Network Logic: Some of the common logical ways useful in preparing a network are shown below: Figure 6.10 shows an example of a burst situation wherein two activities A and B are starting in parallel, while Figure 6.11 shows the example of a merge situation wherein two activities C and D are getting completed together. Figure 6.12 shows the incorrect way of showing three parallel activities A, B and C. The three activities have the same initial node number (1) and final node number (2). This has been corrected (see Figure 6.13) by adding two dummy activities, (2, 4) and (3, 4). In Figure 6.14, activity A precedes activity B. In other words, activity A is the predecessor of activity B.

Duration of an Activity: Duration of an activity (i, j) is denoted by D(i, j). This is the length of time required to carry out an activity (i, j) from the beginning to its end. Depending upon the activity and the level of detail, the duration may be expressed in days, weeks, or months. It should be noted that though the actual duration depends, in principle, on the quantum of work involved in the activity and the resources deployed, it is not really necessary that the relationship be exactly linear, as will be discussed subsequently in this chapter. Further, it should be borne in mind that a duration cannot be really fixed or given as a final number, and as such remains only an estimate, based on past experience with productivity, etc. Terms such as most likely time, optimistic time, pessimistic time and expected time are also used in the context of defining the duration of an activity. Earliest Start time of an activity Earliest finish time of an activity: latest finish time of an activity latest Start time of an activity: Forward and Backward Pass: The forward pass moves from the start node towards the finish node, and basically calculates the earliest occurrence times of all events. Considering that the project starts at time zero, the earliest occurrence time at each node is found by going from node to node in the order of increasing node numbers, keeping in mind the logical relationships between the nodes as shown by the connecting arrows. The earliest occurrence time for any node can be estimated from the (maximum) time taken to reach that node from the different incoming arrows.

Consider the network given in Figure 6.22, defining the relationship between activities (1, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (3, 5), (4, 5), and (5, 6), such that A is the first activity. Activities B and C can be carried out simultaneously, but only when activity A is completed. Activity D can start only when activity B is completed. Similarly, activity E can start only after C is completed. The last activity, F, can commence only when both the activities D and E get completed. Assuming the durations involved for the six activities to be D(1, 2), D(2, 3), D(2, 4), D(3, 5), D(4, 5) and D(5, 6), and the earliest occurrence times for nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to be E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 and E6, the earliest time for different nodes can be found out depending on whether there is a single incoming arrow for a node (for example, node 2, 3, 4 and 6) or there are more than one arrow entering into a node (for example, node 5 inFigure 6.22). The calculation of early occurrence times for nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is given below.

Node1: This is a starting node, continently time is taken zero. Ei=0 Node 2,3,4: the earliest time for reaching these nodes determined as follows

Float or Slack Time: An activity need not be started as soon as it can physically be started, without adversely affecting project completion. In other words, activities have some additional time available, which can be used in different ways as illustrated in a following example. As a corollary, it stands to reason that all activities on the critical path have no float. In fact, another way of defining the critical path could be in terms of the floats available it can be defined as the set of activities connecting the start and the end of a project and having zero float. Reference is made to variations of the float defined here in literature, and some of the important ones are discussed below. Calculation of different types of floats can easily be done using a diagram as depicted in Figure 6.23. In Figure 6.23, (i, j) represents activity A. Ei andLi represent early and late occurrence times of event i. Similarly, Ej and Lj represent early and late occurrence times for event j.

Path and Critical Path: Any series of activities connecting the starting node to the finishing node can be said to define a path and, indeed, in a project having several activities, several such paths can be identified. Among these paths, the critical path is defined as one that gives the longest time of completion (of the project), which also defines the shortest possible project completion time. For the example problem (see Figure 6.22), there are two paths: 1-23-5-6 and 1-2-4-5-6. The path marked 1-2-4-5-6 is the critical path and the project completion time is 19 days. The critical path is marked with bold line in the text.

Introduction to PERT and CPM

CPM and PERT originated in 1957 and 1958, respectively, with CPM examining the trade-offs between project duration reduction and increases in activity and project costs; and with PERT examining the uncertainty aspects of completion dates for development projects. CPM was originally developed for use with manufacturing plant rebuilds by DuPont and PERT for use with the Polaris nuclear submarine program by the Special Project Office of the Department of the Navy and the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. From their origins to the present, both techniques (and their subsequent merger into one) have been heralded as breakthroughs in managing complex systems.

PERT
PERT incorporates uncertainties in activity durations in its analysis, requiring three duration for each activity which are: most probable(Tm), optimistic(To), pessimistic duration(Tp) In practice engineer is asked to give all these three durations Example: Activity of design of foundation the three time estimations are To= 14 days Tm= 18 days Tp= 28 days The probability that the duration will be less than To is 1% and same case for probability for more than Tp. The average or expected time (Te) is calculated as follow

For our example it can be work out as 19 days. The fact that Te>Tm is a reflection of the extreme position of Tp and the asymmetry in the beta distribution even though computationally the weights given to To and Tp are the same.

Suppose we have two set of estimates set by two estimators (14,18,28) and (17,18,25). So in order to measure the uncertainty associated with the estimation of duration of activity, the standard deviation and variation are determined:

For two sets of estimates used in our example of design of foundation St and Vt would be 2.33 and 5.44 respectively for 1st set and for 2nd set it is 1.33 and 1.77 . The expected duration of project Te is calculated by summing up all the tes on the critical path. The critical path is determined following the forward pass and the backward pass explained earlier.

Let us suppose that it is required to compute the probability of completing project within target duration of TD days. Now, given the Te of the project, it Is possible to calculate the deviation of TD from Te in units of standard deviation. This is calculated from normal deviation table, To adopt the table, a ratio called as standardized deviation/ normal deviate, Z is derived.

CPM
NASA used the critical path method (CPM) to help determine an efficient schedule for the tasks that led to the moon-landing. CPM was the result of a joint effort to develop a procedure for scheduling maintenance shutdowns in chemical-processing plants. CPM undermines the uncertainty involved in any type of project and, hence, it ignores usage of probabilistic activity times; as a result, CPM is a deterministic rather than a Probabilistic model. Nevertheless, CPM takes into account uncertainty or variations involved in a job at the planning stage itself. In CPM also, the workflow can be shown schematically by means of an arrow, where the logical relationships between the various activities can clearly be seen. For CPM, activity durations are considered more deterministic. Accordingly, instead of the three time estimates for an activity, in CPM a single time estimate for an activity is adopted which is assumed to be proportional to the resources allocated for each activity. In CPM also, the similar process of forward and backward paths calculations to find out the start and finish times, the floats, the critical activities, and the length of the critical path are adopted.

 Example

Ladder network
A ladder network is more or less an extension of the arrow network, and is useful in cases of repetitive works, such as piping jobs, railways electrification and construction of storm-water drains, or roads. In such projects, the number of activities is small, but each activity is repeated several times. A number of dummy activities are used to complete the network, and the completed network looks almost like a ladder, and hence the name of this network. For illustrating a ladder network, let us take an example of a repetitive work of construction of retaining wall having these activitiesearthwork (EW), cement concrete (CC), concrete raft (CR), concrete wall (CW) and fencing (FE). Let the length of the retaining wall be 500 m and it is desired to divide it in a stretch of 100 m, giving a total of five stretches.

Gantt Charts
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L. Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist. Frequently used in project management, a Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific activities in a project. These charts might be as simple as a hand-drawn image on graph paper, or as complex as purpose-built computer software. A simple Gantt chart used for a project is shown in Fig.

The horizontal axis of the chart represents the total time span of the project (broken down into uniform time incrementsdays, weeks, months, etc.), while the tasks comprising the project are on the vertical axis. Horizontal bars are used to illustrate the start and end dates of individual activities (for example, task A has a duration of y days starting on day 1 and ending on day 5). In its simplest form, the Gantt chart shows all of the activities neces-sary to complete the project. Some of the activities must be completed in a specified sequence, while others might progress concurrently. Tasks B and C are processed sequentially and tasks B and D can be processed concurrently. One cannot start framing a home before the foundation is laid; but once framing is complete, the plumbing and electrical systems can be installed simultaneously. The primary advantages of Gantt chart scheduling are that it can be easily understood by a wide audience and it provides a visual means to track project progress. The disadvan-tages are numerous. The chart becomes unwieldy for larger projects (more than about 30 activities) when it extends for more than a single page (or screen, if computerized). The chart does not indicate task dependencies, and therefore fails to communicate how falling behind on one activity might affect other activities. When using a WBS, often there is confu-sion between defining the WBS and defining the activities of the project. Additionally, as some elements of the WBS might be front- or end-loaded (more work at the beginning or end of the element), the percent progress reported might be over- or understated.

Case Study
(Rushang)

Conclusion
1. Recognize the differences between due-date projects and money-making projects. The network structure may be the same, but a project to make money is started as soon as possible (to make money) and a project that is due by a given date is started as late as possible (to save money) while still providing protection for its completion. 2. Recognize all of the activities required to achieve the goal of a project. In application, the goal of the project is generally a milestone in a much larger system. Ensure that the project scope fully defines the activities necessary to achieve the project goal and is in line with the system (organization) goal. 3. Recognize that 100-percent resource utilization may be counter to the objec-tives of the project and the organization goal. Plan resource use within and across projects such that the project is completed on time, on budget, and to full specifications.

4. The rules for constructing project activity times must be known and practiced by all resources, resource managers, and project managers. probability of completion for the activities and project is required to determine a correct network. Padding (or buffering) should be applied strategically at the project level. 5. The project manager must consider all activities and dependencies to be completed to achieve the project goals, as well as all conditions that must be met before an activity can begin when developing the project network. 6. Recognize that the current practice of minimizing costs by delaying activity expenditures might be counter to the objective of on-time delivery of the projects. 7. Establish a clear and effective method for the planning and control. Recognize that not all projects can start as soon as possible. Projects should be pipelined based on the capacity of resources.

TY