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PLANNING&RESOURCEMANAGEMENT

PreparedbyNorzamzilaMustafa,Sem2(2010/2011)

LearningOutcomes... Bytheendofthistopic,youshouldbeable

to: Define,describeanddifferentiateresource

, ,andresourcesmoothing.

Analyzeresource/labourmanagementusingavailablecommontechniques.

Introduction...

Duringtheconstructionphase,theprimaryresourcesarelabour,materialsandequipment.

ecorrec quan yan qua yo ma er a musbeorderedanddeliveredtothejobsiteattherighttimetoensureefficiencyoflabour.

Labour representsamajorcostofconstruction.

Introduction...

Thelabour forceonthejoboperatesconstructionequipmentandinstallsthematerials.

Aresourceplanisrequiredtoensurehighefficiencyandproductivityduringconstruction.

TheProjectManagercanresourceloadtheprojectplantoincludethenumberofworkhours

required

for

each

craft

of

construction

labour.

ResourceDefinition... Involvesidentifyingthecriticalresourcesthat

needtobeplannedandmanagedforthesuccessfulcompletionoftheproject.

Inamultiprojectenvironmentasprojectsarecompetingforscarceresources.

Resourceallocationaddressestheproblemoftheoptimumuseandtimingoftheassignmentoftheseresourcestothevariousprojectactivities.

ResourceDefinition... Resourceaggregationinvolvesdetermining

theaggregateresourcesthatwillbeneeded,periodbyperiod,tocompleteallproject

activities.

Havingidentifiedthenecessaryresourcerequirements,thelaststageintheprocessisresourceleveling. Inthisstage,weattempttoensurethatthe

demandforresourcesdoesnotexceedavailability.

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ResourceDefinition... Specifically,demandforresourcesissmoothed

toensure

that

the

peaks

and

valleys

are

reduced.

ProjectConstraints... Theprimaryimpactofprojectconstraintsis

thelikelihood

of

delaying

the

completion

of

theproject.

Therearethreetypesofprojectconstraints:

1. Technological

2. Resource

3. Physical

TechnologicalConstraints... Relatetothesequenceinwhichindividual

projectactivitiesmustbecompleted.

Forexample,inconstructingahouse,pouringthefoundationmustoccurbeforebuildingtheframe.

ResourceConstraints... Relatetothelackofadequateresources

whichmayforceparallelactivitiestobeperformedinsequence.

Theconsequenceofsuchachangeinnetworkrelationshipsisdelayinthecompletiondateoftheproject.

PhysicalConstraints... Causedbycontractualorenvironmental

conditions.

Forexample,duetospacelimitationsanactivitysuchaspaintingawallmayhavetobeperformedbyonlyoneperson.

ProjectConstraints.. Ingeneral,fromaschedulingperspective,

projectscanbeclassifiedaseithertime

constrained

or

resource

constrained.

TimeConstraint:

Wherethecriticalpathisdelayed

Theadditionofresourcescanbringtheprojectbackonscheduleandtheprojectcompletedbytherequireddate.

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ProjectConstraints.. TimeConstraint:

However,the

additional

resource

usage

shouldbenomorethanwhatisabsolutelynecessary.

Theprimaryfocus,forpurposesofscheduling,intimeconstrainedprojectsisresourceutilization.

ProjectConstraints.. ResourceConstraint:

Ifthe

level

of

resource

availability

cannot

be

exceeded.

Inthosesituationswhereresourcesareinadequate,projectdelayisacceptable,butthedelayshouldbeminimal.

ProjectConstraints.. ResourceConstraint:

Thefocusofschedulinginthesesituationsistoprioritizeandallocateresourcesinsuchamanner a ere sm n ma pro ec e ay.

However,itisalsoimportanttoensurethattheresourcelimitisnotexceededandthetechnicalrelationshipsintheprojectnetwork

arenot

altered.

ResourceConstraints... Themostimportantresourcesthatproject

managershavetoplanandmanageondaytodaybasisarepeople,machines,materials,

.

Obviously,iftheseresourcesareavailableinabundancethentheprojectcouldbeacceleratedtoachieveshorterproject

duration.

ResourceConstraints... Ontheotherhand,iftheseresourcesare

severelylimited,thentheresultmorelikely

will

be

a

delay

in

the

project

completion

time.

Dependingonthetypeofresources,thecostsofprovidinganabundanceofsuchresourcestoaccelerateprojectcompletiontimecanbeveryhigh.

ResourceConstraints... However,ifresourcesarereadilyavailableand

excesspremiumsarenotincurredtousethemontheproject,thenprojectcostshouldbelow,

as

some

project

costs

are

resource

related

while

othersare

likel

to

be

time

de endent.

.

Ingeneral,projectswithashorterdurationarelessexpensive.

Thelongerthedurationoftheproject,thehigherwillbeoverallprojectcostduetotheincreaseinfixedcostssuchasoverheads.

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ResourceAnalysis... Manynetworkschedulingprogramsallowthe

userto

assign

such

resources

to

project

activitiestodeterminetheoverallimpacton.

Ifweldersareinshortsupply,wecouldgetsomeideaoftheeffectonourprojectdurationofbeingabletohirenomorethanfive,forexample.

ResourcePlan... Theresourceplanisahistogramofworkhoursvstime.

Canbeusedasatooltoensurearelativelyuniformdistributionoflabourontheproject.

Theconstructionplanmustalsoshowthedistributionofresources(therequiredlabourforeachcraftonthejob)ratherthanonlyshowsthesequenceofwork.

Thedemandforlabourshouldbeuniformlydistributedforeachcraftontheprojecttopreventirregularities.

ResourceAnalysis... Canweshiftsomenoncriticalactivitiesto

alleviatepeaksinthecurveofthislabourrequirementversustime?

Shiftingactivitiestoalleviateoneresourceproblemsmayimpactanotherresourceadversely.

Mostmodernprojectschedulingsoftwarepermitstheanalysisofmanyresourcesconcurrently.

ResourceAllocation... Resourceallocation,alsocalledresourceloading,

isconcernedwithassigningtherequirednumberofthoseresourcesidentifiedintheprevioussteptoeachactivityidentifiedintheplan.

Morethanonetypeofresourcemaybeattributedtoaspecificactivity.

Forexample,fixingtheplatesonaship'shullmayrequire10fitters,20welders,15laborersandacertaintypeofweldingmachine.

ResourceAllocation... Fromapracticalstandpoint,resource

allocationdoesnothavetofollowaconstantpattern;

Someactivitiesmayinitiallyrequirefewerresourcesbutmayrequiremoreofthesameresourcesduringthelaterstagesoftheproject.

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ResourceAllocation... Atthisstage,theimpactofanyresourceallocation

decisionisnotknownandwecannotyetanswer

questionssuch

as:

1. Islackofresourcesonthisparticularactivityhavinganadverseeffectonthedurationofthewhole ro ect?Suchanactivityismorelikelytobeonthecriticalpath.

2. Byexcessiveuseofresourcesarewecompletingthisactivitymorequicklythannecessaryintermsoftheoverallprojectduration?Suchanactivityisnotlikelytobeonthecriticalpath.

Thesequestionswillbeansweredlaterintheresourcemodelingprocess,specificallyduringtheresourcelevelingandsmoothingstage.

ResourceAggregation... Resourceaggregation,orresourceloading,is

simplythesummation,onaperiodbyperiodbasis,oftheresourcesrequiredtocompleteallactivitiesbasedontheresourceallocationcarriedoutinthepreviousstage.

Theresultsareusuallyshowngraphicallyasahistogram.

Suchaggregationmaybedoneonanhourly,daily,orweeklybasis,dependingonthetimeunitused

to

allocate

resources.

ResourceAggregation... Whenabarchartisusedastheplanningtool,

theresourceaggregationisfairlysimpleandstraightforward.

Foragivenbarchart,thereisauniqueresourceunitaggregationchartwhichcanbedrawnunderneaththebarchart.

However,aseparategraphwillberequired

foreach

resource

unit.

ResourceAggregation...

Figure1

ResourceAggregation... AnexampleisshowninFigure1before,

where,foraparticularresource,therequiredresourceunitsforeachtimeperiodare

annotatedon

the

bar

chart.

Thetotalnumberofresourceunitsforeachtimeperiodcanthenbesummedandaresourceaggregationorloadchartcanbeproduced.

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ResourceAggregation...

Figure2:ResourceUnitAggregationChartShowingResourceRequirementsAssociatedwithEarliestandLatestStartAlongwithHighlightedResourceUnitRequirementsforCriticalPathActivities

ResourceLeveling... Another phaseoftheplanningandresourcemanagement

process.

Theprocessthatensuresresourcedemanddoesnotexceedresourceavailability.

Theidealscenariowouldbeabuildupofresourceusageatthebeginningoftheprojectandareductionattheendoftheproject.

However,theapproachtoresourcelevelingwillalsodependonwhetherresourcesarededicatedtoaparticularprojectorsharedacrossseveralprojectsandwhetherthereisaneedtokeepallresourcesfullyutilized.

ResourceLeveling... Comparetherequirementswithresourceavailabilityby

developingresourceprofiles.

Disregardingfactorssuchaseconomicconsiderations,ifsufficientresourcesareavailablesothatsupplyalwaysexceedsdemandthen,weshouldhavenoproblem.

However,themostlikelyscenarioisthat,atsomepoint,demandwillexceedsupply.

Resourcelevelingcanbeaccomplishedmoreeasilyif

resourcerequirements

to

complete

an

activity

are

expressedintermsofhoursordaysrequired.

ResourceDemandComparedtoResourceAvailability...

ResourceLeveling... Anyimprovementscanbemadetothelevel

ofresourcerequirementsby:

Delayingorbringingforwardthestartofcertain

activities.

Extendingthedurationofcertainactivitiesandsoreducingthedemandforresourcesoverthedurationoftheactivityorbyacombinationofbothoftheseadjustments

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ApproachestoLeveling&SmoothingTechniques Generally,therearetwoapproachestoleveling

andsmoothingtheresourcesrequired:

1. Timelimitedresourceconsiderations

2. Resourcelimitedresourceconsiderations

TimeLimitedResourceConsiderations Inthiscaseemphasiswillbeplacedoncompletingthe

projectwithinaspecifiedtime.

Thistimewillusuallyhavebeendeterminedbynetworkanalysis.

Adjustmentsinthetimingofanyactivity,andtheresourcesrequiredatagiventime,mustbeundertakenwithinthefloat(slack)available.

Obviouslytherecanbenoadjustmentofactivitieswhichareonthecriticalpath.

ResourceLimitedResourceConsiderations Inthiscasetheprojectmustbecompletedwith

theresourcesavailableevenifthismeansextendingtheprojectduration.

Ifthetotalresourcedemandexceedstheresourceava a ya any me ensomeo eac v esmustbedelayeduntilthereissufficientresourceavailability.

Forbothoftheapproaches,informationconcerningtheearliestandthelateststarttimes

and

slack

will

be

used

to

level

resources.

ResourceSmoothing... Resourcesmoothingispartoftheresource

levelingprocess.

,

,

notwithstandinganyconstraintsimposedduringthelevelingprocess,attemptstodeterminearesourcerequirementthatis"smooth"andwherepeaksandtroughsareeliminated.

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ResourceSmoothing... Giventhattheresourcerequirementsofthose

activitiesonthecriticalpatharefixed,someorder

orpriority

needs

to

be

established

for

selecting

whichactivityandwhichparticularresourceassociatedwiththisactivityshouldbegiven

riorit inthesmoothin rocess..

Indeterminingwhichactivityshouldbegivenpriority,asubjectivejudgmentshouldbemadeaboutthetypeofresource(orresources)associatedwitheachactivity;priorityshouldbegiventotheactivitieswhoseresourcesareconsideredtobemostimportant.

ResourceSmoothing... Beyondthisconsideration,activitiesshould

berankedinorderoftotalworkcontentandtotalfloatorslackavailableforthatactivity.

Ausefuldeviceforprioritizingistoconsidertheratiooftotalworkcontent/totalfloatremainingandgiveprioritytoactivitieswiththehighestvalueofthisratio.

BenefitsofResourceScheduling...

1. Ifprojectdelayisunacceptable,itallowssufficienttimeforconsideringalternativessuchascosttimetradeoffsandchangingofpriorities.

2. Providesinformationtopreparetimephasedworkpackagebudgetswithdates

3. Enablesprojectmanagerstodeterminetheamountofflexibilitytheyhaveovercertain

resources.

Conclusion...