An Overview Of Basic Planning & Scheduling Concepts

PREPARED & PRESENTED BY SHANKAR GANESH RADHAKRISHNAN PLANNING & PROJECTS CONTROL – INFRACONS VERTICAL CONSOLIDATED CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM LIMITED BASIC PLANNING & SCHEDULING CONCEPTS

FLOW OF PRESENTATION Introduction Need for Project Planning! Project Management – What is it? Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Key Components of a Project Resource Planning & Productivity Scheduling Philosophy A Sample Project Schedule – Review Tracking Progress – “S Curves” Sample S-Curves Points to Ponder Key for SUCCESS

INTRODUCTION Planning is the first and foremost step to be followed before starting any work. “ A plan typically forms the roadway for the entire project with critical milestones established at various stages of the project” An unplanned work is nothing but a “sure trouble” and always leads only to disaster. A Good/Realistic Plan is the one which not only ensures the timely availability of resources (i.e., Labor, Material and Plant & Machinery) but also the “ Capacity Utilization” of the same. “ Scheduling” is the process of representation of a plan in visual form. In layman’s term, it’s nothing but “Presenting Plan in Paper”

What happens if a project is not planned ? “ Baseline Project Schedule” and “Cost Spending Plan” against which the project’s progress is monitored cannot be established. Too many surprises till the end of Project. Invites risk at all levels. Assessment of “Where we stand as on date” scenario & forecast of the likely outcomes in the future are not possible. Project monitoring becomes a terrible hassle. Project team becomes totally directionless and highly demoralized. Cash flow prediction for the project is impossible ultimately posing huge threat to the company’s financial health. On the whole, everyone is clueless about the project and certainly unhappy with the performance. NEED FOR PROJECT PLANNING

PROJECT MANAGEMENT – WHAT IS IT? What is a Project ? – “It’s a job with set of pre-defined scope of work, to be completed within the stipulated time and estimated cost & with no compromise made on Quality and Safety standards” Managing a portion of work, say “a particular building work in the whole of project” is not Project Management. It’s mere Construction Management . Project Management refers to the following: Thorough understanding of the entire project including interface (if any). Periodical progress measurement with prime emphasis on both “MONEY” & “TIME” Analyzing/Assessing the need of appropriate resources (L+M+P&M) for the project. Identification, Evaluation and Mitigation of “Project Risks & their impacts” at various phases of the project.

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) WBS is more like an “Organogram” that breaks the entire project into various activities and sub-activities under respective categories/levels. What is the need for WBS ? There is always a tendency to “over look” several critical issues in a project, while not digging deeper. Better clarity on the scope of work. Identification of pitfalls at the early stage. Easier to monitor projects and track status at any point of time. Project Civil Works Mech. Works Electrical Works Finishing works Earthwork Rebar Concreting Formwork Alignment & Template fixing Equipment Erection Earthing, Cabling, Ducting, wiring, etc Plastering & Painting

KEY COMPONENTS OF A PROJECT Resource Resource can be classified into three types. Labor, Material and Equipments Allocation of resources play a vital role in ensuring smooth progress of projects. In case of inadequate supply or non-availability of resources, the project suffers BIG TIME! Time Time is the essence of any project. In fact, we can say “Time is Money” When, either resources or fronts (Engineering & Work) are not made available on time, the performance is adversely affected and the project schedule slips Quality Quality can be achieved only when appropriate resources are engaged in a project on time. Mere delaying of work puts unnecessary pressure on the project team, eventually forcing them to compromise on certain quality aspects in the job. Hence, it can rightly be said that Resource, Time and Quality are mutually dependent components of a project. R T Q

RESOURCE PLANNING & PRODUCTIVITY Resource Planning is nothing but identifying appropriate resources (L+M+P) required for activities in a project well in advance. Productivity is ratio of output produced to the input given. Once we have a pool of resources and their productivity in hand, we can optimize and fix the duration of activities. Let’s take a look at the following example to better understand this concept Activity duration (D) = Total Quantity [Crew Size x Output produced/ Crew/day] Where, Crew Size = No. of labor crews (Say, 2 crews) Output Produced/crew/day = Total units produced by a crew/day (Say, 10 units) Total Quantity Scope quantity for an activity (Say, 50 units) Activity duration (D) = 50/[2 x 10] = 2.5 days ~ 3 days

SCHEDULING PHILOSOPHY A(Dur) B(Dur) ES EF LS LF ES EF LS LF Start to Start: 0 d=5 SS 3 5 3 d=7 10 10 3 0 5 A(Dur) B(Dur) ES EF LS LF ES EF LS LF Finish to Finish: 0 d=5 FF 3 5 1 d=7 8 8 1 0 5 Since the start date is not constrained, ES can also be “Start of Project” A(Dur) B(Dur) ES EF LS LF ES EF LS LF Finish to Start: 0 d=5 FS 0 5 5 d=7 12 12 5 0 5 Start to Finish: A(Dur) B(Dur) ES EF LS LF ES EF LS LF FS 0 SF relationship in Construction Projects mostly lead to inconsistent relationships. Hence, it’s better to avoid its usage Activity Name (Duration) ES EF LS LF Total Float: The number of days by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the end date of the project. Free Float: The number of days by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the start of the succeeding activity(s). Total Float = LS of Same Activity – ES of Same Activity Free Float = ES of Succeeding Activity – (EF of Preceeding Activity + Lag) Critical Activity: The activity with Total Float = 0; Free Float = 0 Critical Path: The path along critical activities with longest duration

A SAMPLE PROJECT SCHEDULE - REVIEW Task: Draw the Activity network Diagram & Calculate Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish dates Find Free Float and Total Float

ES of D: 1) EF(B)+FS 15 = 20+15 = 35 (or) 2) ES(C)+SS 10 = 3+10 = 13 Hence, Max of above two values shall be considered In case of SS 7: ES(E) = ES(C)+SS 7 = 3+7 = 10 EF(E) = ES(E)+Duration of E = 10+35 = 45 Hence, ES = 10 & EF = 45 In case of FF 3: EF(E) = EF(D)+FF 3 = 60+3 = 63 ES(E) = EF(E)-Duration of E = 63-35 = 28 Hence, ES = 28 & EF = 63 LS of I: LS(J)-SS7 = 75-7= 68 LF of I: LS(J)+Duration of J = 68+15 =83 LF of C: LS(F)-FS 25 = 48-25 =23 LS of C: LF(C)-Duration of C = 23-20 = 3 LS(E)-SS 7 = 33-7 = 26 LS(D)-SS 10 = 40-10 = 30 Hence, out of three, we choose the minimum value for Late Start LF of B: LF(C)-FF3 = 23-3= 20 LS(D)-FS15 = 40-15 = 25 LS of B: LF(B)-Duration of B = 20-17 = 3 J(10) 28

Let’s look at Float Calculations now.…. A B C D E F G H I J TF FF 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 7 7 A-B = 3-(0+3) C-D: 35-23 = 12 C-E: 28-23= 5 C-F: 48-(23+25) = 0 E-F = 48-(28+15) J = 85-78 Critical Activities and Critical Path…… J(10) 28

TRACKING PROGRESS – “S CURVES” “ Tracking” the progress of projects can be done once resources are properly allocated to a project. “ S-Curves” is a dynamic tracking tool widely used in the Construction industry. Both physical and financial progresses can be tracked with S-Curves. S-Curve reveals project’s performance in the past and also helps in predicting the future performance. Following are some of the benefits of using this tool Easy to prepare and make everyone understand the project’s scenario. Clearly portrays the status of project on date & also the forecasted schedule slippage. By forecasting future performance, a “ wake-up call ” is sent to the project management team; warning about the consequences, ultimately offering them guidance while framing Action Plans/Recovery Plans at several stages of the project. Current cash flow scenario of the project is exhibited and also the future fund problems are highlighted to the management before hand to help them take necessary actions on time.

SAMPLE S-CURVE – PHYSICAL PROGRESS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 20% 10% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Schedule Slippage 2 months Month Planned Achieved Forecast Legend What can be done to control slippage ? 1)Schedule Crashing 2)ScheduleAcceleration by dumping more resources in critical areas of the project 3)Start more number of parallel activities at the same time. Extra Cost implications comparatively less Complete usage of floats Timely availability of resources Extra Cost implications very high Complete over manning; Possible Interference between workers Just-In-Time availability of resources required Extra Cost implications high Control over resources might be at risk. Timely availability of resources mandatory 15% 25%

SAMPLE S-CURVE – FINANCIAL PROGRESS 25% 40% 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 20% 10% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Month Planned Achieved Forecast Legend 110% Cost Overrun = 10% of the Contract Value Cost Overrun = Extra Direct Costs (L+M+P) + Extra Indirect Costs (Overheads) How to control cost overrun ? 1) Completion of project on schedule. 2) By controlling operating rates 3) By executing less “losing” items and more “Profitable items”. 4) By avoiding “Rework” and “Free extra work“. 5) By minimizing waste

POINTS TO PONDER All projects are complex when looked superficially. Even complex projects are made simpler when sound study is carried out before planning & execution. Construction involves “Team work”. Hence, inputs from everyone is very much essential and solves most of the trouble. Cost and Schedule performance always complement each other. When there is a considerable negligence in planning, “Risks” at all levels are invited.

KEY FOR “SUCCESS” PLAN THE “WORK” & WORK THE “PLAN”

An Overview Of Basic Planning & Scheduling Concepts

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