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LearningOutcomes...
Bytheendofthistopic,youshouldbeable

PLANNING&RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

to:
Define,describeanddifferentiateresource

allocation,resourceaggregation, allocation aggregation resourceleveling andresourcesmoothing.

Analyzeresource/labourmanagementusing

availablecommontechniques.

PreparedbyNorzamzilaMustafa,Sem2(2010/2011)

Introduction...
Duringtheconstructionphase,theprimary

Introduction...
Thelabour forceonthejoboperates

resourcesarelabour,materialsandequipment.
The Th correct tquantity tit and dquality lit of fmaterial t i lmust t

constructionequipmentandinstallsthe materials.
Aresourceplanisrequiredtoensurehigh

beorderedanddeliveredtothejobsiteatthe righttimetoensureefficiencyoflabour.
Labour representsamajorcostofconstruction.

efficiencyandproductivityduringconstruction.
TheProjectManagercanresourceloadthe

projectplantoincludethenumberofworkhours requiredforeachcraftofconstructionlabour.

ResourceDefinition...
Involvesidentifyingthecriticalresourcesthat

ResourceDefinition...
Resourceaggregation involvesdetermining

needtobeplannedandmanagedforthe successfulcompletionoftheproject.
Inamultiprojectenvironmentasprojectsare

theaggregateresourcesthatwillbeneeded, periodbyperiod,tocompleteallproject activities.

Havingidentifiedthenecessaryresource

competingforscarceresources.
Resourceallocation addressestheproblemofthe

optimumuseandtimingoftheassignmentof theseresourcestothevariousprojectactivities.

requirements,thelaststageintheprocessis resourceleveling.
Inthisstage,weattempttoensurethatthe

demandforresourcesdoesnotexceedavailability.

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ResourceDefinition...
Specifically,demandforresourcesissmoothed

ProjectConstraints...
Theprimaryimpactofprojectconstraintsis

toensurethatthepeaksandvalleysare reduced.

thelikelihoodofdelayingthecompletionof theproject.
Therearethreetypesofprojectconstraints:
1. 3.

Technological Physical

2. Resource

TechnologicalConstraints...
Relatetothesequenceinwhichindividual

ResourceConstraints...
Relatetothelackofadequateresources

projectactivitiesmustbecompleted.
Forexample,inconstructingahouse,pouring

whichmayforceparallelactivitiestobe performedinsequence.
Theconsequenceofsuchachangeinnetwork

thefoundationmustoccurbeforebuilding theframe.

relationshipsisdelayinthecompletiondate oftheproject.

PhysicalConstraints...
Causedbycontractualorenvironmental

ProjectConstraints..
Ingeneral,fromaschedulingperspective,

conditions.
Forexample,duetospacelimitationsan

projectscanbeclassifiedaseithertime constrainedorresourceconstrained.
TimeConstraint:
Wherethecriticalpathisdelayed Theadditionofresourcescanbringtheproject

activitysuchaspaintingawallmayhaveto beperformedbyonlyoneperson.

backonscheduleandtheprojectcompletedby therequireddate.

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ProjectConstraints..
TimeConstraint:

ProjectConstraints..
ResourceConstraint:
Ifthelevelofresourceavailabilitycannotbe

However,theadditionalresourceusage shouldbenomorethanwhatisabsolutely necessary.

Theprimaryfocus,forpurposesofscheduling,in

exceeded.
Inthosesituationswhereresourcesare

timeconstrainedprojectsisresourceutilization.

inadequate,projectdelayisacceptable,butthe delayshouldbeminimal.

ProjectConstraints..
ResourceConstraint:

ResourceConstraints...
Themostimportantresourcesthatproject

Thefocusofschedulinginthesesituationsis toprioritizeandallocateresourcesinsucha mannerthat th tth thereis i minimal i i lproject j tdelay. d l However,itisalsoimportanttoensurethat theresourcelimitisnotexceededandthe technicalrelationshipsintheprojectnetwork arenotaltered.

managershavetoplanandmanageonday todaybasisarepeople,machines,materials, andworkingcapital. capital

Obviously,iftheseresourcesareavailablein

abundancethentheprojectcouldbe acceleratedtoachieveshorterproject duration.

ResourceConstraints...
Ontheotherhand,iftheseresourcesare

ResourceConstraints...
However,ifresourcesarereadilyavailableand

severelylimited,thentheresultmorelikely willbeadelayintheprojectcompletiontime.
Dependingonthetypeofresources,thecosts

excesspremiumsarenotincurredtousethem ontheproject,thenprojectcostshouldbelow, assomeprojectcostsareresourcerelatedwhile othersarelikelytobetimedependent. lessexpensive.

ofprovidinganabundanceofsuchresources toaccelerateprojectcompletiontimecanbe veryhigh.

Ingeneral,projectswithashorterdurationare Thelongerthedurationoftheproject,the

higherwillbeoverallprojectcostduetothe increaseinfixedcostssuchasoverheads.

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ResourceAnalysis...
Manynetworkschedulingprogramsallowthe

ResourcePlan...
Theresourceplanisahistogramofworkhoursvstime. Canbeusedasatooltoensurearelativelyuniform

usertoassignsuchresourcestoproject activitiestodeterminetheoverallimpacton resourceneeds. needs

Ifweldersareinshortsupply,wecouldget

distributionoflabourontheproject.
Theconstructionplanmustalsoshowthedistributionof

someideaoftheeffectonourproject durationofbeingabletohirenomorethan five,forexample.

resources(therequiredlabourforeachcraftonthejob) ratherthanonlyshowsthesequenceofwork.
Thedemandforlabourshouldbeuniformlydistributed

foreachcraftontheprojecttopreventirregularities.

ResourceAnalysis...
Canweshiftsomenoncriticalactivitiesto

alleviatepeaksinthecurveofthislabour requirementversustime?
Shiftingactivitiestoalleviateoneresourceproblems

mayimpactanother h resourceadversely. d l

Mostmodernprojectschedulingsoftware

permitstheanalysisofmanyresources concurrently.

ResourceAllocation...
Resourceallocation,alsocalledresourceloading,

ResourceAllocation...
Fromapracticalstandpoint,resource

isconcernedwithassigningtherequirednumber ofthoseresourcesidentifiedinthepreviousstep toeachactivityidentifiedintheplan.

Morethanonetypeofresourcemaybe

allocationdoesnothavetofollowaconstant pattern;
Someactivitiesmayinitiallyrequirefewerresources

attributedtoaspecificactivity.
Forexample,fixingtheplatesonaship'shull

butmayrequiremoreofthesameresourcesduring thelaterstagesoftheproject.

mayrequire10fitters,20welders,15laborers andacertaintypeofweldingmachine.

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ResourceAllocation...
Atthisstage,theimpactofanyresourceallocation

decisionisnotknownandwecannotyetanswer questionssuchas:
1.

Islackofresourcesonthisparticularactivityhavingan adverseeffectonthedurationofthewholeproject?Such anactivityismorelikelytobeonthecriticalpath. Byexcessiveuseofresourcesarewecompletingthis activitymorequicklythannecessaryintermsofthe overallprojectduration?Suchanactivityisnotlikelyto beonthecriticalpath.

2.

Thesequestionswillbeansweredlaterinthe

resourcemodelingprocess,specificallyduringthe resourcelevelingandsmoothingstage.

ResourceAggregation...
Resourceaggregation,orresourceloading,is

ResourceAggregation...
Whenabarchartisusedastheplanningtool,

simplythesummation,onaperiodbyperiod basis,oftheresourcesrequiredtocompleteall activitiesbasedontheresourceallocationcarried outinthepreviousstage. histogram.

theresourceaggregationisfairlysimpleand straightforward.
Foragivenbarchart,thereisaunique

Theresultsareusuallyshowngraphicallyasa Suchaggregationmaybedoneonanhourly,daily,

resourceunitaggregationchartwhichcanbe drawnunderneaththebarchart.
However,aseparategraphwillberequired

orweeklybasis,dependingonthetimeunitused toallocateresources.

foreachresourceunit.

ResourceAggregation...

ResourceAggregation...
AnexampleisshowninFigure1before,

where,foraparticularresource,therequired resourceunitsforeachtimeperiodare annotatedonthebarchart.

Thetotalnumberofresourceunitsforeach

timeperiodcanthenbesummedanda resourceaggregationorloadchartcanbe produced.

Figure1

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ResourceAggregation...

ResourceLeveling...
Anotherphaseoftheplanningandresourcemanagement

process.
Theprocessthatensuresresourcedemanddoesnotexceed

resourceavailability.
Theidealscenariowouldbeabuildupofresourceusageat

thebeginningoftheprojectandareductionattheendofthe project.
However,theapproachtoresourcelevelingwillalsodepend
Figure2:ResourceUnitAggregationChartShowingResourceRequirementsAssociated withEarliestandLatestStartAlongwithHighlightedResourceUnitRequirementsfor CriticalPathActivities

onwhetherresourcesarededicatedtoaparticularprojector sharedacrossseveralprojectsandwhetherthereisaneedto keepallresourcesfullyutilized.

ResourceLeveling...
Comparetherequirementswithresourceavailabilityby

ResourceDemandComparedtoResource Availability...

developingresourceprofiles.
Disregardingfactorssuchaseconomicconsiderations,if

sufficientresourcesareavailablesothatsupplyalways exceedsdemandthen,weshouldhavenoproblem.
However,themostlikelyscenarioisthat,atsomepoint,

demandwillexceedsupply.
Resourcelevelingcanbeaccomplishedmoreeasilyif

resourcerequirementstocompleteanactivityare expressedintermsofhoursordaysrequired.

ResourceLeveling...
Anyimprovementscanbemadetothelevel

ofresourcerequirementsby:
Delayingorbringingforwardthestartofcertain

activities.
Extendingthedurationofcertainactivitiesandso

reducingthedemandforresourcesoverthe durationoftheactivityorbyacombinationof bothoftheseadjustments

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ApproachestoLeveling& SmoothingTechniques
Generally,therearetwoapproachestoleveling

andsmoothingtheresourcesrequired:
1. Timelimitedresourceconsiderations 2. Resourcelimitedresourceconsiderations

TimeLimitedResourceConsiderations
Inthiscaseemphasiswillbeplacedoncompletingthe

ResourceLimitedResourceConsiderations
Inthiscasetheprojectmustbecompletedwith

projectwithinaspecifiedtime. networkanalysis.

theresourcesavailableevenifthismeans extendingtheprojectduration.

Thistimewillusuallyhavebeendeterminedby Adjustmentsinthetimingofanyactivity,andthe

Ifthetotalresourcedemandexceedstheresource

resourcesrequiredatagiventime,mustbeundertaken withinthefloat(slack)available. whichareonthecriticalpath.

availability il bilit at tanyti timeth thensomeof fth theactivities ti iti mustbedelayeduntilthereissufficientresource availability.

Obviouslytherecanbenoadjustmentofactivities

Forbothoftheapproaches,information

concerningtheearliestandthelateststarttimes andslackwillbeusedtolevelresources.

ResourceSmoothing...
Resourcesmoothingispartoftheresource

levelingprocess.
Initself, itself resourcesmoothingistheprocessthat that,

notwithstandinganyconstraintsimposed duringthelevelingprocess,attemptsto determinearesourcerequirementthatis "smooth"andwherepeaksandtroughsare eliminated.

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ResourceSmoothing...
Giventhattheresourcerequirementsofthose

ResourceSmoothing...
Beyondthisconsideration,activitiesshould

activitiesonthecriticalpatharefixed,someorder orpriorityneedstobeestablishedforselecting whichactivityandwhichparticularresource associatedwiththisactivityshouldbegiven priorityinthesmoothingprocess. priority,asubjectivejudgmentshouldbemade aboutthetypeofresource(orresources) associatedwitheachactivity;priorityshouldbe giventotheactivitieswhoseresourcesare consideredtobemostimportant.

berankedinorderoftotalworkcontentand totalfloatorslackavailableforthatactivity.
Ausefuldeviceforprioritizingistoconsider

Indeterminingwhichactivityshouldbegiven

theratiooftotalworkcontent/totalfloat remainingandgiveprioritytoactivitieswith thehighestvalueofthisratio.

BenefitsofResource Scheduling...
1. Ifprojectdelayisunacceptable,itallows

Conclusion...

sufficienttimeforconsideringalternativessuch ascosttimetradeoffsandchangingofpriorities.
2. Providesinformationtopreparetimephased

workpackagebudgetswithdates
3. Enablesprojectmanagerstodeterminethe

amountofflexibilitytheyhaveovercertain resources.