Chapter 8
What are the impacts of resource-constrained scheduling?
Reduces Slack Reduces Flexibility Increase near critical and critical activities Extends project duration
List and briefly describe the disadvantages of resource leveling or smoothing
(1) Loss of flexibility; (2) Increased risk of project delay; (3) More critical or near critical activities.
Identify and give an example of the three types of resource constraints.
1. People 2. Material 3. Equipment
Identify and briefly describe the three types of project constraints that could impact or change the structure of project network.
1. Technical - sequence and logic 2. Resource - material/people 3. Physical - space limits
Identify and briefly describe two ways to classify projects with scheduling problems.
1. Time constrained 2. Resource constrained
Why is it important to make efforts to identify resource scheduling problems before the project is implemented?
1. costly 2. project delays
Why is it critical to form a time-phased budget?
1. difficult to measure how much work has been done with the money spent 2. impossible to have reliable information for control purposes
When using resource-constrained scheduling, activities that were once scheduled to be completed at the same time now may have to be scheduled in sequence. What are the "rules of thumb" or heuristics that need to be followed to determine which activity is scheduled first?
Priorities: 1. Least amount of slack 2. Smallest duration 3. Lowest identification number
Why is a schedule not a schedule until resources have been assigned? Provide a real life example that illustrates your explanation.
Should assumed that there will be adequate resources
What is the difference in project goals when using resource leveling on time-constrained projects and using it on resource-constrained projects?
Time -> smooth out peaks and valleys Resource -> shortest duration with limited supply
Why should project managers be cautious about using the splitting scheduling technique?
additional shutdown and startup costs
