Project Planning Control 4 E Part 4 pot

Basic network principles No chain of activities must be permitted to form a loop, i.e such a sequence that the last activity in the chain has an influence on the first Clearly, such a loop makes nonsense of any logic since, if one considers activities 2–3(B), 3–4(C), 4–5(E) and 5–2(F) in Figure 11.8, one finds that B, C and E must precede F, yet F must be completed before B can start Such a situation cannot occur in nature and defies analysis Figure 11.8 Apart from strictly following the basic rules to set out above, the following points are worth remembering to obtain the maximum benefit from network techniques Maximize the number of activities which can be carried out in parallel This obviously (resources permitting) cuts down the overall programme time Beware of imposing unnecessary restraints on any activity If a restraint is convenient rather than imperative, it should best be omitted The use of resource restraints is a trap to be particularly avoided since additional resources can often be mustered – even if at additional cost Start activities as early as possible and connect them to the rest of the network as late as possible (Figures 11.9 and 11.10) This avoids unnecessary restraints and gives maximum float Figure 11.9 Figure 11.10 69 Project Planning and Control Resist the temptation to use a conveniently close node point as a ‘staging post’ for a dummy activity used as a restraint Such a break in a restraint could impose an additional unnecessary restraint on the succeeding activity In Figure 11.11 the intent is to restrain activity E by B and D and activity G by D However, because the dummy from B uses node as a staging post, activity G is also restrained by B The correct network is shown in Figure 11.12 It must be remembered that the restraint on G may have to be added at a later stage, so that the effect of B in Figure 11.11 may well be overlooked Figure 11.11 Figure 11.12 When drawing ladder networks (see page 75) beware of the danger of trying to economize on dummy activities as described later (Figures 11.24 and 11.25) 70 Basic network principles Durations Having drawn the network in accordance with the logical sequence of the particular project requirements, the next step is to ascertain the duration or time of each activity These may be estimated in the light of experience, in the same manner that programme times are usually ascertained, but it must be remembered that the shorter the duration, the more accurate they are The times are then written against each activity in any convenient unit but this must, of course, be the same for every activity For example, referring to Figure 11.13, if activities 1–2(A), 2–5(B) and 5–6(C) took 3, and days, respectively, one would show this by merely writing these times under the activity Figure 11.13 Numbering The next stage of network preparation is numbering the events or nodes Depending on the method of analysis, the following systems shown in Figure 11.14 can be used Figure 11.14 71 Project Planning and Control Random This method, as the name implies, follows no pattern and merely requires each node number to be different All computers (if used) can, of course, accept this numbering system, but there is always the danger that a number may be repeated Topological This method demands that the starting node of an activity must be smaller than the finishing node of that activity If this law is applied throughout the network, the node numbers will increase in value as the project moves towards the final activity It has some value for beginners using network analysis since loops are automatically avoided However, it is very time consuming and requires constant back-checking to ensure that no activity has been missed The real drawback is that if an activity is added or changed, the whole network has to be renumbered from that point onwards Clearly, this is an unacceptable restriction in practice Sequential This is a random system from an analysis point of view, but the numbers are chosen in blocks so that certain types of activities can be identified by the nodes The system therefore clarifies activities and facilitates recognition The method is quick and easy to use, and should always be used whatever method of analysis is employed Sequential numbering is usually employed when the network is banded (see Chapter 21) It is useful in such circumstances to start the node numbers in each band with the same prefix number, i.e the nodes in band would be numbered 101, 102, 103, etc., while the nodes in band are numbered 201, 202, 203, etc Figure 21.1 would lend itself to this type of numbering Coordinates This method of activity identification can only be used if the network is drawn on a gridded background In practice, thin lines are first drawn on the back of the translucent sheet of drawing paper to form a grid This grid is then given coordinates or map references with letters for the vertical coordinate and numbers for the horizontal (Figure 11.15) The reason for drawing the lines on the back of the paper is, of course, to leave the grid 72 Basic network principles Figure 11.15 intact when the activities are changed or erased A fully drawn grid may be confusing to some people, so it may be preferable to draw a grid showing the intersections only (Figure 11.16) When activities are drawn, they are confined in length to the distance between two intersections The node is drawn on the actual intersection so that the coordinates of the intersection become the node number The number may be written in or the node left blank, as the analyst prefers Figure 11.16 73 Project Planning and Control As an alternative to writing the grid letters on the nodes, it may be advantageous to write the letters between the nodes as in Figure 13.5 This is more fully described on pages 89 and 90 Figure 11.17 shows a section of a network drawn on a gridded background representing the early stages of a design project As can be seen, there is no need to fill in the nodes, although, for clarity, activities A1–B1, B1–B2, A3–B3, A3–B4 and A5–C5 have had the node numbers added The node numbers for ‘electrical layout’ would be B4–C4, and the map reference principle helps to find the activity on the network when discussing the programme on the telephone or quoting it on email Figure 11.17 There is no need to restrict an activity to the distance between two adjacent intersections of coordinates For example, A5–C5 takes up two spaces Similarly, any space can also be used as a dummy and there is no restriction on the length or direction of dummies It is, however, preferable to restrict activities to horizontal lines for ease of writing and subsequent identification When required, additional activities can always be inserted in an emergency by using suffix letters For example, if activity ‘preliminary foundation drawings’ A3–B3 had to be preceded by, say, ‘obtain loads’, the network could be redrawn as shown in Figure 11.18 Identifying or finding activities quickly on a network can be of great benefit and the above method has considerable advantages over other numbering systems The use of coordinates is particularly useful in minimizing the risk 74 Basic network principles Figure 11.18 of duplicating node numbers in a large network Since each node is, as it were, prenumbered by its coordinates, the possibility of double numbering is virtually eliminated Unfortunately, if the planner enters any number twice on a computer input sheet the results can be disastrous, since the machine will, in many instances, interpret the error as a logical sequence The following example shows how this is possible The intended sequence is shown in Figure 11.19 If the planner by mistake enters a number 11 instead of 15 for the last event of activity d, the sequence will, in effect, be as shown in Figure 11.20, but the computer will interpret the error as in Figure 11.21 Clearly, this will give a wrong analysis If this little network had been drawn on a grid with coordinates as node numbers, it would have appeared as in Figure 11.22 Since the planner knows Figure 11.19 Figure 11.20 75 Project Planning and Control Figure 11.21 Figure 11.22 that all activities on line B must start with a B, the chance of the error occurring is considerably reduced Furthermore, to make the computer program foolproof, one could programme it not to accept activities with different node letters and having a duration other than zero In this way, only dummy activities can cross the grid lines Hammocks When a number of activities are in series, they can be summarized into one activity encompassing them all Such a summary activity is called a Hammock It is assumed that only the first activity is dependent on another activity outside the hammock and only the last activity affects another activity outside the hammock On bar charts, hammocks are frequently shown as summary bars above the constituent activities and can therefore simplify the reporting document for a higher management who are generally not concerned with too much detail For example, in Figure 11.22, activities A1 to A4 could be written as one hammock activity since only A1 and A4 are affected by work outside this activity string Ladders When a string of activities repeats itself, the set of strings can be represented by a configuration known as a ladder For a string consisting of, say, four activities relating to two stages of excavation, the configuration is shown in 76 Basic network principles Figure 11.23 This pattern indicates that, for example, hand trim of Stage II can only be done if Hand trim of Stage I is complete Machine excavation of Stage II is complete This, of course, is what it should be Figure 11.23 However, if the work were to be divided into three stages, the ladder could, on the face of it, be drawn as shown in Figure 11.24 Again, in Stage II all the operations are shown logically in the correct sequence, but closer examination of Stage III operations will throw up a number of logic errors which the inexperienced planner may miss Figure 11.24 What we are trying to show in the network is that Stage III hand trim cannot be performed until Stage III machine excavation is complete and Stage II hand trim is complete However, what the diagram says is that, in addition to these restraints, Stage III hand trim cannot be performed until Stage I level bottom is also complete Clearly, this is an unnecessary restraint and cannot be tolerated The correct way of drawing a ladder therefore when more than two stages are involved is as in Figure 11.25 We must, in fact, introduce a dummy activity in Stage II 77 Project Planning and Control Figure 11.25 (and any intermediate stages) between the starting and completion node of every activity except the last In this way, the Stage III activities will not be restrained by Stage I activities except by those of the same type An examination of Figure 11.25 shows a new dummy between the activities in Stage II, i.e Figure 11.26 This concept led to the development of a new type of network presentation called the ‘Lester’ diagram, which is described more fully in Chapter 13 This has considerable advantages over the conventional arrow diagram and the precedence diagram, also described later Once the network has been numbered and the times or durations added, it must be analysed This means that the earliest starting and completion dates must be ascertained and the floats or ‘spare times’ calculated There are three main types of analysis: Arithmetical; Graphical; Computer Since these three different methods (although obviously giving the same answers) require very different approaches, a separate chapter has been devoted to each technique (Chapters 15, 16 and 17) 78 Project Planning and Control Figure 12.4 On the other hand, the free float can be calculated from the forward pass only, because it is simply the difference of the earliest start (ES) of a subsequent activity and the earliest finishing time (EF) of the activity in question This is clearly shown in Figure 12.5 Figure 12.5 Despite the above-mentioned advantages, which are especially appreciated by people familiar with flow diagrams as used in manufacturing industries, many prefer the arrow diagram because it resembles more closely a bar chart Although the arrows are not drawn to scale, they represent a forwardmoving operation and, by thickening up the actual line in approximately the same proportion as the reported progress, a ‘feel’ for the state of the job is immediately apparent One major disadvantage of precedence diagrams is the practical one of size of box The box has to be large enough to show the activity title, duration and 84 Precedence or activity on node (AoN) diagrams earliest and latest times, so that the space taken up on a sheet of paper reduces the network size By contrast, an arrow diagram is very economical, since the arrow is a natural line over which a title can be written and the node need be no larger than a few millimetres in diameter – if the coordinate method is used The difference (or similarity) between an arrow diagram and a precedence network is most easily seen by comparing the two methods in the following example Figure 12.6 shows a project programme and Figure 12.7 the same programme as a precedence diagram The difference in area of paper required by the two methods is obvious (see also Chapter 27) Figure 12.6 Figure 12.7 shows the precedence version of Figure 12.6 In practice, the only information necessary when drafting the original network is the activity title, the duration and of course the interrelationships of the activities A precedence diagram can therefore be modified by drawing ellipses just big enough to contain the activity title and duration, leaving the computer (if used) to supply the other information at a later stage The important thing is to establish an acceptable logic before the end date and the activity floats are computed In explaining the principles of network diagrams in text books (and in examinations), letters are often used as activity titles, but in practice when building up a network, the real descriptions have to be used 85 Project Planning and Control 0 0 3 11 Duration 11 13 START A B C 0 4 7 10 21 50% = 24 13 26 6 11 11 20 D E F 0 6 11 12 21 11 13 13 17 Early start (ES) G 15 17 H 17 21 lag Early finish (EF) Activity Late start (LS) Late finish (LF) Critical Critical path 20 25 J 21 26 11 10 21 21 26 26 27 K L M N 27 27 FINISH 11 11 21 21 26 26 27 27 27 Figure 12.7 An example of such a diagram is shown in Figure 12.8 Care must be taken not to cross the nodes with the links and to insert the arrowheads to ensure the correct relationship One problem of a precedence diagram is that when large networks are being developed by a project team, the drafting of the boxes takes up a lot of time and paper space and the insertion of links (or dummy activities) becomes a nightmare, because it is confusing to cross the boxes, which are in effect nodes It is necessary therefore to restrict the links to run horizontally or vertically between the boxes, which can lead to congestion of the lines, making the tracing of links very difficult When a large precedence network is drawn by a computer, the problem becomes even greater, because the link lines can sometimes be so close Figure 12.8 86 Precedence or activity on node (AoN) diagrams Figure 12.9 together that they will appear as one thick black line This makes it impossible to determine the beginning or end of a link, thus nullifying the whole purpose of a network, i.e to show the interrelationship and dependencies of the activities See Figure 12.9 For small networks with few dependencies, precedence diagrams are no problem, but for networks with 200–400 activities per page, it is a different matter The planner must not feel restricted by the drafting limitations to develop an acceptable logic, and the tendency by some irresponsible software companies to advocate eliminating the manual drafting of a network altogether must be condemned This manual process is after all the key operation for developing the project network and the distillation of the various ideas and inputs of the team In other words, it is the thinking part of network analysis The number crunching can then be left to the computer 87 13 Lester diagram With the development of the network grid, the drafting of an arrow diagram enables the activities to be easily organized into disciplines or work areas and eliminates the need to enter reference numbers into the nodes Instead the grid reference numbers (or letters) can be fed into the computer The grid system also makes it possible to produce acceptable arrow diagrams on a computer which can be used ‘in the field’ without converting them into the conventional bar chart An example of such a computerized arrow diagram, which has been developed by Claremont Controls as part of their latest Hornet Windmill program, is given in Figure 13.1 It will be noticed that the link lines never cross a node! A grid system can, however, pose a problem when it becomes necessary to insert an activity between two existing ones In practice, resourceful planners can overcome the problem by combining the new activity with one of the existing activities If, for example, two adjoining activities were ‘Cast Column, days’ and ‘Cast Beam, days’ and it were necessary to insert ‘Strike Formwork, days’ between the two activities, the planner Figure 13.1 Project Planning and Control Figure 13.2 would simply restate the first activity as ‘Cast Column and Strike Formwork, days’ (Figure 13.2) While this overcomes the drafting problem it may not be acceptable from a cost control point of view, especially if the network is geared to an EVA system (see Chapter 27) Furthermore the fact that the grid numbers were on the nodes meant that when it was necessary to move a string along one or more grid spaces, the relationship between the grid number and the activity changed This could complicate the EVA analysis To overcome this, the grid number was placed between the nodes (Figure 13.3) Figure 13.3 It can be argued that a precedence network lends itself admirably to a grid system as the grid number is always and permanently related to the activity and is therefore ideal for EVA However, the problem of the congested link lines (especially the vertical ones) remains Now, however, the perfect solution has been found It is in effect a combination of the arrow diagram and the precedence diagram and like the marriage of Henry VII which ended the Wars of the Roses, this marriage should end the war of the networks! 90 Lester diagram Figure 13.4 The new diagram, which could be called the ‘Lester’ diagram, is simply an arrow diagram where each activity is separated by a short link in the same way as in a precedence network (Figure 13.4) In this way it is possible to eliminate or at least reduce logic errors, show total float and free float as easily as on a precedence network, but has the advantages of an arrow diagram in speed of drafting, clarity of link presentation and the ability to insert new activities in a grid system without altering the grid number/ activity relationship Figure 13.5 shows all these features If a line is drawn around any activity, the similarity between the Lester diagram and the precedence diagram becomes immediately apparent See Figure 13.6 Figure 13.5 91 Project Planning and Control Figure 13.6 Although all the examples in subsequent chapters use arrow diagrams, precedence diagrams or ‘Lester’ diagrams could be substituted in most cases The choice of technique is largely one of personal preference and familiarity Provided the user is satisfied with one system and is able to extract the maximum benefit, there is little point in changing to another Time scale networks and linked bar charts When preparing presentation or tender documents, or when the likelihood of the programme being changed is small, the main features of a network and bar chart can be combined in the form of a time scale network, or a linked bar chart A time scale network has the length of the arrows drawn to a suitable scale in proportion to the duration of the activities The whole network can, in fact, be drawn on a gridded background where each square of the grid represents a period of time such as a day, week or month Free float is easily ascertainable by inspection, but total float must be calculated in the conventional manner By drawing the activities to scale and starting each activity at the earliest date, a type of bar chart is produced which differs from the conventional bar chart in that some of the activity bars are on the same horizontal line The disadvantage of such a presentation is that part of the network has to be redrawn ‘downstream’ from any activity which changes its duration It can be seen that if one of the early activities changes in either duration or starting point, the whole network has to be modified However, a time scale network (especially if restricted to a few major activities) is a clear and concise communication document for reporting up It loses its value in communicating down because changes increase with detail and constant revision would be too time consuming A linked bar chart is very similar to a normal bar chart, i.e each activity is on a separate line and the activities are listed vertically at the edge of the paper However, by drawing interlinking vertical (or inclined) dummy 92 Figure 13.7 Figure 13.8 Lester diagram activities to join the main bars, a type of programme is produced which clearly shows the interrelationship of the activity bars Chapter 16 describes the graphical analysis of networks, and it can be seen that if the ends of the activities were connected by the dummies a linked bar chart would result Figure 13.7 shows a small time scale network and Figure 13.8 shows the same programme drawn as a linked bar chart 95 14 Float Because float is such an important part of network analysis and because it is frequently quoted – or misquoted – by computer protagonists as another reason why computers must be used, a special discussion of the subject may be helpful to those readers not too familiar with its use in practice Of the three types of float shown on a printout, i.e the total float, free float and independent float, only the first – the total float – is in general use Where resource smoothing is required, a knowledge of free float can be useful, since it is the activities with free float that can be moved backwards or forwards in time without affecting any other activities Independent float, on the other hand, is really quite a useless piece of information and should be suppressed (when possible) from any computer printout Of the many managers, site engineers or planners interviewed, none has been able to find a practical application of independent float Total float Total float, in contrast to other types of float, does have a role to play By definition, it is the time Float between the anticipated start (or finish) of an activity and the latest permissible start (or finish) The float can be either positive or negative A positive float means that the operation or activity will be completed earlier than necessary, and a negative float indicates that the activity will be late A prediction of the status of any particular activity is, therefore, a very useful and important piece of information for a manager However, this information is of little use if not transmitted to management as soon as it becomes available, and every day of delay reduces the manager’s ability to rectify the slippage or replan the mode of operation The reason for calling this type of float ‘total float’ is because it is the total of all the ‘free floats’ in a string of activities when working back from where this string meets the critical path to the activity in question For example, in Figure 16.2, the activities in the lowest string J to P, have the following free floats: J = 0, K = 10–9 = 1, L = 0, M = 15–14 = 1, N = 21–19 = 2, P = Total float for K is therefore + + + = This is the same as the shown in the lower middle space of the node It is very easy to calculate the total floats and free floats in a precedence or Lester diagram For any activity, the total float is the difference between the latest finish and earliest finish (or latest start and earliest start) The free float is the difference between the earliest finish of the activity in question and the earliest start of the following activity The diagram in Figure 14.9 makes this clear Calculation of float By far the quickest way to calculate the float of a particular activity is to it manually In practice, one does not require to know the float of all activities at the same time A list of floats is, therefore, unnecessary The important point is that the float of a particular activity which is of immediate interest is obtainable quickly and accurately Consider the string of activities in a simple construction process This is shown in Figure 14.1 in Activity on Arrow (AoA) format and in Figure 14.2 in the simplified Activity on Node (AoN) format It can be seen that the total duration of the sequence is 34 days By drafting the network in the method shown, and by using the day numbers at the end of each activity, including dummies, an accurate prediction is obtained immediately and the float of any particular activity can be seen almost by 97 Project Planning and Control Figure 14.1 inspection It will be noted that each activity has two dates or day numbers – one at the beginning and one at the end (Figure 14.3) Therefore, where two (or more) activities meet at a node, all the end day numbers are inserted (Figure 14.4) The highest number is now used to calculate the overall project duration, i.e 30 + = 33, and the difference between the highest and the other number immediately gives the float of the other activity and all the activities Figure 14.2 98 ... links very difficult When a large precedence network is drawn by a computer, the problem becomes even greater, because the link lines can sometimes be so close Figure 12.8 86 Precedence or activity... node, all the end day numbers are inserted (Figure 14. 4) The highest number is now used to calculate the overall project duration, i .e 30 + = 33, and the difference between the highest and the... difference between the latest finish and earliest finish (or latest start and earliest start) The free float is the difference between the earliest finish of the activity in question and the earliest