The required reading for this week is Article 5 “Tripping Hazards in Schedules”, by Donald F. McDonald Jr. You also need to read another article of your choice. Most of the articles this week are on the general subject of planning and scheduling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Some are more specific than others. Article 3 is about level of details in scheduling. Article 4 is specifically about the CPM method. Articles 7 and 9 are two studies about the application of common scheduling practices and their impact. Article 8 is about how a planning and scheduling department should function.
- Planning and Scheduling for Success, Ignacio Manzanera, CCE, AACE Transactions, 1990
- Considerations in Planning and Scheduling, John K. Nabors, AACE Transactions, 1994
- Schedule Hierarchy - An Overview, Sarwar A. Samad, Cost Engineering , 1998
- The Pitfalls of CPM Scheduling on Construction Projects, Ian A. Street, Cost Engineering , 2000
- Tripping Hazards in Schedules, Donald F. McDonald Jr., AACE International Transactions, 2002
- Project Planning--Then Scheduling, Edward E. Douglas III, CCC, AACE International Transactions, 2004
- Scheduling Practices and Project Success, Andrew F. Griffith, PE, AACE International Transactions, 2005
- Planning and Scheduling Department: Functional Aspects, Junaid Ahcom, ICC; Ali Ali Shash, AACE International Transactions, 2005
- CPM Scheduling and How the Industry Views Its Use, Patricia D. Galloway, PE, AACE International Transactions, 2005
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI have never used a blog before, so I am simply doing this as a test. I know the goal is for the class to cover all the articles each week. I do not see any other comments and do not know if anyone has started reading yet but I will be reading, Project Planning-Then Scheduling by Edward Douglas and the Pitfalls of CPM Scheduling on Construction Projects by Ian Street. With my limited knowledge in Scheduling all the articles look interesting and informative.
DS
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI as well have never used a blog before. I have read the required assignment and 1( Scheduling Practices and Project success, 2) CPM Scheduling and How the industry Views its use and The Pitfalls of CPM Scheduling on Construction Projects. My scheduling is limited to the Architect's / owner's rep view-point. I have seen several of the issues raised in my construction administration experience. i will post comments titled under the article name just to make it easier to follow which article is concerned.
Tripping Hazards in Schedule: I work mainly with universities across the state of North Carolina. As state agencies, they do not have the funding to train their people and provide the necessary continuing education on all of the different scheduling software. They do not know the software that the CM will use. The CM may not know the scheduler they wil use. The other members of the team are placing a great deal of trust in the CM and the scheduler. It is also placing a tremendous responsibility on the CM to provide their client with an experienced scheduler who understands the nuances of the project type and the site contraints. With out the software to run the electronic file, the CM must continually review their plan for logic adjustments and incorrect assumptions. The assumptions may be overly aggressive or pesimistic, either wa the plan woulf need adjusting.
ReplyDeleteThis is our first week. We still need to work out the kinks. These are some more details about posting just in case you run into problem.
ReplyDelete1. Type in your comment. It’s better if you type it up in Word then cut and paste.
2. Select “Name/URL” for “Comment as”. Then a window pops up ask for your name and “URL”. You only need to type in name. Click “continue”.
3. Click on “Post Comment”. Then you will see a preview of everything with “Word Verification” below your actual comment. You have to click on “Post Comment” to finish this.
CPM Scheduling and How the Industry Views its Use: There are several issues touched on by this paper, 1) general observations/ conclusions 2) Industry Survey and 3) CPM standards.
ReplyDeleteThe list of general observations is highlighted by the point that software has become so sophisticated, "specialists are required to develop and understand CPM schedules". This is troubling for me. As the architect and lead CA on the project, how can I be fully confident the schedule is correct and the logic is not flawed? The owners are relying on the CA team (architect, engineers, CM, state construction office and their personnel) to protect the universities and the states interests. Other documents in the contract (drawings) are continually reviewed for coordination, constructibility and scope. It seems difficult to monitor the CPM when it is that complex even for the CM. I have a $55 MM project where we are waiting for the CM’s scheduler to update the cost loaded project CPM. It is producing frustration on the owners’ part.
The survey indicated there were inconsistent or non-existent distinctions between a revision and an update in the project specifications concerning the CPM. All of the CM project’s I have worked on require a cost loaded CPM and FGMP. After bidding, the CPM is revised to reconcile the bid prices with the GMP estimates. The CPM is also required to be updated monthly to illustrate the actual work progress against the projected progress. The distinctions are clear between revisions and updates.
The paper reports, 82% of the respondents to the survey indicated it would be beneficial to the industry to have set standards and guidelines for CPM schedules. I am surprised to learn there is no agreement on the entity that should set these standards. In any case the need for guidelines continues to increase with the industries reliance on the CPM schedule. Guidelines would help the CM’s clients and teams members (architects, engineers, public agencies, etc.) have confidence the project is being scheduled properly.
Tripping Hazards in Schedules: This article was very refreshing to me in the fact that the author truly understands the root cause of many scheduling theory/practice conflicts. The problem is usually not inadequate software or poor planning. It hit on a major deficiency in our current “modern” educational system. Back around 15-30 BC, Vitruvius talked about the need of skilled tradesmen needing to study and understand the theory and science of their field, in addition to the actual trade skill. And also, the need of the professionals to actually learn to physically perform many of the trade skills they are coordinating.
ReplyDeleteThis is a major disconnect in many areas and can be a huge source of delay, misunderstanding, and needless expense in the construction industry. For example, most brick masons have very little understanding of the science of cement hydration, or point loads, or how their work is integrated into the whole project. They may not know how certain actions or inactions can affect the whole project. The project manager, architect, or engineer on the other hand, may not foresee or understand the reality of logistical problems in doing some masonry work on a third floor in windy, sub freezing temperatures, when it was “scheduled” under ideal conditions. Experience and preferably “cross training” of sorts is one important variable to make any construction job flow smoother and it cannot be shortcut.
Both of these tend to be grossly underestimated in terms of value. These days, highly sophisticated CPM and BIM design are the norm. Personnel that know how to use the technology are coveted. However, if the construction loop is not completed with good experience in the actual process, things don’t work. These professionals, who may be highly intelligent, dedicated to doing a good job, and proficient in the technology, may not understand the “real world” process, and are therefore unable to adequately adapt to unforeseen variables in a productive manner.
Project Planning-Then Scheduling by Edward E. Douglas III, emphasizes the importance of effective pre-project planning and implementation techniques that can save money and make the construction project run more smoothly. Douglas mentions that many project participants find spending time on planning wasteful even though a study by the Construction Industry Institute finds that spending time on planning increases the success of a project. This definitely has parallels in the architectural community.
ReplyDeleteI think back to a five-year strategic plan office meeting that I set through eight years ago in an architecture office and the speaker said, “if you do not have time to do something right the first time how will you find time to do it right the second time.” I always found this to be interesting and important because from the six architecture firms I have worked for since 1999, I can not honestly say I ever saw any management actually using software like Microsoft Project Office or others to figure out how long pre-design, schematic, design development, construction documents, and administration will take. Rules of thumbs seemed to be the preference based on past project type experience and rough estimates on manpower to complete the projects seems to be typical. If more time was spent up front thinking about how complex the project was, how many staff members needed to be involved at each stage, the imposed deadlines by owners or reps, etc. staff members might not always find their backs up against a wall of impossible deadlines or trying to find time later to do it right.
Douglas states that as pre-project planning improves cost performance may go down as much as 20% and that having key project members seriously involved in this part of the project makes the rest of the projects goals more achievable. The author used a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower that Joel Koppelman used during a 2003 keynote address for the 2003 Seminar at East Tennessee section of AACE International, which is as follows, “I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” I do like the logic behind this.
Later on in the article he discusses how to define the project scope, using Work break down structure (WBS) and sequence of tasks, schedules and estimates and how many contractors stop at WBS but really should be pushing further to develop a more defined plan that covers the who, what, where, when, and how related to the project. Douglas stresses that project managers need to understand project planning particular due to the tight profit margins that existed at the time this article was written in 2004 and I would imagine tighter profit margins exist in 2011.
The Pitfalls of CPM Scheduling on Construction Projects by Ian Street, CCC discusses five pitfalls, that are the 1) critical path may not always require the most attention, 2) unrealistic activity durations, 3) the owner does not manage the schedule, 4) accepting reports without electronic file and 5) failure to perform timely schedule updates.
ReplyDeleteItem (1) discusses that the as-planned CPM is only good if everything goes according to plan. How often does this happen? Having a grasp on uncertain items such as equipment being delivered on time is critical to keep the as-planned CPM moving properly. Item (2) discusses inaccurate activity durations and how to use the estimate to incorporate material quantity and labor productivity to provide more reasonable durations. Also using risk analysis, interviewing project managers to determine optimistic to pessimistic duration ranges will mitigate a good portion of the guessing. Item (3) is to make the owner realize that this is simply not something that needs to be done to fulfill the contract but something if properly utilized can provide benefits such as cash predictions, time extension evaluations and delay mitigation.
Street states that most owners do not have in-house CPM expertise and should hire an individual or firm to handle this. Many times this falls to an architect/engineer, however well intentioned, typically does not possess the background to provide expert advice. This will also prevent unscrupulous contractors from taking advantage of the situation. Item (4) discusses that flawed logic can create significant problems and submitting this by paper and electronically to the owner allows them to provide this to a experienced scheduler who is proficient in the software and thinking, to find flaws that a layperson would miss. Item (5) discusses the importance of updating the schedule which if not done can basically render the as-planned CPM useless. Updating will allow for the critical path to change, if necessary, based on current situations and not adhering to construction being static but rather dynamic.
CPM Scheduling and How the Industry Views Its Use: This was an interesting article in that it contained a lot of survey information and most of the data was all over the place in terms of what it means to both owners and contractors. For example, of the contractors responding, over 96% indicated that they believed there was an economic benefit to using CPM, and over 89% indicated they have had moderate to high success in achieving various benefits using CPM. Over 67% indicated that CPM scheduling minimized claims on their projects. Yet only about 67% of the contractors use it if it is not required in their contract. What I got out of this article was for the most part that the theoretical benefits of CPM are great, but that there are many real world disadvantages which diminish its potential.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts about the assigned reading - the first point that comes to my mind is the “Houston we have a problem” – that is most schedulers are using motivated individuals that have little experience in how construction acitivities really interact. I have experienced this in many different areas of the residential construction industry, especially since I was involved in hiring the bright new minds into our industry straight out of schools. Several occasions there were new employees that had the basics of how a schedule is assembled – but did not understand how the activities related / relied on each other. As to McDonald’s article, the best solution for this was to have schedulers that not only had the ability and knowledge of the schedule program and how best to use it, but they also had plenty of experience in the field operations to understand how the activities related with each other.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point in the article discusses the level of detail in the schedule. Too much detail and the schedule start to have sensitivity problems. In other words, the micro-details of each single activity and the cycle times planned for them can cause extreme challenges in the schedule as contractors manage to this level of detail. I agree with this thought process and would argue that the end is more important than the means to the completion of a task. With a heavily detailed schedule, the means seem to play too much of a part of the final result.
One of the solutions that I agree with for the scheduling challenges include drafting and developing accurate and detailed specifications and scopes of work for all of the sub-contractors and vendors that are involved. During my experiences in the residential construction industry, both in the land development and the home building construction operations, the best run projects were on time because of the extensive efforts in developing accurate and complete specifications and scopes of work. The major drawbacks in schedule failures have to do with a contractor having to repeat an activity due to improper installation / materials because the specifications or scope of work were not clear.
Finally, I enjoyed the last comment of the article – that software does not replace experience, and scheduling software does not equal training. Too many times I have experienced in the large organizations that I have worked in that management will rely too much on new technologies to take us to the next level when in fact, a piece of paper and a pencil will accomplish much more and be more effective communicator.
In response to the article on Tripping Hazard in Scheduling I thought the author could have had more detail on his experience with identifying scheduling setbacks. Not everyone may know who Fluor is. Although his experience was not verified several valid points were made that through personal experience I can agree with. Schedulers in today’s era of construction projects are young professionals with a minimal amount of experience. It is my experience the senior employees tend to shy away from this task due to its complexity and constant attention that it requires. Therefore, in most cases the new employees coming in with little experience gets the job of scheduling with some senior employees guidance of course. In defense of the younger/newer employees “experience comes from mistakes made and lessons learned.” Schedulers do need the opportunity to work in tandem with a seasoned scheduler who has had the opportunity to experience the ups and downs as well as the ins and outs before they are held totally responsible. By being involved in scheduling of several constructions projects I have noticed that each one is a creature of its own and has to be treated accordingly. For instance, different parties involved in the project will need certain information to be captured in the schedule. This in turn can create a very detailed hard to manage and keep up to date schedule. Owners have even contractually implemented particular scheduling software as to allow them to adjust the schedule at will. In doing so this only added another layer to an already complex task. The issues discussed in this article were a true indication of the scheduling environment that exists in construction and has triggered more in-depth thinking on my part
ReplyDeleteIn response to The Pitfalls of CPM Scheduling on Construction Projects I found it to be an in-depth review of what actually transpires throughout the scheduling process. It mentions the main setbacks encountered in all the phases of the scheduling process that can either make it a success or a failure. I thought this article was a good follow up to the Tripping Hazards in Scheduling due to the author going into more descriptive detail on what causes these pitfalls in a natural working environment. In doing so it provides some hindsight in an attempt to be able to avoid some of these pitfalls in the future. This article also refreshed/clarified the meanings of vocabulary terms I haven’t had to recall in quite some time. Overall I found this article to be informative.Based on past experiences I can agree fully with the author’s perspective by having experienced a majority of these pitfalls, not being able to fully understand their ramifications at the time they occurred due to my lack of experience earlier in my career.
ReplyDelete