PERT Technique in Building a New House - Essay Example

? Use of Program Evaluation and Review Technique in Building a New House ID: Project Management Code: BUS407 Semester: Winter 2013 Instructor’s Name: Dr Rehab, Dr Kais & Dr Mohamed Abstract The use of network techniques in completion of project works has been found to have positive impacts on the management of a project. PERT technique allows a complete project to be divided into its individual tasks and the time durations that these activities need such that the estimation of the completion of the total project can be done. The technique enables the determination of the earliest times when an individual task may be started and hence determines the critical path or the longest path of the project. This particular research takes into consideration the example of construction of a new house where the critical path can be determined such that delay in the completion of the total project can be avoided, thereby reflecting the benefits of the use of PERT in management of a project. Acknowledgements Table of Contents Serial No. Topic Page No. 1. Introduction 6 2. The Role of PERT in Project Management 7 2.1. Risk Factors in Projects and the Main Objective of PERT 7 3. Construction of New House Project: Use of PERT 8 3.1. PERT Technique in the Construction of a New House 9 4. Conclusion 13 References 14 List of Tables Serial No. Topic Page No. Table 1. The required tasks for construction of house 10 Table 2. Calculation of Earliest Start Times for all the activities of the project 12 List of Figures Serial No. Topic Page No. Figure 1. House Construction Network 9 Figure 2. PERT Diagram for the Construction of New House 11 List of Appendices Serial No. Topic Page No. Appendix A. PERT Diagram 15 1. Introduction: PERT or Program Evaluation and Review Technique is a technique for the management of any project work. It is based on analysis of the network that determines the duration of time for the completion of the project considering the individual activities of the project and the levels of uncertainty in the timely completion of the project. Network diagrams or as they are referred as PERT charts are part of this technique that helps in the estimation of the duration for the completion of the project. The estimations of time durations used by PERT are probabilistic in nature. Thus specific time durations are not used by the technique. Optimistic estimates are used for the estimations of the durations, while pessimistic estimates are used for the activities of the project (Schwalbe 2010). The management of project holds significant importance since in large organizations or for larger project works, the tasks and activities of the project proves to be highly complex and hence need expertise for its timely completion. It is for this reason that highly qualified project managers are hired for the management of projects. Such project managers are required to have the specific skills and competencies needed for the project to be undertaken (PM4DEV 2008). Examples of different projects may include construction of houses, factories, shopping malls, development of military systems, construction of oil pipelines, and so on (Russell and Taylor 2006). The present study focuses on an understanding of how PERT is used in the management of a project considering the example of construction of a house. 2. The Role of PERT in Project Management: Projects such as the building of houses involve several complex activities and task that need to be accomplished, the tasks that are interrelated with each other. Thus one of the major objectives before initiating the tasks of a project includes scheduling the individual activities depending on specific time, as well as resources. This needs to be done such that the total project can be completed within the planned time, with minimum cost being allocated (Sharma 2006). For the use of PERT in management of projects, a weighted average of the estimated duration for each activity of the project needs to be calculated which is done through the following formula: PERT weighted average = (optimistic time + 4*most likely time + pessimistic time) / 6 (). With this calculation, the total risk or uncertainty of the timely completion of the individual activities and hence the completion of the project can be estimated. With determination of these estimations, the next step that follows is controlling of the schedule such that the project can be completed on time. To achieve this, project management plan, project schedule, work performance data, and assets for the organizational process are included as the main inputs of the process. While the main outputs include measurements of the performances, updates on the organizational processes, updates on the project plans and updates on the project documents (Schwalbe 2010). 2.1. Risk Factors in Projects and the Main Objective of PERT: Since in large projects like the construction of houses, several activities and tasks are involved, it is understood that there are risks associated with these activities particularly in relation to their timely completion and cost effectiveness. The main objective of the use of PERT in a project involves focusing on detailed information on the risks associated with the project such that the probable implications and consequences may be predicted in advance. For this purpose, a continuous Beta distribution of the consequences of the risks and tasks are assumed by the PERT technique that takes into consideration the optimistic estimates, pessimistic estimates, and the most likely estimates of durations (Kendrick 2009). Thus PERT plans and schedules the tasks and activities of a project those are interrelated to each other for the timely completion of the project. The relationships among the activities in the scheduled plan of the project are represented through a networked diagram as followed by the PERT technique (Appendix A) (Chinneck 2009). 3. Construction of New House Project: Use of PERT: Considering the example of construction of a new house, the basic steps that would be needed to be accomplished are first required to be decided. For instance, the some of the tasks and activities of a new house construction would involve laying the foundation of the house, its wiring, plumbing, construction of its walls and ceilings, floors, and planning and implementing the external as well as internal decoration. Deciding on the different activities and tasks, the estimated time for the completion of each of these tasks would be required to be calculated. This would involve a systematic approach towards the construction since one step would follow the other and they are interrelated as well (Bang-Jensen and Gutin 2009). The use of PERT can be made in here by planning a network for the activities of the construction as have been represented below. In the figure, the points S and F represent the starting and finishing points of the project, Wi represent the wiring of the house, Pl represents the plumbing activity, Fl represents the construction of the floors, WC represents the walls and ceilings of the house, ID is for interior decorations, and ED represents the exterior decoration of the house (Bang-Jensen and Gutin 2009). Figure 1: House Construction Network (Bang-Jensen and Gutin 2009). The numbers in the figure represents the time duration which is 0 for the starting points and the rest of the time duration for the respective activities. In order to achieve timely completion of the project, it is necessary that any critical activity is avoided. The path of duration that is longest among all the paths of the activities is considered as critical. Thus the critical activities cannot be delayed at all. If delay needs to take place, it can be done on the non-critical activities (Bang-Jensen and Gutin 2009). 3.1. PERT Technique in the Construction of a New House: It can be now discussed as to how the PERT technique can be used in the construction of a new house, say a cottage for example. The various activities or tasks that would be parts of the project are listed in the table below. These are the major activities for the construction of a house (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). Code of Task Duration (weeks) Prerequisite tasks A Masonry 7 - B Carpentry for roof 3 A C Roof 1 B D Sanitary and electrical installations 8 A E Front 2 D,C F Windows 1 D,C G Garden 1 D,C H Ceiling 3 F J Painting 2 H K Moving in 1 E,G,J Table 1: The required tasks for construction of house (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). If say S is considered to be the total set of all the activities of the project, then the partial order relation, R, can be determined as follows: xRy ? x = y or x precedes y where x and y represents the activities of the project (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). With the help of PERT, the minimum time durations for the completion of this job can be obtained. This can be represented by the following diagram of the PERT. Figure 2: PERT Diagram for the Construction of New House (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). The arrows represent the sequence of the activities and the figures in the diagram representing the number of weeks that each task would require to be completed. Since the sequence needs to be maintained thus for each of the activities, the earliest time when it can be started can be calculated that is provided in the following table: Task Earliest Start Time Start (?) 0 A 0 B 7 C 10 D 7 E 15 F 15 G 15 H 16 J 18 K 20 Finish (?) 21 Table 2: Calculation of Earliest Start Times for all the activities of the project (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). From the above calculation it can be determined that the entire project would require a minimum of 21 weeks for its completion. The length of the longest path represents the minimum time duration necessary for the completion of the project. The bold line is Figure 2 represents that longest path of the project. This represents the critical path of the project and in any case work is delayed in this path, delay would occur in the completion of the entire project. However, the other activities represent the non-critical activities and hence delay in these activities would not affect the overall completion of the project (Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications n.d.). The use of the PERT technique has been found to be effective in the management of projects like construction of houses since the technique allows optimal allocation of resources as well as time to the completion of the individual activities and hence in the completion of the entire project within the desired schedule time. The use of such techniques helps in “integrated cost planning, and financial and project scheduling on scientific basis” (Sharma 2006). PERT enables an organization of the individual tasks of a project which is highly essential for a logical and sequenced completion of a large project (Sharma 2006). 4. Conclusion: From the above calculation and study, it could be learnt that the PERT technique enables the different activities of a house construction and their time durations to be estimated depending on which it can be decided where a delay in the project can be afforded and where it cannot be afforded. The construction of a house is a huge project and the PERT technique can be said to be used in the project enabling the project to be completed on time. This could be obtained from the study that the use of PERT technique in the house construction project divided the individual tasks and their time durations to determine the critical path of the project. It is essential to determine this path such that delay in the project completion can be avoided. From the use of the PERT, it becomes clear as to which are the critical and the non-critical activities and hence the completion of the tasks can be accomplished accordingly. Hence it can be concluded that the use of PERT technique can be successfully done in the project of a construction of house. References Bang-Jensen, J. and G.Z. Gutin (2009) Digraphs: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications. New York: Springer. Chinneck, J.W. (2009) Chapter 11: PERT for Project Planning and Scheduling. SCE. [Online]. Available at: http://www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/chinneck/po/Chapter11.pdf [Accessed 13 May 2013]. Kendrick, T. (2009) Identifying and Managing Project Risk: Essential Tools for Failure-Proofing Your Project. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. PM4DEV (2008) Fundamentals of Project Management. North Carolina: Lulu.com. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM) Applications (n.d.) UML. [Online]. Available at: http://faculty.uml.edu/adoerr/92.321/pdf/week14.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2013]. Russell and Taylor (2006) Operations Management: Quality and Competitiveness in a Global Environment, 5th Ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Schwalbe, K. (2010) Information Technology Project Management: With Microsoft Project 2007. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Sharma, S.C. (2006) Operation Research: Pert, Cpm & Cost Analysis. India: Discovery Publishing House. Appendices Appendix A: PERT Diagram (Chinneck 2009). Read More