Schedule compression

Schedule Compression is a technique used to shorten the duration of the project

without changing the scope of the project. It is used when a project falls behind
schedule and needs to catch up, or if the project wants to finish sooner than what
was originally scheduled. There are basically two techniques used to shorten the
project duration: Crashing and Fast Tracking
Fast Tracking
Activities are performed in parallel or worked on simultaneously instead of waiting
for each piece to be completed separately. It does not involve any costs. It is simply
a rearrangement of the activities in the original schedule. It may lead to a rework or
rearrangement of the project.

But Why Fast Track or Crash?

1. Fast tracking involves the performance of activities in parallel, whereas crashing
involves the addition of resources to a project.
2. In fast tracking, there is increased risk, whereas in crashing, there is increased
cost.
Crashing
Crashing (or Compressing) is the term used to describe the process of accelerating
an activity or multiple activities to shorten the overall duration of a project.
By adding people or equipment or by working additional hours, an activitys
duration can be shortened.
The time required to complete a project is determined by the critical path, so
to compress the schedule, one must focus on the critical path activities.
To minimize the cost, those activities that are not on the critical path can be
extended to minimize their costs without increasing the project completion
time.
Activities are crashed for different reasons:
1. An activity or a series of activities may need to be completed by a specific
date for contractual reasons.
2. Some activities can be accomplished more economically during a certain time
of the year encouraging the acceleration of activities.
3. The cost to accelerate an activity that shortens the projects duration may be
less expensive than the cost of running the project for the same period.
Normal time:
Normal time is the time required to complete the activity at normal conditions and
cost.
Crash time:
Crash time is the shortest possible activity time; crashing more than the normal
time will increase the direct cost.
Cost Slope
Cost slope is the increase in cost per unit of time saved by crashing. A linear cost
curve is shown in Figure 8.27.

Crash cost C c Normal cost N c

Cost slope=
Normal time N t Crash time Ct