Application of Dependency Structure Matrix for Activity

Sequencing in Concurrent Engineering Projects

J. Uma Maheswari1; Koshy Varghese2; and T. Sridharan3
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Abstract: The dependency structure matrix 共DSM兲 has been identified as an apt tool to represent information flows between activities.
Using this representation, information dependency attributes can be organized and analyzed in a structured manner to identify activity
groups and sequences for concurrent execution. Current DSM methodology requires significant efforts from the experts to estimate
information dependency attributes. The methodology can be more widely used if the estimating efforts are reduced. This paper proposes
two concepts to reduce the estimating efforts required for the DSM methodology. The first concept reduces the number of information
dependency ratings required and the second concept reduces the effort to estimate the rating. The proposed concepts are structured into a
procedure. This procedure is applied to the design phase of an induced draft cooling tower 共IDCT兲 project and discussed. The paper also
discusses the shortcomings and future directions of the present approach and concludes that the present approach is applicable in IDCT
projects and can be extended to other types of projects.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9364共2006兲132:5共482兲
CE Database subject headings: Construction management; Information management; Project management.

Introduction Assumptions are also required to execute interdependent activi-

In order to minimize the project duration, a number of schedule
compression techniques are in use today. Phased construction,
fast track, concurrent engineering 共CE兲, and concurrent construc-
tion 共CC兲 are some of the popular techniques 共Fazio et al. 1988;
Jaafari 1997; Koskela and Huovila 1999; Kamara et al. 2001兲.
Concurrent engineering is a process where the design activities
are overlapped with each other to shorten the design phase. In
attempting to reduce project duration through CE, decisions on
the activities that can be overlapped, the extent of overlap, and the
overall sequence of activities are critical. These decisions are in-
fluenced predominantly by the information dependency among
the activities.
The dependency relationships among the activities in a pro-
ject are of three types—independent, dependent, and interdepen-
dent 共Eppinger 2001; Yassine and Braha 2003兲. It is obvious that
if a project consists of independent activities, there are fewer
problems in concurrent execution. To perform the concurrent ex-
ecution of dependent activities, assumptions have to be made.
1 et al. 共1999兲 have been used to quantify the information transfers
Research Scholar, Building Technology and Construction
Management Division, Civil Engineering Dept., Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. E-mail: uma@iitm.ac.in
2
Professor, Building Technology and Construction Management
Division, Civil Engineering Dept., Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. E-mail: koshy@iitm.ac.in
3
Formerly, General Manager, Engineering Design Research and
Consultancy Group, Larsen & Toubro, ECC Division, Mount
Poonamallee Rd., Manapakkam, Chennai 600 089, India.
Note. Discussion open until October 1, 2006. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on April 6, 2004; approved on August 3, 2005. This
paper is part of the Journal of Construction Engineering and Manage-
ment, Vol. 132, No. 5, May 1, 2006. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9364/2006/5-
482–490/$25.00.
ties. In such cases, the activities require assumed information to
start and progress even if they are executed sequentially. If these
assumptions are erroneous, it can lead to rework of a single or a
group of dependent activities and hence cause delays. One of the
challenges in planning a CE process is to decide on the assump-
tions and the corresponding sequence of execution, which will
result in minimum project duration with little risk of errors and
rework.
Conventional tools like the critical path method 共CPM兲 and
program evaluation and review techniques 共PERT兲 are not suit-
able for sequence analysis because they cannot model inter-
dependent activities 共Eppinger 2001兲. Moreover, these tools
cannot model information flow. As engineering activities are
interdependent and sequenced based on information flows, mod-
eling information exchange for these activities is impossible with
CPM or PERT. Researchers have investigated the dependency
structure matrix 共DSM兲 as a tool to identify and manage informa-
tion exchange between activities 共Eppinger et al. 2005; Steward
1981兲. Factors such as strength of dependency, sensitivity, and a
few other factors proposed by Eppinger et al. 共2005兲 and Yassine
among the activities for planning the sequence 共Eppinger et al.
1994兲.
Although extensive DSM research has been carried out in
manufacturing and other disciplines, little work has been done
in construction. Construction researchers in VTT 共Technical Re-
search Centre of Finland兲 have demonstrated through case studies
that the DSM can be used for finding better sequences for build-
ing a design process 共Huovila et al. 1995; Koskela et al. 1997兲.
Similarly, at Loughborough University, researchers have devel-
oped a DSM-based methodology called the analytical design
planning technique 共ADePT兲 and have tested its applicability in
building projects 共Austin et al. 1996, 2000a,b兲.
A limitation of the applicability of current DSM methodolo-
gies is that significant effort is required from the experts to esti-
mate information dependency attributes. The objective of the

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 Project Execution Strategies

In the conventional method of project execution, design is fully

completed before construction starts as illustrated in Fig. 1共a兲. As
the demand for shorter projects arose, phased construction was
introduced. Here, after each design work package is completed,
the corresponding construction work package is executed as
shown in Fig. 1共b兲 共Fazio et al. 1988兲. Owing to the further de-
mand for shortening project duration, the fast track method came
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into existence. In this method, the design phase is overlapped

Fig. 1. Project execution strategies
present work is to reduce the estimating effort. To address this
objective, the paper proposes two concepts—the first concept
reduces the number of information dependency ratings to be es-
timated and the second concept reduces the effort to estimate each
rating.
The proposed concepts were structured as a detailed proce-
dure. The application of the procedure to the drive assembly 共DA兲
design of an induced draft cooling tower 共IDCT兲 was carried out
with industry interaction. The details of this application example
are illustrated in this paper and the resulting implementation
issues are discussed.
with the construction phase to achieve the time gain as shown in
Fig. 1共c兲 共Huovila et al. 1994兲. As there was no systematic analy-
sis or procedure for overlapping the phases, there were numerous
problems and additional costs associated with the fast-track ap-
proach 共Huovila et al. 1994兲.
The concurrent engineering concept consists of an organized
procedure and methods for achieving the demand of shortened
project duration. It is a process where selected activities in the
design phase are overlapped, thereby reducing the total dura-
tion of the design phase as shown in Fig. 1共d兲. At VTT and
Loughborough University, extensive research is being carried out
in implementing the CE concept in construction 共Huovila et al.
1994; Koskela and Huovila 1999; Anumba and Kamara 1999;
Kamara et al. 2001兲. Concurrent construction is a combination of
the fast-track and CE concepts where there is a shortened design
phase and also overlapping with the construction phase as shown
in Fig. 1共e兲. Even though the CC concept offers potential for
maximum reduction in duration, issues of systematic implemen-
tation are very difficult.
A comparative analysis of the various execution strategies is
shown in Table 1. The level of detail required to plan the CE and
CC processes is at the activity level. Detailed information about
the dependency relationships for the activities is essential for
concurrent implementation. Such detailed information will not be
available to the planners during planning. One of the challenges
in planning a CE process is to decide on the assumptions and the
corresponding sequence of execution, that will result in minimum
project duration with little risk of errors and rework. Further, as
the information dependency relationships in a project also add
complexity, the managers have to assume information for con-
current implementation. Executing a concurrent project with
uncertain information and/or assumptions is a key challenge.
Once suitable assumptions are determined, the sequence of activi-
ties can be generated.

Table 1. Comparison between the Various Execution Strategies

Strategy Type of
number execution model
1 Conventional method
2 Phased construction
3 Fast-track construction
4 Concurrent engineering
5 Concurrent construction
Description
Design phase is fullly completed followed by construction
After each design work package, that particular construction
starts
Design work package overlaps with the construction work
package
Design activities overlap among themselves and construction
follows this shortened design phase
Design activities themselves overlap and the design phase also
overlaps with construction
Level of detail
Focus is at abstract level—entire phase
Focus is at second level—work package
Focus is at second level—work package
Focus is at third level—activities
Focus is at third level—activities

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 Fig. 2. Types of relationships between the activities
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Activity Sequencing
In order to sequence the activities, the basic inputs required are
the activities and the relationship among the activities or tasks.
The various relationships between the tasks are dependent,
independent, or interdependent as shown in Fig. 2. If the CE
technique has to be implemented in a project consisting of
all independent tasks, sequencing is not a problem. If all the tasks
are dependent, and if a succeeding task has to be overlapped with
its predecessor, then it will be required to assume information
to start the succeeding task. The interdependent type of relation-
ship implies that the activities require information from each
other to start and progress. Even if they are executed sequentially,
an assumption of information has to be made to start either task.
These assumptions are also referred to as uncertain information
or advance engineering information 共Eastman 1980兲. Almost
all projects consist of dependent and interdependent activities,
and hence to implement CE, the managers have to decide on the
assumptions to be made and the corresponding sequence of
execution.
Moreover, the planners and managers should be aware of the
consequences of making assumptions. Information and data that
are assumed have to be checked and sometimes revised as the
project progresses. When an assumption is found to be wrong,
some or all the downstream activities may have to be repeated.
The repetition of one or more dependent activities is termed
rework.
One way of managing rework effectively is to avoid interde-
pendent tasks. There are many possible ways to avoid the cou-
pling of interdependent tasks by splitting a task into two or more
tasks, combining two or more tasks into a single task, redefining
the project tasks and their relationship itself, or sometimes break-
ing the relationship between the tasks 共Yassine et al. 2000兲. To
break a dependency relationship between activities, one should
have “more information” about the dependency relationships in
the project.
Based on the above activity sequencing problem, the focus of
the present study is to model information dependencies for all
activities in a concurrent project and to plan for the choice of
assumptions and estimate the project duration of the selected
choice.
Dependency Structure Matrix: A Tool for Modeling
Sequencing
From a survey of tools used to model information flow dependen-
cies and sequences, the dependency structure matrix was consid-
ered to be a powerful and flexible tool for CE management and
implementation 共Yassine et al. 1999; Kusiak and Wang 1993兲. A
major advantage of the matrix representation over other tools lies
in its compactness, and its ability to provide a systematic mapping
among the elements that is easy to read regardless of size. It
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Fig. 3. Dependency structure matrix representation
clearly represents where interdependence occurs, and procedures
to identify and evaluate sequence options.
The basic representation of the activity DSM is a square ma-
trix containing a list of activities in the rows and columns in the
same order in a matrix form 共Eppinger et al. 2005; Steward 1981兲.
Fig. 3 shows a basic DSM for six activities. The order of activities
in the rows or columns in the matrix indicates the sequence of
execution. The information dependencies among the activities are
represented with an ⫻ mark in the off-diagonal cells. The diago-
nal cells generally have no value but the duration for each activity
can be included. The activities have to be read along the columns
as “gives information to” and along the rows as “needs informa-
tion from.” The marks above the diagonal are called feedback
marks and the marks below the diagonal are called feedforward.
If any mark lies above the diagonal, it implies that an assumption
has to be made to execute the corresponding sequence.
Partitioning
In order to minimize assumptions, the feedback marks can be
brought below the diagonal by rearranging the sequence of activi-
ties. If there are loops in the matrix, resequencing the activities
cannot result in eliminating all feedback marks. A DSM can be
split into a number of independent blocks. All activities within
each block are linked through closed single or multiple feedback
loops. Through resequencing the activities, the feedback marks
are brought as close to the diagonal as possible, because marks
away from the diagonal imply that more activities have to be
reworked if an assumption changes.
The process of rearranging the order of activities in such a way
that there is movement of dependency relationships either below
the diagonal or close to the diagonal and the formation of blocks
is called partitioning 共Eppinger et al. 2005; Steward 1981兲. Fig. 4
shows the partitioned DSM. In this case, activities EDB form a
loop and are represented as a block. Activities C, F, and A are

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Fig. 4. Partitioned dependency structure matrix showing the tear
marks
independent of the EDB loop and are hence sequenced earlier.
This enables the C-A and C-E information transfer to be below
the diagonal.
Tearing
Once the blocks are identified, the activities have to be sequenced
within the blocks by removing the dependency relationship
temporarily by the process called tearing 共Eppinger et al. 2005;
Steward 1981兲. Tearing basically involves making an assumption
of the information required. In Fig. 4, the places for suggested
tears are circled. Once these assumptions are made within the
block, the sequence of execution will be as follows: Activities C
and F can be started in parallel; A and E follow C; and then D can
be started only after A finishes. B needs information from D and
E to start. The activities E, D, and B form a loop. Any changes or
refinement in the initial assumptions can cause rework for these
activities.
It can be seen that there can be a number of sequence and tear
options available to the planner. Hence, additional information on
the dependency relationship between the activities within the
blocks is essential for choosing specified tear locations.
Numerical Dependency Structure Matrix
Since the conventional DSM does not provide adequate informa-
tion for making tear marks 共it can only show the presence or
absence of a dependency relationship兲, an advanced version
of DSM, the numerical DSM, emerged. It contains a numerical
rating in the off-diagonal elements instead of ⫻ marks. These
numbers are obtained qualitatively through interviews, surveys,
etc. with the experts in the concerned field. With the help of this
information, one can decide the tear locations. The numbers can
be based on attributes such as the strength of dependence of a task
on specific data, sensitivity, evolution, variability, accuracy of the
information, and other factors as defined by Eppinger et al. 共2005兲
and Browning 共1998兲. Strength of dependency is the most com-
monly used factor for rating. The research group at MIT utilizes a
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Table 2. Relationship between Strength of Dependency and Reliability
of Information
Strength of dependency
Reliability of
information High Medium Low
Reliable 0.0 0.0 0.0
Good 0.5 0.0 0.0
Unreliable 1.0 0.5 0.0
0 to 1 scale to quantify the extent of information needed between
activities. Steward uses level numbers for rating the dependencies
with numbers from 1 to 9 共Eppinger et al. 2005兲.
Proposed Concepts
Tearing Heuristics
In the existing approaches a numerical rating has to be assigned
for all dependency relationships to generate feasible sequences. If
feasible sequence alternatives can be developed by rating only
selected dependencies, it will reduce the estimating efforts. How-
ever, there is no definite procedure to identify the select depen-
dencies which can minimize the ratings required for a matrix.
Thus, a heuristic approach to minimize the number of dependen-
cies to be rated is developed.
A DSM can consist of a number of independent cyclic activi-
ties and each of these forms a block. There can be multiple cycles
of varying lengths within a block. The heuristic approach devel-
oped for this work was based on the observation that feasible
sequences can be generated when dependency relationships that
form the minimum length cycle are selected for rating. The ap-
plication of this heuristic requires one to select the information
dependencies which are a part of the minimum length loop共s兲
in each of the blocks. These loops were identified through the
partitioning process.
Rating Scale: Criticality of Assumption
To rate the information dependencies, a three-point classification
system was devised for the building design process 共Austin et al.
2000a兲. This system of classification relies on three factors—
strength of information dependence, sensitivity to change of in-
formation, and ease of estimating information 共Austin et al. 1996,
2000b; Adept Management Ltd. 2005兲. This requires the design-
ers to make three separate estimates, and the resulting information
classification is given a rating of A, B, or C 共where A = strong,
B = medium, and C = weak兲.
In practice, estimating three dependency attributes was found
to be difficult and hence a new rating was introduced. The first
factor, strength of dependency, was retained, as it was found fea-
sible to estimate. The second factor, sensitivity of information,
was found to be difficult to estimate and hence not considered.
The last factor, ease of estimating information, was replaced with
information reliability, as in the projects considered for this work
estimated information based on past data is typically available
and the designer has to assess if it is reliable for the current
project. Combining strength of dependency and reliability of
information a new rating called criticality of assumption is
proposed.
Table 2 shows the relationship between the strength of depen-
dency and reliability of information to determine the criticality of
assumption. As shown in Table 2, an estimate of strength of de-
pendency and reliability for each information dependency has to

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Fig. 5. Flowchart for solution procedure
be made by the experts on a three-point scale and the correspond-
ing value of criticality of assumption is determined from the table.
Solution Procedure
The two concepts proposed in the previous section can be incor-
porated into an overall solution procedure through the following
steps and represented as a flowchart as shown in Fig. 5.
1. Identify list of activities and the corresponding dependency
relationships to form activity DSM.
2. Partition the DSM to determine the blocks and overall se-
quence of execution.
3. Select information dependencies within each block to be
rated by applying heuristic, i.e., by choosing the dependen-
cies on the minimum length cycle within each block for
rating.
4. Rate the selected information dependency using criticality of
assumption approach discussed earlier.
5. For each loop, select the information which has the lowest
value of criticality of assumption 共tear marks兲. In case of ties,
designer should resolve based on experience.
6. Repartition the matrix and check for any remaining blocks. If
there are blocks go to step 3 or else continue.
7. Calculate project duration using CPM tool based on esti-
mated activity durations for the sequence defined by remain-
ing information dependency relationship.
The above procedure is explained in detail in the later sections
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J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2006, 132(5): 482-490
along with an illustration based on part of an induced draft cool-
ing tower design project.
Illustration: Induced Draft Cooling Tower
Induced draft cooling towers are typically part of power plants.
Cooling towers are used to remove heat from water by evaporat-
ing a small portion of the water that is recirculated through the
unit. Induced draft refers to the movement of air through a cool-
ing tower by means of an induced partial vacuum. Fans of
induced draft towers are located at the top to “draw” air through
the tower.
Induced draft cooling tower projects require design expertise
of four disciplines—mechanical, civil, electrical, and instrumen-
tation engineering. Each of these engineering processes were
studied in detail through case analysis of five projects and de-
tailed discussions with the engineers and managers who are in-
volved. There are various physical levels such as foundation,
cold-water basin, sill, fill, water distribution system, drift elimi-
nator, and drive assembly.
The design phase of the project consists of many interrelated
activities and the activity sequence is currently planned and ex-
ecuted based on previous experience. Since CPM and PERT can-
not capture the complex interdependencies as well as information
flows, there is no specific procedure for planning an activity se-
quence. The managers decide on assumptions based on immediate
need and without analyzing the consequences of such an assump-
tion. Hence, there is a need for a tool that can evaluate the alter-
native sequences based on the choice and place for assumptions.
The drive assembly design of the IDCT, being multidisci-
plinary in nature, has been considered for the current study. The
key components of the DA are 共1兲 mechanical components such
as fan, gearbox, motor, drive shaft, along with miscellaneous
items; 共2兲 civil components such as fan deck, fan stack, along
with few miscellaneous items; 共3兲 instrumentation components
such as oil level switch, vibration monitoring switch, along with
few miscellaneous items; and 共4兲 electrical items such as cables
and cable trays along with insert plates and anchor bolts, illumi-
nation system, along with few miscellaneous items. The activity
list along with the information dependency and the duration is
shown in Table 3.
Results
The detailed solution procedure described earlier is applied to the
DA design of an IDCT. The above procedure is discussed along
with the illustration in three broad steps: 共1兲 formation of activity
DSM and partitioned DSM; 共2兲 heuristic tearing process with
selection of dependencies and criticality of assumption to rate
these dependencies; and 共3兲 estimation of the project duration.
The results at each stage are presented and discussed.
Formation of Dependency Structure Matrix and Partitioned
Dependency Structure Matrix
1. The activity DSM for the sample project is as shown in
Fig. 6.
• From the list of activities and information dependencies
given in Table 3, form a matrix with the same order of
activities 共A to P兲 in rows as well as in columns and mark
an ⫻ appropriately representing the dependencies.
2. Once the activity DSM is formed, the matrix is partitioned as
shown in Fig. 7.
• The overall sequence of execution is represented in the
 Table 3. List of Activities and Dependency Relationship
Activity Duration
Discipline Design activity list ID 共days兲 Predecessors
Mechanical Fan design A 3 J
Motor design B 3 A, C
Gear box design C 3 A, B
Drive shaft design D 3 A, B, C
Details of equipment handling system E 7 A, B, C, P
Details of removable walkway, handrail, and trolley F 7 J
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Details of ladders, doors, and hatches G 7 A, C, J

Civil Details of insert plates, anchor bolts H 7 L, N
Design and details of slabs, grid beams, and pedestals at fan deck level I 7 B, C, H, J
Details and design of fan stack and ring beams J 7 A, D, G, H
Instrumentation Data sheet of level switch K 2 B
Instrument location and cable routing diagram L 6 K, M, N
Data sheet of vibration monitoring system M 2 A, B
Electrical Cable trays, trench layout, and sectional details N 3 B, L
Illumination system 共lighting兲 of cooling tower O 2 B, I, J
Earthing details and lighting protection system P 2

figure. Here activity P and the block B-K can be done in
parallel. This is followed by I, E, F, and then O follows.
The sequence of activities in the B-K block can be deter-
mined only after tearing.
Tearing Process
3. Within the B-K block, apply the tearing heuristic to select
activities which form the minimum length cycle as high-
lighted in Fig. 8.
• The minimum length cycle for the B-K block is 2. There
are four such cycles B-C-B, A-J-A, J-G-J, and L-N-L. The
information dependencies for the cycles are selected for
rating.
• Conventionally, the experts estimate the value for all the
dependency relationships in a block. Using this approach,
25 estimates have to be made for the block identified
共boxed兲 in Fig. 8. By using the proposed heuristic ap-
proach, it is required to make only eight estimates inside
the block.
4. For all the selected dependencies perform the rating 共instead
of ⫻ marks兲, i.e., estimate the values for criticality of as-
sumption as shown in Fig. 9.
• Ratings for the selected dependencies are given through a
three-point scale with 0, 0.5, or 1 as shown in the above
figure.
5. Choose the mark with lowest value of rating for assumptions
and tearing as circled in Fig. 9.
• Out of the four pairs of estimates of criticality of assump-
tions, the minimum value from each pair is chosen and
marked for tearing. If both the values are the same, then
the expert or user can select a mark for tearing.

Fig. 6. Activity dependency structure matrix for drive assembly Fig. 7. Partitioned dependency structure matrix for drive assembly
design design

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Fig. 10. Repartitioned dependency structure matrix for drive

assembly design

Fig. 8. Choice of select dependencies for drive assembly design

Analysis of Results
For any given case, there can be a number of sequences possible
6. Once the places for making assumptions are made, repeat the
based on the choice of an assumption or a tear mark. For the
partitioning process and find the new partitioned DSM as
IDCT illustration, if the user had chosen alternative tear marks as
shown in Fig. 10.
shown in Fig. 13, the sequence of execution would be as seen in
7. Check for any remaining loops or feedback marks in the
Fig. 14, and the corresponding duration would be 28 days as
repartitioned matrix and if any exist, repeat the steps from 4
shown in Fig. 15. The baseline alternative presented in the earlier
or else continue.
section had duration of 43 days. From the two alternatives pre-
• For the current example, this step is not applicable be-
sented it can be seen that the choice of tear locations 共choice of
cause there are no loops identified after repartitioning.
assumptions兲 controls the sequence of execution and the project
duration, assuming resource availability.
Estimation of the Project Duration
Further comparison of the above two alternatives 共Figs. 10 and
8. Enter the duration for each activity along the diagonal in the
14兲 shows that the chances of delay due to rework may be less in
DSM as in Fig. 11.
the first case, because the tear marks are close to the diagonal 共it
9. Use a standard project management tool to find the project
implies that fewer activities are involved in rework or repetition兲.
duration based on activity sequence and activity duration
Even though the normal duration for the second case is less, there
from step 8. The resulting project duration does not consider
would be a higher risk in selecting this alternative, because of
the rework.
• The total duration for the project is about 43 days as
shown in Fig. 12.

Fig. 11. Dependency structure matrix showing the duration for each
Fig. 9. Rating for the select dependencies for drive assembly design activity for drive assembly design

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Fig. 12. Total project duration for drive assembly design
the larger number of activities involved in rework. Thus, if the
assumptions made are incorrect, it will lead to extensive rework,
which may result in the project duration exceeding that of the
previous alternative.
Discussion and Conclusion
This section focuses on the issues faced while applying the DSM
procedure for the IDCT design activities. For the given list of
activities and information dependency relationships, the various
steps for choosing the minimum assumptions and tear locations
and the resulting sequence have been explained. But, in this pro-
cess, identifying the activities as well as the information depen-
dency relationship for each activity is an involved task especially
for new projects 共formation of Table 3兲. Significant commitment,
time, and interaction was required from the expert group in order
to understand the DSM concept, and form the activity DSM.
Once the designers were familiar with the DSM concept, and the
research team was familiar with the DA components of the IDCT
approach, approximately 5 h of discussion was required to de-
velop the activity DSM for the 16 activities of DA design alone.
Once the activities and the information dependency relation-
ships are formed, the next step is partitioning, followed by tear-
ing. Once the DSM is partitioned, the heuristic tearing process
is used to select the information dependencies that need to be
Fig. 13. Alternative choice of select dependencies for drive assembly
design 共Case 2兲
JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT © ASCE / MAY 2006 / 489
J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2006, 132(5): 482-490
rated. In the above illustration, the application of the heuristic
resulted in selection of eight information dependencies for rating.
The subsequent rating and repartitioning resolved the DSM into
a feasible execution sequence. Without the heuristic, 25 rating
estimates would have been required. Thus, through the applica-
tion of the heuristic, the rating effort on the designers was signifi-
cantly reduced.
There are situations in which the application of the heuristic
tearing will not eliminate all loops. In such cases, the heuristic has
to be reapplied as specified in the flowchart Fig. 5. In the current
illustration this was not experienced. In the extreme case, the
maximum number of ratings will be for all dependency relation-
ships in the block. This requires the same effort as the conven-
tional tearing approach.
To estimate the rating for the selected dependencies, the writ-
ers used criticality of assumptions which required an assessment
of two factors—strength of dependency and reliability of infor-
mation. For the current study, the two factors were assessable and
acceptable to the experts and reduced the rating effort when com-
pared to the three-point scale 共including sensitivity兲 proposed by
Austin et al. 共2000a兲. However, in situations where the experts
can assess sensitivity and the estimation effort is justified it
should be included.
A conceptual limitation of the current study is that it does not
explicitly consider the rework duration in calculating the project
duration. As discussed above, the extent of rework duration is
Fig. 14. Repartitioned dependency structure matrix for drive
assembly design 共Case 2兲

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Fig. 15. Total project duration for drive assembly design 共Case 2兲
assessed by the user. There is a need for a more systematic ap-
proach to include the impact of rework in estimating project du-
ration. Further, the analysis of the schedule scenarios based on
tear locations is theoretical and assumes no resource constraints.
In reality, additional inputs such as resource availability and load-
ing are required for a practical analysis of the schedule.
This paper presented the importance of activity sequencing for
planning the concurrent execution of activities and introduced
two concepts to reduce the efforts in applying the DSM to iden-
tify and estimate duration of alternate sequences. The concepts
were applied to IDCT projects with the help of industry experts.
The study revealed that the proposed concepts and procedure
were applicable on IDCT projects and there is potential for appli-
cation to other construction projects requiring interdisciplinary
design. For the industry to adopt the DSM into regular practice,
further studies are required to investigate the cost-benefit and
organizational barriers for applying the DSM in construction. The
ongoing work is focused on addressing the limitations discussed
above and studying the broader application of DSM to construc-
tion projects.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to express their gratitude and sincere
thanks to the following engineers of L&T ECC 共EDRC division兲
who spent their valuable time and effort in discussions and
case analysis: Mr. B. Srinivasa Rao, Mr. S. Ramasubramanian,
Mr. Y. Laxmiganapathi, Mr. Khasim Khan, Mr. O. P. Thyagarajan,
and Mr. Arin Dey.
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