Engineering Encyclopedia

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Man-Power Leveling

Note: The source of the technical material in this volume is the Professional
Engineering Development Program (PEDP) of Engineering Services.
Warning: The material contained in this document was developed for Saudi
Aramco and is intended for the exclusive use of Saudi Aramco’s employees.
Any material contained in this document which is not already in the public
domain may not be copied, reproduced, sold, given, or disclosed to third
parties, or otherwise used in whole, or in part, without the written permission
of the Vice President, Engineering Services, Saudi Aramco.

Chapter : Project Management For additional information on this subject, contact

File Reference: PMT10106 B. Walters
Engineering Encyclopedia Project Management
Man-Power Leveling

Contents Pages

LEVELING MANPOWER FOR UNLIMITED MANPOWER AVAILABILITY................. 1

LEVELING MAN-POWER FOR LIMITED MAN-POWER AVAILABILITY.................... 3

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Engineering Encyclopedia Project Management
Man-Power Leveling

LEVELING MANPOWER FOR UNLIMITED MANPOWER AVAILABILITY

Man-power leveling with unlimited man-power availability will not extend the project time when
the man-power is leveled. Leveling of man-power reduces the peaks and fills in the valleys of the
man-power usage curve. The non-critical activities start and finish dates are adjusted within their
respective float times to level the project man-power. In the leveling procedure, the critical
activities will have priority. Crew sizes may be altered within reason. One must be certain that
the number of workers working on an activity can work efficiently. For instance, you would not
assign 35 workers to work at the same time in an area of 200 square feet. You have to be familiar
with the work area and requirements to accomplish the activities so as to wisely level the
schedule.
The ADM CPM Network in Figure 1 that follows has the man-hour requirements for each of the
activities. Using an unlimited man-power availability and an
8-hr. work day, the schedule is leveled within the required finish date.

Figure 2, that follows, has the labor resource totaled by each day. By observation, one can see
that the man-power is leveled, since the man-power varies between 3 and 6 men per day. There
are no man-power peaks and valleys. If there were greater variations, the activities with float time
would have their start or finish dates changed within the float time to level the man-power.

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards 1

 DAY NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

ACT NO.
100 - 102 4 4 4
Engineering Encyclopedia

102 - 104 2

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

104 - 106 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

108 - 110 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

110 - 112 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

114 - 116 5

116 - 118 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

118 - 120 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

120 - 122 6

122 - 124 5 5 5 5

124 - 130 5 5 5

NO. MEN 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 0

Man-Power Level CPM

FIGURE 2
Project Management
Man-Power Leveling

2
Engineering Encyclopedia Project Management
Man-Power Leveling

LEVELING MAN-POWER FOR LIMITED MAN-POWER AVAILABILITY

The previous example had unlimited man-power availability. In most cases, the man-power is
limited. In the case of limited man-power, one must again adjust the start and completion dates of
the activities within the float times to minimize the required man-power per day or to stay within
the given man-power limits. In Figure 3 that follows, the man-power was limited at 4 men. The
CPM network was then adjusted to use a maximum of 4 men per day and a minimum crew size of
2 men. Man-power adjustment may extend the project completion date. The first activities to be
changed are the activities with float time. After the first activities are exhausted and if the man-
power is still too high, the critical activities must be adjusted. Adjusting the critical activities will
delay the project completion date.

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards 3