Topic

Reducing Project Duration

Presented By:

Uzair Ali
Khan (030)
Abdul Rauf (028)
Muhammad Hamza Sunny (016)
Muhammad Jabbar Khan (043)
Momin Ashfaq (022)
Introduction:
 There are many good reasons for attempting to reduce
the duration of a project.
 One of the more important reasons today is time to
market.
 Intense global competition and rapid technological
advances have made speed a competitive advantage.
 To succeed, companies have to spot new opportunities,
launch project teams and bring new products or services
to the marketplace in a flash.
Cont.
 Common reason for reducing project time occurs when
unforeseen delays, for example, adverse weather, design
flaws, and equipment breakdown cause substantial
delays midway in the project.
 “Imposed deadlines” is another reason for accelerating
project completion. For example, a politician makes a
public statement that a new law building will be
available in two years.
 But, the project duration time is set while the project is
in its “concept” phase before or without any detailed
scheduling of all the activities in the project.
Reasons for imposed project duration dates:

 Customer requirements and contract commitments.

 Time-to-market pressures.
 Incentive contracts (bonuses for early completion).
 Unforeseen delays.
 Pressure to move resources to other projects.
 Overhead and goodwill costs.
Options for Accelerating Project
Completion:
1. Adding Resources:
 The most common method for shortening project time is to
assign additional staff and equipment to activities.
 There are limits, however, as to how much speed can be
gained by adding staff.
 Doubling the size of the workforce will not necessarily
reduce completion time by half.
2. Outsourcing Project Work:
 A common method for shortening the project time is to
subcontract an activity.
 The subcontractor may have access to superior technology or
expertise that will accelerate the completion of the activity.
Cont.
3. Scheduling Overtime:
 The easiest way to add more labor to a project is not to
add more people, but to schedule overtime. If a team
works 50 hours a week instead of 40, it might
accomplish 20 percent more.
4. Establish a Core Project Team:
 The core team is responsible for monitoring the progress
of each of key deliverables and making decisions about
corrections.
 Should the project is over budget or if major changes
occurs?
Cont.
5. Do it Twice—Fast and Correctly:
 If you are in a hurry, try building a “quick and dirty”
short-term solution, then go back and do it the right way.
6. Fast-Tracking:
 It is a technique where activities are worked on
simultaneously instead of waiting for each piece to be
completed.
7. Critical-Chain:
 Critical-chain project management (CCPM) is designed
to accelerate project completion.
Cont.
8. Reducing Project Scope:
 Probably the most common response for meeting
unattainable deadlines is to reduce or scale back the
scope of the project. This invariably leads to a reduction
in the functionality of the project.
 The key to reducing a project scope without reducing
value is to reassess the true specifications of the project.
Often requirements are added under best-case.
9. Compromise Quality:
 Reducing quality is always an option, but it is rarely
acceptable or used. If quality is sacrificed, it may be
possible to reduce the time of an activity on the critical
path.
Explanation of Project Costs
1. Project Indirect Costs:
 Costs that cannot be associated with any particular
work package or project activity such as supervision,
administration, consultants, and interest
 Costs that increases with time and Reducing project
time directly reduces indirect costs.
2. Direct Costs:
 Normal costs that can be assigned directly to a specific
work package or project activity such as Labor,
materials, equipment, and subcontractors.
 Crashing activities increases direct costs.
Reducing Project Duration to
Reduce Project Cost
Project Cost Duration Graph
Constructing a Project Cost
Duration Graph
 Find total direct costs for selected project durations.
 Find total indirect costs for selected project durations.
 Sum direct and indirect costs for these selected project
durations.
 Compare additional cost alternatives for benefits.
Cont.
 Determining Activities to Shorten:
◦ Shorten the activities with the smallest increase in
cost per unit of time.
Assumptions:
 The cost relationship is linear.
 Normal time assumes low-cost, efficient methods to
complete the activity.
 Crash time represents a limit, the greatest time
reduction possible under realistic conditions.
 Slope represents a constant cost per unit of time
Activity Graph
Cost Duration Trade-off Example
Cont.
Cont.
Cont.
Summary Cost by Duration
Project Cost Duration Graph
What if Cost, Not Time is the Issue?

 Commonly Used Options for Cutting Costs

◦ Reduce project scope
◦ Have owner take on more responsibility
◦ Outsourcing project activities or even the entire
project
◦ Brainstorming cost savings options