‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
(GE 404)

TUTORIAL # 6
TIME-COST TRADE-OFF
(TIME SHORTENING)

Instructor: Eng.Alothman

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

 Basic Steps for crash calculation
2
1. Compute the crash cost per time period,
considering crash costs are linear over time
2. Using current activity times, find the critical path and identify the
critical activities
3. Select the activity on the critical path of which (a) it can still be crashed,
and (b) it has the smallest crash cost per period.
o If there is more than one critical path, then select one activity from each
critical path such that (a) each selected activity can still be crashed, and (b)
the total crash cost of all selected activities is the smallest.
o Note that the same activity may be common to more than one critical path

4. Determine the compression limit (Nil)

 - Crash Limit, or
Nil = Min  - Free Float of any of the non critical activities
in the parallel paths competing for critical path.*

5. Update all activity times. If the desired due date has been reached, stop. If not,
return to Step 2
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
Example1: Activity Time (day) Cost (SR)
Code Normal Crash Normal Crash
The below network shows the activities
of a small engineering project. Data of A 7 3 1500 2300
the project is given in the below table. 3 B 9 5 1400 1840
The indirect cost is estimated to be SR C 8 5 1280 1430
90/day. Determine the optimum D 14 9 1100 1400
contract duration. E 4 2 1200 1500
F 9 7 1500 1680
G 7 3 1200 1520
H 11 7 1750 1910
I 11 7 1500 1720

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

1- Develop AON, calculate times, find critical path

0 7 7 7 8 15 23 4 27
A 0 C 8 E 2
10 10 17 17 10 25 25 2 29
0 0
START
0 0 0
0 9 9 9 14 23 18 7 25 29 11 40
B 0 D 0 G 4 I
0 0 9 11 2 25 22 4 29 29 0 40

9 9 18 18 11 29 ES EF LS LF TF FF CP
F 0 H 0 A 0 7 10 17 10 0 N
9 0 18 18 0 29 B 0 9 0 9 0 0 Y
C 7 15 17 25 17 8 N
D 9 23 11 25 2 0 N
 Project completion time = 40 working days E 23 27 25 29 2 2 N
 Critical Path: B, F, H, I. F 9 18 9 18 0 0 Y
G 18 29 22 29 4 4 N
H 18 29 18 29 0 0 Y
I 29 40 29 40 0 0 Y
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
2- Calculate cost slope

Crash cos t - Normal cos t

Cost Slope 
Normal duration - Cr ash durati on

Time (day) Cost (SR)

Activity Time can be Slope, Total Crash
Code Normal Crash Normal Crash crashed SR/day Cost, SR
A 7 3 1500 2300 4 200 800
B 9 5 1400 1840 4 110 440
C 8 5 1280 1430 3 50 150
D 14 9 1100 1400 5 60 300
E 4 2 1200 1500 2 150 300
F 9 7 1500 1680 2 90 180
G 7 3 1200 1520 4 80 320
H 11 7 1750 1910 4 40 160
I 11 7 1500 1720 4 55 220
∑ 12430 15300 ∑ 2870
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
3- prepare data for crash analysis ES D LS
Add the crash limit on node diagram Act FF
EF TF LF
and table of iteration Crash limit
6 (d @ cost)
0 7 7 7 8 15 23 4 27
A 0 C 8 E 2
10 10 17 17 10 25 25 2 29
0 0 4@200 3@50 2@150
START
0 0 0
0 9 9 9 14 23 18 7 25 29 11 40
B 0 D 0 G 4 I
0 0 9 11 2 25 22 4 29 29 0 40
4@110 5@60 4@80 4@55

9 9 18 18 11 29
F 0 H 0
9 0 18 18 0 29
2@90 4@40
Activity to Can Be day Cost / day, Cost / Cycle, Total Direct Project
Cycle # NIL
Shorten Shortened Shortened SR SR Cost, SR Duration
0 -            12430 40
1
2
                 
                 
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
4- Start to Short Critical Activities beginning with activity having
lowest cost activity
7
Cycle1: reduce critical Activity (H) time which has low cost

a) Find compression time to reduce activity (H) time

Activity (H) can reduced 4 days, but non critical activity (E) on other
paths has only FF=2 Then Nil is 2 day
b) Calculate solution and organize data in the table of iteration
table of cycle reduction
Activity to Can Be days Cost / day, Cost / Cycle, Total Direct Project
Cycle # NIL
Shorten Shortened Shortened SR SR Cost, SR Duration
0 -            12430 40
2 (Due FF of
1 H 4 2 40 80 12510 38
E)
2
                 
                 

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

5- Update the project AON
Cycle 1: Modified AON After Time reduction of Activity (H) by 2 days
8

0 7 7 7 8 15 23 4 27
A 0 C 8 E 0
8 8 15 15 8 23 23 0 27
0 0 4@200 3@50 2@150
START
0 0 0
0 9 9 9 14 23 18 7 25 27 11 38
B 0 D 0 G 2 I
0 0 9 9 0 23 22 2 27 27 0 38
4@110 5@60 4@80 4@55

9 9 18 18 9 27
F 0 H 0
9 0 18 18 0 27
2@90 2@40

After reduction other critical Path is developed: B, D, E, I

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

4- Start to Short Critical Activities beginning with activity having
lowest cost activity
9

Cycle2: reduce critical Activity (I) time which has low cost

a) Find compression time to reduce activity (I) time

Activity (I) can reduced 4 days, without any constraint for FF, Then
NIL =4
b) Calculate solution and organize data in the table of iteration
table of cycle reduction
Activity to Can Be Days Cost / day, Cost / Cycle, Total Direct Project
Cycle # NIL
Shorten Shortened Shortened SR SR Cost, SR Duration
0 -            12430 40
2 (Due FF
1 H 4 2 40 80 12510 38
of E)
2 I 4 4 4 55 220 12730 34
 3                
                 
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
5- Update the project AON
Cycle 2: Modified AON After Time reduction of Activity (I) by 4 days
10

0 7 7 7 8 15 23 4 27
A 0 C 8 E 0
8 8 15 15 8 23 23 0 27
0 0 4@200 3@50 2@150
START
0 0 0
0 9 9 9 14 23 18 7 25 27 7 34
B 0 D 0 G 2 I
0 0 9 9 0 23 22 2 27 27 0 34
4@110 5@60 4@80 0

9 9 18 18 9 27
F 0 H 0
9 0 18 18 0 27
2@90 2@40

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

4- Start to Short Critical Activities beginning with activity having
lowest cost activity
11
Cycle3: reduce critical Activity (H,D) times which has low
cost and satisfy the Critical Paths
a) Find compression time to reduce activity (H,D) time
Activity (H,D) can be reduce by 2 days. Also Activity (G) can be
reduced by 2 and has FF=2, Then NIL =2
b) Calculate solution and organize data in the table of iteration
table of cycle reduction
Activity to Can Be Days Cost / day, Cost / Cycle, Total Direct Project
Cycle # NIL
Shorten Shortened Shortened SR SR Cost, SR Duration
0 -            12430 40
2 (Due FF
1 H 4 2 40 80 12510 38
of E)
2 I 4 4 4 55 220 12730 34
2(Due FF
 3  H,D (2,2)  2  (40,60)  200   12930 32 
of G)
                 

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

5- Update the project AON
Cycle 3: Modified AON After Time reduction of Activity (H,D) by 2 days
12

0 7 7 7 8 15 21 4 25
A 0 C 6 E 0
6 6 13 13 6 21 21 0 25
0 0 4@200 3@50 2@150
START
0 0 0
0 9 9 9 12 21 18 7 25 25 7 32
B 0 D 0 G 0 I
0 0 9 9 0 21 18 0 25 25 0 32
4@110 3@60 4@80 0

9 9 18 18 7 25
F 0 H 0
9 0 18 18 0 25
2@90 0

After reduction other critical Path is developed: B, F, G, I

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

4- Start to Short Critical Activities beginning with activity having
lowest cost activity
13
Cycle4,5: reduce critical Activity (B), (D,F )times which has
low cost and satisfy the Critical Paths
a) Find compression time to reduce activity (B) time
Activity (B) can be reduce by 4 days., Then NIL =4
Activity (D,F) can be reduce by 2 days., Then NIL=2
b) Calculate solution and organize data in the table of iteration
table of cycle reduction
Activity to Can Be days Cost / day, Cost / Cycle, Total Direct Project
Cycle # NIL
Shorten Shortened Shortened SR SR Cost, SR Duration
0 -            12430 40
2 (Due FF
1 H 4 2 40 80 12510 38
of E)
2 I 4 4 4 55 220 12730 34
2(Due FF
 3  H,D (2,2)  2  (40,60)  200   12930 32 
of G)
4 B 4 4 4 110 440 13370 28
5  D,F  (2,2) 2  2  (60,90)  300  13670 26
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
5- Update the project AON
Cycle 4,5: Modified AON After Time reduction of Activity (B) by 4 days,
and (D,F) 2 days 14
0 7 7 7 8 15 15 4 19
A 0 C 04 E 0
0 40 7 7 40 15 15 0 19
0 0 4@200 3@50 2@150
START
0 0 0
0 5 5 5 10 15 12 7 19 19 7 26
B 0 D 0 G 0 I
0 0 5 5 0 15 12 0 19 19 0 26
0 1@60 4@80 0

5 7 12 12 7 19
F 0 H 0
5 0 12 12 0 19
0 0

After reduction other critical Path is developed: A, C, E, I

Remark:
All Activity on network are critical and no further reduction is possible
GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21
 28 13370 2520 15890

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21

 Thank You
16

Questions Please

GE 404 (Engineering Management) 10/7/21