The Essay Highlights Critical Path, ALAP Method, Resource Levelling, And 4D Planning In Project Management. (70 Characters)

1.Discuss the importance of WBS as a Project Management tool

2.Explain why identification of the critical path is important? Also comment on the changes to the Critical Path, if the project is developed using As Late as Possible (ALAP)method.

3.Discuss how activities might be delayed beyond LST to cater for the limits on unskilled resources as a result of levelling. Consider resource pool for unskilled resources as 7 units per day.

4, Explain and discuss the process of resource levelling.

5.Briefly discuss the linking procedure carried out in synchro Pro

6.Define 4D planning. Discuss the purpose and benefits of 4D systems as a Project Management tool in an Engineering industry

Significance of identifying critical path

1.A Work Breakdown Structure or WBS is a tool that manages the work of a project manager efficiently. Since a project is a time-limited activity, it is assigned with fixed time and budget. In addition it has to be kept in mind that the project fulfils all the demands of the clients as well as the needs of the stakeholders of the organization. Therefore, a project manager needs to plan for a flawless schedule including the completeness of the functional areas and the fixed costs as well as the assignment of responsibilities to the required project team (Zhanget al. 2015). This entire process is efficiently handled with the help of Work Breakdown Structure tool or WBS tool. The primary purpose of a WBS tool is to manage the pre-set time for the project and reduce the complex as per the discretion of the project manager. Since the time is managed, it helps to thus make a task in a project management very measureable. This decreases the chances of projects being over budget since specific costs to specific tasks can be assigned. The WBS tool lets the project manager in distributing the budget of the project making them fall into specific packages in accordance with the tasks. The WBS tool also enables tracking the progress of a project schedule. It also helps in defining the scope of the project without making the project carry out any unnecessary work. The task of the WBS enables the implementation of one part of the overall function.

2.A critical path allows a project manager to identify the most important data in a project schedule. However, an experienced project manager may identify a data without much effort. Although, it is required that critical path needs to be identified since it serves a lot of purpose that makes a project be declared as a success (Zhanget al. 2015). Identification of Critical Path is essentially important since it puts forward the facilities of reducing time, by helping in managing the resources, and compares the tasks that were being previously proposed and the tasks that have been completed so far in the impending project. Thus identification of the critical path validates the project management system and helps a project manager to efficiently evaluate the tasks completed in the project timeline. 

The primary goal of a project manager is to complete a task in the minimum time as possible. To help achieve this goal project managers will constrain tasks in forward scheduling to begin As Soon As Possible or ASAP (Bindu and Kumar 2016). However, there are times when an As Late as Possible or ALAP constraint on an activity adheres to the true project situation in a much better way.If a project is being developed by the As Late as Possible method then it would be possible that the changes in the critical path would occur. The critical path would find the map between the implementation of the ASAP method and then it would find the changes with the implementation of ALAP and compare them together.

Changes to the critical path with the ALAP method

3.It would affect heavily if it is found that Unskilled Labours are being used as a result of levelling and limits on the LST. Levelling is although a process that maintains balance of the resources used from different areas of expertise and then utilises it to finish the project and launch the required product in the limited amount of time. This happens when a project manager starts to implement latest ideas simultaneously in a pre-set project planning with time constraints full. When unskilled labours are utilized for planning into a project simultaneously and taken as a result of the levelling process, it would definitely affect the LST of a project (Bianco, Caramia and Giordani 2016). The works would start getting derailed from the proposed times and the use of more research may also lead to over budgeting of the project. This would thus result into prolonged delay in the project. If it is considered that the 7 units per day of unskilled labours are accessed for completion of a project simultaneously, it will implement the idea that the delay might hamper the manifold costs that a project should acquire wholeheartedly (Iyeret al. 2015). This is a o help achieve this goal project managers will constrain tasks in forward scheduling to begin As Soon As Possible (ASAP). But there are times when an As Late as Possible or ALA.P constraint on an activity better adheres to the true project situation.

4.All the resource levelling processes involve three main factors of work-based structure for its process. These are, stage, phase, and deliverable or proposed task. When leveling of resources would occur, resources are handed over with tasks or deliverables that needs execution. During the initial phase of a project, the roles are assigned to human resources ideally at whom point resources are not identified (Jensenet al. 2017). After this the process it is followed by specializing in specific regions by the satellite. Critical path is a community practice used by project managers at the time of resource leveling. Critical path represents for both the long and short time duration paths in the network diagram for the completion of the project. 

However, except for the widely used concept of the critical path, project managers use crashing and fast tracking if things get uncontrollable.

Fast tracking -This performs critical path tasks. This buys time. The prominent feature of this technique is that although the work is completed for the moment, possibility of rework is higher.

Resource levelling and activities delayed beyond LST

Crashing -This refers to assigning resources in addition to existing resources to get work done faster, associated with additional cost such as labor, equipment, etc.

5.Synchro Pro is a visual project management software for construction depicting clear view about maintaining the quality of life.  BIM has brought abundant reimbursement to numerous areas of project delivery in manufacturing and construction (Azhar, Khalfan and Maqsood 2015). However, the greatest can be apparent as the process of the connecting procedure, which is done with the help of linking up 3D geometry to time, site costs and resources.   All project members would clearly see a virtual construction of the project based on the main construction plan of works usually delivered as a complex Gantt chart. Therefore, the linking procedure is carried out is by clear communication. This implies the fact that only communication between the contractor’s team has been heightened. In addition, the contractor’s delivery intent to the client and other parties that are directly or indirectly involved (Kassem, Dawood and Chavada 2015). Thus, linking procedure is carried out in this way in Synchro Pro. 

6.4D planning is nothing but making the 3D planning model and project scheduling be integrated into one project management process.  Putting it in a much simpler way, the activity bars on a Gantt chart are linked to corresponding elements of a 3D model using additional software (Leach 2014). The sequence can be played back to simulate the planned construction. In order to perform such a task, it is required to have a compatible software, a BIM model, and a project schedule.Most people within the industry have now come across 3D & 4D visualizations of one form or another, which are generally produced to jazz up a tender/ proposal submission. In essence these 3D or 4D visuals communicate complex methodologies in simple terms to varying stakeholders. 

Scheduling in a project in 3D and scheduling a project in 4D is much easier since there are various tools available in the software market based on the subject. This allows a project manager to implement the appropriate constraints in order to make a useful project with the execution of the project in an optimal process (Hosaka and Saito 2015).  To achieve this purpose, the construction company requires to have systematic planning, management and scheduling process that can in turns allow the overall cost estimation, time estimation and resource estimations. Using a conventional project management software tool for 4D planning  in explaining the status of the vast projects in construction business is only possible when engineering software based tools are used as a result of the effective project planning implementation. This can be done in several applications available in the engineering zone, such as the MS Project tool and Synchro Pro. Direct usage of schedule sheets prepared from conventional tools with drawings is difficult to follow the schedule activities.  Therefore, it is essential that 4D planning be used (Zhanget al.2015). In addition to that, it has to be kept in mind that 3D mapping still has axes that can be followed up in hard copy, however the adding of the 4^th axis resulted in the shifting of the planning from hard copy to computers. Therefore, it had even become more essential to implement a software application for this purpose. Finally, it can be said that, the implementation of 4D planning in engineering software tools into Project Management is a feasible and easy process that would make the job of a project manager much easier and less time consuming. 

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