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Sheet 15

The document discusses project crashing, a method to shorten project duration by increasing costs. It outlines a crashing algorithm, detailing steps to determine the minimum cost crash schedule while identifying critical paths and their associated costs. Examples illustrate the calculation of crash costs and the impact on project timelines and expenses.

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15 views4 pages

Sheet 15

The document discusses project crashing, a method to shorten project duration by increasing costs. It outlines a crashing algorithm, detailing steps to determine the minimum cost crash schedule while identifying critical paths and their associated costs. Examples illustrate the calculation of crash costs and the impact on project timelines and expenses.

Uploaded by

fouad.mlwbd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Project Management

Sheet 15
P r o j e c t C r a s h i n g
(After Sheet 07)

Cost/Time Trade-off: A Crashing Algorithm


Project duration may be shortened by increasing cost. The crash time and crash cost for an
activity are the time and cost incurred if the activity is executed as fast as possible.

Crash cost – normal cost


Incremental cost =
Crash time – normal time

Activit Immediate Normal Crash Incremental


y Predecessors Cost
Time Cost Time Cost
A - 2 3 1 5 2
B - 3 4 2 5 1
C A 3 2 2 6 4
D A 1 1 0.5 3 4
E B 2 5 1 8 3
F C 4 3 2 4 0.5
G D, E 1 2 1 2 8

Network using normal times and normal costs for each activity
For normal time and cost, the project completion time is nine weeks and cost $ 20,000. The
critical path is A – C – F
The Crash Schedule
The crash schedule is the network that results from using crash time and crash costs for each
activity.
For our example, the crash schedule is given in the following figure and results in a project
completion time of five weeks and a total cost of $33,000. The critical path is A – C – F.

Crashing Objective
The project can be completed in anywhere from nine to five weeks at a cost ranging from
$20,000 to $33,000. Is it possible to achieve a project completion time of five weeks at a lower
than $33,000?
Generally the answer is “yes”. The resulting schedule is called the minimum crash schedule.

Step 1:
Set up the normal schedule and calculate the cost to crash each activity.
Step 2:
Shorten the project completion time by one time unit at the lowest cost possible. This is done
by crashing the activity on the critical path having the smallest cost-to crash slope
(Incremental cost). If there are two or more critical paths, it may be necessary to crash more
than one critical activity. If at step 2 the project duration can’t be shortened because the
critical activities are at their crash points, then STOP – you have the minimum-cost crash
schedule.
Step 3:
Construct a new critical path using the newly created activity times, and then repeat step 2.
For Step two, in our example, the critical path A-C-F. The cost to crash each of these by one
week is $2 for A, $4 for C, and $0.5 for F. Thus we choose to crash F by one week – from four
weeks to three weeks.
For step three, our new network is shown in the following figure. Note that only the activity time
for F is changed.
The critical path shown darkened is A-C-F at eight weeks.

We now repeat step two on the new network. The critical path A-C-F, the cost to crash are $2
for A, $4 for C, and $0.5 for F. Again we crash F by one week. Here we should remember that
Activity F is at its crash point of two weeks and can’t be crashed further.
The cost to crash the critical activities that are not at their crash points are $2 for A and $4 for
C. Thus we choose to crash A by one week from two to one week.

We find two critical paths A-C-F and B-E-G which gives six weeks for completion time.
Note that in these two paths activity A, F, and G are at their crash points

The critical paths for new network are A-C-F and B-E-G. The costs to crash the critical activities
that are not at their crash points are $4 per week for C, $1 per week for B, and $3 per week for
E. Now observe that in order to shorten the project completion time by one week we must
shorten both critical paths by one week. On the path A-C-F we have no choice but to crash
C by one week (since A and F are at their crash points). On the path B-E-G, we would crash B
by one week.

The New Network:

Minimum Cost Crash Schedule


Now in our new network the critical paths are A-C-F and B-E-G at five weeks each. To shorten
the project completion time by one week we must shorten both paths by one week. But all
the activities of path A-C-F are at their crash points, so A-C-F cannot be shortened further. Thus
we stop: the minimum cost crash schedule has been found.
What is the cost of the final schedule?
The cost equals the cost of the normal Schedule Plus the total crashing costs.

Example
The normal time of an activity is 12 days at a cost of $480 and a crash time of 8 days at $640.
640 − 480
Cost Slope = = $40 per day
12 −8

Note: Only critical activities affect the project duration and thus they are the only ones whose
time can be reduced or crashed.

Example
A project has the following characteristics:

Activity Pre-requisite Time Cost


Cost Slope
Normal Crash Normal Crash
A - 5 3 500 620 60
B - 4 2 300 390 45
C A 7 6 650 680 30
D A 3 2 400 450 50
E B, C 5 3 850 1000 75

Network Diagram

Critical path: ACE


Total normal cost = ₤ 2000
Time duration 17 days

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