Resource Management: Resource Allocation and Leveling

COSC 621 Advanced Construction Project Scheduling & Management

Introduction
A B C D E
2 2 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Introduction
Assumption
We have all the resources needed for the schedule

Reality
Resources may not be available when needed.

Solution
Special adjustments have to be made to the schedule to properly manage available resources and meet project constraints.

How to
Resource Leveling Resource Allocation Time-Cost Tradeoff

Resource Management Analysis

Smoothing Resource Profiles (Resource Leveling) Apply when it is desired to reduce the hiring and firing of resources and to smooth the fluctuation in the daily demand of a resource. Resources are not limited and project duration is not to be delayed. The objective is to shift non-critical activities within their float times so that a better resource profile is obtained.
Resource Resource

Time

Time

Resource Management Analysis

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation) Apply when the original schedule shows that several activities require a certain resource at the same time. If the resource is limited, one of the activities has to be delayed, thus delaying the whole project. The objective is to properly select which activities to delay and which one to start so that the total project delay is minimized.

Resource Management Analysis

Meeting a Deadline Duration (Time-Cost Tradeoff) Apply when the project duration determined by the CPM and PDM analyses is unacceptably large and extends beyond a desired deadline. The objective is to apply overtime strategy to crash the project duration so that the total project cost is minimized and the deadline is meet.

Smoothing Resource Profiles (Resource Leveling)

Objective
Hire the minimum number of resources Reduce daily resource fluctuation Ensure better utilization of our resources.
E.g. The full utilization of a rented piece of equipment that needs to be returned early, also reducing the number of skilled workers.

Methodology
Shift non-critical activities within their float times so as to move resources from the peaks to the valleys, without any project delay.

Bottom Line
Critical activities remain unchanged No project delays

Smoothing Resource Profiles (Resource Leveling)

Desired Profile for Labor Resource Desired Profile for Equipment & Material

- Slow progress in beginning (small number hired) - Steady progress midway (full number hired) - Slow progress at end (slow resource release)

- Good for arranging storage needs - Good utilization of the resource

Resource Leveling: Manual Heuristic Solution

Manual Heuristic Solution: Method of Moments
Minimum Moment Algorithm
Minimize daily fluctuations in resource use Use the moment of the resource histogram around the horizontal axis (time).

Resource Leveling: Manual Heuristic Solution

Minimum Moment Algorithm
7 6 Resource amount 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Days

H1
Mx=160 My=166 40 RD

H2
Mx=166 My=255 40 RD

n 1 M x = (1 Resource Demand j ) Resource Demand j (Equation 1) 2 j =1

Resource Leveling: Modified Heuristics

Double Moments Algorithm
Minimum Moment method does not consider the resource utilization period. Very important, particularly for equipment resources that are shared among projects or rented from external sources.

Resource Leveling: Modified Heuristics

Double Moments Algorithm
7 6 Resource amount 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

H3
Mx=160 My=316 40 RD

Days

(Mx)1 = (Mx)3 < (Mx)2 The single moment Mx does not consider for the extended assignment of the resource.

Resource Leveling: Modified Heuristics

Double Moments Algorithm
M y = (1 Resource Demand j ) j
n

(Equation 2)

(M ) (M ) (M )

j =1

y 1 y 2 y 3

= 220 = 255 = 316

The value My gets higher as the resource remains employed in the project till a later date. My can be used as a good indicator of the resource release date in the project.

Resource Leveling: Modified Heuristics

Double Moments Algorithm
Resource Utilization Period

Resource amount

Project Start Day

Resource Start Day k=3

Days

M y = (1 Resource Demand j ) ( j k )
n j =1

(Equation 3)

Resource Leveling: Modified Heuristics

Minimize the Mx alone when the focus is on reducing daily resource fluctuations Minimize the My alone when the focus is on reducing the resource utilization period Minimize the My alone when the focus is on releasing the resource at an early date Minimize the double moments (Mx + My) when the focus in on both aspects

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Shortage of resources is a major challenge for construction projects.
The number of skilled labor is limited Expensive equipment is shared among several projects Material quantity is limited Limited space is available for storage

Scheduling under these resource constraints becomes a complex problem, particularly when more than one resource is limited.

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

A B C D E
2 2 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Maximum available labors = 3

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Possible Solution
Prioritize the parallel activities Give the resource to higher priority activities Delay the others until the earliest time the resource becomes available again

If one activity is delayed, another resource conflict arises later.

Is there an optimum way to prioritize the activities that compete for the limited resource at any time so that the net project delay is minimized?

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Mathematical optimization, Dynamic programming, Linear programming
Applicable only to very small-size problems.

Heuristic solutions
Use simple rules of thumb
Eg: the resource can be assigned to activity that have smaller total float values than others.

Usable for large-scale problems

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

All heuristic rules are based mainly on an activity characteristic
Duration Total float Number of successors

Two most effective and commonly used heuristic rules

Least Total-Float (LTF) Earliest Late-Start (ELS)

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Activity (Duration) R1, R2, R3

The project is scheduled to be 32 days when any resource limits are not considered.

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Activity A B C D E F G H I J K Duration 4 6 2 8 4 10 16 8 6 6 10 Required Resources L1=6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0.25 1.0 1.0 0.5 14 14 22 8 6 18 26 16 22 L2=1 L3=2 Late Start 10

Scheduling with Limited Resources (Resource Allocation)

Time Eligible Activities B A C B A J B J D J G F D G F D I Required Resources L1=6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 L2=1 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 1 0 0.25 0 1 0.25 0 1 0 L3=2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Priority Rule (Late Start) 0 10 14 16 14 6 8 14 14 26 Duration Decision Finish Time 6 4 2 6 8 16 10 8 8 6 Start Start Start Continue Continue Start Continue Continue Delay Continue Start Start Delay Continue Continue Delay Start 6 4 2 6 4 8 6 8 8 22 16 22 16

22

40

Example
Activity Name A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Duration (days) 6 3 4 6 7 5 2 2 2 6 1 2 4 2 3 5 8 2 6 2 Daily Resource Limits A,B C D A,B G,H F C,E E,G,H I,K F,L L J,M,N O D,O P,R Q A Predecessor Activities Resource Requirements per Day R1 5 3 2 5 3 4 4 5 3 1 3 3 2 1 5 3 4 5 2 1 7 R2 2 5 4 4 5 1 1 5 2 5 3 2 2 4 5 2 5 3 4 6 10 R3 2 2 4 3 2 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 4 4 3 4 3 6 2 10 R4 2 3 2 5 3 9 3 0 3 6 4 8 2 3 6 4 2 3 2 7 16 R5 7 9 3 5 8 2 9 9 4 7 5 3 4 4 2 7 3 7 3 5 18 R6 4 6 1 4 0 5 8 1 2 3 1 4 8 1 3 8 4 8 4 2 13

Example
Manual Calculation of Resource Allocation
49 days

Example: Microsoft Project

Example: Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Example : Microsoft Project

Resource Allocation: Multi-skilled Resources

Assumption of most resource allocation techniques
Single-skilled resources

What if 2 R4 can substitute 1 R1?

Need education

Resource Allocation: Multi-skilled Resources

Time Eligible Activities B A C B A J B J D Eligible Activities B A C B A J B J D Required Resources L1=6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 L2=1 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 1 Required Resources L1=6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 L2=1 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 1-0.5 L3=2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 L3=2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Priority Rule (Late Start) 0 10 14 16 14 Priority Rule (Late Start) 0 10 14 16 14 Duration 6 4 2 6 8 Decision Start Start Start Continue Continue Start Continue Continue Delay Finish Time 6 4 2 6 4 8 6 8 Finish Time 6 4 2 6 4 8 6 8 12 Substitutio n Rule Used

Time

Duration 6 4 2 6 8

Decision Start Start Start Continue Continue Start Continue Continue Start

2 L3=1 L2

Resource Allocation: Multi-skilled Resources

Example: what if
2 R5 = 1 R1 2 R4 = 1 R2 2 R5 = 1 R4 2 R4 = 1 R5 2 R6 = 1 R5