METHODS OF SCHEDULE COMPRESSION

The next 10 years are going to be exciting times in the construction industry. Changes are occurring at a very rapid pace. New technology, a world economy, better informed owners, and keener competition are but a few of the initiators of this change.

We, as a society, are expecting and demanding that things be done faster. The speed limits on the rural interstate systems have been raised to 65 miles per hour so that we can drive at 75 miles per hour. The computer industry is technologically capable of creating hardware which can perform functions on personal computers micro seconds faster with each new machine placed on the market. The user wants an AT instead of an XT because the wait of a few seconds is too disturbing. The veterans of the construction industry can remember the days of slide rules and Frieden calculators; however, impatience has driven slowness from the scene.

Estimates are prepared faster, schedules are developed faster, and the flow of information during the construction process is faster. But what about the actual design and construction of the project? The demands and expectations to reduce the time of the project cycle are real. The industry must simply do this! The owner or user of construction develops a new product and has to get it on the market to maintain the competitive advantage. The architects and engineers must generate high quality designs and documents in less time to survive in this world economy where the Asian and European competition is intense.

In 1986, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) undertook a study of the methods used in the industry to compress construction schedules. The research for the study was conducted in the Construction Management program at Colorado State University. In order to have a base of reference for the study, a definition of schedule compression had to be agreed upon by the CII and the researchers. Schedule compression was subsequently defined as:

A reduction from the normal experienced time or optimal time typical for the type and size project being planned within a given set of circumstances.

A vivid example of this definition was related by three project managers from Ferguson Construction, Cleveland, Ohio. A repeat client had a project with a normal experienced construction time of 17 months. The project was delayed three months by the owner but the expectation was still to complete the project in the 14 months remaining in the clients schedule.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study were:

FOCUS OF THE STUDY

The study includes schedule compression techniques that will reduce project time as well as techniques that will. prevent needless loss of time once the project is started. The proactive techniques are part of the planning process. The reactive techniques are part of the problem solving aspects of the project.

METHODS OF RESEARCH

A modified form of the Delphi Technique was selected for the research methodology. An extensive literature search was conducted using both the university systems and private industry library resources. An identified population of experienced project managers, estimators, schedulers, and cost engineers was interviewed by telephone. From the literature searches and from the conversations, a list of schedule compression techniques was compiled. The techniques were categorized and placed on a survey form which was sent to the original interviewees as well as the Planning and Scheduling Committee of the American Association of Cost Engineers. These individuals were asked to subjectively rate each technique as to its impact on duration and cost when applied at the various phases of the project cycle. The CII Cost and Schedule Taskforce were then asked to review the survey results for reasonableness and concurrence.

The initial intent of the study was to identify those techniques being used in the industry to compress schedules during the construction phase of the project. Very early on, it became apparent that the time of construction is influenced by decisions and choices made by the project management team in both the design phase and the procurement phase of an EPC project. The input and output factors that affect the choice of a particular method of compressing schedules are shown on Figure 1.

A project team desirous of selecting a method must consider the organizational variables, project variables and application methodology variables that will influence the success or failure of a selected method. In addition, management must consider all the project activities that will be impacted by the method when applied and make a prediction of the possible outcomes of the action.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

The Principal Investigator interviewed about 28 experienced project managers, estimators, schedulers, and cost engineers by telephone. A short questionnaire was used to start the interview; however, most of the research data was generated when the interviewee started to talk freely about past experiences. The interviews continued until the investigator was satisfied that no new techniques were being uncovered. The telephone interviews were

stopped after the 28th individual because the techniques being expressed tended to be repeats of techniques already received.

The telephone conversations were analyzed and approximately 200 identifiable techniques were extracted. Further analysis revealed the 200 techniques could be placed in eight distinct categories as listed below.

Some of the methods could be classed as "Motherhood and Apple Pie" and some methods are truly innovative and creative. The catalog of methods includes all methods.

To develop a workable survey instrument, the 200 techniques were combined into 74 techniques. This is the smallest number of combinations the researcher felt maintained the identity and intent of the original 200 techniques. The respondents were asked to subjectively rate each of the 74 techniques as to their impact on cost and duration when applied at the seven phases of a project.

The survey was mailed to the respondents in two sections to minimize the time and effort required to complete the survey. The second section was mailed about two weeks after the first section. Sixty percent of the surveys were returned to the researcher.

The results of the survey were complied on Lotus 123. A research source document is available from CII and contains all results of the research project.

METHODS OF SCHEDULE COMPRESSION

(Note that more than 74 techniques are included in this paper. The CII taskforce has included some of the original 200 methods in the report and some techniques identified after the survey was completed.)

Due to the number of schedule compression techniques and the limitation on the number of pages allowed in this paper, the techniques are listed without definitions and other clarifying statements. The CII source document and the CII

Executive Summary of this research project contain a full text complete with definitions of all the techniques.

All schedule compression techniques have a set of graphs depicting the impact of the technique on cost and duration when applied at the seven phases of a project cycle. Over 1000 graphs were generated by Lotus 123 during the analysis of the research data. Only a few of the graphs are displayed in this paper. The CII source document for this research project contains all the graphs for all the techniques.

1.0 Engineering Phase

1.01 Change Management System During Design.

1.02 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD).

1.03 Consolidation of Permanent Components or Functions.

1.04 Constructability Analysis During Engineering.

1.05 Dual-Purpose Design. 1.06 Efficient Packaging for

Transportation.

1.07 Engineering Approvals. 1.08 Evergreen Contract.

1.09 Freezing of Project Scope. 1.10 Inter-Stitial Design.

1.11 Materials, Equipment and Systems

Standards.

1.12 Multiple Prime Contracts.

1.13 Non-Traditional Drawing Release.

Figures 2 through 8 shows what occurs when three diverse points of view are expressed in one survey. Construction project managers strongly supported the idea of releasing engineering drawings in stages as portions of the drawings are completed. They felt that the engineers hung on to the drawings too long resulting in needless design and drafting. On the other side, the engineers felt the field people make too many mistakes if the drawings are not completed at a high level of detail.

The survey results depicted on the seven graphs change from a relatively flat curve skewed by a strong feeling of moderate increased cost in the early engineering phase, Figure 2, to a typical bell. curve configuration shown on Figure 7 representing the final 25* of construction.

1.14 Off-the-Shelf Components.

1.16 Parametric Estimating.

1.16 Permanent Facilities Used for Construction Purposes.

1.17 Physical Modeling.

1.18 Specification Review.

1.19 Standard or On-the-Shelf Designs.

1.20 Vendor/Engineer Early Information Exchange.

2.0 Contractual Methods

2.01 Contract Document Review.

2.02Fair Risk Assignment.

2.03 Fast-Track Scheduling.

2.04 Improve Contractor Cash Flow.

2.05 Incentive Programs.

2.06 Lump Sum Contracts.

2.07 Minimize Owner Involvement.

2.08 Partnering and Team Building.

2.09 Prequalification.

2.10 Reimbursable Contracts.

2.11 Work Subject to Owner Approval.

3.0 Field Organization

3.01 Area Coordinators.

3.02 Assistant Field Project Manager.

3.03 Efficient Staffing.

3.04 Materials Coordinator.

3.05 Safety/Loss Control Program.

3.06 Well-Defined Organizational Structure.

4.0 Planning and Scheduling.

4.01 Adaptation to Weather Conditions.

4.02 Avoidance of interruptions.

4.03 Pareto's Law Schedule Management.

4.04 Planning.

Ensuring that all work benefits from planning was the technique believed to have the most potential for schedule compression. Figures 9 ENGINEERING 0 to 26% and Figure 10 CONSTRUCTION 0 to 25% indicate a strong belief that planning could significantly decrease project duration and significantly decrease project cost at the same time.

4.05 Realistic Scheduling.

4.06 Reduction of Task Scope.

4.07 Repetitive Tasks Scheduling.

4.08 Schedule Crashing.

4.09 Startup-Driven Scheduling.

4.10 Use of Float Flexibility.

5.0 Materials Management

5.01 Chief Executive Office (CEO) Commitment.

5.02 Dedicated Truck Shipments.

5.03 Just-In-Time Material Deliveries

5.04 Laydown Area Assignment.

5.05 Material Identification on

Purchase Documentation.

5.06 Owner-Furnished Materials.

5.07 Prime Contractor-Furnished Materials.

5.08 Prioritize Procurement.

5.09 Product Identification.

5.10 Shared Material Takeoffs.

5.11 Special Material Handling Crew.

5.12 Transportation System Review.

5.13 Vendor Submittal Control.

6.0 Work Management

6.01 Advanced Construction Equipment.

6.02 Change Management During

Construction.

6.03 Constructability Analysis During Construction.

6.04 Critical. Equipment Contingency Planning.

6.05 Field Models.

6.06 Job Site Pre-Assembly.

6.07 Making Site A Good Place to Work.

6.08 Modern Management Systems.

6.09 On--Ground Pre-Assembly.

6.10 Site Layout.

6.11 Special Network Analyses.

6.12 Staged Pre-Positioning. 6.13 Tool Management.

6.14 Work Sampling.

7.0 Personnel/Labor Management

7.01 Continuity of Work Responsibility. 7.02 Craft Worker Bonus/Award Program.

Figure 11 is representative of the feeling of the respondents that any of the PERSONNEL/LABOR MANAGEMENT techniques could result in a decrease in duration but with an increase in project cost.

7.03 Crew Pre-Work Briefings.

7.04  Crew Training and Rehearsals.

7.05  7.05 Cross-Training.

7.06  7.06 Labor Minimization.

7.07 Participative Management.

7.08Personnel Management Practices.

7.09 Project Agreements.

7.10 Rolling Shifts.

7.11 Scheduled Overtime.

7.12 Specialty Shifts.

7.13 Spot Overtime.

7.14 Supervisor/Worker Ratio.

7.15 Team Building.

8.0 Start-Up Phase

8.01 Minimize Scope of Start-Up. 8.02 Temporary Startup Systems. 8.03 Startup Planning.

CONCLUSION

The end product of the research project is a catalog of methods of schedule compression. The publication is not a "How to do it" book because there are too many variables involved in the decision making process. Each job has to analyzed as to the job specific parameters or characteristics. The application of the techniques must be based on subjective appraisals of the situation by the professional constructor.

No mention of scientific methods for compressing schedules is made directly. Techniques such as linear programing and probability analysis are included within other techniques. In general, the interviewees did not use scientific methods in their daily activities.

The seven methods with the most potential for reducing the project schedule in all phases of the project cycle are:

1.      Upfront planning

2.      Early client approval of project scope

3.      Work on the right activities - Pareto's

4.      law

5.      CPM Network techniques

6.      Prioritized procurement

7.      Team concept

8.      Minimize client interference

Many ideas have been tried in the industry to shorten construction schedules. Maybe one of the methods identified in the study will contain the clue to trigger the thought process and lead to decisions resulting in the desired reduced time.