Essay on Planning Projects: Eliminate Constraints with CCPM

Introduction

Planning projects can be a daunting task taking into consideration the challenges or constraints tied to the process of making a project a success. There are tools available for project managers to see through their projects by tackling well-defined constraints that have been found in the path to success. Critical Chain Project Management(CCPM) is a fundamental framework that has been part of the project management body of knowledge since 1996(Pinto, 2016). The tool aims at eliminating commonly encountered problems that can either make a project perform poorly beyond expectations, or make the project fail. CCPM plays a crucial role in eliminating or managing uncertainties. Because projects are planned to be completed within particular timeframes, there must be resources laid down to make the completion possible. CCPM frameworks allow project managers to emphasize the schedule of projects while also reducing possible changes that can be made to the projects during the implementation phase(Ghaffari and Emsley, 2015). After all, it is difficult to hit a target that keeps moving or changing positions. Projects that cannot be completed in specified time frames come with extra costs that can inflate the planned project budget and time. Companies that have installed CCPM protocols have ended up spending half of the proposed project budgets while also successfully finishing their projects on time. Issues addressed by the CCPM include increased costs, project timing, under-delivery, and performance against traditional methods like the critical path that emphasizes tight scheduling and well-ordered tasks(Ghaffari and Emsley, 2015). The process is based on planning, execution and review. The planning stage is where the critical chain is defined as it indicates the critical tasks. Task estimates are also reduced at this stage as well as project safety. The execution stage is where the resources are prioritized as per the determinations identified in the planning phase. At the review phase, buffer management is used to assess the status of every task to be executed. Buffers, together with their consumption rates, are utilized as indicators for each project and the related tasks to be conducted.

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The practical application of CCPM is based on the theory of constraints (TOC), which outlines five steps to be followed when dealing with constraints. The first step of the TOC is the identification of the relevant constraint, followed by exploitation of the constraint, the subordination of additional system elements to the constraint, elevation of the constraint, and finally keeping the focus on each possible constraint identified.

Drum, Drum Buffers and Capacity Constraint Buffer

A proper understanding of these components in the production or manufacturing process requires the comprehension of what is known as the drum-buffer-rope(DBR). It is a planning and scheduling frame that acts as the solution or cushion to uncertainties standing in the way of project completion or success. The major concern for the DBR involves the creation of a realistic schedule or plan that makes maximum use of the limited resource to maximize profitability. It also the appropriate environment and behaviors that enable effective execution of the plan. Ultimately, the DBR provides feedback that aids in the identification of opportunities that can be used to improve the performance of the system over time. DBR is founded on the assumption that within any production or manufacturing process, there is a basic or limited amount of scarce resources, which determine the overall output of the production. This assumption is derived from the theory of constraints. When the scarce resource is synchronized, a pace or drumbeat is created for the production, which determines the chances of completion within half the time and budget allocated for the project.

A drum, therefore, refers to the plan for the limited resource on which the project is majorly based. The application of the CCPM to a multi-project environment must begin with the identification of the chief resource constraint known as the drum. Identifying the drum in the current portfolio of projects requires the use of TOC methodology before the constraint can be exploited. The project portfolio scheduling requires the methodology used to pull projects forward in time as the drum plan or schedule dictates the subsequent programming of the company's project portfolio. The advantage of pulling projects forward is that if the drum resource is early, particular projects can also be brought forward to benefit or take advantage of the early commencement.

On the other hand, if the drum resource comes late, then certain projects have to be inevitably pushed further into the future. The function of the drum or scarce resource is that its availability grants project managers the chance to complete projects on or before the scheduled or planned period, and with limited resources. The scarce resource is a major determinant of the project success and therefore, of crucial consideration by project managers. CCPM tends to help managers in the estimation of the duration of activities to their 50% probability of completion(Pinto, 2016).

At the end of each chain of activities are the allowances in terms of time and resources set aside for uncertainties in the chain of projects. These contingencies are known as buffers, and they exist in various types in the portfolio scheduling. Capacity constraint buffer (CCB) is the end cushion acting as the safety margin that separates various projects that are scheduled or sequenced to utilize the same resource(Pinto, 2016). If the CCB is applied before sequencing the next project, then the common critical resource used is protected. A practical example of how CCB can be applied is a situation in which a quality assurance expert has to inspect manufactured products before they are released into the market. The inspection can be done when the expert is transitioning from one bunch or sample of products to another. This eliminates any bad quality before it gets to the outside.

A drum buffer is an extra safety plan that goes beyond what CCB can do in portfolio scheduling. Drum buffers are meant to be used or applied before the constrained resource is utilized to ensure that the limited resource is not stretched for work when its time comes(Pinto, 2016). Drum buffers are set aside to ensure the drum or constrained resource is effective in its work when injected into the project. The main function of drum buffers is extra safety in cases of Other types of buffers in the chain include feeding buffer, cost buffer, time buffer, project and resource buffers among others that are discussed in the later sections of this paper.

The connection between the drum, CCB and the drum buffer is that they all lead to the success or completion of the project by depending on each other as contingencies or safety to outweigh the impacts of uncertainties in the path of the project portfolio.

Application of CCPM to Multiple Project Portfolios Using Formal Steps

There are five formal steps outlined to be followed when applying CCPM to numerous project portfolios, and all have close interrelations. The first step involves the identification of the drum or the resource constraint of the company that is also the driving force of project schedules. The project manager should ascertain the factor that directly affects the performance of the whole system but is in short supply and is highly likely to take overtime. These characteristics are the best indicators of the drum(Pinto, 2016).

Secondly, the project manager has to exploit the drum or resource constraint by creating a critical chain schedule in which each project independently competes for the drum. The projects in the portfolio have to be placed according to their priority or need of the critical constraint. An example of this drum schedule step has been illustrated by Pinto (2016) as shown in figure 1 where projects A, B and C are placed on the schedule according to their priority and need of the drum.

Figure 1: Three Projects Scheduled to Access Constraint Resource (Pint,o 2016)

The existing resources are enough to only handle two projects A and B simultaneously but not continuously, meaning C could be pushed to a later date. Exploiting the resource constraint also has to involve the creation of a multi-project drum schedule whereby resource demand by each project is determined. Afterwards, conflicting factors are straightened to maximize the performance for project development.

The third step involves the subordination of each project schedule so that each can be listed according to the drum schedule. In this step also, the critical chain is designated as the sequence from the initial or first use of the drum resource until the project is completed. At this level, CCB can be inserted in between project schedules depending on their use or need of the constraint resource(Pinto, 2016). As has been mentioned earlier, this insertion cushions the drum schedule by preparing the input. To exemplify this, notion Pinto (2016) has provided a different revised drum schedule(figure 2) of the three projects A, B and C but uses CCB to push project C to a time which it can be fulfilled because of constrained capacity. With this method, more projects can be added to the project portfolio

Figure 2: Application of CCBs to Drum Schedules (Pinto, 2016)

Solving conflicts relating to the insertion of CCBs at this stage can greatly alter the drum schedule. It is also important that project managers insert drum buffers to protect the constraint resource and the buffers ought to be noted prior to the utilization of the drum.

The fourth step involves the adjustment of the capacity constraint resource. Increasing its capacity ensures that future cycle iterations are taken care of. The fifth and last step of the application of CCPM requires the project managers to revert to step 2 and fine-tune the sequence to improve the resource constraint levels and the flow of operation till the end(Pinto, 2016).

Conclusion

To conclude, CCPM is a crucial tool for project managers when they want to push multiple projects to effective completion in the backdrop of resource constraints and possible reasons of time wastage. Application of CCPM to projects have many advantages as the projects get to be completed quickly and efficiently because the plan has various levels of contingencies such as buffers in case of uncertainties.

Reference List

Ghaffari, M. and Emsley, M., 2015. Current status and future potential of the research on Critical Chain Project Management. Surveys in Operations Research and Management Science, 20(2), pp.43-54.

Pinto, J., 2016. Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage. 4th ed. New York: Pearson, pp.4-526.