Resource allocation and crashing

Created by Jesper Antonius Wolters

Abstract

Common to all projects is the need to allocate available resources in the best possible manner. If done correctly by the project manager, she can optimize the way the project uses it resources, minimize the negative effect of unforeseen events. However, if done casually, this might result in delays, penalty fees, using unnecessarily many resources on wrong events and not on critical events. These are the main points that the project manager will learn to optimize from this article. In addition, by analyzing the possibility of crashing the project, the project manager might be able to find a more optimal solution than would be possible by the simple PERT/CPM analysis, this analysis thus builds upon a PERT/CPM analysis. This article aims at giving the reader a greater understanding of how to allocate resources to a project as well as presenting an example of how a project could be crashed. Three different techniques to resource allocation will be presented and explained in depth. Furthermore, in order to give the reader a greater understanding of how resource allocation can effect a project, positively as well as negatively, two examples using CPM crash heuristics will be presented.

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