Resource Allocation and Resource Leveling - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 144

• You can finish the project in 83 days with no resource leveling (unlimited
resources) but allowing activities to be interrupted.
• You can finish the project in 98 days with a certain limit for resource use.
• You can finish the project in. . .
More Discussion
As defined previously, leveling resources involves shifting activities within their avail-
able float to minimize the fluctuations in daily resource use. This “shifting” may
involve one or a combination of the following:
• Delaying the start of an activity to any date up to and including its late start
date.
• Interrupting an activity and resuming it later (breaking the activity into two or
more segments) but finishing it no later than its late start date. The idea is to
put “chunks” of the activity in the “schedule gaps” where resource use is low.
• Fluctuating the amount of resources assigned to an activity, day to day, accord-
ing to resource availability, until the activity gets all the required resource
demand.
Tip Box 6.2
Even if you don't do resource leveling, remember that resources are not unlimited!
Important
Note that the last two options often require special rules settings in computer pro-
grams. These programs may be set for default rules that do not allow such practices.
As mentioned previously, in some cases, staying within the available resource limits
yet completing the project by the finish deadline is not possible. In such cases, the
project manager must choose one or a combination of the following:
• Increase the limits on the availability of certain resources. This increase may be
for the entire duration of the project, for a “one-time use,” or for an assigned
period. It may also be for one or more particular resources.
• Start the project on the planned start date but maintain the resource limits and
allow the project to finish later than the finish deadline. This option is typically
considered forward resource leveling .
• If feasible, start the project earlier than the planned start date by a calculated
number of days so that you can finish the project on the required finish date
without raising the resource limits. This method usually levels resources starting
from the project finish date and then working backward until the required start
date. It is referred to as backward resource leveling .