Resource Allocation and Resource Leveling - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 153

12. In exercise 9, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driv-
ing (i.e., they control the durations of activities)? Activities are still contiguous
(noninterruptible).
13. In exercise 9, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driving
and the activities interruptible?
14. In exercise 10, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driving
(i.e., they control the durations of activities)? Activities are still contiguous.
15. In exercise 10, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driving
and the activities interruptible?
16. In exercise 11, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driving
(i.e., they control the durations of activities)? Activities are still contiguous.
17. In exercise 11, can you improve the resource use by making the resources driving
and the activities interruptible?
18. In exercise 10, you are given only six laborers (rather than eight). Write a memo
to the project manager discussing the situation and giving him or her the available
choices (along with the consequences).
19. With regard to resource leveling, how does the role of a scheduler differ between
working for a general contractor who does almost all of his or her work with his
or her own workforce and working for a general contractor who subcontracts
everything?
20. Assume that you are the scheduler for a large project. You work for the construc-
tion manager (CM), whose function is to manage the project and to coordinate
the work of the subcontractors involved (there is no general contractor). You
require that each subcontractor submit his or her schedule to you on a disk in
Primavera Project Manager format. Where do you go from there? Write an item-
ized plan.
21. Why does materials management differ in principle from labor and equipment
management? Briefly explain the concept of materials management.
22. What are the main objectives of materials management?
23. What types of costs are associated with materials management?
24. Materials management is a balance between two extreme theories. Explain this
statement, mentioning the factors that influence your decision to lean more
toward one theory than the other.
25. You are a southern California contractor. You have been awarded two projects:
one in downtown Los Angeles and one near the Mojave reservation.
a. Each project needs a bulldozer, a tower crane, and a safety manager. Do you
share these resources between the two projects? Justify your answer.
b. Which materials management theory would you lean toward in each project?
Justify your answer.