Crashing and De-Crashing: A Tool for Insertion of Buffers in Project Schedule

Abstract

Project schedule is the schematic arrangement of activities of a project, to be accomplished within a predefined timeline which is to be followed with the aim to finish the project in specified time. Though a project schedule is defined before the starting of a project, the project usually gets delayed as compared to the proposed schedule. To avoid the delay in completion of a project, buffers (extra time other than activity duration) are added to the schedule. These buffers act as cushions to absorb the delays in projects. There exist various formulae for determining the size of buffers to be added. This paper proposes a technique to use crashing and de-crashing as a tool to add time as well as cost buffers. This technique makes the project more robust and capable of absorbing larger delays. The results are substantiated using a case study.