A time-cost trade-off model by incorporating fuzzy earned value management: A statistical based approach

Abstract

Time-cost trade-off problems (TCT) are well-known in project management contents. This approach normally applied for scheduling of a project especially where the project should be completed under pre-determined deadline. This paper aims to extend time-cost trade-off (TCT) problems in order to provide a well-organized mechanism for both scheduling and rescheduling processes of a project. The proposed mechanism includes project scheduling which concerns with the TCT problem, monitoring of project performance during execution phase using earned value management (EVM), and also predicting project future performance through statistical modeling. Once the predicted values of project performance indicate the necessity for rescheduling, the initial TCT problem is modified to determine a new mode for the execution of the project. In the proposed model, also several options have been considered with specific time and cost for an individual activity where options indicate different execution methods (EM) for the implementation of the whole project. Furthermore, due to vagueness and impreciseness associated with data of real case projects, the time and cost behavior of each option presumed as fuzzy numbers. The proposed control mechanism can help project managers to take the advantage of a comprehensive model to schedule, control, and reschedule a project through the life cycle. An illustrative case is then presented to successfully demonstrate the application of the proposed approach.

Forecasting the Course of Cumulative Cost Curves for Different Construction Projects

“…The described challenges have led researchers to develop alternative methods that build on the Earned Value Method, but attempt to more reliably predict the total cost and completion date of projects. Examples of such methods include estimating cost and time by dividing or packing construction work [31], using statistical methods [32,33], applying fuzzy Earned Value Management [34][35][36] or hybrid artificial intelligence [37].…”

CO2 pollution reduction: a tradeoff for fully fuzzy parameters in a megaproject optimization

“…In Iran, Salari et al (2015) conducted research to develop TCT problems to reach an ordered structure for the organization and reorganization of a project processes. This control mechanism was detected as a help to project managers to utilize a thorough model for scheduling, controlling and rescheduling a project through a life cycle.…”

“…In Iran, Salari et al . (2015) conducted research to develop TCT problems to reach an ordered structure for the organization and reorganization of a project processes.…”

A Mathematical Model and Two Fuzzy Approaches Based on Credibility and Expected Interval for Project Cost-Quality-Risk Trade-Off Problem in Time-Constrained Conditions

“…Orm and Jeunet [8] provided an overview of time-cost-quality trade-off (TCQT) studies with a particular focus on how quality is assessed in previous studies. Salari et al [9] considered the application of statistical modeling and earned value management (EVM) for the TCT problem in a fuzzy environment. He et al [10] developed variable neighborhood search and tabu search algorithms in a discrete TCT problem minimizing the maximum difference between contractor input and output cash flows.…”