Decision CPM: A Method for Simultaneous Planning, Scheduling, and Control of Projects

Abstract

DCPM is a method for formally considering the interaction between the scheduling and the planning phases of a project. Thus, if there are a number of competing methods of performing some of the jobs, each method having a different cost, a different time duration, and different technological dependencies, these possibilities are included in the project graph. Then in the scheduling phase, consideration is made of the effects of the alternate methods of performing tasks on the total cost of completing the project. The alternatives that minimize this cost are then selected. The same method can also be applied to the control of the project during its completion, to revise previous decisions in light of actual performance observed.

Innovative Projects Scheduling with Scenario-Based Decision Project Graphs

“…The Decision Critical Path Method (DCPM) can be applied to problems having a discrete time-cost tradeoff. For instance, (San Cristobal 2015) following (Crowston, Thompson 1967;Crowston 1970) presents a model minimizing the project completion cost with a desired project completion time. That model includes both the activity performance costs and a penalty (or reward) if the project is completed after (or before) the due date.…”

“…Decision project graphs (DGP) were proposed by (Crowston, Thompson 1967) and other researchers (Hastings, Mello 1978) in the sixties and seventies of the 20 th century. Decision project graphs, called also decision critical path method networks (DCPMN), are used in project planning, scheduling and management.…”

On the Complexity of Delaying an Adversary’s Project

“…Thus, project interdiction is truly a "system-interdiction problem" (Israeli and Wood 2002), not a network-interdiction problem. Crowston and Thompson (1967) describe an extension of project management models in which the project manager can complete a project using alternative technologies. Brown et al (2004) use this extension to model different means of uranium enrichment.…”

“…That is, faced with a fixed set of task lengthst k = t k + d kxk , the project manager would like to solve the DCPM, the "decision CPM problem," (Crowston and Thompson 1967), which selects a set of alternative technologies by choosing w ∈ W to minimize project completion time. We state DCPMd, the decision version of DCPM, in terms of deleting technologies (and represent the remaining technologies after deleting w by 1 − w) to help show its NPcompleteness:…”

Decision CPM: Network Reduction and Solution

“…The usual network of the Critical Path Method has been generalized by Crowston and Thompson [2] to include the possibility of performing some of the jobs in several alternate ways.…”