1 The Merits and Pitfalls of Critical Chain Scheduling Oya I. Tukel, Ph. D.

2 Fundamentals of Critical Chain Scheduling Critical Chain by Goldratt, 1997 Claimed to be the most important breakthrough in project management since the development of critical path

3 Resources Project Management in the Fast Lane, Newbold, Critical Chain Project Management, Leach, Articles: Cabanis-Brewin, 1999; Globerson, 2000; Pinto, Web pages:

4 Resources Book reviews: Elton and Roe, 1998; McKay and Morton, 1998; Letters to the editor in Project Management Journal and PM Network

5 Steps in Critical Chain Develop late start schedule using average task durations Eliminate resource contentions Identify critical chain(s) Insert feeding buffers Insert project buffer

6 An Example Three paths, nine tasks and six resources

7 Late start schedule

8 Resource Conflicts Eliminate resource contentions, blue and orange

9 Resolve Contentions Add two artificial precedence relations

10 Determine Critical Chain

11 Insert Feeding Buffers

12 Insert Project Buffer

13 Buffer Size Cut and Paste Method Root Square Error Method Monte Carlo Simulation Method