CEE241

Techniques of Project Planning

and Control
Martin Fischer
Associate Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering
and (by Courtesy) Computer Science
Director
Center for Integrated Facility Engineering
 Today's Agenda
• Motivation and Context
• Course Overview and Objectives
Who am I?
On the Faculty of the Construction
Engineering and Management Program
since 1991

Research at CIFE on 4D modeling since

1993, Director since 2001
http://cife.stanford.edu

4D Consultant to Walt Disney

Imagineering from 1998 to 2001

Co-Founder of Common Point Inc.

http://www.commonpointinc.com
ENR
12/31/01
p.37
ENR, 12/31/01, p.37
ENR, 12/31/01, p.38
 Construction vs. Manufacturing

What makes construction project management challenging?

 Uncertainties in manufacturing:

how much?
when to produce?
level of quality?

→ mainly driven by quantity of output

→ uncertain demand (output)
→ more simulation in manufacturing
→ more data available, fewer changes
→ process and product is well established

What makes construction project management challenging?

 Construction vs. Manufacturing

one-of a kind
many specialties
project-specific
high-risk
location
weather
embedded in environment (social context)
special function in human life: work, live
work stays, people move

What makes construction project management challenging?

 Uncertainties on construction projects:

on time?
good enough?
on budget?
resources available?
for how much?

→ mostly time-related
→outside of organization -> tendency to suboptimize
→tension between functional and project goals
→ mostly on input side
→ output quantity known
→ flexible project management techniques
What makes construction project management challenging?
ENR, Dec. 29, 2003
 Broad course context
• Management approaches
– Ford: mass production
– Toyota: lean production
– WalMart: IT
• Lean production
– involvement of production staff (including
subcontractors) in early design efforts
– supply chain management
– reduction in the number of subcontractors
– just-in-time factory and inventory management
– four to five sigma -> six sigma
• Information technology
– speed, transparency
– desktop publishing, composing, …, engineering
 Broad construction context for
course
• Larger projects
• Shorter completion time
• Complex, varying client requirements
• More stakeholders
¾Many organizations need to perform
predictably and reliably
¾Better methods and techniques for
construction management are needed
 Specific construction context for
course: current practice
• “Push-driven” approach to construction
management
– Discipline-oriented budgeting and cost control
– Resource-loaded scheduling
– Sequential project execution
– Progress measurement, earned value and milestones
¾ Suboptimization
¾ Out-of-sequence work
¾ Intentional or unintentional creation of buffers
 Suboptimization
• “optimizing each and every activity in a project
will optimize the project” (yes, no?)
• Example from steel fabrication
– Fabricate large members first
– Fabricate small steel between batches
¾ Great productivity in fabrication shop
¾ Poor productivity on site
• Other examples
• Design change
• Sheet metal fabrication
• Contract packaging
Accommodating Design Changes is a Challenge
Case Study: Impact of Design Change?
• Design change could not be
communicated to the subcontractor for
25 days
• Design change added one more iteration
to the shop drawing review process
• Resulted in 40 calendar days of delay
• Resulted in $55,000 of expedition costs
• Resulted in $500,000 of lost revenue for
the client
Sawing, Drilling & Burning Station
Synchronizing fabrication and erection
 Out-of-sequence work
• Pressure to maintain progress
• Start activities with inadequate resources
or out of sequence
• Examples:
– Hotel: window -> paint example
– Petroleum project: special alloy steel pipes
• particular coating
• expensive to apply on site
– High-tech project
SUN Microsystems Project

– Fremont, California
– Manufacturing Building - 125,000 SF
– Office Building - 75,000 SF
Intentional or unintentional buffers
• Oil and gas project: early fabrication of pipe
spools
• enhance progress (cash flow)
• relieve pressure on other areas with
engineering delay
• run out of storage at fab shop -> store on site ->
resources to move them around
• when needed, spools could no longer be found -
> 1 crew to look for spools
• modify 60% of spools due to design changes
98% of materials procured and on
site at 25 % construction
 “Pull-driven” approach to
construction
• Buildable schedule
• Overall project optimization
• Partnering
• Metrics
• Prime rule of the pull-driven approach:
No activity is allowed to proceed until all
the prerequisite work and its required
resources are in place
 Techniques to support pull-driven
approach
• Proper project work breakdown structure and
construction driven schedule
• Early development and population of a project
data model
• Early cooperation with partners
• Material management, regular resource forward
planning, and supply chain management
• 3-week look-ahead schedule with area
controllers
 Course Objectives
The Basics:
fundamental concepts of planning and control, different
types of estimates and approaches, scheduling techniques,
integrated time and cost control
Current Practice:
understand how companies have implemented planning
and control systems
learn from industry leaders
Technology:
suite of project management applications
exposure to innovative emerging software applications
Analytical Tools:
understand the implications of sequencing and scheduling
decisions on various parties
explore criteria for schedule and estimate evaluation
 Components of Teaching and
Evaluation
Reading & Classroom Discussion: 15%
•questions for assigned readings - will cold call students to
discuss
•learn from other students’ experience
Assignments: 25%
Exam: 30%
Group Project: 30%
•involves a field study or project model, report, and
presentation
•find out how concepts, theory, and tools taught are applied
in industry
•comment on how theory and practice could be improved
•speculate on the characteristics of a good construction
project management system in the future
The class schedule and other
course information are at
http://cee241.stanford.edu