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“Critical Chain” Project Management. Presentation for KCMPUG March 19, 2003. Dave Higgins Consulting, Inc. Website: www.davehigginsconsulting.com Email: dave@davehigginsconsulting.com. Dave Higgins.
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“Critical Chain” Project Management Presentation for KCMPUG March 19, 2003 Dave Higgins Consulting, Inc. Website: www.davehigginsconsulting.com Email: dave@davehigginsconsulting.com
Dave Higgins Dave Higginshas been a student of systems development and improvement methods for nearly 30 years. Together with Ken Orr (of The Ken Orr Institute) and the late Jean-Dominique Warnier, Dave was one of the principal architects of the Warnier/Orr systems development methodology back in the 1980’s. During the course of his career he has performed hundreds of seminars on various topics from program design and modification, to systems and data base design, to requirements definition, to planning and project management.Dave has written five books on various aspects of software development and is the author of numerous articles and white papers. His first book, published in 1979, was one of the first on developing quality software for personal computers, and was translated into over a dozen languages. In recent years, Dave has focused on the strategic uses of technology to improve business processes, specializing in business process reengineering, strategic planning, data warehousing and knowledge management. Recent projects include the reengineering of document scanning and records retention systems for a big-three auto maker, and developing an electronic publication strategy for a national engineering standards organization.
CCPM Research… • Article on CCPM for Cutter Consortium
Origins of CCPM • Eliyahu Goldratt, Israeli physicist & PhD • The Goal, 1984 • Theory of Constraints, 1990 • The Critical Chain, 1997 • Website: www.goldratt.com
Theory of Constraints • Identify the system’s constraints • Decide how to exploit the system’s constraints • Subordinate and synchronize everything else to the above decisions • Elevate the performance of the system’s constraints, • If any of the above steps shift the constraints, go back to step 1
CCPM Key Objectives • Develop a realistic plan • Develop a reliable plan • Keep it simple • Show the Critical Chain • Minimize Schedule Change • Optimize Globally, • Minimize work-in-process and multitasking
Developing the CCPM Schedule • Create the initial plan • Level the resources • Determine the Critical Chain, • Add buffers to the schedule
What’s A Critical Chain? Consider a “vanilla” project plan…
What’s A Critical Chain? We all know about the critical path…
R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 What’s A Critical Chain? First, resource contention is ID’d…
What’s A Critical Chain? R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 Identify the critical chain…
R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 Project Buffer Feeding Buffers What’s A Critical Chain? Add buffers to the schedule…
What’s A Critical Chain? Customer Commitment Date R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 Project Start Date The Critical Chain Project Schedule…
What’s A Critical Chain? Customer Commitment Date R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 Project Start Date The Critical Chain Project Schedule…
R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 And the advantage is? Original Plan CCPM Plan
R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 R1 R2 R2 R1 R3 R4 R4 R1 And the advantage is? Original Plan CCPM Plan
The question becomes… • If CCPM is better, why isn’t everyone doing it? • Projects will be shorter • Projects will be easier to manage, • Projects will be more successful
CCPM Assumptions • Tasks are estimated at 50% vs. 90% • Resource contention is eliminated • Buffers are easier to manage • Multitasking is minimized • Projects are staggered, • Time is money
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life After Larry Putnam, www.qsm.com
Resource Scope Bigger Project Smaller Project Time Project facts of life
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life When resource is fixed… time can vary.
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life When time is fixed… resource can vary.
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life When time & resource are fixed… scope can vary.
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life When time, resource and scope are fixed… Oopsie!
Resource Scope Time Project facts of life and CCPM If projects get shorter… don’t costs increase?
Self-fulfilling prophecy? • Only progressive organizations have generally tried it • Requires a commitment from management to change • Scheduling • Multitasking • Begging the question: How much is CCPM?
Conclusion • Some good ideas • Not a radical departure • If you try it, you’ll probably have some success… • If you work at an organization that will let you try it, you’ll probably have success even if you don’t.