Assignment title: Information
Microsoft Project is a software which includes project work, project teams, schedules
and Finance. It is also designed to assist users to develop concrete goals for project
teams and clients by creating tables and the allocation of resources and management
of budgets (Rouse, M 2015). There are many reasons for making scheduled plan for any
project. So one of them is to determine the time of activities and project completion
date. The scheduled plan include network diagrams and Bar Chart.
Network diagrams are a schematic representation which displays the project
schedule and connect between these activities. Also It is a graphical diagram which
shows the performance of the tasks necessary to complete a project and clearly
conceive the flow of tasks & relationships (Emanuele Della Valle 2010).
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart which is developed as a production control
tool in 1917 by Henry L. Gantt. It provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that
helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific tasks in a project (Rouse, M 2007).
Aim
This report is done to create a new project plan for producing and formatting a
Programme with time constriants and the aim of report lab are:
Creating a formatted Bar Chart and network diagrams
Adding overlaps between tasks
Analysis Effect of constraints
Slack (Float) analysis
Changing critical and non-critical tasks duration (Dawood, M 2016)
Laboratory Data & Results Discussion
1- Started Microsoft Project 2010 Program and created a Blank Project with
adjusting Auto Schedule and change the start of project date to 01-Dec-2016 .
2- select the standard calendar than make (Only Friday and Saturday as nonworking
days per week) than adjust the annual holidays( Oman National day on 18 Nov and
AL Nahda day on 23 July) repeating , say 5 years by clicking
3- entered the data as given in excel sheet in the Microsoft project by added the task
name , duration and successor is shown in (Dawood, M 2016).
Requirements
Q1- after adjusting the project by applying the required data is given in table (1) and
display the project summary task by entered the data in Microsoft Project as shown in
Figure (1). We found the duration of project is 16 days and due date is 22- 12- 2016
Q2- show critical task in red color by using format tab / the critical task box/ Test
Style / Item to change / critical task then the critical task appears in red color as
shown in Figure (2). *the difference in critical and non critical task in a system is
critical task are processes that the computer needs to operate correctly they are must
have programs. Non critical talk are task that are running or can run but is not a
crusial part if the task is deleted or ended then the OS should still fuction properly
Q3- Applied Finish No Earlier Than constraint with a constraint date of 01-Feb-2017
to task Bridge railing (task 21) by double click to the task 21 /advance / Constraint
type / Finish No Earlier Than / constraint date/ 01-Feb-2017 as shown in figure (2).
The Project duration is 68 days and due date is 03-March -2016.We observe that is no
change in project duration because due date of project is more that the constraint date
(Dawood, M 2016).
* Time constraints refer to the limitations on the start and end times of each task in a
project's critical path, which is the sequence of tasks that cannot be delayed without
delaying the entire project (Basu. C 2014).
Q4- determine Total Slack time for all tasks by insert new column (Total Slack ) and
increase duration of Construct Central Pier (task 12) task by 5 days. Since it 's a
critical task increasing days effected the project to became the duration of project is
66 days and due date is 3 - 2 - 2017 as shown in figure (3).
*Slack or Float provide flexibility in the project schedule. There are two types :-
*Total Float : The total amount of time that a schedule activity may be delayed from
its early start without delaying the project finish date and determining the difference
between the early finish dates and late finish dates.
*Free Float : The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without
delaying the early start date of any immediately following schedule activities
Q5- We formatted the noncritical tasks as
by clicking format tab / format / bar style then we changed middle pattern, start shape
and end shape as shown in figure (8) (Dawood, M 2016).
Q6- insert the task name above the bar and task duration below the bar (in Gantt
chart) by clicking format tab / format / bar style then select text and changed
top(Name) & bottom (duration) as shown in figure (5) and figure (6).
Q7- We formatted the critical task as in Network Diagram
by clicking View / Network Diagram/ format / box style then changed style setting for
critical and border shape as shown in figure (10)
Q8- by double click in the task 11 / predecessor / (SS)/ lag (5days), we Change the
relationship between Foundation Right Abutment (task 11) task and its predecessor to
Start to Start (SS) relationship with 5 days lag and observe the there is no change in
project duration and due date of the project as shown in figure (8)
Q12- Compare the results of manual calculation & MS Project
After calculation manually in AON & Gantt Chart , we found the duration of project
in initial data is 71 days ( Figure 12,13). In other hand , the project duration in
Microsoft Project is 71 days. The critical activities in manual (AON & Gantt Chart)
is task ( 1,6,9,12,13,14,17,21,22) and the critical activities in MS Project is also same
task (1, 6,9,12,13,14,17,21,22) .
We observe the result of manual calculation and the result of Microsoft calculation is
no difference between them is same result and the critical activities is same in both.
In this lecture, we have observed changed in the projects duration and due date. We
found the duration of project by initial data is 68 days and the due date is 03- March-
2016 and after that we show the critical task in red color to identify which task is
critical task .when we add Total Slack time for all the tasks and increase duration of
the task 12 by 5 days , the duration change to 73 days and due date is 10-March -
2016. So we observe that any change in duration of the critical task it will effect to the
duration of project. In addition ,we have learned and understand the Network Diagram
and Gantt Chart in manual and by using Microsoft Project and we resulting that the
duration of project and critical task is same in both.