CCPM: Critical Chain Project Management
CCPM scheduling is the preferred method for bringing a project in on-time, within budget and to specification. How? Exepron’s early warning and proactive critical chain method provides timely and appropriate warning signals long before a project runs into trouble. In addition, Exepron will identify specifically which task(s) are jeopardizing the overall project due date.
Buffer Management
The critical chain method includes: A single main project buffer automatically inserted by Exepron at the end of the longest chain of resource and dependent tasks. A number of feeding buffers automatically inserted by Exepron at integration points with the critical chain. Buffers provide an effective early warning signal and will pinpoint where timely intervention is required.
Why The Critical Chain Method?
Inevitable trade-offs often appear as a conflict between the limited resources, (money or people) and the overall project lead-time from start to finish. As long as this decision involves a trade-off, which cannot be quantified into a single measurement, then determining the “best” decision will never be objective. Current project management models do not provide the necessary metrics or stability to keep the critical path from frequently moving. Therefore, it is imperative to find a project management model that will create stability and consistent metrics.
Buffer the Project against Uncertainty
In most projects it is not only the critical path, but also the availability of the resources assigned to each of the project tasks that determines the overall project lead-time. The combination of resource availability and project layout together determine the overall lead-time of any project and as such, should be managed as the constraint. With the constraint(s) properly identified, it is now possible to buffer the project against disturbances, thus providing a realistic plan, which is the TOC approach to project management generally referred to as the “critical chain method.”
Early Warning of Task slippage
Using these buffers as protective “shock absorbers” as well as highly visible early warning of inevitable slippage safeguards the project from statistical fluctuation and resource contention. The project manager can use these newly developed measurements for early intervention, which will correctly focus management attention on tasks that keep the project on-time and within budget.
Increase Throughput for the entire Portfolio of Projects
The critical chain methodology shows how to protect a project from wasted time caused by frequent priority changes, stress and time loss due to multi-tasking. This higher level of stability allows effective forward planning, which includes critical chain scheduling of multiple projects sharing a common resource pool. The inevitable outcome of critical chain project management is higher throughput of individual projects and higher throughput of the entire project portfolio management.
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