Influence of Buffer Size change in Critical Chain Scheduling: Case Study

Abstract

Performing the Critical Chain Scheduling (CCS) and Buffer Management (BM) in project management has recently risen as one of the most popular project management approaches. The critical Chain Scheduling (CCS) approach is replacing the traditional scheduling method to reduce the uncertainty associated with time schedules. The research highlights the importance of critical chain scheduling in project execution by investigating using buffers in the critical paths and the feeding baths in project management using a real case study. The case study was studied by analyzing the schedule provided and then implementing CCS and BM using four different methods. The methods are cut and paste (C&PM), the root square method (RSEM), the Adaptive procedure with resource tightness, and the Adaptive procedure with network density (APND). The buffer size obtained for each method was determined. From the result got, for project buffer in adaptive approach with network density method yields a larger buffer size compared to the adaptive procedure with resource tightness method. While for feeding buffer also show that APND resulted in a larger buffer size than APRT. Finally, the proposed buffer size was investigated and simulated using the What if approach.