Project Planning Report: WBS, Critical Path, and 4D Planning

This report delves into the core concepts of project planning and management. It begins by discussing the significance of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as a fundamental project management tool, emphasizing its role in efficient task management, budget allocation, and stakeholder satisfaction. The report then explores the critical path method, explaining its importance in identifying crucial project data and optimizing time management. It also examines the impact of As Late as Possible (ALAP) and As Soon As Possible (ASAP) methods on the critical path. The report further investigates resource levelling, detailing its process and how limitations on unskilled resources can affect project timelines. The process of resource levelling is explained with its three main factors: stage, phase, and deliverable or proposed task. It then moves on to discuss Synchro Pro, a visual project management software, highlighting the linking procedure carried out by clear communication. Finally, the report defines 4D planning, emphasizing its purpose and benefits as a project management tool, particularly within the engineering industry, while also considering the roles of tools like MS Project and Synchro Pro.

Running head: PROJECT PLANNING
Project Planning
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PROJECT PLANNING
1. Discuss the importance of WBS as a Project Management tool
A Work Breakdown Structure or WBS is a tool that manages the work of a project
manager efficiently. Since a project is a time-limited activity, it is assigned with fixed time and
budget. In addition it has to be kept in mind that the project fulfils all the demands of the clients
as well as the needs of the stakeholders of the organization. Therefore, a project manager needs
to plan for a flawless schedule including the completeness of the functional areas and the fixed
costs as well as the assignment of responsibilities to the required project team (Zhanget al.
2015). This entire process is efficiently handled with the help of Work Breakdown Structure
tool or WBS tool. The primary purpose of a WBS tool is to manage the pre-set time for the
project and reduce the complex as per the discretion of the project manager. Since the time is
managed, it helps to thus make a task in a project management very measureable. This
decreases the chances of projects being over budget since specific costs to specific tasks can be
assigned. The WBS tool lets the project manager in distributing the budget of the project
making them fall into specific packages in accordance with the tasks. The WBS tool also
enables tracking the progress of a project schedule. It also helps in defining the scope of the
project without making the project carry out any unnecessary work. The task of the WBS
enables the implementation of one part of the overall function.
2. Explain why identification of the critical path is important? Also comment on the
changes to the Critical Path, if the project is developed using As Late as Possible (ALAP)
method.
A critical path allows a project manager to identify the most important data in a project
schedule. However, an experienced project manager may identify a data without much effort.
Although, it is required that critical path needs to be identified since it serves a lot of purpose
that makes a project be declared as a success (Zhanget al. 2015). Identification of Critical Path
is essentially important since it puts forward the facilities of reducing time, by helping in
managing the resources, and compares the tasks that were being previously proposed and the

2PROJECT PLANNING
tasks that have been completed so far in the impending project. Thus identification of the
critical path validates the project management system and helps a project manager to efficiently
evaluate the tasks completed in the project timeline.
The primary goal of a project manager is to complete a task in the minimum time as
possible. To help achieve this goal project managers will constrain tasks in forward scheduling
to begin As Soon As Possible or ASAP (Bindu and Kumar 2016). However, there are times
when an As Late as Possible or ALAP constraint on an activity adheres to the true project
situation in a much better way.If a project is being developed by the As Late as Possible
method then it would be possible that the changes in the critical path would occur. The critical
path would find the map between the implementation of the ASAP method and then it would
find the changes with the implementation of ALAP and compare them together.
3. Discuss how activities might be delayed beyond LST to cater for the limits on unskilled
resources as a result of levelling. Consider resource pool for unskilled resources as 7 units
per day.
It would affect heavily if it is found that Unskilled Labours are being used as a result of
levelling and limits on the LST. Levelling is although a process that maintains balance of the
resources used from different areas of expertise and then utilises it to finish the project and
launch the required product in the limited amount of time. This happens when a project
manager starts to implement latest ideas simultaneously in a pre-set project planning with time
constraints full. When unskilled labours are utilized for planning into a project simultaneously
and taken as a result of the levelling process, it would definitely affect the LST of a project
(Bianco, Caramia and Giordani 2016). The works would start getting derailed from the
proposed times and the use of more research may also lead to over budgeting of the project.
This would thus result into prolonged delay in the project. If it is considered that the 7 units per
day of unskilled labours are accessed for completion of a project simultaneously, it will
implement the idea that the delay might hamper the manifold costs that a project should acquire

3PROJECT PLANNING
wholeheartedly (Iyeret al. 2015). This is a o help achieve this goal project managers will
constrain tasks in forward scheduling to begin As Soon As Possible (ASAP). But there are
times when an As Late as Possible or ALA.P constraint on an activity better adheres to the true
project situation.
4, Explain and discuss the process of resource levelling.
All the resource levelling processes involve three main factors of work-based structure
for its process. These are, stage, phase, and deliverable or proposed task. When leveling of
resources would occur, resources are handed over with tasks or deliverables that needs
execution. During the initial phase of a project, the roles are assigned to human resources
ideally at whom point resources are not identified (Jensenet al. 2017). After this the process it
is followed by specializing in specific regions by the satellite. Critical path is a community
practice used by project managers at the time of resource leveling. Critical path represents for
both the long and short time duration paths in the network diagram for the completion of the
project.
However, except for the widely used concept of the critical path, project managers use
crashing and fast tracking if things get uncontrollable.
 Fast tracking - This performs critical path tasks. This buys time. The prominent feature
of this technique is that although the work is completed for the moment, possibility of
rework is higher.
 Crashing - This refers to assigning resources in addition to existing resources to get
work done faster, associated with additional cost such as labor, equipment, etc.
5. Briefly discuss the linking procedure carried out in synchro Pro
Synchro Pro is a visual project management software for construction depicting clear
view about maintaining the quality of life. BIM has brought abundant reimbursement to
numerous areas of project delivery in manufacturing and construction (Azhar, Khalfan and
Maqsood 2015). However, the greatest can be apparent as the process of the connecting

4PROJECT PLANNING
procedure, which is done with the help of linking up 3D geometry to time, site costs and
resources. All project members would clearly see a virtual construction of the project based on
the main construction plan of works usually delivered as a complex Gantt chart. Therefore, the
linking procedure is carried out is by clear communication. This implies the fact that only
communication between the contractor’s team has been heightened. In addition, the
contractor’s delivery intent to the client and other parties that are directly or indirectly involved
(Kassem, Dawood and Chavada 2015). Thus, linking procedure is carried out in this way in
Synchro Pro.
6. Define 4D planning. Discuss the purpose and benefits of 4D systems as a Project
Management tool in an Engineering industry
4D planning is nothing but making the 3D planning model and project scheduling be
integrated into one project management process. Putting it in a much simpler way, the activity
bars on a Gantt chart are linked to corresponding elements of a 3D model using additional
software (Leach 2014). The sequence can be played back to simulate the planned construction.
In order to perform such a task, it is required to have a compatible software, a BIM model, and
a project schedule.Most people within the industry have now come across 3D & 4D
visualizations of one form or another, which are generally produced to jazz up a tender/
proposal submission. In essence these 3D or 4D visuals communicate complex methodologies
in simple terms to varying stakeholders.
Scheduling in a project in 3D and scheduling a project in 4D is much easier since there
are various tools available in the software market based on the subject. This allows a project
manager to implement the appropriate constraints in order to make a useful project with the
execution of the project in an optimal process (Hosaka and Saito 2015). To achieve this
purpose, the construction company requires to have systematic planning, management and
scheduling process that can in turns allow the overall cost estimation, time estimation and
resource estimations. Using a conventional project management software tool for 4D planning

5PROJECT PLANNING
in explaining the status of the vast projects in construction business is only possible when
engineering software based tools are used as a result of the effective project planning
implementation. This can be done in several applications available in the engineering zone,
such as the MS Project tool and Synchro Pro. Direct usage of schedule sheets prepared from
conventional tools with drawings is difficult to follow the schedule activities. Therefore, it is
essential that 4D planning be used (Zhanget al.2015). In addition to that, it has to be kept in
mind that 3D mapping still has axes that can be followed up in hard copy, however the adding
of the 4th axis resulted in the shifting of the planning from hard copy to computers. Therefore, it
had even become more essential to implement a software application for this purpose. Finally,
it can be said that, the implementation of 4D planning in engineering software tools into Project
Management is a feasible and easy process that would make the job of a project manager much
easier and less time consuming.

6PROJECT PLANNING
Reference
Agnese, T., Mladen, R. and Mauro, M., 2015. THE INTEGRATION BETWEEN
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN
2020: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES. In International Conference on Innovative
Production and Construction (IPC 2015) (pp. 55-58).
Ashtiani, B.N., Jiang, Q., Tayah, M., Welcker, B.L., Patton, T.G., Panvalkar, S.S. and Chan,
W.K.T., Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC, 2017. Controlling resource allocation with
automated consumption against a work breakdown structure. U.S. Patent 9,720,737.
Azhar, S., Khalfan, M. and Maqsood, T., 2015. Building information modelling (BIM): now
and beyond. Construction Economics and Building, 12(4), pp.15-28.
Bianco, L., Caramia, M. and Giordani, S., 2016. Resource levelling in project scheduling
with generalized precedence relationships and variable execution intensities. OR
spectrum, 38(2), pp.405-425.
Bindu, K.S. and Kumar, U.J., 2016. Resource Optimization in Road Construction Projects.
Hardin, B. and McCool, D., 2015. BIM and construction management: proven tools,
methods, and workflows. John Wiley & Sons.
Hosaka, S. and Saito, H., 2015. Constraining Operation Delay for Dynamic Power
Optimization of Asynchronous Circuits.
Iyer, P., Liu, Y., Sadeghpour, F. and Brennan, R.W., 2015. A fuzzy-logic based resource
levelling optimisation tool. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 48(3), pp.1942-1947.
Jensen, J.L., Siibak, A., Zeller, F., Vicente-Marino, M. and Brügger, N., 2017. Conference
Agenda.
Kassem, M., Dawood, N. and Chavada, R., 2015. Construction workspace management
within an Industry Foundation Class-Compliant 4D tool. Automation in Construction, 52,
pp.42-58.

7PROJECT PLANNING
Leach, L.P., 2014. Critical chain project management. Artech House.
Leach, L.P., 2014. Critical chain project management. Artech House.
Markou, C., Koulinas, G.K. and Vavatsikos, A.P., 2017. Project resources scheduling and
leveling using Multi-Attribute Decision Models: Models implementation and case
study. Expert Systems with Applications, 77, pp.160-169.
Nafkha, R. and Wiliński, A., 2016. The critical path method in estimating project
duration. Information Systems in Management, 5(1), pp.78-87.
Rahman, M.A. and Elazouni, A., 2015. Devising extended-duration schedules of enhanced
resource leveling. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 42(8), pp.552-562.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Siami-Irdemoosa, E., Dindarloo, S.R. and Sharifzadeh, M., 2015. Work breakdown structure
(WBS) development for underground construction. Automation in Construction, 58, pp.85-
94.
Wajid Hussain, D.M. and Trivedi, D.R.K., 2015. OptimisationOf Construction Resource
Allocation And Levelling Using Genetic Algorithm.
Wijesooriya, K., 2014. Importance of 4D simulation, Planning, and delivery. Vortrag, AAPM
Summerschool, University of Vermont.
Zhang, S., Sulankivi, K., Kiviniemi, M., Romo, I., Eastman, C.M. and Teizer, J., 2015. BIM-
based fall hazard identification and prevention in construction safety planning. Safety
science, 72, pp.31-45.