Project Analysis: Aktor's Petrol Filling Station Construction Plan

This project analyzes the construction of a new petrol filling station, acting as a management consultant. The project begins with recommendations for the existing site setup, proposing modifications to optimize space for construction activities, accommodation, and security. It then constructs a critical path method (CPM) diagram and a Gantt chart for the early start program, determining the critical path and project duration. The analysis includes calculating the probability of project completion within the estimated timescale and identifying the most cost-effective way to accelerate the project by three weeks. Further, the project presents Gantt charts showing planned and actual progress, calculates planned and earned value at the end of week 10, computes schedule and cost indices, and provides a revised budget. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations, emphasizing the importance of effective planning, cost management, and schedule adherence in construction projects.

Management
Consultant

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Recommendation to the existing site set up and new site plan....................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
A. Construction of critical path method and determination of critical path and overall duration
of the project................................................................................................................................3
B. Production of Gantt chart for the early start programme that Aktor can use in the planning
phase of the project......................................................................................................................4
C. Calculation of probability of the project completion within timescale originally estimated in
part a.............................................................................................................................................6
D. Determination of the most cost effective way in which project's overall duration can be
accelerated by three weeks...........................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
A. Production of Gantt Chart.......................................................................................................7
B. Calculation of planned value of the project at the end of week 10.........................................9
C. Computation of earned value of the work completed at the end of week 10..........................9
D. Calculation of schedule index and cost index for each project team and for the whole
project........................................................................................................................................10
E. Computation of revised budget for the project at the end of week 10..................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Management consultant can be defined as a person who is responsible to provide advice
to business entities to carry out operational activities in systematic manner. Main purpose of
them is to make sure that improvements are made in the performance with the help of their
suggestions (Baker, 2014). The main factors which are focused by them are facilitating
organisational change, developing strategy, suggesting ways to operate business effectively,
making alteration in operational execution etc. Major skills which are required by a management
consultant are planning, critical thinking, vast knowledge about current business scenario, proper
communication, etc. With the help of all these qualities an individual will be able to guide an
organisation properly. This assignment is based upon construction management for which
different topics such as recommendation for the existing site set up, production of CPM and
Gantt chart, calculation of probability of success of project are covered in this project.
Additionally, determination of most cost effective way, new Gantt chart to show planed and
actual progress, calculation of planned and earned value, schedule and cost index along with
revised budget are also covered in this project.
TASK 1
Recommendation to the existing site set up and new site plan
From the existing block plan it has been analysed that length of the property is 25 and
width is 85. The boundary which is kept outside the building is 1.2 for all the sides. Space for
Woodridge, Grafton and Lisson roads is 3.0 and for Grosvenor Road, space is 7.5. The building
is planning to occupy most of the site to the boundary so that available space could be used
maximumly (Besser, Ortmann and Klein, 2015). In order to manage the traffic and segregate
construction operatives several modifications are required to be made in the site plan. As the site
set up is required to be focused with accommodation, welfare facilities, security, storage of plant,
material, equipment etc. therefore several recommendations are made to project manager. All of
them are as follows:
 The width should be reduced up to 80 from 85 as it will help to make space to keep the
material which will be used for construction related activities.
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 The space for Grafton and Lisson Lane will be increased up to 5.5 from 3 as it will help
the management to increase the space to keep material, plant and equipments which will
be used to construct the building.
 Length for the building should be decreased from 25 to 23 so that space for parking could
be made in front of Woodridge lane.
 A cabin security staff is required to be made at the entrance in front of Grosvenor Road
so that details of all the individuals could be kept who are entering in the building.
 24 rooms should be made at ground floor which will be provided to the guests visiting the
hotel (Campbell, Jardine and McGlynn, 2016).
 Space for corridor is required to be focused because it will help the housekeeping staff
along with the guests to walk around properly.
By paying attention towards all the above mentioned recommendations a safe and
secured building could be constructed which is made by keeping all the essential elements in the
mind. These are welfare facilities, accommodation, security, material and equipments. The
updated set up plan is as follows:
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TASK 2
A. Construction of critical path method and determination of critical path and overall duration of
the project
Critical path method: It can be defined as a technique which is used for the purpose of
scheduling set of different project activities. In order to determine critical path longest stretch of
dependent activities is analysed along with the time which is required to complete them (Collis
and Collins, 2015). CPM is mainly used in conjunction with the review and evaluation
techniques of programs. A critical path diagram for the new petrol filling station project of Aktor
is as follows:
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From the above chart it has been determined that critical path for the project of new
petrol pump is starting from activities 4 and ending with 39. The red line shows the critical path
for the whole project (Doherty, Horne and Wootton, 2014).
B. Production of Gantt chart for the early start programme that Aktor can use in the planning
phase of the project
Gantt chart: It is a type of bar chart which is prepared by project managers for the
purpose of scheduling and analysing different activities along with their duration. It is developed
as a production control tool so that progression of the planned project could be analysed. With
the help of it, managers can plan, coordinate and track specific tasks of the project (Fouweather,
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2017). The Gantt chart which is produced for the early start programme that Aktor can use in the
planning phase of the new project of construction a new petrol filling station is as follows:
5

From the above Gantt chart it has been determined that there are various activities which
will be performed to construct a new petrol filling station. All of them will be completed within
22 weeks and total value of it is around 1.3 million pounds (Jones, 2017).
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C. Calculation of probability of the project completion within timescale originally estimated in
part a
Probability of project completion: It can be defined as the process of determining the
chances of happing an event (Probability, 2020). The actual value of it varies between 0 to 1. In
the results 0 shows the impossibility of event and 1 indicates the certainty of the same (Kabir and
Sumi, 2014). In order to determine the possibility of successful completion of the project of new
patrol filling station probability of the same is calculated. Calculation of it is as follows:
 Formula: P (A) = n (E) – n (S)
= 2 / 6
= 0.33
From the above calculation it has been determined that there is 33% chances of that the
project will be completed in the pre-decided time limit and meet the targets.
D. Determination of the most cost effective way in which project's overall duration can be
accelerated by three weeks
From the table 3 of new petrol filling station's crashing data it has been determined that
the highest crashing cost will be faced by activity T and on the other hand the lowest cost will be
for activity G1. Minimum crashed duration for T and D1 are 1 and 1. Normal duration for both
of them is same as the other one (Ko, 2014).
If Activity T will be performed for two weeks then total cost of it will be 2400 and if G1
will be performed for two weeks then its cost will be around 900. Cost of all the activities for
three weeks is as follows:
Activities Crashing cost for one week Crashing cost for three weeks
P 900 2700
T 1200 3600
D1 850 2550
G1 450 1350
G2 750 2250
H1 750 2250
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From the above table it has been determined that crashing cost of G1 activity is the
lowest and the highest one is related to T. By observing all of the costs for three weeks it has
been analysed that most cost effective way in which project's duration can be accelerated by
three weeks is activity G1 as its cost is very low and by working on it the predetermined goals
will be accomplished successfully (Krishnaswamy, 2016).
TASK 3
A. Production of Gantt Chart
The Gantt Chart for the progress of the project of constructing a new petrol filling
station is as follows:
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From the above Gantt chart it has been determined that critical path for the project of new
petrol filling station starts from activity 1 and ends with activity 9. The red highlights are
showing the critical path for whole project (Liebech Schwartz and Söderberg, 2015).
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B. Calculation of planned value of the project at the end of week 10
Planned value: It can be defined as the authorised budget which is allocated to different
teams of the organisations for the purpose of accomplishing the targeted goals. It is very
important for the project managers to make sure that they analyse it before starting the work. It is
also considered as the baseline for a specific task. Main purpose of it is to facilitate the
management to assess the delivery of project so that its benefits for the organisation could be
determined. It is calculated for the purpose of monitoring the cost of project which is compared
to specific value of baseline. Calculation of it is as follows:
 Formula: Completed percentage of project * total budget (project cost)
= 57% * 655
= 373.35 million pounds
Working notes:
Calculation of completed percentage of the project at the end of week 10 is as follows:
In order to calculate it average percentage of completed activities is taken.
= (100 + 100 + 40 + 80 + 0 + 100 + 50 + 100 + 0 + 0) / 10
= 570 / 10
= 57 (Percentage of completed project)
Calculation for the total cost of project is as follows:
The budget which is allocated to each activity is take to determine the total cost.
= 90 + 35 + 75 + 60 + 80 + 40 + 55 + 80 + 40 + 100
= 655 million pounds
C. Computation of earned value of the work completed at the end of week 10
Earned value: It can be defined as an approach which is mainly used for the purpose of
monitoring actual, completed work and project plan in order to analyse that planned activities are
performed properly or not (Manville, Matthias and Campbell, 2017). It shows that the time
which is spent by teams on a project will be sufficient to reach the goal or not. With the help of
it, progress of a project could be determined in terms of cost and time. It purpose is to get an
estimation of resources which will be used for completion of different tasks. Calculation of it is
as follows:
 Formula = Percentage of completed project * Money spent on project (Budget used)
= 57% * 390
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= 222.3 million pounds
Working notes:
The calculation for total money spent on the project is as follows:
Total budget which is used by all the activities is used to calculate the total money spend.
= 110 + 20 + 40 + 90 + 0 + 40 + 30 + 60 + 0 + 0
= 390
D. Calculation of schedule index and cost index for each project team and for the whole project
Schedule index: It is a performance measure which is used for the comparison of
completed project with the scheduled one. The main elements which are used in its calculation
are earned and planned value (Nikolova, Möllering and Reihlen, 2015). It guides managers to
measure efficiency of a project by evaluating each and every activity which is performed to
complete the project. If it is less than one then it shows that project is not working according to
schedule, if it is one then it demonstrates that tasks are performed appropriately and
predetermined time. When schedule index is more than one then it is considered that project is
completing faster then the planned period. Calculation of it is as follows:
 Formula = Earned value / Planned value
Calculation of schedule index for teams:
In order to calculate SI for all the activities EV and PV will be required to be calculated.
Activities Earned
value
Planned
value
Schedule
index
Teams
A 110 90 1.22 Team 1
B 20 35 0.57 Team 2
C 16 30 0.53 Team 2
D 70 48 1.46 Team 1
E 0 0 0 Team 1
F 40 40 1 Team 2
G 15 27.5 0.55 Team 1
H 60 80 0.75 Team 2
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I 0 0 0 Team 2
J 0 0 0 Team 1
As activities A, D, E, F, G and J were performed by teams therefore schedule index for
team 1 will be as follows:
= 1.22 + 1.46 + 0 + 0.55 + 0 / 5
= 3.23 / 5
= 0.646 or 0.65
The average schedule index for team 1 will be around 0.65 which means the individuals
in the team are completing 0.65 hours from 1 hour which means on 39 minutes (Shin and Dong,
2019).
Activities B, C, F, H and I are performed by team 2 so the schedule index for it will be
calculated as follows:
= 0.57 + 0.53 + 1 + 0.75 + 0 / 5
= 2.85 / 5
= 0.57
Average schedule index of team 2 is 0.57 which shows that team members are
completing only 34 minutes of 1 hour for completion of project.
Working notes:
Calculation of Earned value for all the activities is as follows:
Activities
Percentage of
completed project
Money spent on
project Earned value
A 100% 110 110
B 100% 20 20
C 40% 40 16
D 80% 90 70
E 0% 0 0
F 100% 40 40
G 50% 30 15
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H 100% 60 60
I 0% 0 0
J 0% 0 0
Calculation for Planned value for all the activities is as follows:
Activities
Percentage of
completed project Budget allocated
Planned
value
A 100.00% 90 90
B 100.00% 35 35
C 40.00% 75 30
D 80.00% 60 48
E 0.00% 80 0
F 100.00% 40 40
G 50.00% 55 27.5
H 100.00% 80 80
I 0.00% 40 0
J 0.00% 100 0
Calculation of schedule index for the whole project:
= 222.3 / 373.35
= 0.595 or 0.60
The above schedule index shows that the project team is only completing 0.6 hours from
every estimated hour which means just over 35 minutes.
Cost index: It is used by project managers to determine efficiency and effectiveness of a
task in terms of financial resources. With the help of it, it could be determined that the activities
which are performed systematically will be able to meet long term goals such as higher
profitability (Susanto and Darmasetiawan, 2020). Calculation of it is as follows:
 Formula = Earned value / Actual cost
Actual cost is the total money spent by the activities.
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Calculation of cost index for teams is as follows:
Money spend by each activity is the actual cost of it.
Activities Earned value
Money spent on
project Cost index Teams
A 110 110 1 Team 1
B 20 20 1 Team 2
C 16 40 0.4 Team 2
D 70 90 0.78 Team 1
E 0 0 0 Team 1
F 40 40 1 Team 2
G 15 30 0.5 Team 1
H 60 60 1 Team 2
I 0 0 0 Team 2
J 0 0 0 Team 1
Average cost index for team 1:
= 1 + 0.78 + 0 + 0.5 + 0 / 5
= 2.28 / 5
= 0.0912 or 0.09
From the above calculation it has been determined that team 2 is generating 0.09 pounds
on 1 pound.
Average cost index for team 2:
= 1 + 0.4 + 1 + 1 + 0 / 5
= 3.4 / 5
= 0.68
The calculation of average cost index of team 2 is showing that it is generating 0.68
pounds on the invested 1 pound.
Calculation of cost index for whole project is as follows:
= 222.3 / 390
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= 0.57
It shows that the organisation is earning 0.57 pounds for each 1 pound which is invested
in the project.
Performance of project in terms of cost and time: From the above calculations it has
been determined that the project is performing average because only 0.57 pounds are generated
in the investment of 1. On the other hand, teams are only completing over 35 minutes. It is very
important for the top management to take strict actions against it so that performance could be
enhanced. For this purpose, top level executives can formulate new policies which could be used
by them to enhance engagement of staff in their jobs.
E. Computation of revised budget for the project at the end of week 10
Revised budget: It can be defined as a budget which is formulated by business entities
for the purpose of making sure that the activities will be completed in the predetermined
monetary resources or not (Vaidya and Pearce, 2014). The budget which was produced
previously is revised because some of the activities have used more than the funds that are
allocated to them. On the other hand, some of the activities have not used finance because these
were not started. At the end of week 10 the revised budget will be as follows:
Activities
Original
budget
Actual spent
money Variance
A 90 110 -20
B 35 20 15
C 75 40 35
D 60 90 -30
E 80 0 80
F 40 40 0
G 55 30 25
H 80 60 20
I 40 0 40
J 100 0 100
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Total 655 390 265
From the above table it can be analysed that management of the organisation decided that
655 million pounds will be required to complete all the activities in 10 weeks but the actual
spending were 390. Therefore, the actual money spent will be considered as revised budget in
which funds will be allocated on the basis of their spendings.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been determined that management consultant is the
person who facilitate an organisation to make appropriate changes in the business model to reach
the targeted goals. Construction businesses are required to pay attention towards different factors
such as security, availability of material, equipment etc. and for the purpose of making all these
factors available they may have to modify the design of building which will be constructed.
There are various techniques which are used for evaluation of the projects. These are PERT,
CPM etc. With the help of both of them, best suitable option for carrying out future activities
could be determined. PERT is mainly used to find the most cost effective way in which project
could be accelerated in minimum time limit. CPM is used to figure out the critical path with the
help of different project activities. While determining the possibility of successful completion of
a task probability of whole project could be analysed. There are various key elements which are
required to be calculated to analyse performance of project in terms of cost and time. These are
planned and earned value, schedule and cost index etc. Revised budget is also generated by
business entities if they are not able to perform activities according to the funds which were
allocated to them previously.
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