Crashing a schedule an algorithmic and programming approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to tackle an important method in the scheduling of a project, crashing a schedule. Crashing the schedule has proved to be a time consuming manual task and susceptible to errors. A need for a clear algorithm is vital as well as implementing this algorithm in a programmed software. This report starts with an introduction about the subject and an explanation about the process of manual crashing as well as previous attempts to tackle the subject. Then, it fragments the manual method of crashing into single operations. Each of those operations is analyzed for programmability and a list of programmable tasks is determined. A general algorithm is then stated, and it is programmed in JavaScript along with a user friendly web interface. An example of a new project and another for an ongoing project are then crashed manually and by the software, and the results are compared.