The Challenge
This infrastructure project involved a significant stretch of construction, including clearing, earthworks, drainage, and the building of viaducts.
Key execution challenges included:
- Projected Delay: The initial schedule indicated that the project might be delayed by a month.
- High Liquidated Damages: A delay would incur liquidated damages per day for missing the contractual milestone. A one-month delay could result in damages of up to over 6% of the total project value.
- Resource Constraints: Meeting the deadline without adding more equipment or increasing costs posed a strict constraint on operations.
With a pressing deadline and high stakes, the Project Director requested an analysis of possible mitigation strategies. A more dynamic approach was necessary to bring the project back on track within the existing resource limits.
The Solution
ALICE was introduced to generate and evaluate potential recovery scenarios efficiently. Through ALICE, the team tested multiple adjustments to develop an optimized schedule that would meet the milestone without incurring additional costs.
ALICE generated 10 potential scenarios within three hours, allowing the team to quickly evaluate options for meeting the milestone. ALICE’s optimization process offered flexibility and efficiency that traditional methods could not match.
Key adjustments made by the team in ALICE:
- By removing non-essential soft logic, ALICE increased scheduling flexibility, reducing dependencies that added time.
- Task durations were recalculated using production rates.
- Different calendar configurations were tested, enabling more control over task sequencing.
ALICE allowed the team to set minimum and maximum crew sizes for specific tasks, ensuring efficient resource allocation without exceeding constraints. Additionally, the team could set a mandatory finish in ALICE for the earthmoving milestone, ensuring that critical tasks were prioritized to avoid delays.
The Results
The following significant improvements were realized on the project:
Time Savings: The optimized schedule reduced the overall project timeline by 16%, saving 27 calendar days compared to the original P6 schedule.
Improved Crew Utilization: ALICE improved overall crew utilization from 84% to 91%, ensuring optimal utilization without any need for additional resources.
Cost Savings:
- By completing the project 27 days earlier, the team saved approximately 2.7% of the total project value in overhead costs.
- Additionally, the optimized schedule mitigated the risk of up to 6% of the project value in liquidated damages.
ALICE’s scenario analysis process was five times faster than traditional methods, enabling the team to quickly evaluate and implement the most effective recovery strategy.
Note: The image used above is for representational purposes only. To maintain confidentiality, project values have been expressed as percentages of the total project value.
