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QBUS 3350 2022 S2 – Individual Assignment 2
Question 1: Project Networking (35 marks)
You have collected the following data on the critical activities of a new project your firm is
considering. Your boss is interested in how long the project will take.
ID Description Duration
(weeks)
Immediate
Predecessor
A Design 6 –
B Procurement 2 A
C Fabrication 4 A
D Assembly 3 B, C
E Testing 5 D
F Launch 3 C, E
a) Develop an Activity on Node network based on the information you have collected. How
long do you anticipate the project will take? What is the critical path? (10 marks)
b) After discussions with your engineer, it has become clear that a finish-to-start lag was
missing. A 4-day finish-to-start lag between activity B and D will add flexibility to the
network. Will the introduction of the lag change the critical path? (5 marks)
c) Replicate the network in part a) using the Activity on Arrow (AOA) method. (5 marks)
d) Clearly defining your objective and constraints, develop a linear programming model that
determines the project duration. Use EXCEL SOLVER to solve the model. (15 marks).
Question 2: Resource Levelling (25 marks)
Your project manager provides you with the following information.
ID Duration
(days)
Immediate
Predecessors
Resources
(per day)
A 1 – 1 Unit
B 2 – 1 Unit
C 3 – 1 Unit
D 2 A, B 1 Unit
E 4 B, C 2 Units
F 2 D, E 2 Units
a) Draw the network, defining the critical path and project duration (5 marks)
b) Create a resource loading table and confirm the project duration if 3 machines are
available. (10 marks)
c) If one machine breaks down and will not be available for 2 weeks, revise the project
network using appropriate resource levelling heuristics to determine how long the project
duration might be. It is important to show and explain all the intermediate steps. (10 marks)
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Question 3: Earned Value Management (40 marks)
ID Description Predecessor Duration
(weeks) PV EV RULE Assignment rule
A Design None 2 6 0/100 EF date
B Marketing A 3 20 50/50 ES and EF dates
C Sourcing A 5 30 %
complete 30% 20% 20% 20% 10%
D Manufacture A 4 20 %
complete 40% 10% 25% 25%
E Test C, D 4 16 %
complete Equally
F Approval D 2 18 %
complete Equally
G Launch B, E, F 3 8 50/50 ES and EF dates
a) Create a AON network for this project (5 marks)
b) Develop a time phased budget (baseline). Hint: refer to slide 22 of lecture 10 (10 marks)
c) Create status reports for periods 4 through 7, showing EV, AC, PV, CV, SV based on the
following actual data. (15 marks)
Period Activity
%
complete AC
4 A Finished 5
B 0% 7
C 50% 10
D 50% 8
5 A Finished 5
B 50% 8
C 60% 12
D 70% 10
6 A Finished 5
B 50% 10
C 80% 16
D Finished 15
7 A Finished 5
B Finished 14
C Finished 20
D Finished 15
E 0% 0
F 50% 9
d) For period 7 compute the SPI, CPI and PCIB indexes. (5 marks)
e) Comment on the project status at the end of period 7. (2 marks)
f) Forecast and explain EACf (3 marks)
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Submissions
All answers are to be submitted on an appropriately identified EXCEL file
QBUS3350_2022_S2_Individual_Assignment_2_SID.xlsx, with one question per sheet. For
clarity, type your answers in text boxes in your EXCEL file. The file should not be saved as a
PDF. The Excel should be uploaded to Canvas at this location.
Marks
This assessment will be marked out of 100 and is worth 10% of your overall grade.
Deadlines
The report is due on the Friday 28th October at 11:59 PM (end of week 12). Because the due
date is different to that stated in the UoS Guide, you will not be able to apply for a simple
extension via the Special Consideration portal. If you are unwell or have some other legitimate
reason you will not be able to submit by the due date, then you will need to email me directly
at simon.loria@sydney.edu.au and I will grant you a 5 day extension. I would note that if you
take advantage of this option, the assignment will be due the same day as the group project.
As I will not entertain this as an excuse for a further extension, my suggestion is you get this
submitted by the original due date.
If you suffer illness, injury or misadventure that delays your submission by more than 5 days,
you should apply for Special Consideration which will require full documentary evidence,
including medical documentation where appropriate.
Late penalties
In the absence of any SE or SC applications, assignments submitted after the due date will
incur a 5% per day penalty for the first 10 days. Reports more than 10 days late will receive a
mark of zero.
Word count & referencing
N/A
Academic integrity
You are encouraged to ask questions of Isabelle & I and have discussions with fellow students
about the task, but that is as far as any collaboration should extend. All your written work,
research and analysis needs to be your own. All submitted Excel files will be checked using
Turnitin.
Best of luck.
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