1
Larry Leach, President
Advanced Projects, Inc.
www.advanced-projects.com 208-345-1136
Getting Results With
Lean Project Management
© API, 2012
© API, 2012 2
�Critical Chain/LPM
�Multitasking
�Next Steps
Today’s Path
CCPM/LPM Case Results
(% Improvement)
3© API, 2012
Approach to Improve Project Delivery
4
Project Delivery
Improvement Objective
More Detail
LPM:
Three New Rules
�Focus
�Buffer
�Pipeline
© API, 2012
© API, 20125
Is the critical path the constraint to
project success?
© API, 2012 6
Resource Leveled Critical Path
© API, 2012 7
Critical Chain
© API, 2012 8
EXPLOIT variation by taking contingency out
of each task, and moving it to the end of the
chain…and BUFFERING.
Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4
BUFFER
Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
��������������������� ��!��"�
� ��� � ��� � ������������������������ ��!��"�
� ��� � ��� � ���0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
© API, 2012 9
Subordinate Merging Paths With
‘Feeding Buffers’
FB
FB
Project Buffer
© API, 201210
Example Project As CCPM/LPM Schedule
Project
Buffer
Feeding
Buffer
Reduced
Duration
(Mean)
Begin With The End In Mind
Its all about EXECUTION:
� Relay race task behavior.
� Buffer management.
Enabling behavior:
� Individual project critical
chain plans.� Variation and dependent
events (task networks).
� Resource feasible.
� Pipelined project portfolio.
� Management actions to
design and support the
system.
ACT!
Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Epsilon
Sigma0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
% B
uff
er
Use
d
% Project Work Complete
Multiproject Buffer Chart
11© API, 2012
LPM Focuses On Removing Waste
� Waste that causes tasks to take longer:
– Multitasking
– Parkinson’s Law
– Student Syndrome
– Queuing waste (input ready, resource busy)
� Waste of desynchronization (resource ready, no input)
� Quality defects
� Managing variation
12© API, 2012
Consequences
25 dead
49 injured
13© API, 2009© API, 2012
Growing Research Base
employees of Fortune 1,000
companies send and receive
178 messages a day and are
interrupted an average of at
least three times an hour.
However, recent research shows that multitasking has a dark side. Multitasking is
taking a toll in our society, according to researchers at the University of California at
Irvine. They found workers take an average of 25 minutes to recover from
interruptions, such as phone calls or e-mail, before returning to their original task.
In a 2007 interview with The New York Times, Jonathan B. Spira, an analyst at the
business research firm Basex, said, “Extreme multitasking -- information overload --
costs the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity.” © API, 2012 14
Multitasking: The major cause of waste
in project execution!
� Increased project duration: (can reduce by 1/n)
� Lost Throughput due to task switching (up to 40%).
� Quality loss due to task switching: up to 25%.
� Throughput loss due to rework.
� Additional increases in project duration, leading to (more and
more):
– Increased Work In Progress (WIP) inventory.
– STRESS due to perception of work overload/chaos.
– Increasing loss of task synchronization.
– Difficult priority decisions, leading to frequent
priority switching. (Back to 1)
– Waste.
15© API, 2012
The Confetti Factory
© API, 2012
16
Exercise Results
Time Number Defects Number Defects
00:00-00:30
00:30-01:00
01:00-01:30
01:30-02:00
02:00-02:30
02:30-03:00
03:00-03:30
© API, 2012
17
Multitasking Pipelining
18
Task A Task B Task C
Task A
Task B
Task C
© API, 2012
FOCUS: On the highest priority task.(But in the beginning, don’t fret too much if you don’t know
which that is!)
PIPELINE: Delay start of some
projects to complete all sooner!
© API, 201219
Capacity
Buffer
�FOCUS:– Complete tasks sooner by starting later.
– Over-run about ½ the estimated task
durations to reduce overall project duration.
�BUFFER:– Add time buffers to reduce duration.
�PIPELINE:– Complete all projects sooner by starting
some later.
– Increase project flow by planning less than
100% utilization of most loaded resource. 20© API, 2012
LPM:
Three New Rules
�Focus
�Buffer
�Pipeline
These are not
intuitive to me!
© API, 201221