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System Requirements
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cc-Pulse is a Single Project CCPM
add-in module for Microsoft® Project. cc-Pulse
, which incorporates Critical Chain/Buffer Management concepts, allows the planning of
projects using both safe and average estimates of duration, to model the variability
in duration that is inherent in all project tasks. cc-Pulse
was designed by Critical Chain project management experts, with input from organizations that
currently use the Critical Chain method and related Buffer Management concepts.
cc-Pulse brings the following features:
- Provides forward and backward scheduling to eliminate resource contention.
- Identifies the critical chain based on task and resource dependencies.
- Calculates and inserts project buffers, feeding buffers, and drum feeding buffers.
- Provides integrated Task Update that identifies buffer incursion
- Calculates and displays properly buffer incursion beyond the range 0% -100%.
- Provides integrated, text-based project and resource reports.
- Provides objective measurements for task level prioritization.
- Honors user-specified inputs for task sequencing.
- Is fully integrated with Microsoft® Project.
cc-Pulse introduces the concept of an Event Buffer. At times, there are specific
events in a project plan for which the project manager needs to have high confidence in
the expected start of these events. For example, test labs may be centrally scheduled in
such a way that a window of time for the test lab needs to be reserved well in advance.
The project manager needs a mechanism to make sure all test samples and test procedures
are prepared in time to meet the test lab window. Tasks such as the test lab task can
be marked as “Events.” When a task is marked as an “Event”, an “Event Buffer” is inserted
as a predecessor to the task designated as the “Event.” The event that is being protected
is the expected start of the task marked as the “Event”.
“Event Buffers” are sized using one of the Buffer Size Calculation Methods. These “Event
Buffers” use the length of chain leading to the Event task for buffer sizing. If there are
several event tasks in a chain, there will be an event buffer preceding each event task.
If the event task has multiple predecessors, there will be a sufficiently sized event buffer
for each predecessor chain.
cc-Pulse also features the concept of the
bottleneck buffer, which enables the correct subordination steps whenever the
resource used for staggering the projects (the drum) is not the most heavily
loaded resource across all projects (the bottleneck).
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