The Merits and Pitfalls of

Critical Chain Scheduling

Oya I. Tukel, Ph. D.

Fundamentals of Critical
Chain Scheduling

Critical Chain by Goldratt, 1997

Claimed to be the most important

breakthrough in project
management since the development
of critical path
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Resources

Project Management in the Fast Lane,

Newbold, 1998.
Critical Chain Project Management, Leach,
2000.
Articles: Cabanis-Brewin, 1999;
Globerson, 2000; Pinto, 1999.
Web pages:
www.pdinstitute.com
www.prochain.com
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Resources

www.focusedperformance.com
Book reviews: Elton and Roe, 1998;
McKay and Morton, 1998;
Letters to the editor in Project
Management Journal and PM Network

Steps in Critical Chain

Develop late start schedule using
average task durations
Eliminate resource contentions
Identify critical chain(s)
Insert feeding buffers
Insert project buffer

An Example
Three paths, nine tasks and six
resources

Late start schedule

Resource Conflicts
Eliminate resource contentions, blue
and orange

Resolve Contentions
Add two artificial precedence relations

Determine Critical Chain

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Insert Feeding Buffers

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Insert Project Buffer

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Buffer Size
Cut and Paste Method
Root Square Error Method
Monte Carlo Simulation Method

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