Progress in Transferable Work-load Projects : Development of a Robust Method for the Evaluation and Forecasting of Distributed Progress

摘要

In large projects measuring progress is always difficult due to the complexities involved, because the realization is shared among departments of a firm or even between firms disseminated all over the world. Project management and operations research literature is reviewed for discovering various techniques applicable. Widely used tools for progress measurement and forecasting, such as Earned Value Analysis, Progress Plot, Milestone and Resource slip charts, concurrent engineering, can be employed. This thesis is based on a problem of pharmaceutical industry where the effectiveness of a certain medical treatment is examined on patients in a number of countries. The number of variables involved increase the complexity of this problem. The main objective is to analyze the effectiveness of a solution in different situations during the project such that a better project duration and a lower cost can be achieved. Our findings suggest that reallocation of patients among countries produces better results in terms of progress.