Title: Project scheduling improvement using design structure matrix

Authors: Indra Gunawan, Kamrul Ahsan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Department of Management, Faculty of Business, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Department of Management, Faculty of Business, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Abstract: A challenging aspect of managing the development of complex projects is the notion of design iteration or rework. Traditional project management tools such as program evaluation and review technique (PERT), critical path method (CPM), and Gantt chart allow the modelling of sequential and parallel processes in projects, but they fail to address interdependency of feedback and iteration. Design structure matrix (DSM) is a new approach to project management, used to represent, analyse dependencies among tasks and show the order in which tasks are performed. In this paper, a case of the petroleum oil field development project is demonstrated. The project duration of the petroleum oil field development project is reduced significantly by applying the DSM method.

Keywords: design structure matrix; partitioning; scheduling; tearing; schedules; design iteration; rework; program evaluation; programme evaluation; review technique; PERT; critical path method; CPM; Gantt charts; sequential processes; parallel processes; interdependency; feedback; dependencies; tasks; task order; petroleum industry; mineral extraction; oil fields; project duration; project organisation; project management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2010.035871

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2010 Vol.2 No.4, pp.311 - 327

Received: 23 Nov 2009
Accepted: 29 Apr 2010
Published online: 07 Oct 2010 *

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