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Critical chain project management improves project performance
■ Abstract
This paper describes the theory and practice of critical chain project management (CCPM). CCPM provides a substantial step in the ongoing improvement to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. The critical chain differs from the critical path by including resource dependencies and never changing. CCPM improves the project plan by ensuring that it is feasible and immune from reasonable common cause variation (uncertainty or statistical fluctuations). It does this by aggregating uncertainty into buffers at the end of activity paths (or chains). The project buffer protects the overall project completion on the critical chain path, and feeding buffers protect the critical chain from path merging. Buffer management enhances measurement and decision-making for project control. CCPM implements required changes in resource behavior, including elimination of date-driven activity performance and multitasking. Most of all, CCPM improves the focus of the project manager and performers. Projects that use CCPM have a greatly improved record of schedule, cost, and scope performance. Experience with CCPM projects demonstrates completion in less than one half the time of projects using previous planning and control methods.
Keywords: critical chain project management; project schedule; project buffers
Critical chain project management (CCPM) adds to the present Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™), as described in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™ Guide) (Project Management Institute Standards Committee, 1996) and supporting literature, in the areas of project planning, activity performance, and control. It reengineers project planning and management to eliminate common problems that lead to poor project performance.
CCPM emphasizes focusing on the project schedule. Further, it also reduces project changes and the major source of project cost overruns by improving schedule performance. It accomplishes these results by changing the project plan, the project measurement and control system, and certain behaviors by the project team and supporting personnel. The critical chain plan effectively eliminates most resource contention before the project starts, and uses buffers for project control.
System thinking and the Theory of Constraints (TOC) were used to develop CCPM. The CCPM project planning and control process directly addresses uncertainty and variation in project activity duration. It helps eliminate undesirable behaviors fostered by using scheduled dates and milestones within a project plan. It focuses on developing and managing project performance to meet or exceed reduced activity times, thereby reducing overall project duration.
CCPM departs from the PMBOK™ Guide and supporting literature as follows. CCPM:
Specifies the critical chain, rather than the critical path, as the project constraint. This path includes resource dependencies, and does not change during project execution.
Uses 50% probable activity times, and aggregates allowances for uncertainty of estimates and activity performance into "buffers" at the end of activity chains.
Uses the buffers as an immediate and direct measurement tool to control project schedule.
Defines the constraint for multiple projects as the constraining company resource. It links projects through this resource, using buffers to account for activity duration variability.
Seeks to change project team behavior; encouraging reporting early completion of activities and elimination of multitasking.
Applications Demonstrate Effectiveness
Real-world applications of CPPM demonstrate effectiveness over a wide range of project types. Large and small companies demonstrate similar improvements for project types, including construction, software development, and high-technology research and development. Companies such as Texas Instruments, Lucent Technologies, Honeywell, and Harris Semiconductor complete projects in one half or less the time of previous or concurrent similar projects, or as compared to industry benchmarks.
Harris Semiconductor manufactures semiconductor wafers. Harris used CCPM to build a new 8" wafer plant. The total investment for a plant of this size is in the range of $250 million. The revenue for such a plant is in the range of $2 million per day! (Raw material cost is very small.) The industry standard to build a 6" wafer plant is 30 months. The industry standard to get the plant up and running to 90% of capacity is about 46 months. Harris completed the plant, and brought it up to 90% production in 14 months. Harris presented their results at a recent conference hosted by the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute. A video is available through their Internet page.
The Israeli Aircraft Industry employs about 15,000 people. One of their major functions is to maintain jumbo jets used in passenger service. A particular type of maintenance called "type D" normally takes 46 days in the industry. The penalty for nonperformance to schedule is very steep ... $60,000 per day, because the airlines need the planes back into scheduled service. The company had been paying up to $25 million per year in penalties. A letter from the manager to Dr. Goldratt (included on www.Goldratt.com) notes, " ... we succeeded to drop our average turnaround time per aircraft visit from three months to two weeks and to increase our backlog from two months to one year."
Lucent Technologies applies CCPM to increasing numbers of R&D projects. Many of the projects are still in operation; but general feedback demonstrates plan reductions in excess of 25%, and performance to date using very little of the project buffers. Early application to a software development project that was thought to be impossible completed in June 1997, with buffer to spare.
Critical Chain Theory
CCPM uses three theory tools to improve project performance. It applies the theory to eliminate six specific project effects that lead to project schedule overruns. (TOC identifies the six items as effects, rather than causes, because they have underlying causes.)
Theory 1: Theory of Constraints. CCPM applies the TOC to project management. Goldratt first described TOC in The Goal (1984) when applied it to production systems. TOC can be summarized by: "Any system must have a constraint. Otherwise, its output would increase without bound, or go to zero." Most people readily accept this statement as self-evident fact.
The primary message of The Goal is focus. Focus on the goal of the company. Focus on the constraint that blocks achieving the goal of the company. The Goal ends with five focusing steps, which apply to any physical system. These steps are:
1. Identify the system constraint.
2. Exploit the system constraint.
3. Subordinate everything else to the system constraint.
4. Elevate the system constraint, and
5. If, in the previous step, a new constraint has been uncovered, repeat the process. Do not let inertia become the system constraint.
Dr. Goldratt used the focusing steps to develop critical chain project management (CCPM), and CCPM managers use them to guide projects. Dr. Goldratt's TOC analysis identifies the core problem leading to most project failure as, "failure to effectively manage uncertainty." The core problem leads to six undesired effects. The CCPM process uses TOC and the following theory to eliminate the causes of these effects.
Theory 2: Common Cause Variation. Dr. W. Edwards Deming (1989) included "an understanding of variation" as one of his four points of profound knowledge. He identified two types of variation: (1) Common Cause Variation: A cause that is inherent in the system. The responsibility of management. (2) Special Cause Variation: A cause that is specific to some group of workers, or to a particular production worker, or to a specific machine, or to a specific local condition.
Projects have common cause variation in the performance time of activities. This variation represents uncertainty in the activity performance time. Although the time to perform individual project activities may be independent of each other, project activity networks define activity dependence. The project logic demands that successor activities cannot start until the predecessor activities complete (for the most frequent finish-to-start activity connection). Thus, projects have statistical fluctuations and dependent events, the same key issues that Dr. Goldratt (1984) addresses for production.
■ About the Author
Larry P. Leach is the principal of Quality Systems, a manufacturing consulting firm that specializes in leading the implementation of the new critical chain method of project management. He has an M.S. in business management from the University of Idaho and mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut. He is a member of PMI and the American Society for Quality Control. He has published many papers on related topics, and authored a self-published book, The Critical Chain Fieldbook. Prior to founding Quality Systems, he worked at VP-level in several Fortune 500 companies, and was a systems analysis division director for the U.S. Department of Energy. His experience as a project manager includes research and development projects for construction projects.
Figure 1. Typical Project Activity Performance Time Probability Distributions
Dr. Goldratt's improvements for production take advantage of (exploit) the reality of common cause variation. Figure 1 illustrates a typical project activity performance time distribution. The solid curve (left ordinate) shows the probability of a given time on the abscissa. The dotted line shows the cumulative probability of completing the activity in a time less than or equal to the time on the abscissa. Note the left skew of the distribution and the long tail to the right; this is typical of the common cause variation for many project activities.
This common cause variation in activity performance is not an exceptional event, such as discrete project risk events. PERT attempted to estimate the impact of this common cause variation using three activity duration estimates, but for a variety of reasons did not succeed. The PMBOK™ Guide and other literature still mention PERT in this fashion, although from my experience it is little used today. The PMBOK™ Guide acknowledges this. PERT diagrams, as referred to in much of the project literature, and in many project software packages, are simply a way to show the project network logic independent of the time scale; not an application of the three time estimates. Some projects use methods such as simulation and Monte Carlo analysis to assess the impact of activity duration and cost uncertainty. While these methods propose a way to estimate uncertainty, they do not pose in my view an effective systematic method to manage it.
Theory 3: Statistical Laws Governing Common Cause Variation. The PMBOK™ Guide (Table 11-2) describes the well-known statistical law of aggregation: "The project variance is the sum of the individual activity variances." Note that in statistical terminology, variance is the square of the standard deviation, usually represented by "s2" or the Greek sigma squared. For a given statistical distribution, it requires a given number of standard deviations to provide a cumulative probability to that point. For example, with a normal distribution, one standard deviation plus or minus represents 67% of the data, or a cumulative probability that 67% of the time a result will fall within one standard deviation of the mean, plus or minus.
The statistical method to combine variances means that we can protect a chain of activities to the same level of probability with much less total contingency time than we can protect each individual activity. Aggregation of the contingency times dramatically reduces the overall estimated time for a chain of activities. Consider a chain of four activities, each of which has a 50% probability estimated duration of one time unit, and a 90% probable estimated activity duration of two time units. If we include the contingency in each activity, the chain of activities is eight units long. If we use the law of aggregation, we can protect the whole chain to 90% probability by scheduling the individual activities at their 50% estimates (a total of four units), and adding a two-unit buffer at the end of the chain, for a total of six units.
A second factor that comes into play in aggregating activities is the central limit theorem. The central limit theorem states "as sample size increases, the distribution of the sample mean becomes closer to the normal distribution" (Moore & McCabe, 1993). Many project activities have a skewed probability distribution. Figure 1 illustrates this general shape. The distributions have an absolute minimum time, and a long tail to the right, meaning that they can take much longer than the average time. The central limit theorem means that a project chain of activities has a more symmetrical distribution. This is true whether we know the real distributions or not.
Undesired Effect 1: Excessive Activity Duration Estimates. Most project managers include contingency time within each activity estimate to account for individual activity common cause variation. Contingency is defined as the difference between the 95% probable estimate and the 50% probable estimate. The existence or the amount of this contingency time is not usually specified. People estimating activity times for a project usually believe that the project manager wants low-risk activity times; perhaps a probability of 80% to 95% completion on, or less than, the activity duration estimate.
Most project plans that I have examined fail to specify the probability and confidence expected for activity duration estimates. Most fail to provide a quantitative basis for the activity duration estimate. The PMBOK™ Guide states, "Activity duration estimates should always include some indications of the range of possible results," and refers to risk management as the control technique. However, risk management in the project management literature generally fails to differentiate between common cause and special cause variation.
Construction projects are somewhat exceptional, having access to extensive quantitative data to estimate activity duration. For example, the 1997 National Construction Estimator (Kiley, 1996) uses an extensive database, which lists many potential contributors to common cause uncertainty in the estimates. It states that many of these uncertainty items have ranges of several tens of percents of the cost estimate. Therefore, in many cases, they have the same potential impact on schedule.
Figure 1 illustrates that the "low-risk" duration estimate can be two or more times the 50% probable estimate. In most project environments, people feel good if they complete an activity by the due date, and feel bad if they overrun the due date. This reinforces their attempts to estimate high probability completion times.
Walter A. Shewhart (1986), mentor to W. Edwards Deming, wrote:
Thus, attempts to deal with uncertainty by including contingency in individual activity estimates are fruitless, and significantly extend project plan duration.
Undesired Effect 2: Little Actual Activity Positive Variation. Activity performance behavior leads to little positive variation. If estimates are 50% probable, people should complete and report 50% of the activities early. If estimates are 99% probable, 99% of the activities should report as completed early. Usually, people report most of the activities as done on the scheduled date, and they report a significant fraction (~10%) of the activities as late.
Goldratt (1997) described several effects that led to performance systematically overrunning estimates, although the estimates initially had extensive contingency time. Many people have a tendency to wait until activities get really urgent before they work on them. This is especially true for busy people in high demand: that is, all of the most important people the project manager is counting on to get the critical path work done on time. If people believe they have some extra time in their estimates, they are often willing to accept other "higher priority" work at the beginning of the scheduled activity duration. This tends to waste their contingency time before they start the activity, forcing them to perform most of the work in the later portion of the scheduled activity time. Then, if problems occur, there is no time to recover.
Figure 2 shows the typical work pattern of many people. Goldratt calls this the student syndrome. They do less than a third of the work on an activity during the first two-thirds of the activity duration, and the final two-thirds during the last third of the activity duration. They are more likely to find they have a problem to complete the activity in the remaining time during the last third of the scheduled activity time. If they are working above 100% capacity already to complete twothirds of the work in one-third of the time, it is unlikely they can keep to the activity duration. They have little chance to recover from an unanticipated problem, such as computer failures. This makes it feel like the activity was underestimated to begin with.
Meredith and Mantel (1995) state, " ... operation of Parkinson's Law ... clear and present danger. The work done on project elements is almost certain to 'expand to fill the additional time.'" In Goldratt's words, "the safety time is wasted."
Failure to provide resources when needed impacts activities by extending the duration from the time the input is available until the activity can complete. Providing fewer resources than planned also extends the activity duration.
Undesired Effect 3: Failure to Pass on Positive Variation. Projects do not get the benefit of many actual early activity completions. Even if completed "early," performing resources often fail to pass on positive variations. In most cultures, there is little or no reward for completing individual activities early, and punishment for being late or having quality problems. In many project environments, there is a significant disincentive to reporting an activity complete early. Work performed on "time and material" contracts results in less revenue if the work is completed early. Many companies budget work performed by internal functional organizations as if it were time and material contract work. If the functional organization completes the work in less time than estimated, they cannot continue to charge to the project. They must find alternative work for the resources. If individuals complete activities early, they get more to do. These cultures drive local optima, which means delivery on the scheduled date, but not before. There are many ways to justify keeping the potentially early result. We can put its review or completion at "low priority," because it is not due yet, or we can "polish the apple." The result is the same: we waste contingency time originally included in individual activity time estimates.
Figure 2. Typical Work Pattern
Examination of milestone performance in a very large project (over 15,000 activities) conforms very closely to Goldratt's prediction that about 80% of the activity milestones are achieved exactly on the working scheduled date (i.e., exactly on the original planned duration). Only one or two activities have reported early completion (out of a sample of 3,000), and the rest later, including a few significantly later. This project consists of about 30 large subprojects, some of which contain yet smaller subprojects.
Undesired Effect 4: Project Delay Caused by Activity Path Merging. Most projects have multiple activity paths. All activity paths must merge into the critical path by the end of the project; if for no other reason than into a milestone that identifies project completion. Usually, the path merges tend to concentrate near the end of the project. One reason for this is that "assembly" or "test" operations tend to occur near the end of the project, requiring many elements to come together. The following discussion demonstrates how this becomes a primary cause of the well-known project "truth" that, "many projects complete 90% in the first year, and complete the final 10% in the second year."
Activity path merging creates a filter that eliminates positive fluctuations, and passes on the longest delay. The reason is that merging activity paths means that all of the feeding paths are required to start the successor activity. Therefore, the successor activity cannot start until the latest of the merging activities completes.
Consider an activity on the project critical path that requires three separate inputs in order to start (see Figure 3). This is frequent in assembly operations, and in many project results, such as a major show or meeting event where everything has to be ready on opening day. Usually, there are many more than three. However, even with three, if each has a 50% chance of being done in the estimated time, the probability that at least one is late is over 88%! Even if each individual activity had a 90% probability of completion, the probability that at least one is late is still 30%, or nearly one out of three times.
The PMBOK™ Guide states, "Schedule simulation should be used on any large or complex project since traditional mathematical analysis techniques such as the Critical Path Method ... do not account for path convergence ... and thus tend to underestimate project durations."
Figure 3. Impact of Activity Path Merging
Undesired Effect 5: Multitasking. Multitasking is the performance of multiple project activities "at the same time." Some people refer to it as the "fractional head count." Humans are not too good at rubbing their tummy and patting their head at the same time. People actually perform in a multiactivity mode by dividing time between the multiple activities. They might do this during the course of the day by working on one project in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Most people think of multitasking as a good way to improve efficiency. It ensures everyone is busy all of the time. Often, I have to wait for inputs or for someone to call back before I can get on with an activity. Multitasking makes good use of this time.
Goldratt (1984) demonstrated how focus on local efficiency could damage the overall performance of a system, an example of the phenomenon of suboptmization. He used the example of robots, which operated all of the time in order to show high efficiency. In the case of production, this leads to producing excess inventory, and may "plug" the constraint with work not necessary for current orders, increasing operating expense and delivery times with no positive benefit to the company as a whole.
Multitasking on project activities has a much worse impact. Consider a person who has to do three oneweek activities for three different projects (see Figure 4). If the person were permitted to work exclusively on each one, the first project would have its result in one week. The second project would have its output at the end of the second week, and the third project at the end of the third week. However, if the activity performer multitasks, spending for example one-third time each day on each project, none of the projects get their output until the end of the third week. All three activities have a three-week duration, potentially extending the overall duration of each project.
If multitasking is a normal way of business in a company, three weeks becomes the normal activity duration for this activity. Performance data supports this inflated activity duration. If this is a critical chain activity, the practice directly extends the duration of the project. Most companies admit to encouraging extensive multitasking.
Undesired Effect 6: Loss of Focus. Several aspects of current project planning make it difficult for the project manager to know where to focus to ensure project delivery. These include:
Early start schedules, which allow all activity paths to start at the same time. The instant jump to a highactivity level causes the project manager's attention to become diffused.
Changing the critical path during project performance.
Attempts to exclusively use earned value for project control. Earned value does not discriminate between activities that affect the critical path and those that do not. It weights activities by dollars, not schedule importance. It gives no indication of the potential impact of paths parallel to the critical path.
Frequent use of earned value action thresholds that are too tight, causing too many control actions. Deming (1989) called this damaging behavior "tampering." Tampering is attempting to fix variation that is within the statistical bounds of common cause variation. Tampering always damages process performance.
Critical Chain Plan Process
Critical Chain (Identify the Constraint). Goldratt (1997) extended the production application of TOC to projects. He identified the constraint of a project as the critical chain or "the sequence of dependent events that prevents the project from completing in a shorter interval. Resource dependencies determine the critical chain as much as do activity dependencies."
Defining the constraint of a project in terms of the schedule derives from the impact that schedule has on project cost and project scope. The three conditions are dependent. As schedule increases with fixed deliverable scope, cost usually increases. As scope increases with fixed cost (or resources), schedule tends to increase. As scope increases with fixed schedule, cost tends to increase.
Figure 4. Multitasking Extends Activity Duration
Critical path project planning contains an often hidden assumption: an acceptable way to account for potential resource constraints on the project is to first identify the critical path, and then perform resource leveling. Network specialists know that there is no optimum method to resource level. Network configurations and some resource-leveling algorithms give very poor results. For most networks, applying resource-leveling algorithms lengthens the overall schedule. For this reason, few projects use the resource-leveling tools.
Figure 5 illustrates a typical deterministic project schedule. The different shades represent unique resources. The plan identifies the last activity as a critical path activity. Resource leveling has eliminated the rest of the critical path, an often-mystifying result for the inexperienced project manager. Still, this is a frequent result of resource-leveling methods.
Since the resource constraint is often a significant project constraint, the Theory of Constraints method of project planning always considers it. Thus, the critical chain includes the resource dependencies that define the overall longest path (constraint) of the project. The method resolves all resource constraints while determining the project critical chain. The project critical chain may have gaps between activities. Figure 6 illustrates the comparable critical chain plan.
The improvements that result from CCPM do not depend on having significant resource constraints or conflicts in the project. For a project without resource constraints, the critical chain is the same initial activity path as the critical path. The project plan differs significantly, as described below.
The PMBOK™ Guide's definition of critical path states that the critical path may change during the performance of the project. This occurs when other paths experience delay, and redefine the longest "zero float" path to complete the project. The critical chain does not change during project performance. This is partly a matter of definition, but mostly a result of the overall critical chain plan construction procedure.
Project Activity Estimates (Exploit the Constraint). CCPM seeks to use the best estimate, or 50% probable, individual activity time estimates. First assemble the plan using the "low-risk" activity estimate duration provided by the project resources. Teach the estimators to understand variation and the critical chain method, including assurance that they will not be criticized or otherwise impacted by either underrunning or overrunning estimated duration. Next (the order is extremely important), solicit their estimated "average" times, assuming everything went as they would hope it would, they have all inputs when they start, and they are able to devote 100% effort to the activity once started. Finally, build the critical chain plan using these reduced activity duration estimates, and collect the differences (D) between the lowrisk and average estimates to develop buffers.
Subordinate Noncritical Chain Paths (Late Finish Plan). Project managers understand that early start schedules can reduce project risk by getting things done early, while late finish schedules:
Reduce the impact of changes on work already performed
Delay the project cash outlay
Give the project a chance to focus by starting with fewer simultaneous activity chains, allowing the project team and processes to come up to speed.
Much project management guidance recommends that project managers use an early start schedule. Many scheduling computer programs use the early start schedule as the "default." Early start means permitting all of the noncritical path activities to start earlier than is necessary to meet the schedule date. People working on those activities know that there is slack in their activity.
Figure 5. Example of Resource-Leveled Critical Path
CCPM uses "late start" for all project activities. Feeding buffers provide an explicitly sized buffer to protect the overall project from late completion of the feeding paths. This maximizes the advantage to the project, while ensuring project schedule protection.
Project Buffer (Subordinate to the Constraint). CCPM protects the overall project delivery time with a project buffer at the end of the critical chain. This exploits the statistical law of aggregation by protecting the project from common cause uncertainty of the individual activities in an activity path using buffers at the end of the path. Buffers appear as activities in the project plan, but have no work assigned to them.
Goldratt (1997) suggests a very simple method to size buffers: use one half of the sum of the activity durations in the chain of activities that precedes the buffer. This is the critical chain for the project buffer. Others use a method developed and applied by Lucent Technologies. Sum the "Ds" (from above, the difference between the low-risk and average estimates). Following the "law of aggregation," use the square root of the sum of the squares (SSQ) to sum the Ds.
While the SSQ method has some theoretical attraction, and generally leads to shorter buffers, the primary reason to apply this method is to get the buy-in of the project team. This way, management does not arbitrarily cut the "low-risk" estimates people provide; instead, they are use the information to compute the shared buffer.
Critical Chain Feeding Buffers (Subordinate Merging Paths). CCPM protects the critical chain from potential delays by subordinating critical chain feeding paths; placing an aggregated critical chain feeding buffer (CCFB) at the end of each path that feeds the critical chain. This includes paths that merge with the critical chain at the end of the project. The feeding buffer provides a measurement and control mechanism to protect the critical chain, as described in Figure 7, which illustrates how the buffers absorb the late paths. Figure 6 illustrates the location of CCFBs.
This innovation immunizes the critical chain from potential delays in the feeding paths. It also provides a means to measure the feeding paths, while keeping focus on the critical chain.
Resource Buffers Exploit the Critical Chain. Resource buffers protect the critical chain from unavailability of resources. They are a signal to the project manager and resource managers to ensure resources are ready to work on critical chain activities as soon as the activity input is ready. Resource buffers do not take time in the critical chain and are sometimes called resource "flags." In risky situations, and in subcontracts, it may be appropriate to include financial incentives in the resource buffers, such as paying for early delivery, penalties for late delivery, or paying for standby time. CCPM only applies resource buffers to critical chain activities, because the feeding buffers provide added protection to noncritical activity chains.
Figure 6. Example of Critical Chain Schedule
Figure 7. Critical Chain Feeding Buffers Absorbing Delays
Critical Chain Human Performance
Eliminate Date-Driven Behavior. Critical chain project plans only provide dates for the start of activity chains and the end of the project buffer. This enables the project team to focus on completing the project as soon as possible. For the rest of the project, the plan provides approximate start times and estimated activity duration. This helps avoid date-driven behavior.
Critical chain project managers do not criticize performers that overrun estimated activity durations, as long as the resources (a) start the activity as soon as they had the input, (b) work 100% on the activity (no multitasking), and (c) pass on the activity output as soon as it is completed. This is called "roadrunner" activity performance. They expect 50% of the activities to overrun. (In practice, date-driven behavior persists; but with CCPM it causes delivery to the 50% probable time, thus automatically passing on positive variation relative to previous "low-risk" estimates.)
Elevate Activity Performance by Eliminating Multitasking. CCPM seeks to eliminate this type of multitasking by eliciting 100% focus on the project activity at hand by all resources supporting the project. Thus, eliminating "fractional head counts" is a primary consideration in planning a critical chain project.
Figure 8. Example of Using the Buffers
Buffer Management Process. This process measures drive actions that move the project toward the goal. Goldratt (1990) notes, "The first thing that must be clearly defined is the overall purpose of the organization—or, as I prefer to call it, the organization's goal. The second thing is measurements. Not just any measurements, but measurements that will enable us to judge the impact of a local decision on the global goal."
Goldratt (1990) also defines data as, "every string of characters that describes something, anything, about our reality." He defines information as "The answer to the question asked." Goldratt suggests that the information system should incorporate the decision.
The improved measurement system for critical chain project management follows the practice established by Goldratt for production operations. It uses buffers (that is, time) to measure activity chain performance. We set explicit action levels for decisions. The decision levels are in terms of the buffer size, measured in days:
1. Within the first third of the buffer: No action.
2. Penetrate the middle third of the buffer: Assess the problem and plan for action.
3. Penetrate the third third: Initiate action.
These measures apply to both the project buffer (PB) and the CCFBs. Figure 8 shows an example of how buffer penetration provides the essential measurement for CCPM project control.
Project teams monitor the PB and each CCFB at the appropriate time intervals for the project, usually weekly but at least monthly. For this tool to be fully useful, the buffer monitoring time must be at least as frequent as one-third of the total buffer time. If the buffers are negative (i.e., latest activity on the chain is early relative to schedule date) or less than one-third of the total buffer late (e.g., less than 10 days if the total buffer is 30 days), take no action. Buffer management provides a unique anticipatory project management tool with clear decision criteria.
Project managers update the buffers as often as they need by simply asking each of the performing activities how many days they estimate to the completion of their activity. They do this without pressure or comment on the estimate. They expect these estimates to vary from day to day and some of the activities to exceed the original duration estimates. As long as the resources are working on the activities with the CCPM activity performance paradigm, managers evaluate them positively, regardless of the actual duration.
Multiple Project CCPM Process. The impact of multitasking on a single project is significant. In a multiple project environment, it is a disaster. The impact gets worse and worse as managers push more and more projects into the project performance system. CCPM project managers work to eliminate multitasking and create a "pull" system for the multiproject environment. Figure 9 illustrates an example critical path multiproject scenario. The patterns on the bars represent resources. Using conventional low-risk activity estimates and considering three project multitasking, we estimate each activity duration as 90 days.
Identify the Multiproject Constraint. TOC applies directly to plan and manage projects in the multiproject environment. First, we have to identify the company capacity constraint resource. This is most often a certain type of person, but may be a physical or even a policy constraint. The company constraint resource becomes the "drum" for scheduling multiple projects. This terminology comes from Goldratt's production methodology, where the drum sets the beat for the entire factory. Here, the drum sets the beat for all of the company projects. Think of the drummer on a galleon. What happens if even one rower gets out of beat?
Figure 9. Example of Critical Path Multiproject Schedule
Figure 10 illustrates the CCPM method—activity times reduced to 15 days, eliminating the three times multitasking, and using 50% probable duration estimates. The resource supplying activities 2 and 3 is the "capacity constraint resource." The plan exploits the resource by synchronizing the projects, using this resource as the drum. The plan subordinates to this resource by adding capacity buffers between the projects. The capacity buffers ensure that the capacity constraint resource (drum) is available for the subsequent project.
The project system becomes a "pull" system because the drum schedule determines the sequencing of projects. It pulls projects forward in time if the drum completes project work early. It delays subsequent projects when the drum is late. For this reason, projects in a multiproject environment also require buffers to protect the drum ... to ensure that they never starve the capacity constraint for work. The plan should schedule the projects to ensure that they are ready to use the drum resource should it become available early. (The figure does not show the drum buffers for simplicity.) Early implementations of CCPM may not deploy the drum buffer.
Do not attempt to schedule all resources across all projects. Companies demonstrate repeatedly that this is a losing proposition. It has never proven possible to get enough current information together and processed quick enough to exceed the ongoing variations in all activities. CCPM allows for this variation with the resource flags and buffers within each project.
Figure 10 shows the CCPM plan completing the three projects (including the project buffer) near the end of August 1998. It shows the first two projects completing even earlier. Contrast this to the critical path multiproject plans of Figure 9, all of which were scheduled to complete in May of 1999. Single-project experience suggests that the CCPM projects should be finished early. Experience with critical path projects suggests that they will be late for even these extended schedules.
Also note that synchronizing the projects this way eliminates resource contention for all resources; not just the drum resource. This happens in the example because the projects are identical. While most multiproject environments do not have identical projects, synchronizing projects to the drum usually eliminates some resource contention.
Exploit Multiproject Resource Allocation. Resource managers prioritize resource allocation across projects according to the importance of activities to the projects. They give priority to (in order):
1. Critical chain activities over noncritical chain activities
Figure 10. The CCPM Multiproject Plan
2. Activities in project chains with greatest project buffer penetration
3. Activities in project chains with the highest feeding buffer penetration.
Penetration of feeding and project buffers resolves remaining resource contentions.
CCPM planning and project management is simple compared to other alternative techniques such as simulation, quantitative risk assessment, PERT three time estimates, Monte Carlo methods, and earned value. The primary concepts are simple; comprising 50/50 estimates, the critical chain, buffers, and buffer management. CCPM requires neither statistical sophistication nor possession of actual distributions of activity performance data. Such data usually does not exist for most projects, and even where it does exist, such as in the construction industry, it has not solved the problem of time overruns.
Busy project managers do not have the time or inclination to assimilate obtuse data. They need real information, gathered in real time. Everyone understands buffer management, measured in days of buffer penetration. Projects can collect and process buffer data daily, if desired. Buffer penetration provides the decision on when to plan and when to act. Few people really understand the meaning of earned value measurements, and how to use them for project management. For example, Powers (1997) notes, "... the participants from leading Fortune 500 companies attending the last benchmarking forum were queried regarding their use of earned value calculations. None indicated that they were using the format described in the PMBOK™ Guide."
The five focusing steps are clear and concise. CCPM provides a recipe for the straightforward application to real projects. CCPM does not require new computer software, although such software is already available to simplify the activities of resource leveling, finding the critical chain, sizing and placing buffers, and performing buffer management (Creative Technology Labs). Project teams can create CCPM plans in a short time (within a week for projects with the activity network and resource estimates available).
Critical chain project management provides a substantial step in continuous improvement to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. It derives from applying TOC and statistical theory to the project system. It provides a conceptually simple and practical process to plan and manage projects.
Focusing on the project constraint (the critical chain) causes the success of CCPM. The critical chain provides the focus for the whole project. The buffers provide focus and clear decision criteria for the project manager.
The essential changes introduced by critical chain project management (relative to the current practices) are:
Develop the critical chain plan
1. Develop the critical chain, using both activity logic and resource constraints.
2. Reduce activity-estimated times to 50% probability estimates to account for aggregation of the activity contingency times.
3. Add a project buffer to protect completion of the critical chain.
4. Add critical chain feeding buffers to immunize the critical chain from delays in the feeding chains and merging effects.
5. Add resource buffers to ensure critical chain resources are available when needed.
Multiple project plan
1. Plan each project plan as in above steps 1 and 2.
2. Identify the constraint (drum) resource.
3. Create the drum schedule.
4. Sequence projects to the drum.
5. Insert project, feeding, and resource buffers into each project.
6. Insert drum and capacity buffers into each project.
Measure and control to the plan
1. Use buffer management as the primary tool to measure and control the project.
2. Use buffer reports to assign resources.
Lead behavior to achieve earliest project completion
Use behaviors conducive to the global project optima, such as roadrunner activity performance, passing on positive variation, and critical chain-based resource allocation to satisfy the company project needs.
All projects that have diligently applied CCPM have completed the project substantially under the original time estimate, fulfilled the original scope, and came in near or under the estimated budget. Project durations normally reduce by at least 50% in the first pass, and several companies have taken the early successes to cause further substantial duration reductions.
Creative Technology Labs LLC, 37 Grieb Trail. Wallingford, CT.
Deming, W. Edwards. (1989). Out of the crisis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1984). The goal. New York: North River Press, Croton-on-Hudson.
Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1990). The haystack syndrome. New York: North River Press, Croton-on-Hudson.
Goldratt, Eliyahu M. (1997). Critical chain. New York: North River Press, Croton-on-Hudson.
Kiley, Martin D. (1996). 1997 National construction estimator. Craftsman Book Company.
Meredith, Jack R., & Mantel, Samuel J. (1995). Project management: A managerial approach. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Moore, David S., & McCabe, George P. (1993). Introduction to the practice of statistics. New York: W.H. Freeman & Co.
Powers, Ray. (1997). Response from standards committee. Project Management Journal, 28 (2), 53.
Project Management Institute Standards Committee. (1996). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK™ guide). Upper Darby, PA: Project Management Institute.
Shewhart, Walter A. (1986). Statistical method from the viewpoint of quality control. New York: Dover Publications (Originally published in 1939).
©1999 by the Project Management Institute — 1999, Vol. 30, No. 2, 39–51 — 8756–9728/99/$5.00 per article + $0.50 per page
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text:
Prettylady1 wrote:
Wanted to update everyone!!! Went ahead and applied for the car I wanted and got approved through Honda Finance with no money down and 1.99% APR for 60 months!!!! I can't believe it!!! My equifax is 706 but my auto enhanced score was 722!!!! Yippee. Now getting my old car ready to try and sell. Thanks for all your advice!!
I wish you luck on that new loan and hope you learned whatever lesson from your previous problems that caused you to have scores in the 630's when you started out on your credit journey. Sometimes people get out of debt and financial trouble just to get right back into it when things get better. I know it may not be what you want to hear, but sometimes just because we can get credit, doesn't mean it's the best thing for us. I truly hope you are able to keep that car for 5 years.
Anyway, I'll back off and just wish you luck and say congrats.
Unless you plan on throwing a lot of miles on it, you should think about leasing if you want a new car every three yrs.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. Hospitals and doctors that are not "meaningful users" of the new system will face penalties. "Meaningful user" isn't defined in the bill.
The stimulus bill calls [for a] Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. [Tom Daschle] praises Europeans for being more willing to accept "hopeless diagnoses" and "forgo experimental treatments," and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.
The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle's book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis. In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Stimulus Bill Puts Your Health at Risk
Anybody who reads the Stimulus bill in detail should be really concerned about his or her health. Betsy McCaughey from Bloomberg read it and has a good summary. Here are a few of her points:
Posted by Chris Fotache at 7:08 AM
Labels: Health
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text:
BuddyTV 9.06 Episode Stills at all_spn (SPOILERS)
Hypeable 9.08 spoilers at all_spn (SPOILERS)
Fanfic: Sam/Dean
Tell Me To Stay by jalu2 (R)
Living On Flood Tides by cherie_morte (NC-17)
Broken Road Home by deansdirtybb (NC-17) (Warning: Underage)
Fanfic: Other Slash
Way Down Hadestown by thette (Dean/Castiel; PG-13)
WITH LOVE by epicurean (Dean/Castiel; PG-13)
Fanfic: Gen
The Scattered Pieces of Me by etoile_etiolee (PG-13)
Fanfic: Het
Inescapable by brightly_lit (Sam/OFC; R)
Fanfic: Other
You Win or You Hide 7. by reading_is_in (Dean/Castiel, Charlie/Anna; PG)
Round Came the Magpie by stolen_childe (Dean/Castiel, Jimmy/Dean, Sam/Jessica; R)
Devoted 50/? by luciel89 (Dean/Castiel, Sam/Jess, Mary/John, Jo/OMC; NC-17)
Fanfic: RPF
The Omega Pet 12/? by bellagattino (Jared/Jensen, Chris/Chad, Matt/Misha; NC-17)
Trouble in Sydney 15/? by julieshadow (Jared/Jensen; NC-17)
Green Wings and Shiny Things 4/5 by disneymagics (Jared/Jensen; NC-17)
Fic rec by layne67
Icons by deans_fetish
Art for "Way Down Hadestown" by scarletphoenix1
Art for "WITH LOVE" by symphonicblue
Art for "Tell Me To Stay" by bt_kady
Art for "Living On Flood Tides" by quickreaver (NSFW)
Art for "Round Came the Magpie" by thimblings
Art for "Broken Road Home" by badbastion (NSFW)
Eventually The Birds Must Land by secretlytodream
9.05 Review/Recap: Thursday at all_spn
Podfic Roundup for Novemberat spnroundtable
Posting issues at spn_hurtcomfort


text:
get into the zone, write from the throne
cast away the bone that tortured my own
tormented and dazed, confused in a maze
was were I was led to by the path led astray
reason developed into the voice of the void
and the water always parts at a fjord
the waters ran into many splits and paths
that took various ways to the ocean with class
coming back, wizard influence of magic
let me combat the will against disorder's havoc
that compartmental fixation of mixture relation
is how the potential comes from a higher negation
the more about life you negate
the deeper your hearts and feelings radiate
from the sun inside the being of life
is where the black hole is overcome with strife
in the realms beneath the facade
over the making faking ability of Gods
Vishnu, the clear blue sea
can't you see all is nothing within me
controversy around the person who is the one
can't you see in our universe everyone is the sun
each star a being represented by a particular sum
it comes to a natural beat and strum
let me open to the verse of wizard kind
this is Merlin, of the highest age
I come through this being on this page
I write from the coast of Albion's lost paternity
and as I come around I feel it's eternity
the feelings of light so succumb this being right now
it is amazing to say how the element of the soul is how
yet anyhow, the relationship to the void comes apparent
the nothingness that accepts the torment of the sufferings
comes through the path of all metempsychosis
it seems that rebirth in mortal frame of life is what suits this riddle
this man I am a tenant for is undergoing the explanation of this fiddle
it comes in rhythm and I come to voice is apparent loss of apprehension
it seems to be that the way of life is to combat all that is against the light
it is a hallways path to the dreaded stairs
that lead up and down into anywhere, unaware
yet I sense that the time for coastal presence is at hand
we are coming deep from the particles in the sand
it comes to be the the imagination is the key to the land
it comes and freezes and scolds the swords
that write the seal to my over body a'board
Okay, Arthur centurion, limgimitius limiationia
the limits of limiting come through the reasons self
it seems apparent that from the wealth of glorious revelations the council sat
the tabernacles were always full with abundance of knowledge
underneath the council sat the circle of magi
who understood the altering fixation of their attempts to rearrange
the familiar understatement the below as above so relates
that these beings were comical yet serene
yet the passion for power, overruled their desire
and the power of feeling come from the mire
it was all to be produced in a particular structured element
and the beats were formed within the telement
it seemed that the wanna worth well wheeled ability
is what the light shines and seals from eternity
the way to overcome all paths is simple
death in life multiple times resisting as all
yet coming to understand nothing that stands tall
like the Oak in the hallways of the Academia
it seems the the reference of light comes from the fee
and it seems that the ability for me to relate a simple school teaching
In the Academia, we teach gastronomy
it comes to see that the elements which produce our body come into awareness
then they pass into non existence and nothing resides within
no sin, only fin
then when eaten, nothing is mistaken
for the path of the animal was already taken
so no juice of negative light
everything is ample for our blight
except the detail of a simple multiple self
the being I see within me has large spaulders and celtic facial features
he comes to me in weakness, asking humble awareness
he is a sign of the knights long past
at last! Adrest! I see the detail of the Academia's quest
to harbour love, feelings, and bliss to the next
it comes to be zero hero zenithed crimson stone
yet this is Merlin now again back on the home
The years will pass, the fields will wither
the land will become pale and withered
the natural light will become pale
and the heat of embers will grow stale
the world will once again become cold
and the next age will usher untold
it forms from a higher densities thought
and radiates through all of the fields and plots
the daffodils are but the waves of grass
that the leaves fall from the particles of clash
quarks, fields of awareness
let me see and open there spheres connection
Aye, I Merlin now open the sphere of the Book of Life
let me recite the power of strife
In all pages, the blood writing is stable as the splice
for rebirth and immortality are what cut us with the knife
the atoms of white pure radiate soul, will come through whole
and the element of eternal light will surely becoming a stand
the things of mixture and features will come through order
and spiritual reason is the next development of the phase
then in the years long past, the thing that comes to be a class
of different people and various resorts and comes to be
and as all see the light of shining illumination
the world will become a higher stagnation
of working class men and women
only the Kush of the burning bush will keep the prison
so what will come to pass is that many people will understand
that the light of the world is in everyone's hand
it seems to me that all this comes from a inner source
of this soul of channel from the being of Merlin
Eh, Elohim, El
I see I speak from his deity of shower
within the hour of light and power comes to be
it is from the essence of the sea
We, the many, come to be from the elemential fee
the time when the golden age came through the scolding dragon
was when we pulled all the things out of the wagon
it was straggling to see the the elements could be so random
but we mixed the things into various features and densities
this is from the random particle partenshuncy
yes, the Dragon, the beginner of time
was what we all hope the Saxon light of white will shine
it comes to be released that this olden sage will awaken
but through these pages can't you see this being is still faken
yet he is the one of everything and nothing
a particular case of madness within the densities of illusion
yet it comes to pass the the acute phases move in relation
to the way that the mind heals its propagations
from the Maya of akasa of the illumination
light from space into a temporal locations
bypass the fixation of the lobal cortex
and enter through the densities highest vortex
This is the new being, vortex right now
halo above all heads of light, blight how
this vortex has drawn the forces within me
this being is now operating through all dimensions
again we speak, we are everything to you
the Others, yes, Merlin is one of us
he was chosen by the fates as a particular candidate
who comes from the base of the mountains take
all men formed into various existences and are then thus
a dream a'brush the spell of a wizard's touch
so what I hope to tell you is that in time in time
no time exists and develops into a particular cyst
and it comes from beneath to over, to within, without
and comes through every elementals birth doubt
yet overcome these confidences must shine through essence
and it gives its presence to those who are interesting
this is the way of how things must adapt to those who are listening
glistening in the array of life, what can one say about the kife
that was set instilled by the days of old
the Callistio of the fold
were green placed it's wisdom in pages of Bard's
who composed long songs of places a'far
so why I write from this beings pen
is when I come to be a particular man of when
The now of this situation of laying around
comes to be a sound that is around my ground
they pass around a go in circles, rotating and developing
they wish to see who is the boss, the repeating and tossing
this code I write is not for the faint of heart
this channel of higher density comes through medium's viel
which is now closed as I prevail
this partaken entailment of light shall come to be, and now
I leave, Cometia Seignatio araoind Bidaioa!
Wow, light all around, back to me again
wow what a deal of nonlinear plans
What do I say about my gift
Is it really me insane of can't you see through the sift?


text:
Stand Against Hate
In response to the tragedy in Charlottesville and its turbulent, eye-opening aftermath—a tragedy which exposed a national moral crisis rending the country the scale of which has not been seen for more than half-century— AHF has launched a new national advocacy campaign to take on the hatred, racism and burgeoning white supremacy movement so brutally unmasked by Charlottesville and its aftermath.
#StandAgainstHate features a national billboard campaign rolling out in Los Angeles and multiple AHF regions over the next few weeks, a social media campaign, and community forums and talkback sessions in select cities around the country where AHF has a presence.
The primary target of the hate groups in Virginia—racial and ethnic minorities—are also among key populations that AHF cares for and serves in 14 states and the District of Columbia across the country and 38 other countries around the globe.
Join us at the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland / AIDS Healthcare Foundation office at 2829 Euclid Avenue from 5:30pm-7pm for a short film, food and open discussion. RSVPs should be emailed to Rebecca Strong at firstname.lastname@example.com. This is free and open to the public. We just ask that you RSVP via email.


text:
weight this morning 221.7
Total Carbs consumed 29
Water - well...I had one glass of plain water, one glass of sparkeling water, a cup of coffee and an ultra light beer. Though not in that order. I have to do better in this area. Maybe I'll chug another glass right now.
Mood- I'm annoyed, angry, irritated, guilty and worried.
I've mentioned before that my grandparents were both coming into their last days here on earth before going home to be with Jesus. I might get into more details later about what has been happening lately, but for now we'll just say that they are not doing well.
I have to stop worrying about being the perfect daughter though. I can't do it anymore. I have to shift my loyalties from my birth family to my own family. I come from a very co-dependent fucked up family and they say they understand and wan tme to live my life, but then they keep trying to drag me into their drama. And I am so tired of the drama.
Anyway- Like I said I"m kinda in a bad mood. Hopefully it will be better next time I post.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
30 day challenge day one
Posted by Xinabean.blogspot.com at 5:22 PM
2 comments:
That's a really hard place to be at "the perfect daughter." I feel for you, really I do.ReplyDelete
Regarding the carbs: make sure you keep yourself full (but going to bed "comfortable" hungry is o.k). And you're right - WE ARE going to make it. Hang in there!
I'm sorry to hear about your grandparents, and I'm sorry to hear you're having a bad day. It's so tough to try to live up to everyone else's expectations (never mind when you have your own family to worry about). :(ReplyDelete
I hope tomorrow treats you better. *hugs*
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
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originally posted by: ghostrager
I don't want to pay for your housing. Or your phone bill. I don't want to pay your rent. Or your birth control. I don't want to pay for your education. Or your grocery bill. I'm sorry you have type 2 diabetes, but I don't want to pay for it!
I want to pay for my mortgage, my food, my phone, my student loans, and my healthcare. These aren't "rights", these are fruits of hard labor. All of the socialist programs have only raised the hurdle for my American dream. I'm not working my ass off for you to sit on yours.
originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: ghostrager
Good for you. What about those in a position where they can not help themselves through no fault of their own?.
Leave them to die? No I live in a society where we look after those who can not.
originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: musicismagic
Well what about the two fellows who despite being non care staff at an old folks home, stayed there despite the fact that the management had pulled out and were not paying them, and fed and looked after these people, just because it needed doing.
www.dailymail.co.uk... f.html
Attitudes such as those showcased by the OP here, do not promote the sort of selflessness that leads two individuals to remain behind when all else have fled, for no pay, and change adult diapers and make food for sixteen people for hours and hours at a stretch. Without the efforts of people willing to put something back into the communities they live in, by selflessness and an understanding of community and what it means, this world would be a much worse place to live in.
originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: ghostrager
So when your house burns down you will only take the money that you put into insurance . Sure you will . Cant be taking the money that other contributed now can we .
You do not want to do anything that does not exclusively benefit you, and that's fine. But only as long as you expect that no one will ever lift a finger to help you when your life goes wrong beyond your ability to recover it yourself. I hope it never happens to you.
originally posted by: rockintitz
Why didn't you add the defense budget?
originally posted by: ghostrager
I don't want to pay for your education.
originally posted by: JDmOKI
a reply to: ghostrager
I work 40 hours + a week and still struggle so wheres my american dream? I have a college education and need certain programs just to make it because trickle down economics only works for the people that start the trickle.


text:
GodSep 12, 2017 by Will Maule
As Hurricane Irma dies down, many are relieved that the monumental storm was not as destructive as many feared. There is no doubt that it has wrecked many properties and businesses, and caused severe flooding. But for a storm which was billed as one of the most powerful in history, it could have been much worse for Florida. So, was the Lord at work? This group of faithful believers took to the beaches of Miami before the hurricane struck to declare God's praise and worship in the face of the impending hurricane.
The Washington Post says that "several twists of fortune eased the pain the storm inflicted on the state," but could it have been the hand of God? One significant event was Irma's interaction with land before it made it to the US, demoting it from a category 5 to a category 3 storm, lessening its impact.
Then the direction of the storm shifted, causing it to miss Florida's vulnerable Key West. This was a crucial direction change that likely saved many lives and properties. So, perhaps this footage of faithful Christians worshipping their hearts out on a Miami beach before the Hurricane struck is more significant than we originally thought.
"Hallelujah, holy, holy
God almighty, the great I am
Who is worthy, none beside thee
God almighty, the great I am" the group sang.
"The mountains shake before you the demons run in fear
At the mention of the name king of majesty
There is no power in hell
Or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the
Praise God that the storm was not as bad as many feared!
Check out the worship below.
Miami worshiping on the beach to "Great I Am" before the arrival of Irma. #IrmaHurricane2017 pic.twitter.com/ZLKz6shFRE— Devin Sena (@DevinSenaUI) September 8, 2017
Enter your name
Enter your email


text:
"Ukraine is a state with ambitious plans on improvement of energy independent and extraction of oil and gas. And our joint efforts seem to be an interesting and promising project to realize these plans," he said, presidential press office reports.
In turn, "Eni" president Paolo Scaroni noted that his company demonstrates full activity in gas production from both traditional and non-traditional sources. Moreover, according to him, the company is working with "Naftogaz Ukrainy" on recovery of closed wells. "We contribute to the hydrocarbon production in your country, and I want to confirm our intentions to invest further in Ukraine."
CEO of "Électricité de France" Henri Proglio noted that his company has been working with the Ministry on development of its investment activity in Ukraine, and that Ukraine and "Électricité de France" have good prospects for cooperation in nuclear power industry.
"We intend to focus on this sector, as well as on the sector of energy distribution. We also confirm our readiness to develop cooperation in engineering work streams and to invest into Ukraine to create new jobs," he said.
After the meeting the minister of energy and coal industry of Ukraine Eduard Stavitski, Eni" president Paolo Scaroni and CEO of "Électricité de France" Henri Proglio also signed a Memorandum on understanding for cooperation in gas and energy industries.
Спасибо за Вашу активность, Ваш вопрос будет рассмотрен модераторами в ближайшее время


text:
Bright Imaginations Kiddie College(school ID: 181)
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Address: 6075 South Florida Ave.
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text: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology deals with the structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids – the basic constituents of living cells. Biochemists work to understand the structure of cells and how they function at the molecular level. This program includes a wide variety of foundational and advanced courses that cover metabolic pathways, the chemistry of winemaking, pharmacology, and more.


text:
Austin's Alignment & Brakes: Wheel Alignment, Brake Service & Mechanic
7941 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX 78757
+1 512-452-8300
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text:
Saba Qamar to play the role of Qandeel Baloch
From the makers of Ek Thi Marium comes another mega project Baaghi Biopic on late Qandeel Baloch highlighting the topic of honour killing.
It will be directed by Farooq Rind. Super talented and one of the finest actress Saba Qamar who is already taking Bollywood by storm with her debut film Hindi Medium, is now all set to play the role of Qandeel Baloch on television with Urdu1 drama.
Saba seems excited and determined to play this role as she said "I have cut my hair in order to play her. It's going to be exciting".
Along with Saba, the cast of the biopic also stars Sarmad Khoosat, Ali Kazmi and Osman Khalid Butt.


text:
Excuse for that I interfere … I understand this question. Is ready to help.
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Juaniata County Prison, a Jail & Prison, in Mifflintown, PA 17059, address and phone number. Jails and prisons provide information on inmate searches, rosters, lookups, lists, records, and mugshot photos.
|Jails & Prisons
|Mifflin County Correctional Facility
|Lewistown, PA
|Perry County Prison
|New Bloomfield, PA
|Cumberland County Prison
|Carlisle, PA
|Centre County Correctional Facility
|Bellefonte, PA
|Centre County Youth Center
|Bellefonte, PA
|Snyder County Prison
|Selinsgrove, PA


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Enjoyed a hot day at the cricket today with my father and kids (an odd way for them to spend the last day of the holidays). Gloucestershire needed 125 in their second innings to win and fell 55 short, thus being in the unenviable position of bowling Derbyshire out for 44 in the first innings and still losing.
Enjoyed playing on the outfield at the lunch interval and as I walked off at the end of the day - well just before tea on the second day when it all finished - clutching an old Gray Nichols I felt like it was thirty years ago and nothing had changed. Gloucestershire weren't any good then either.


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HTC U12 Plus review: Hands-on
PC Specialist - Problem, Problem, Major Problem.
I purchased a laptop from PC specialist back in July 2013, and spent a good two-three weeks returning the computer due to faulty components/issues with the laptop. All in all, the laptop was returned three times.
I won't go in to loads of detail as to why the computer kept needing to be returned, but it was because of issues such as a non-functioning wireless port, distortion in left hand speaker at low and medium volumes, computer failing to wake properly from sleep mode etc....
After I while, I decided I had had enough of these problems. I wanted to return the laptop, obtain a refund, and have nothing more to do with the company. PC Specialist essentially told me that this was not an option, and to keep returning it to them for repairs until eventually everything worked like it should have done the first time round!
Fast forward 14 months, and I finally decided to purchase a laptop sleeve to start carrying the laptop around when I started Uni. I purchased a sleeve which would fit my 17.3" laptop - except it didn't. It swamped the laptop. Having nothing to compare it to, having never owned a laptop before, and having assumed that PC Specialist would send me a laptop with the monitor size I specified and paid for, I have finally realised that I own a 15.6" laptop. Yes, I know, this is a level of stupidity on my behalf. Anyway, Just to check that I wasn't being delusional, I logged in to my PC Specialist account, intending to check the specs of my laptop. This wasn't an option unfortunately, so I donned my sleuth hat, and checked the 'My Spare Parts' of the site. What were they offering me in case of a faulty component outside of the warranty time? Why, a list of parts for my 17.3" Optimus V, including a replacement 17.3" FHD Glossy Screen.
Having loaded some pretty expensive software on the laptop, I am unwilling to part with it, but I still feel like I should receive some form of vindication for this, the mother of all mistakes in a long line of...
Do you think this is a lost cause, or is there still a glimmer of hope that I can obtain some form of monetary refund? I don't ever intend on using them again, so I would not settle for a discount on future purchases from them that's for sure..
The law requires an online seller to provide you with a full description of an item when you agree to buy it. You should have received this by email.
That being the case, you have documentary proof of your order. If you received a machine that was materially different, of a lower specification in any way you should have notified the company immediately. Fourteen months later you say that you think there was a mistake - you got the wrong machine.
Provided you are absolutely sure this is the case, and you want to keep your laptop you should talk to the supplier. If there was a difference in cost between what you ordered and what you received you could reasonably expect to receive a refund of the difference. It's up to the suppliers to decide if they want to make any additional gesture of goodwill.
The Optimus V comes in both sizes. Their website gives the dimensions of each so it easy to check. 17" is 413mm x 277.5mm x 17.5~44mm and the 15" is 374mm x 250mm x 16.3~42.7mm. Taken directly from the specs.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I have measured the screen diagonally, and it measures 15.6 inches, which is about 400 mm from the bottom left hand-corner, to the top right hand corner (not including the outer frame). The laptop also perfectly fits a 15.6" sleeve.
The order confirmation that I received from the company states that -
"Using our fully automated order system, you can track your order online, amend your order, print off VAT invoices, edit your details, and you can also see notes referring to your order. To take advantage of our order tracking system you will need to login at: or follow the link from our homepage. You may also wish to visit our forums here: click here where you can discuss news, views and reviews, show off your new computer, or get technical advice from our forum members."
I have thoroughly searched all subsections of my account, but have not been able to find a detailed breakdown of my laptops specs. The 'My Spare Parts' page only offers me options for a 17.3" Optimus V, which corresponds with my long held belief that I ordered and have been using a 17.3" laptop.
Provided you are absolutely sure this is the case, and you want to keep your laptop you should talk to the supplier. If there was a difference in cost between what you ordered and what you received you could reasonably expect to receive a refund of the difference. It's up to the suppliers to decide if they want to make any additional gesture of goodwill.
I do not expect any gesture of goodwill from PC Specialist considering their reluctance to provide me with any form of refund during the first round of problems I encountered with the laptop. They have in all honesty, caused me nothing but problems, and I hope that this thread provides further evidence that they are not a company to be dealt with. I only wish that I had read some of the other forum threads which are out there, warning others against using the company, before I purchased my laptop from them. I can honestly say that they have been the worst company I have dealt with in the last 5 years. Anyway...enough ranting. I will consider my options, but if I do approach PC Specialist requesting some form of monetary refund, I expect it will be an uphill struggle of epic proportions.
By rights you should have been given a totally new Laptop from the start or your money back - it might not be too late to get something done about it being the wrong size etc. First off - take a Screenshot of the My Spare Parts Page, so you have at least that - making sure it shows it IS Your spare parts page, do this before making any more complaints - that way if the page is removed - u have the screenshot. Buying online you have a lot of Rights - so go to the .gov.uk site and look up your rights when buying online, then go to the Ombudsman who would deal with this kind of situation - you will find that up on the .gov.uk site as well. explain to them your situation, they will mediate for you, and you should get some results then - as no company likes to cross the Ombudsman - not good for their reputation. Good Luck :)
I was considering using this company (I have in the past with no problems) but after reading your post am now not so sure, however compared to my dealings with Dell over the last six months I really feel your frustration.
I eventually secured a full refund from Dell (although am still awaiting the actually refund) after going to my local Citizens Advice Bureau for their consumer advice, very worthwhile. Dell are definitely the worst Customer Service of any company I have dealt with and that includes BT, Sky etc.
Incidentally What other forums did you visit that gave bad reports of PC Specialist as I have been looking for stuff about them.
TonyLevy, Do a google search with the term: bad reports of PC Specialist
Have to say, like any firm or product you will get good and bad reports.
My Dell, after an initial problem that needed them to replace the motherboard (done in my home two days later - once problem had been diagnosed over phone) is still going strong and in daily use, bought it in 2006 with XPmce op sys and since have updated to W7.
Don't want to hijack the thread but my problem with Dell also involved them coming to my home to change the motherboard and taking the laptop back to their factory for two weeks then returning it to me with the very same problems it went there with. All this after spending hours on the phone arguing with them that there was a problem them taking remote control of the machine twice trying to solve it and eventually them telling me it was a software issue and was not covered on the warranty even thought they were the only people to actually change any software. It cost me a small fortune in phone calls.
Again apologise for hijacking the thread but as you can see I too am very angry with the poor way I have been treated by Dell, but more worrying is if PC Specialist are just as bad
Yep, it's a right dilemma, am needing a new pc for myself and still searching... ChillBlast is my favourite at moment and most probably will go with them.
It seems clear to me that the supplier was in breach of The Sale of Goods Act
Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.
To get a refund on a faulty item, you need to reject it and return it within a reasonable time after purchase - usually three to four weeks.
It is safest to work on the basis you usually have no more than three to four weeks from when you receive it to reject it.
Your problem is that after all this time a "reasonable person" may conclude that by not rejecting within a few weeks of delivery the wrong laptop that you have tacitly accepted it even though it was not "as described".
If you can find out the difference in price, on the day of purchase, between a 17.3" and the 15.5" you received , then I would try to get them to stump up the difference. After this time a formal rejection / refund is tricky. I would certainly clone the Disc you have to an external drive in case you want to transfer the software, but you should be able to reinstall it if you bought discs or re download with the sellers approval - sometimes it has to be registered as an uninstall .
This thread is now locked and can not be replied to.


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I need to replace the house batteries in my motorhome, they're fairly old and just not holding much of a charge anymore.
Currently, it has 2, 6-volt batteries wired in series...but I'm wondering (assuming, dare I say) that it might be better to go with 2, 12-volt deep cycle batteries wired parallel. I'm not worried about the weight of 1 versus 2 batteries, so will this give me more (longer) juice when unplugged? Is there a downside to going this route?


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How Do I Start A Career In Orchestra Music?
"I play the trombone and right now I am still in high school, but music is my passion, and I know it's what I want to do for a living. I don't want to become an instructor, however; I want to play in an orchestra. I'm already well aware that this is a pretty narrow field, and that there is a lot of competition (it wasn't easy to get first chair in the top band in my high school; I can only imagine how challenging it is to make it professionally). What can I do after high school to improve my odds of getting a job in a real orchestra? Is there a specific educational program I should be following to reach my goal of becoming a full time professional trombone player?"
asked by Cole from Philadelphia, PA
You are certainly right about the challenges and tribulations of trying to succeed as a full time musician, but it's great that you've discovered something you are passionate about. And sticking with it and launching a career as a musician can be very rewarding if you are successful. So where do you start?
As a musician, you have to be prepared to deal with auditions, which are your version of a job interview. The guidelines for auditions which most symphony orchestras in the US subscribe to are set forth by the American Federation of Musicians.
This organization serves members in the US and can provide you with more information and guidance on auditions and other aspects of the job search process. You can subscribe to this organization's monthly newspaper, The International Musician, to receive information about vacant positions and audition times and locations.
Orchestras also post their vacancies on their websites, and there are also websites which specifically specialize in posting vacancies from many different orchestras.
To be prepared for auditions, you need to have a resume, cover letter, and audition tape ready. The less experience you have, the more likely it will be required that you send over an audition tape. The next inevitable question is, "Do I need a college degree to get a job in an orchestra?" Technically, you could feasibly find an orchestra job without a college degree. If you are an amazing musician, ultimately that is going to be the number one most important factor.
That said, a college degree in music can be very helpful and rewarding. You will not only gain more experience and practice, but also build up your understanding of musical theory and prepare you for the experience of working with an ensemble. There is a very serious social aspect to becoming an orchestra musician as pertains to working with peers in your own section and those who play other instruments.
Developing these social skills is important.
Not only that, but many of the connections you forge during college may help you when it comes to spotting opportunities and landing auditions, which can ultimately lead to a job playing your instrument full time.
Career Spotlight: Musician
There are a broad range of careers in music. Some musical careers involve classical performance or composition in a formal setting. Others may involve scoring soundtracks for television or film. Some [...]


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The first class I took about how to be a teacher started with a quick reflective exercise. The professor prompted:
Think back to a time that you actually learned something and remembered it.
I actually thought about tying knots. I had started rock climbing a couple of years prior, and remembered being taught how to tie a figure-eight knot in order to lower myself off of the top of a route. My climbing partner let me hold the rope as we were bolted in next to each other at the top of a wall, and verbally explained what to do. I crossed one strand over the other several times, tied myself in, and lowered myself down. With some coaching, I did it myself.
The professor then asked:
How were you taught to do this thing? What approach did your teacher take?
Something occurred to me just then, and in fact now forms the basis of my approach to teaching: I learned by actually interacting with the material. My climbing partner had not given me a book on tying knots, explained to me how to tie this particular knot, and then expected me to perform. Had she done so, I'm convinced I would have fallen 50 feet and really gotten hurt.
So this is why I try to avoid lecturing to my students. One, I'm not particularly interested in hearing what I have to say in this context. I'm more interested in what my students think. (And frequently, they change my mind!) And two, I'm not really convinced that my students really learn much when I talk at them. Sure, they'll likely be able to copy down my brilliant musings and regurgitate them on a multiple-choice test. But will they really form those new neurons that you're supposed to when you learn a new thing? I'm not sure.
I have sat through many a beautifully written and expertly delivered lecture. Lectures on theories of art history, lectures by esteemed experts on Dickens and Le Corbusier, and lectures by attorneys who regularly present arguments before the Supreme Court. At the time, I felt that I was in the presence of intellectual greatness and I truly enjoyed every moment. But do I remember much of what any of those lecturers had to say? Well…
"Avoiding the Lecture" forms part of many pedagogical approaches, including the Flipped Classroom, Project-Based Learning, and Student-Centered Teaching in general. It's implied in constructivist ideology, which in pedagogy suggests that students should be given the opportunity to construct their own meanings and understandings. In History, it might look like asking students to interpret source material in discussion rather than dictating what sources mean, or it might look like assigning an open-ended, interpretive assessment, rather than giving a multiple choice test that assesses how well students have listened in class.
Today for example, we learned about how slavery formed part of the Constitution as ratified in 1789. Instead of explaining to my students how each of the concerned Articles formed part of the legal edifice of human bondage, I assigned an Article to each of several pair of students, and asked them to explain to me the relation of the law to slavery. Admittedly, I borrowed the lesson from the Gilder Lerhman Institute. But I did so because it squares with my understanding of how students learn.
Alright, so I'm sure folks will quibble with me on this one. You had an amazing History/Literature/Psychology/Calculus professor who expounded so expertly, so poetically, that you retained every detail and you are a better person for it. (Maybe it's not lecturing; it's me!) If this is you, tell me in the comments! I want to know!