Project scheduling using Dependency Structure Matrix

Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) has been identified as a powerful tool to plan the activity sequences, identify and manage information exchanges. However, its application in scheduling is very limited. So far, DSM has been used to enable critical path calculations by assigning the ‘amount of effort/work done’ as duration to the activities. This paper addresses ‘communication time’, a new concept while estimating the normal project duration. The other issue arises while planning and scheduling compressed projects with DSM. When the activities are overlapped to achieve the compressed duration, there arise two cases – the natural overlap (involving minimum risk) and the forced overlap (involves more risk). This paper focuses on the estimation of natural overlap project duration using DSM. Further, the author also proposes a detailed implementation procedure focusing on the above ideas and is illustrated through an example.