A microcomputer based planning system for construction projects.

The thesis outlines the research project undertaken to examine the effect of microcomputers in the field of project planning on construction projects. The hypothesis to be tested was that project planning had a poor reputation within the construction industry and that this poor reputation was due to two primary factors. One was that the work of project planning was carried out by personnel inappropriately positioned within the construction management structure and the second was that there were inherent problems with the use of the technique of network analysis that make it unattractive to site management personnel. A series of structured interviews was conducted which appeared to confirm the general hypotheses and, based on this, an experiment was established to re-locate the role of project planning to an on-site role in a number of longitudinal case studies. To achieve this a microcomputer was necessary and, at that time, a software program had to be created as no suitable programs were available that would enable the experiment to proceed within a realistic budget.In general site management welcomed the changes brought about in the experiment and reacted favourably to the ability to plan projects on site. As a result some of the inherent problems associated with the technique were overcome.Project planning was, by those involved with the test program, better regarded and generally rapid on site project planning was seen as being of increased value. The benefits gained by the use of a microcomputer which were speed, ease of use and availability on site seemed to remove many of the objections raised by project planners and managers when discussing project planning by manual or main frame methods.There were suggestions that the use of a computer could be taken further and that the computer could adopt more of the network planning role, particularly the creation of the network model.