Grey Earned Duration Management: a New Schedule Monitoring Approach

Abstract

Earned Value Management (EVM) is the conventional method for controlling and monitoring construction projects. Schedule monitoring with EVM has a lower impact since it measures in budgetary terms. Earned Duration Method (EDM) was presented, which decouples schedule and cost aspects. The parameters in EDM monitors the health of the project schedule and gives the estimated completion date. EDM results are indeterministic, so the estimators require expertise in order to comprehend them. For this purpose, the present study proposes a new methodology entitled "Grey Earned Duration Management (GEDM)" by associating EDM and grey theory. From GEDM, estimators can get a clear idea about the degree of control measures to consider based on the project progress at a particular point in time. GEDM can precisely forecast the upper bound and lower bound of the estimated duration at completion for every tracking point. GEDM significantly enhances the results of EDM by providing a range of the estimated parameter. This paper also presents a case study to distinguish the EDM and GEDM.