Buffer sizing approach in critical chain project management under multiresource constraints

An integrated buffer sizing approach is proposed, considering the activity duration distribution, resource impact factor and impact of feeding chain. The influence of the multiresource constraints and resource utilization are considered in the impact factor calculation. Based on the activities duration distribution, activity safety time is estimated by Monte Carlo simulation. Besides, an improved method of calculating remaining buffer of feeding chain is proposed, which adds the remaining buffer into project buffer. Finally, a numerical example is shown to verify that the integrated buffer sizing approach is reasonable to reduce the duration risk on the project schedule and can shorten the planned duration of the project.