The objectives of this thesis are to evaluate scheduling methods and most common construction project management software (CPMS) which are Primavera and MS Project, and to determine most widely used project scheduling techniques and CPMS with a survey. The thesis focus on project scheduling since it is very deterministic for project success. Evaluation results indicate that, Gantt Chart Method and PDM are useful for small to medium projects, CPM is for complex projects, PERT is for uncertain projects, and LOB Technique is for repetitive projects. The comparison between Primavera and MS Project show that Primavera is more robust, professional, and detailed while MS Project is cheaper and easier. The survey was completed with 22 participants from construction companies in the US and Turkey and the results demonstrate CPM and Gantt Chart Method are the most common methods. Also, MS Project is the most widely used CPMS followed by the Primavera.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:08:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RicardoWO.pdf: 3213751 bytes, checksum: 8d8983eff6f68357e2e660b4041a5b84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-19 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / In the present study we elaborated algorithms by using concepts from percolation theory which analyze the connectivity conditions in geological models of petroleum reservoirs. From the petrophysical parameters such as permeability, porosity, transmittivity and others, which may be generated by any statistical process, it is possible to determine the portion of the model with more connected cells, what the interconnected wells are, and the critical path between injector and source wells. This allows to classify the reservoir according to the modeled petrophysical parameters. This also make it possible to determine the percentage of the reservoir to which each well is connected. Generally, the connected regions and the respective minima and/or maxima in the occurrence of the petrophysical parameters studied constitute a good manner to characterize a reservoir volumetrically. Therefore, the algorithms allow to optimize the positioning of wells, offering a preview of the general conditions of the given model s connectivity. The intent is not to evaluate geological models, but to show how to interpret the deposits, how their petrophysical characteristics are spatially distributed, and how the connections between the several parts of the system are resolved, showing their critical paths and backbones. The execution of these algorithms allows us to know the properties of the model s connectivity before the work on reservoir flux simulation is started / No presente estudo foram elaborados algoritmos, utilizando conceitos da teoria da percola??o, que analisam as condi??es de conectividade em modelos geol?gicos elaborados para reservat?rios de petr?leo. A partir de seus par?metros petrof?sicos, tais como: permeabilidade, porosidade, transmissibilidade e outros, gerados por qualquer processo estat?stico, ? poss?vel conhecer qual a por??o do modelo onde ocorre o maior n?mero de c?lulas conectadas, quais s?o os po?os que est?o conectados entre si e qual o caminho m?nimo entre injetores e produtores. Permitindo, assim, classificar o reservat?rio segundo os par?metros petrof?sicos modelados. Podendo determinar, tamb?m, qual a porcentagem do reservat?rio a que cada po?o est? conectado. De uma forma geral, as regi?es conectadas e os respectivos m?nimos e/ou m?ximos da ocorr?ncia dos par?metros petrof?sicos estudados, constituem uma boa forma de caracterizar volumetricamente um reservat?rio. Os algoritmos permitem, ent?o, otimizar o posicionamento de loca??es de po?os oferecendo uma vis?o antecipada das condi??es gerais da conectividade de um determinado modelo. A inten??o n?o ? avaliar modelos geol?gicos, mas mostrar como as jazidas s?o interpretadas, como suas caracter?sticas petrof?sicas se distribuem espacialmente e como as conex?es entre as diversas partes do sistema s?o resolvidas, mostrando seus caminhos cr?ticos e backbones . A execu??o desses algoritmos permite que as caracter?sticas relativas ? conectividade do modelo sejam conhecidas mesmo antes de se iniciar o trabalho de simula??o de fluxo do reservat?rio

This diploma theses deals with the challenges of a project management in a particular construction company that handles projects on daily basis. I focused on the analysis of a particular project in this company, that has been successfully implemented. This analysis served as a starting point for the designing of the changes, as well as a devising a tool that simplifies the set up of the changes into practice. Selected problem was solved by comparing the project management methodology in the project with the project management practices officially proposed in the literature. Tool design was carried out in the environment of Microsoft Excel. I managed to design a tool in which the shortcomings are treated the way that facilitates their implementation into practice, especially by using an easy environment and outputs well-arranged for the user. This tool is therefore mainly used to eliminate the identified shortcomings and thus to facilitate and simplify project management in practice.

This doctoral thesis is focused on metrics and the criteria for socio-technical system diagnostics, which is a high profile topic for companies wanting to ensure the best in product quality. More and more customers are requiring suppliers to prove reliability in the production and supply quality of products according to given specifications. Consequently the ability to produce quality goods corresponding to customer requirements has become a fundamental condition in order to remain competitive. The thesis firstly lays out the basic strategies and rules which are prerequisite for a successful working company in order to ensure provision of quality goods at competitive costs. Next, methods and tools for planning are discussed. Planning is important in its impact on budget, time schedules, and necessary sourcing quantification. Risk analysis is also included to help define preventative actions, and reduce the probability of error and potential breakdown of the entire company. The next part of the thesis deals with optimisation problems, which are solved by Swarm based optimisation. Algorithms and their utilisation in industry are described, in particular the Vehicle routing problem and Travelling salesman problem, used as tools for solving specialist problems within manufacturing corporations. The final part of the thesis deals with Qualitative modelling, where solutions can be achieved with less exact quantitative information of the surveyed model. The text includes qualitative algebra descriptions, which discern only three possible values – positive, constant and negative, which are sufficient in the demonstration of trends. The results can also be conveniently represented using graph theory tools.