Schedule Type

All the tasks that have been entered so far in Sciforma all have a default task type of As Soon As Possible (ASAP) in the schedule, based on their defined dependency relationships. This is due to a field that is called Schedule Type.

The following Schedule Type options are available:

As Soon as Possible (ASAP)

If the task has some float, the task will be set to start at the beginning of the float period.

As Late As Possible (ALAP)

If the task has some float, the task will be set to start so that its Finish date will be scheduled at the end of the float period.

This option is used to schedule a project as close to the project end as possible.

Buffer

A task can be designated as a buffer task. Typically, the project will have one or more strategically placed buffer tasks, each having a predecessor relationship with a task that needs to be protected or with a critical milestone, such as the scheduled finish date of the project. The tasks that would normally be predecessors to the milestone task are instead configured as predecessors to the buffer task. The size of the buffer task is then set manually.

Hammock

This type schedules tasks based on the start date of the predecessor tasks and the end date of the successor task. The Hammock task is hung between the start date of the predecessor task and the end date of the successor task, and the duration of the Hammock task is calculated as the time between those two tasks. The duration of the Hammock task changes if there is a change in the start or end date of the related tasks.

In order for a Hammock task to be performed as described, it must have only one predecessor and one successor. The best example of the use of a Hammock task is for tasks that last the duration of the project, such as Project Management tasks. If a predecessor or successor is not assigned, the duration of the Hammock task is determined by its parent task start date and finish date.

Feeding buffer

Feeding buffers protect against overruns in the feeding chains of Critical Chain projects. They are placed at each point a feeding chain merges into the Critical Chain.

Project buffer

Project buffers protect against overruns in the Critical Chain project. They are placed after the last Critical Chain task in the schedule.