Major Characteristics and Functions of New Scheduling Software “Beeliner” Based on the Beeline Diagramming Method (BDM)

Abstract

The construction environment has been changing
rapidly over the last several years and with it the techniques used
for managing projects. The schedule management technique, one
of the construction management tools, has evolved as well in order
to adapt to the increasingly complex construction environment.
Most of the recently developed scheduling techniques are based on
the Critical Path Method (CPM) that was proposed in 1956 and is
classified into two categories; Arrow Diagramming (ADM) and
Precedence Diagramming Methods (PDM). ADM is very good at
graphically representing consecutive tasks, but it cannot express
the relationships between two overlapping or concurrent activities.
On the other hand, PDM can express the overlapping
relationships but does not lend itself to visual representation. The
growing complexity of the construction environment, in particular
recently, increases the need for efficient schedule management
and the ability to express the scheduling complexities introduced
by tasks that must run at least in part concurrently. Most
contractors prefer more the more visual format provided by the
ADM method because it is more readily interpreted. Those
software packages based on the PDM provide a means of
addressing the overlapping tasks, however they do not have the
ability to produce a graphical representation of the schedule that
is desired by many contractors and managers. Beeliner is a new
software product that is based on the Beeline Diagraming Method
(BDM), which was originally proposed in 2010, developed into a
product in 2012 and has the ability to express the
overlapping/concurrent tasks while maintaining a readily
understandable graphical representation of a schedule. This
paper presents major features and applications of Beeliner, and
provides construction professionals with an explanation of the
new scheduling product and its applications.