Employing Linear Scheduling Method and Supply Chain Principles for Optimizing Storage Demand

This paper is based on the Statue of Equality—Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) conceptualized this project, which was awarded as a Design and Build (D&B) project to the Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering and Construction (SPE&C) company. According to preliminary drawings, the statue will stand 137.3 m tall, making it the world’s third-largest statue after the Statue of Unity and the Spring Buddha Temple. Because this is a one-of-a-kind project, the design and construction phases present unprecedented challenges. As the project is of a substantial scale, the space available for material storage and equipment mobility must be carefully managed. The project site being in the densely populated Dadar region led to logistic constraints due to a lack of adequate storage space. As the critical path method (CPM) has been proven to be less effective in modeling repetitive or linear projects, the linear scheduling technique is often used to represent such activities graphically. Thus, using the linear scheduling method (LSM), comprehensive logistic planning of all processes involved in the erection of structural steel ribs was prepared to devise a dynamic representation of storage requirements. The LSM prepared using the critical path network is then optimized to address the apparent bottlenecks by improving collaboration and employing supply chain management principles. Similarly, as this project involves multiple stakeholders having different roles in all phases of the project, a responsibility matrix was developed to map the risks to different stakeholders. This matrix would aid in identifying entities accountable for dealing with certain shortcomings during the project’s lifespan.