J. H. C. Pretorius

Theory of the triple constraint — A conceptual review

Projects are generally undertaken because they are part of the plans to meet business needs and charter organizations to new levels of performance. Projects are however constrained by conflicting demands and competing priorities within the project environment. Neglecting to manage these constraints accurately and effectively may be sufficient to condemn a project even if all other project management activities are performed to a high standard of excellence. The aim of this paper is to improve the interpretation of the triple constraint and its dynamics and indicate how this may advance the delivery of project success. An integrated model is proposed to facilitate the strategic management of the triple constraint trade-offs as a function of the project higher purpose.

Triple constraint considerations in the management of construction projects

Projects over the years failed to be completed within the specified triple constraint, hence lack of development in skills and infrastructure. The objective of the research is to assess the triple constraint and determine sources of failures in order to increase the success rate of construction projects in South Africa and to give priority on the triple constraint. Both the contextual and fieldwork survey attribute failure of construction projects to lack of understanding and poor management of the triple constraint elements and trade-offs.

Earned Value as a performance measurement tool for small and large construction projects in a South African environment

The foundation of Earned Value Performance Management was the Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria originally defined in the USA in 1967. Earned Value Performance Management has traditionally been used in Defense projects with budgets in excess of

ENERGY SAVINGS CALCULATION IN A SYSTEM WITH HARMONICS

100M. Private industry is now implementing Earned Value Performance Management (EVPM) for major projects, which are large, complex or geographically dispersed. It is the purpose of this paper to determine whether the Earned Value concept as developed over the years to the form it is in today is being used in the South African construction industry. The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of Earned Value and how it is related to Project Control and Project Management focused more on the South African environment.

Lean six sigma framework to improve throughput rate

Saving energy in today’s environment is very important. Calculating the energy savings is also important to derive a cost and efficiency comparison of a system before and after a selected energy efficiency intervention. When a system is linear (resistive load) and sinusoidal, the current is always in phase with the voltage for single and multi phase systems. Calculating energy savings is relatively simple when two systems are compared with each other. This is well documented in the IPMVP guidelines for energy saving calculations. This is not true for a non-sinusoidal single phase or multiple phase system having some form of distortion. This paper proposes a method of calculating energy savings using the IEEE 1459 standard as a guideline. It is proposed that only the fundamental active power is used for energy saving calculations as the higher order active power harmonics do not contribute to energy savings in any significant way.

Effect of the tap changer position of Zeus 765/400kV transformer on the steady state and voltage stability performance of the Cape system

Engineering education institutions in South Africa are under pressure to increase the throughput rate for undergraduate students, being a developing country with a national throughput rate of 14 percent after 6 years entering the system, the issue is imperial. Although Lean Six Sigma is mainly applied in manufacturing sectors, there is evidence that this methodology can be applied successfully to any process. The researcher is proposing to use this process control strategy of Lean Six Sigma and apply it within an academic education. In other words apply a break through strategy to affect faculty objectives in academia so as to improve the throughput rate and to increase faculty revenue.

Some Considerations for Designing a Reactive Power Charge

Previously published research findings [1] on the impact of tap changer position on the steady state performance of distribution networks indicate that very little impact results from varying the tap changer position. In this paper, a similar investigation is carried out, but on a network with very high voltage transmission lines operating in parallel with a well-developed corridor of 400kV lines. The per-unit impedance of a line is reduced drastically as the line voltage is increased. When the design voltage of the transmission lines is high, the transformer impedance becomes dominant and plays a key role in the system. This paper investigates the effect of varying the impedance of a 765/400kV transformer on the steady-state (loadflow and active power losses) and voltage stability of the Cape corridor.

A systems thinking approach to manage distribution channels in the Control and Instrumentation product market with multi-faceted product lines

Electricity tariffs that levy charges for electricity usage on the basis of only active power demand (in kW) and/or active energy (in kWh) do not offer customers incentive to control their reactive power demand (in kVAr) and/or reactive energy consumption (in kVArh). The consequence is that poor power factor, for the entire system, may result, leading to the degradation of the power system, The introduction of tariffs that have an apparent power charge (in kVA) does go some way in incentivizing customers to deal with their reactive power consumption, as this type of charge encourage them to improve their power factors.. However, further improvement in the utilization of power systems can be realized by having a tariff that directly charges for reactive power. In this paper, results of a survey on international practices on levying a reactive power charge to the customers are discussed.

A Framework for Increasing Project Maturity and Capability in Southern Africa

The purpose of this paper is to explore from a systems thinking approach ways in which to model and manage distribution channels in the Control and Instrumentation product market where multi-faceted product lines, technological know-how and the position of the product in its life-cycle play important roles in the manner in which these products are diffused into the market. The focus in this paper is more the South African market although the global context for control and instrumentation products is also considered. The research is exploratory in nature addressing the complexity from a value chain point of view intertwined with product technology. Aims of the paper include the following: to assess if driving factors identified by way of preliminary research case studies and inductive reasoning are realistic and how the identified factors could be used within a soft systems methodology approach to understand the value additions per distribution channel for the various types of product lines.

The use of power quality standards to establish an equivalent transformer capability under harmonic loading

In Southern Africa, it has been shown that information technology projects are currently, generally performed in a basic, but rapidly maturing, project management environment. Now, in order for the organization (or project environment) to mature, certain processes must first be institutionalised. These processes are identifiable by inspection of the standards that relate to PM in general (and to IT PM in particular) and by excluding the activities that relate to specific technologies and products. Those identified processes should therefore be applied to most (if not all) IT projects in SA most (if not all) of the time. These processes were identified and used to iteratively create a project management framework which forms a basis of growth in terms of organizational capability or maturity. In this product, the PMBOKreg guide is used in combination with the CMMI and tailored for a sector, time and place, resulting in a unique approach to project management. This approach also provides a path for attaining and measuring project management maturity/capability.