NETWORK ANALYSIS OF A TOLLING PROJECT

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NETWORK ANALYSIS OF A TOLLING PROJECT

Kamila JANOVSKÁ

a

_{, Šárka VILAMOVÁ}

a

_{, Iveta VOZŇÁKOVÁ}

a

_{, Petr}

_BESTA

a

_{, Josef}

_KUTÁČ

a

_,

Jakub GAJDA

b,

Eva Švecová

a

VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, EU

kamila.janovska@vsb.cz, iveta.voznakova@vsb.cz, sarka.vilamova@vsb.cz, petr.besta@vsb.cz,

josef.kutac@vsb.cz, b

ESAP Consult, s.r.o., Ostrava, Czech Republic, EU, gajda@easpconsult.cz

Abstract

The network analysis methods can be applied both as a planning tool, but also as a controlling tool used to monitor the project continuance - tolling project. The network analysis method was used to prepare the analysis of the "siding of VŠB-TU Ostrava - New building of FEI" project, where the project financing takes advantage of tolling combined with project financing. The article shows the possibility of using the network analysis methods for processing time and cost analysis and for the tolling project optimization, as an effective way of working capital financing.

Keywords: The network analysis methods, tolling project

1. NETWORK ANALYSIS

Today, organizations in all sectors must focus on speed, performance and value for a customer in order to remain competitive. [1] At present, the operational research methods represent a set of tools for the management of complex economic systems, both at the microeconomic level and at the macroeconomic scale. Operational research provides an opportunity to improve the quality of economic decision-making, especially in terms of speed and qualification, using quantitative methods. That is why mathematical modelling is more and more often establishing itself as an integral part of the economic theory and the economic practice. [2] The network analysis methods can be included among the most frequently applied methods of operational research.

The basic network analysis methods include:  CPM (Critical Path Method)

 PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) 2. TOLLING

The tolling method can be described as a method of efficient working capital financing in which the funding body (tolling company) uses either its own free resources to finance the needs of the manufacturer or, more often, its own resources are eked out with a bank loan. A specific feature of tolling financing is the fact that the working assets acquired from the tolling resources are at all times and in all forms (raw materials, work in progress, receivables) owned by the funding tolling company, not by the manufacturer. If a bank loan is one of the sources of financing, the debtor is not the manufacturer, but again the tolling company. The issue of tolling is reflected in several areas of human activity and it includes the economic, financial, legal, and, last but not least, the political sphere. Tolling can thus be characterized as an unusual instrument for working capital financing which can be used in the project of solution of a critical situation within the company, primarily to finance its production. [3] In cases where a manufacturer operates in the form of orders or projects, it is not always necessary to provide capital resources for the entire production of the manufacturer,

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but only for specific projects. [4] Such a company mostly uses conventional bank products, and for specific projects, it helps itself by using the resources of the modified tooling method - project financing. [3]

3. Utilization of network analysis method to process tooling project analysis

The team of authors has focused its current science and research activities on the project of utilization of network analysis methods for processing time and cost analysis of the "siding of VŠB-TU Ostrava - New building of FEI" project where the project financing takes advantage of tolling combined with project financing.

I. The technical part of the project – siding of VŠB-TU Ostrava - New building of FEI

A schedule of activities in logical sequence that must be undertaken within the frame of the technical part of the project has been prepared for this project. This schedule includes 127 activities and their duration has also been added to each sub-activity.

II. The financial part of the project - tolling financing

A schedule of activities in logical sequence that must be undertaken within the frame of the tooling part of the project has been prepared for this project. This schedule includes eight precisely defined activities.

Tolling activities:

 T01 Audit of the legal entity applying for working capital in the form of tolling, especially in terms of valid legislation: audit of the ownership structure; audit of the subject of business; checking whether the subject has not been involved in insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings in the past; checking whether the owners, executives, or members or the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board are in companies with similar businesses activities; checking whether the subject is connected to other legal entities and whether the entity owns equity participation in the capital within the country or abroad. In the particular case of FEI, it was focused on the assessment of legislative ties to sub-suppliers and business partners which it will cooperate with on this case.

 T02 Audit of the subject applying for financing from the perspective of its manufacturing base: whether the subject has not lost the capability to produce as a result of losing various certificates, attestations; whether the subject has competent personnel that is capable of ensuring the production; whether the means of production remain as the subject’s assets, they are not leased, and if they exist as a collateral, there is no threat of their withdrawal or restriction of operation; whether the manufacturer has calculations of production or services.

 T03 Audit of the subject applying for financing using the tolling method: checking whether it owns a product which is saleable in the market, it is not a prototype or production to stock or developed product with the subsequent decision whether to put it into production or not; checking whether the production of the product is profitable (ideal case) or at least achieves a positive gross spread and there are real sales capacities to achieve a break-even point. In the concrete case of FEI, it was very important to assess the FEI from the technical and financial point of view, but also from the point of view of its material and time scope, it was also important to define the customer invoice payment guarantees, guarantees, retaining lien, advance payments, etc. Of course, the planned project profitability and the possible realization risks have been assessed as well.

 T04 Audit of the subject, whether it is willing to provide all the information regarding its activities: checking whether the subject is willing to allow the tolling provider participation in the supervisory bodies of the company or even in the managing bodies of the company. In the specific case of FEI, it was necessary to establish agreements related to the form and extent of documents provided, to appoint the contact persons, frequency of submission of documents and controls of the management performed by the tooling provider.

 T05 Perform a detailed audit of the company: a financial analysis, performing a detailed audit in the area of business activities, performing an audit in the area of strategy.

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 T06 Conclusion of contracts which form a legislative framework of the submitter – manufacturer relationship: framework contract, manufacturing contract, dealership contract, mandate contract, contract for work, terms of trade.

 T07 Preparation of the financial plan of tolling financing: planning cash flows.

 T08 Commencement of tolling financing: In the concrete case of FEI project, it was the decision which funds will be used for the financing (its own, loan) and to what extent; preparation of advance payment schedule, invoicing and collections; setting the funding sequence into the individual stages of the project realization and, vice versa, timely funding as a condition of the key stages realization.

4. PERFORMED ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS ON THE RESULTS

The actual analysis of the project took advantage of computer support - program WinQSB - module CPM / PERT and program OpenProj. Fixed duration of activities was defined for CPM analysis (deterministic network analysis method) - the aim was to determine the duration of the project based on the so called critical path. PERT analysis worked with an optimistic estimate - the shortest estimated duration of activity, a pessimistic estimate - the longest expected duration of activity and a modal estimate - most probable activity realization time.

The results of the CPM analysis have shown which activities are critical and the shortest completion date of the project (duration of critical activities) has been determined. It should be noted that the critical path is reflected in the project scheduling and management in virtually all phases of the project life cycle and, if there is a delay of some of the defined critical activities, the entire project is delayed as a result. A sample of solution using program WinQSB - CMP module, see figure 1. The results of the analysis can also show an average duration of the individual activities, the earliest and latest possible start and end of each activity and the total time reserve.

Fig. 1 Solution of the task using program WinQSB [our own work]

The outcome of the CPM analysis is the definition of critical activities and critical path with the expected project duration, which is 44 weeks. A sample solution using program WinQSB - CMP module, see figure 2. The critical activities represent 14.29% of all activities necessary for the construction of the new building of FEI. Low percentage of occurrence of critical activities shows relatively little threat to the realization of the project.

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The outcome of PERT analysis is the expected critical path with the expected project duration obtained as the sum of medium durations of the critical activities. The "expected" critical path and the "expected" duration of the project reflect the fact that we consider stochastic processes. The assumed critical path does not necessarily have to be critical; it is only anticipated with certain probability. The solution sample using program WinQSB - PERT module, see figure 3. The results of the analysis also show the average duration of the individual activities, the earliest and latest possible start and end of each activity and the standard deviation.

A probability analysis was performed as well using the program WinQSB - PERT module. Probability calculation assumes that the paths and activities are independent and that the project has a sufficiently large number of activities to expect a normal distribution which is used for the probability estimate of completion of the critical path at the desired time. The outcomes of the analysis enable us to answer questions such as "What would be the probability of the project completion for ex. in x weeks". A sample solution using program WinQSB - PERT module, see figure 4.

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The solution of the task using WinQSB program also includes a graphical solution in the form of a network chart. Given the large number of project activities (135 activities), the network chart in WinQSB program was quite confusing, which is why the project analysis was also carried out in program OpenProj. A graphical solution by means of the network chart in OpenProj program is clearer, a sample of project network chart in OpenProj program is illustrated in figure 5.

Fig. 5 Network chart of the project time schedule in program OpenProj [our own work]

A detailed costs analysis - Crash analysis can be performed within the scope of the CPM analysis and it:  will make it possible to set a penalty for delay and a reward for early completion of the project

according to the desired project completion time (can be changed) (a penalty per one day of delay and a reward per one day of early completion of the project are to be entered)

 will make it possible to determine the total cost with the expected time of completion of the project (expected completion time which can be determined during the CPM analysis)

 will make it possible to determine the total cost of the project which would be most acceptable for the company - the number of project days will be set

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It was very difficult to determine the costs of the individual activities, because the information on costs that are included in the quotation for the project of "New Building of FEI" in Ostrava - Poruba contain information on the costs according to the project documentation, include the costs of material and labour costs together and are not divided according to the activities defined for the construction of a network chart. For the purposes of the analysis, however, it is especially necessary to know the variable costs associated with the duration of the individual defined activities. A considered estimate using the percentage of the total cost would be very inaccurate and practically unusable. That is why the cost of the individual processes were, for the purpose of the analysis, defined using the cost function, which is defined as the product of the number of workers needed to perform the given activity, its duration and the cost rate per worker per time unit used in the chart (1 week). This part of the project solution is not public, due to the fact that the data related to costs are a "trade secret", and they serve only for the needs of companies involved in the realization of this project - the tolling company and the manufacturer.

5. CONCLUSION

The method of network analysis can be successfully used for planning, management and control of complex sequential projects (processes) that can be divided into partial and organizationally related activities. At present, the methods of network analysis (mainly CPM and PERT) are normally used both in small and large enterprises to determine the time course (duration of the individual activities and the duration of the project) of the technical part of a concrete project, in particular in the area of industry and civil engineering. The presented analysis of the "siding of VŠB-TU Ostrava - New building of FEI" project included in the financial part of the project - tolling part, preceding the technical part. The team of authors believes that the utilization of the network analysis methods for processing time and cost analysis has contributed to the optimization of the tolling project.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The work was supported by the specific university research of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic No. SP2012/12.

LITERATURE

[1] SAMOLEJOVA, A., KOLAT, P.,POCTA, J. et al. INNOVATION POTENTIAL IN THE REDUCTION OF ENERGETIC COST IN THE STEEL PRODUCTION, In Anniversary International Conference on Metallurgy and

Material, 2011,pp.1303-1309

[2] ZIMOLA, B. Operační výzkum. 2. vydání. Brno: Vysoké učení technické v Brně, 2000.

[3] STANĚK, J., Předpoklady efektivního financování pracovního kapitálu metodou tollingu, disertační práce, FMMI, VŠB - TU Ostrava, 2011

[4] MIKUŠOVÁ, M. The Creation of the Performance Measurement System - House Model. In: MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE SCIENCE Book Series: International Proceedings of Economics Development and Research. Bangkok: IEDRC, 2011, vol. 8, p. 48-52, ISSN 2010-4626, WOS000303218400010.