What is Forward Planning?

Forward planning – schedule the end of the project at the start of the project

Forward planning – also known as forward calculation or forward scheduling – is used in production planning and project planning as scheduling or sequencing. Starting from a known starting point, activities and possible buffers are scheduled logically and chronologically until the end of the project. In addition to the duration of individual activities, the calculation of the date also depends significantly on the relationships between the activities:

• The Finish-to-Start relationship – also called normal sequence – means that a subsequent activity can begin when the predecessor activity ends.
• The Start-to-Start relationship – also called the start sequence – says that activities can start at the same time.
• The Finish-to-Finish relationship – also called the end sequence – specifies that a successor activity can be terminated once the predecessor activity has ended.
• The Start-to- Finish relationship – also known as Jump sequence – defines that a follow-up activity cannot end until the predecessor activity has been started.

Here is an example of a forward plan as used in a precedence diagram. The counterpart to the forward planning is the backward planning, which is also used to create precedence diagrams.

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You can find a detailed description of precedance diagrams and the precedance diagram method here »

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