GM592 Unit 8 Resource and Cost Baseline Example

Course	GM592 Project Planning and the Project Plan
Unit	Unit 8
Paper type	Resource and cost baseline
Length	About 1,110 words, 7 pages double-spaced
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Purdue University Global
Program	MS in Management
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for GM592 Unit 8

Spread by When the Work Happens: A Unit 8 Resource and Cost Baseline for a Sawmill's Dry Kiln

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

GM592: Project Planning and the Project Plan

Unit 8 Resource and Cost Baseline

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The sawmill, its staff, its vendors and every figure are composite and illustrative; the methods cited are real.

What this part is doingNaming the vendor's payment terms in the lead shows why the baseline separates work performed from cash paid.

The Resource Roster

Nine roles carry the work packages at Tygart Ridge Hardwoods: the operations manager, the maintenance lead, the lumber grader, the yard foreman, the sales manager, two kiln operators in training, the mill's bookkeeper and the owner. For each role, the production calendar sets how many hours a week can go to the project after the sawmill's normal work. The maintenance lead, for example, can give 16 hours a week, because the sawmill's saws, conveyors and edger still need daily attention. The operations manager can give 20 hours, the lumber grader 8, the yard foreman 6 except during kiln loading weeks, and each operator in training 10. The sales manager and the bookkeeper give 2 to 4 hours a week for customer letters and payments, and the owner about 2 hours for approvals and status reviews. These hours are the supply against which each week's project demand is compared.

The Maintenance Lead's Peak

Loading each role's hours by week from the schedule shows one problem. The maintenance lead's demand reaches about 130 percent of available hours in weeks 30 through 32, when the kiln chamber is erected, the panel is wired, the piping is pressure tested and the kiln is prepared for power-up. Those same weeks hold the sawmill's annual headrig rebuild, which the maintenance lead leads.

The owner and the head sawyer agreed to move the headrig rebuild two weeks later, to weeks 34 and 35, after the trial charge has started. With that change, the maintenance lead's peak falls to about 95 percent. The Project Management Institute describes resource leveling as adjusting work to resolve overallocation, often by shifting activities with float or moving other commitments (Project Management Institute, 2021). Here the shifted work was outside the project, because the kiln chain had too little float to move.

The overload was solved by moving a sawmill job, not a project activity, because the kiln work in those weeks had too little float to slip.

What this part is doingThe highlighted sentence explains why the leveling decision fell outside the project schedule.

The Cost Baseline

Each work package is priced with a stated basis.

Kiln and controls: $238,000. The vendor's signed quotation.

Boiler and hot water piping: $112,000. The boiler contractor's quotation, including the fuel conveyor.

Electrical service and utility charges: $96,400. The utility's estimate of the mill's share of the service upgrade, $58,000, and the electrician's quotation for the panel and feeders, $38,400.

Internal labor: $84,300. Hours from the roster at loaded rates, including benefits.

Pad work and drainage: $41,600. The concrete contractor's quotation for the condensate trench and pad repairs.

Freight, crane and rigging: $33,500. The vendor's freight quote and the crane company's day rate.

Training and vendor commissioning: $18,500. The vendor's commissioning fee and the short course tuition for two operators.

Moisture testing station: $9,800. Catalog prices for the balance, drying oven, meter and bench materials.

Permits and fees: $7,200. The county and state fee schedules.

These nine lines total $641,300. A contingency of $48,000, held by the operations manager for risks in the risk register, brings the cost baseline to $689,300. A management reserve of $35,000, held by the owners outside the baseline for problems no one has foreseen, brings the total authorized to $724,300, just under the owners' capital ceiling of $725,000.

Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman explain that the performance measurement baseline should be time-phased by when work is planned to be performed, so that earned value can be compared with planned value fairly (Fleming & Koppelman, 2010). That is why the baseline is spread by work, not by invoice.

How the Contingency Was Sized

The $48,000 contingency is not a flat percentage. It was built from the risk register, by multiplying each risk's estimated cost by its probability and adding the results. The largest items are a second crane day if the kiln arrives in bad weather, about $6,000 at a 50 percent chance; extra pad repair if the load check finds weak concrete, about $30,000 at 40 percent; and electrical changes if the utility's design requires a different panel, about $40,000 at 35 percent. Those three contribute about $29,000, and eleven smaller risks, from a late permit to a damaged coil in shipping, make up the remaining $19,000. Harold Kerzner distinguishes contingency for identified risks, which belongs inside the project's budget and under the project manager's control, from management reserve for unidentified problems, which senior management holds outside it (Kerzner, 2022). The baseline follows that split, so the operations manager can spend contingency on a listed risk without asking the owners, but only the owners can release the reserve.

Work Performed by Month

The baseline in thousands of dollars of work performed each month, in 21-working-day months from the charter, runs as follows: month one, 14.3; month two, 16.7; month three, 90.3; month four, 104.8; month five, 102.4; month six, 88.4; month seven, 150.0; month eight, 46.4; month nine, 27.9. Months three through six carry the kiln's and boiler's fabrication, which is work being done for the project even though the mill pays for it only at milestones. Month seven, with rigging, erection, pad work and wiring, is the heaviest.

Cash Paid by Month

Cash paid in the same months, in thousands, runs: month one, 14.3; month two, 88.1, including the kiln deposit of 71.4; month three, 97.8, including the boiler deposit and the utility's charge; month four, 11.8; month five, 93.4, including the balance due on boiler delivery; month six, 9.4; month seven, 227.3, including the kiln's 60 percent payment of 142.8 at the factory inspection; month eight, 47.8; month nine, 51.7, including the final 10 percent on commissioning.

Why the Two Tables Differ

By the end of month four, $226,100 of work has been performed but only $211,900 has been paid. By the end of month six the gap is wider: $417,000 performed against $314,600 paid, because the kiln is nearly built but its large payment has not fallen due. In month seven the order reverses, and cash catches up. If the owners compared spending with the baseline using cash alone, the project would look under budget in month six and over budget in month seven, when in fact it was on plan in both. The bookkeeper will use the cash table to plan the mill's line of credit, and the operations manager will use the work table to report progress.

What this part is doingExplaining the gap between the tables shows the reader why both are needed and who uses each.

References

Fleming, Q. W., & Koppelman, J. M. (2010). Earned value project management (4th ed.). Project Management Institute.

Kerzner, H. (2022). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (13th ed.). Wiley.

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.).

What the GM592 Unit 8 assignment asks for

In GM592 Unit 8 you build the resource and cost baselines for your project. List the roles that carry work and the hours each can give after normal duties. Load hours by week from the schedule and find overallocations; resolve them by shifting work with float or moving other commitments, and record the decision. Price each work package with a stated basis such as a quotation, rates or catalog prices. Size contingency by adding up the expected cost of listed risks, and hold management reserve outside the baseline with the sponsor or owners. Time-phase the cost baseline by when work is performed, and keep a separate table of cash paid by month, explaining why they differ and who uses each. Expect about seven pages in two parts, citing project cost and earned value sources in APA 7.

How this GM592 Unit 8 example is built

The roster gives nine roles and weekly hours, such as 16 for the maintenance lead and 20 for the operations manager. The maintenance lead's peak in weeks 30 to 32 collides with the headrig rebuild, which moves two weeks, citing the PMBOK guide on leveling; the highlighted sentence says why a sawmill job moved instead of project work. Nine cost lines each carry a basis, from the signed kiln quotation to fee schedules. Contingency is sized from the risk register, with a second crane day, pad repairs and panel changes contributing about $29,000 and eleven smaller risks $19,000, citing Kerzner on contingency and reserve. Fleming and Koppelman explain phasing by work performed. Work performed runs from $14,300 in month one to $150,000 in month seven, while cash paid peaks at $227,300 in month seven with the kiln's 60 percent payment. The gap at month six is explained.

Where the points sit in the GM592 Unit 8 rubric

GM592 rubric credit for this baseline depends on realistic resource loading, sourced costs and correct time phasing. Instructors check that each role's available hours reflect normal duties and that overallocations are found and resolved with a recorded decision. Every cost line should have a basis. Contingency summed from listed risks earns more than a percentage added on top, and management reserve should sit outside the baseline with the right holder. Time phasing by work performed, with a separate cash table, matters a great deal, since that is how the baseline will later measure progress. Explaining who uses each table shows practical sense. References in APA 7 draw on Fleming and Koppelman for earned value, Kerzner for contingency and reserve, and PMI for leveling.

GM592 Unit 8 help from the desk

Many GM592 Unit 8 baselines spread cost by invoice dates, which makes deposits look like overruns and later months look under budget. Others add a percentage for contingency without tying it to risks. A frequent gap is resources: plans that never load hours by week miss the collision between project work and a person's normal job. Some writers put management reserve inside the baseline. List roles and real hours, load them by week, resolve peaks with a recorded decision, price each package with a basis, size contingency from risks, hold reserve outside, phase cost by work performed, keep a cash table and explain the difference.

Get a GM592 Unit 8 example written to your instructions

A baseline of this kind rests on the WBS, the schedule and any cost data or labor rates the case provides, so include all three with the Unit 8 prompt and rubric. A first baseline, free, arrives inside 24-48h with every cost traced to its package and both monthly tables reconciled to one total. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

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GM592 Unit 8 questions, answered

Why phase costs by work performed rather than payment?

Because the baseline is later used to measure progress, and progress is work done, not money paid. A deposit paid at order would look like a huge overrun in month one and an underrun afterward if the baseline followed invoices. The example keeps a separate cash table so the controller still sees when money leaves.

Where does the management reserve go?

Outside the cost baseline, held by whoever authorizes the project, typically a sponsor or owner. It covers work nobody identified, and releasing it usually means changing the baseline. The example gives the owners 35,000 dollars on that basis, so the project manager is accountable for the 689,300 baseline and nothing above it.

Where can I find a free GM592 Unit 8 sample paper?

This page carries a full GM592 Unit 8 resource and cost baseline for a sawmill's dry kiln, with a resource peak resolved, nine priced lines, risk-based contingency, monthly tables and APA 7 references.

How was the contingency sized?

From the risk register, by multiplying each risk's estimated cost by its probability. Three larger risks, a second crane day, pad repairs and panel changes, contribute about $29,000, and eleven smaller risks about $19,000.

Why do the work and cash tables differ?

The kiln vendor is paid 30 percent at order and 60 percent at factory inspection, so cash lags the fabrication work and then jumps. By month six, $417,000 of work has been performed but only $314,600 paid.