| Course | MT246 Project Planning and Project Execution |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Project schedule |
| Length | About 900 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT246 Unit 5
Ready June 19, Riverfest July 4: A Unit 5 Project Schedule With the Buffer as Its Own Bar
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT246: Project Planning and Project Execution
Unit 5 Project Schedule
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Harlan Street Barbecue, its vendors, the agencies, the festival and every date are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Calendar
Work starts Monday, March 2. The project runs on a five-day week, Monday to Friday, with Memorial Day, May 25, removed. Working day 79, the end of the network, falls on Friday, June 19. The project's deadline is the Riverfest public launch on Saturday, July 4. City offices close Friday, July 3, for the holiday, so any permit or license problem must be solved by Thursday, July 2, working day 88.
The Gantt Chart
The chart shows twenty-two bars on real dates, with the critical chain in a darker shade. The chain runs from plan approval, March 2 to 4, through the upfitter's layout, March 5 to 16, health plan review, March 17 to April 6, the upfit, April 7 to May 18, generator and electrical, May 19 to 21, the fire marshal, May 22 and 26, the health inspection on May 27, the wrap from May 28 to June 3, crew training from June 4 to 10, first smoke from June 11 to 15 and the soft launch from June 16 to 19.
Below the chain, a separate bar runs from Monday, June 22, to Thursday, July 2, nine working days, labeled Project buffer, owner: Harlan Street Barbecue owner. No activity is scheduled inside it.
Why the Buffer Is Separate
Most first schedules hide slack inside each activity's estimate: the upfitter quotes thirty days but privately expects twenty-six, the reviewer's fifteen includes a cushion, and so on. Goldratt (1997) observed that cushions tucked inside each task get consumed, since people start late when they know there is room and seldom report finishing early. Pulling the slack out and placing it at the end, under the sponsor's control, makes it visible and lets the owner decide when it is spent. The estimates in this schedule are the expected values from the estimating exercise, without padding, and the nine days at the end are the whole margin. Larson and Gray (2021) describe this placement of a single buffer at the end of the chain as a way to protect the deadline without inflating each task.
Milestones
Eight milestones mark the dates that matter most.
Plan approved: Wednesday, March 4
Health plan review approved: Monday, April 6
Upfit begins: Tuesday, April 7
Upfit accepted: Monday, May 18
Fire marshal sign-off: Tuesday, May 26
Health permit issued: Monday, June 1
Ready for launch: Friday, June 19
Riverfest public launch: Saturday, July 4
Commitments
Some dates are estimated; others have been agreed with the party who controls them. The schedule records which is which, because an agreed date can be held to account and an estimate cannot.
Upfitter build slot: the upfitter has confirmed in writing a hold on its bay starting April 7, provided plan approval arrives by April 6
Health inspection: the request will be filed on May 12, ten working days ahead of the May 27 inspection, as the health department requires; the date is agreed once the department confirms
Fire marshal: the office schedules within two days of request; the request goes in on May 20
Riverfest: the festival accepted the restaurant's vendor application in April and assigned a space
Wrap shop: the shop has booked May 28 to June 3 in writing
City clerk: no agreed date; the license follows the health permit by about nine working days, from the clerk's own issue log
An agreed date has a name beside it; an estimated date has only a hope.
Activities Placed Later Than Their Earliest Dates
Three activities with large float are scheduled later than they could start, on purpose.
Hiring two cooks could start on March 5, but the cooks would then be on the payroll for weeks with no truck to work on. The schedule starts hiring on April 27 so that offer letters are signed by mid-May and the cooks start just before training on June 4.
Supplier accounts and smallwares could be set up in late March, but perishables and new credit accounts are better opened close to first use. They are scheduled for May 18 to 22, about three weeks before first smoke.
Wrap design could start on March 5, but the design depends on final menu photos, which are better taken after menu testing ends in late March. Design is scheduled for April 6 to 15, still more than six weeks before installation.
Each of these keeps at least ten working days of float after its new dates, so delaying them does not threaten the chain. The scheduling practice standard notes that choosing when to place non-critical work is part of building a schedule rather than an afterthought (Project Management Institute, 2019).
Watching the Near-Critical Activities
The city license has one day of float and depends on an office the restaurant does not control. The fire suppression install also has one day. Both are marked in a lighter shade of the critical color so that the catering manager checks them at each weekly report. If either slips, the buffer absorbs it, but the owner will know the buffer is being used.
References
Goldratt, E. M. (1997). Critical chain. North River Press.
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project management: The managerial process (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Project Management Institute. (2019). Practice standard for scheduling (3rd ed.). Project Management Institute.
MT246 Unit 5 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 5 asks students to turn their network into a calendar schedule. State the start date, the working week and holidays, then show each activity on a Gantt chart with the critical path marked. The prompt usually expects milestones with dates, a note on how slack is handled and some account of which dates are agreed with outside parties and which are estimates. Many sections reward an explicit buffer placed where the sponsor controls it, rather than padding hidden in each estimate. Activities with large float need not start as early as possible; explain any you place later. Most schedules at this level run near six pages once the chart, the milestone list and the commitments table are in.
Inside the MT246 Unit 5 example
A calendar note sets March 2 as the start, the five-day week and the Memorial Day exception, and explains the July 2 deadline. The Gantt section lists the chain on real dates and describes the buffer bar, under a margin note on keeping slack from being spent quietly. A section explains why the buffer is separate, with Goldratt on cushions consumed inside tasks and Larson and Gray on a single end buffer. Eight milestones follow. A commitments table records who agreed to each outside date, and the highlighted line separates agreed dates from hopes. Three late-placed activities, hiring, supplier setup and wrap design, are explained with the scheduling standard, and a section on near-critical work closes it.
Where the points sit in the MT246 Unit 5 rubric
Schedules are graded on accurate conversion from network to dates, clear marking of the critical path, sensible treatment of slack and realistic commitments. A calendar note with working days and holidays earns credit because every date depends on it. Graders reward an explicit buffer with a named owner over slack hidden in estimates. Milestones should match the network's dates exactly. A commitments table showing which outside dates are agreed, and by whom, shows the schedule can be held to account. Explaining why non-critical work starts late, with float remaining, shows planning rather than computation. A readable chart and accurate citations complete the marks. Instructors also look for the deadline itself to be tested against outside calendars, such as office closures before a holiday.
MT246 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Students often convert working days to calendar dates without removing holidays, so every later date is off. Another common problem is padding each estimate and then claiming the schedule has no buffer. Some schedules start every activity as early as possible, putting new hires on the payroll weeks before there is work. Others list outside dates as if they were promises when no one has agreed to them. Check the deadline against the offices that must act before it. Send your network and start date, and a writer can place it on a calendar, mark the chain and build the buffer and commitments tables.
Get an MT246 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Share the network or activity list from the previous unit, any fixed date the scenario sets, and the Unit 5 instructions with their rubric, and mention if software output or a spreadsheet chart is expected. A free first schedule arrives in 24-48h, laid on a stated calendar with every outside date marked as estimated or agreed. 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.
More MT246 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- MT246 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- MT246 Unit 2: Work Breakdown Structure
- MT246 Unit 3: Estimating Exercise
- MT246 Unit 4: Network and Critical Path
- MT246 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- MT246 Unit 7: Cost Baseline
- MT246 Unit 8: Resource Assignment Plan
- MT246 Unit 9: Status Report
- MT246 Unit 10: Change Request Package
- MT245 Unit 5: Scope Statement
- MT243 Unit 5: Sponsorship Proposal
- MT242 Unit 5: Staffing and Volunteer Plan
- MT241 Unit 5: Data Quality Review
MT246 Unit 5 questions, answered
Why show the buffer as a separate bar?
Because hidden buffer cannot be managed. Padding spread across several durations tends to be used by whoever runs late, and nobody can say how much protection remains. A single bar before the fixed date, owned by the sponsor, turns each use of it into a decision. The example's nine days become the figure every later status report tracks.
Should every activity start as early as possible?
Not when starting early costs money or invites rework. Activities with plenty of float can be placed later on purpose, provided some float remains. The example schedules hiring so the new cooks begin a week before training rather than two months early, and records why. Most scheduling tools default to earliest dates, so a deliberate late placement usually needs a note.
What makes a date agreed rather than estimated?
Someone outside the team has committed to it, preferably in writing: a contractor's confirmed slot, an office's booked appointment, an event's acceptance letter. An estimate is the team's own forecast. The example lists the two kinds in separate tables, because a slip on an agreed date is a conversation with that party, while a slip on an estimate is the team's own variance.
Where can I find a free MT246 Unit 5 sample paper?
You can read the complete MT246 Unit 5 project schedule here. It dates a food truck network from March 2, shows a nine-day buffer as its own bar, lists eight milestones and separates agreed dates from estimates.
Why are hiring and supplier setup scheduled late in the MT246 Unit 5 sample?
Starting them at the earliest date would put cooks on the payroll and open supplier accounts weeks before they are needed. Each still keeps at least ten working days of float after its new dates.