The operations director of a local construction company asks a section manager to propose a work schedule for an upcoming construction project. Details of seven key tasks are as follows:

Task	Immediate predecessor	Time (calendar days)
P	-	138
Q	P	69
R	P	161
S	R	46
T	Q, D	92
U	S	69
V	T, U	161

(a) Derive the project network diagram and compute all key dates including ES, LS, EF and LF. Deduce the critical path and the earliest completion time. (25 marks) ES: Early Start / EF: Early Finish / LS: Late Start / LF: Late Finish

(b) By deploying specialised equipment for the above project, the completion time of task Q could be shortened by 3 weeks. Discuss what the operations director should or should not do to speed up the construction project completion as a whole. (25 marks)