TOPIC :-

SCHEDULING: GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF

PROJECT ACTIVITIES, NETWORK ANALYSIS,
NETWORK TECHNIQUES: PERT AND CPM

Project Management

Project
A project is an interrelated set of activities that has a definite
starting and ending point and that results in a unique product
or service.
Project management
Project management is a scientific way of planning, implementing,
monitoring & controlling the various aspects of a project such as time,
money, materials, manpower & other resources.

Network Planning Methods

Methods used for network planning are:

CPM
PERT

Managing a project with network planning methods involves four steps:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Describing the Project.

Diagramming the Network.
Estimating time of completion.
Monitoring Project Progress.

Network Technique
Project is a word with which we are familiar. It refers to a group of
activities and events having systematic relationship.
A network is a graphic or diagrammatic representation of various
activities and events of a project.
With the help of network we can come to know how the different
activities and events are inter related and how much resources
needed by each activity.

Techniques of Network
Network analysis is an operation research technique which
uses two methodologies namely:
PERT: Programme Evaluation and Review Technique.
CPM: Critical Path Method

Fundamentals of Network Analysis

Activity:
A project consists of many activities, which have systematic
relationship with each others.
Activity is representation by an arrow.
Length of arrow is of no significance and is not related with
time of activity.
Activity flow from left to right. ( May be upward or
downward)
6

Predecessor Activity
Successor Activity
Concurrent Activity

Event:
Event denotes a point of time when an
activity begins or ends. It is shown by O.
An Activity is represented by two Events.
Events are numbered by 1,2,3..

Interdependency:
An activity is called independent if it is not dependents on
any earlier activity otherwise it is called dependent
activity.

APPRAOCHES FOR
NETWORK DIAGRAM

ACTIVITY ON ARC(AOA):
Uses arcs to represent activities and nodes
to represent events.
It is Event Oriented.
3

DUMMY ACTIVITY
AOA approach requires the addition of a
Dummy Activity to clarify the precedence
relationships between
the two activities. It is a
zero time activity and
consumes no resources.
Dummy Activity is used in two situations:
1) When two or more activities start and end at the same
nodes
1
3

2) When two or more activities share the same

precedence activity but not all the precedence are
shared.
1

7
2

ACTIVITY ON NODE(AON):

Uses nodes to represent activities and arcs

indicate precedence relationships between
them.
It is Activity Oriented.

A Simple Project

Activity
A

Immediate
Predecessor
-

Expected
Time
5

A, B

Precedence Diagram

ES

Earliest Starting (time)

EF

Earliest Finishing

LS

Latest Starting

LF

Latest Finishing

Slack

Difference Time

ESTIMATING TIME
OF
COMPLETION
Planning the schedule of the project
Time estimates include:
1)

Total time for completion.

2)

ES- Earliest start time: the earliest time at which the activity
can start given that its precedent activities must be completed
first.

3)

EF-Earliest finish time: equals to the earliest start time for the
activity plus the time required to complete the activity.

4)

LF- Latest finish time: the latest time in which the activity can be
completed without delaying the project.

5)

LS- Latest start time: equal to the latest finish time minus the
time required to complete the activity.

6)

FORWARD PASS:
The early start and early finish times are calculated by
moving forward through the network and considering the
predecessor activities Considers maximum

7)

BACKWARD PASS:
The latest start and finish times are calculated by moving backward
through the network.
Considers minimum

8)

SLACK TIME:
Slack time for an activity is the difference between its earliest and latest
start time or between the earliest and latest finish time.
Critical path is the path of activities having zero Slack time.

ES

Earliest Starting (time)

EF

Earliest Finishing

LS

Latest Starting

LF

Latest Finishing

Slack

Difference Time

CRITICAL PATH
METHODS(CPM)
HISTORY :
It was developed by J.E.KELLY of REMINGTON-RAND
and M.R.WALKER of DU PONT and the emphasis was
on the trade-off between the cost of project and its
overall completion time. The first test was made in
1958,when CPM was applied to the construction of a new
chemical plant.

DEFINITION:
Critical path is the sequence of activities between a
projects start and finish that takes the longest time to

CRITICAL PATH METHOD

It was developed in 1956 for planning and
scheduling the construction work. Two
times and costs estimates are used in CPM
which are normal time and normal cost,
Crash time and crash cost.
The path with longest duration of time,
starting from 1st event till last event with
zero slack or float is known as critical path.
22

Cont
CP is denoted by thick line or double arrow.
There can be more than one critical path on a

network.
There can be sub-critical path with next

minimum float. Sub critical path become

critical path by crashing of activities.
Crashing means reducing the duration of an

activities with more resources allocations.

23

STEPS IN DETERMINING
CRITICAL PATH

Specify the individual activities.

Determine the sequence of the activities.

Draw the network diagram.

Estimate the activity completion time.
Identify the critical path.
Update the CPM diagram.

Rules for drawing a Network

One activity will have only one arrow.

One activity will be shown by two events only.

Number of preceding event is always less than the succeeding

event.
Two events cant have same number.
Length of arrow does not show its duration.
Normally crossing of arrow is not allowed.
Every event must have at least one activity preceding and
succeeding it, except the starting and ending event.
25

Errors in Network
Dangling: When an activity except the
first and last does not have a succeeding
event.

Looping: While drawing a network a

project may create the cycling situation
which is known as looping. Its seems
project is not going to end.

Parallel activity: Between two events

without any interception events are not
allowed in network diagram. (Dummy)
26

Draw a network based on following events.

Activities
Time(weeks)
1-2
1-3
2-4
3-5
3-6
4-7
5-7
6-8
7-9
8-9

5
3
4
6
2
4
6
4
3
4
27

Draw a network based on following activities.

Activity
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Immediate Predecessor
A
A
B,C
C
D
E
F,G

28

Activit Preceden Normal time

(week)
y
ce

Normal
Cost (Rs)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
Total

300
30
420
720
250
320
400
780
1000
4220

A
A
A
D
B,C,E
F
F
G

3
3
7
9
5
6
4
13
10

3
8

Overhead cost as per the given data- Rs.50

Paths in the network diagram :
A-D-F-G-I = 32
A-D-F-H = 31
A-C-F-H = 29
A-C-F-G-I = 30
A-B-E-F-H = 30
A-B-E-F-G-I = 31

Critical path A-D-F-G-I = 32

7

6
5

IMPORTANT CALCULATIONS IN NETWORK:

Event Time: Event time is a point of time

when an activity starts or ends. There are

two types Event Times:
Latest Expected Event Time(TL)
Earliest Expected Event Time(TE)
Slack: It is also known as float. It shows

the free time associated with an event.

Slack of an Event=TL-TE
33

4. Estimate activity completion time

The time required to complete each activity can be
estimated using past experience. CPM does not
take into account variation in the completion
time.
5. Identify the Critical Path
The critical path is the longest-duration path
through the network. The significance of the
critical path is that the activities that lie on it
cannot be delayed without delaying the project.
Because of its impact on the entire project,
critical path analysis is an important aspect of
project planning.

34

6. Update CPM diagram

As the project progresses, the actual task completion times will be
known and the network diagram can be updated to include this
information. A new critical path may emerge, and structural
changes may be made in the network if project requirements
change.

35

EXAMPLE

36

DRAWING THE CPM/PERT NETWORK

Each activity (or sub-project) in a PERT/CPM
Network is represented by an arrow symbol. Each
activity is preceded and succeeded by an event,
represented as a circle and numbered.

37

At Event 3, we have to evaluate two

predecessor activities - Activity 1-3 and
Activity 2-3, both of which are predecessor
activities. Activity 1-3 gives us an Earliest
Start of 3 weeks at Event 3.
However, Activity 2-3 also has to be
completed before Event 3 can begin.
Along this route, the Earliest Start would be
4+0=4. The rule is to take the longer (bigger)
of the two Earliest Starts. So the Earliest Start
at event 3 is 4.
38

Similarly, at Event 4, we find we have to

evaluate two predecessor activities - Activity
2-4 and Activity 3-4. Along Activity 2-4, the
Earliest Start at Event 4 would be 10 wks, but
along Activity 3-4, the Earliest Start at Event 4
would be 11 wks.
Since 11 wks is larger than 10 wks, we select it
as the Earliest Start at Event 4.
We have now found the longest path
through the network. It will take 11 weeks
along activities 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. This is the
Critical Path.

39

The Backward Pass - Latest Finish Time

Rule
To make the Backward Pass, we begin at the
sink or the final event and work backwards to
the first event.

40

At Event 3 there is only one activity, Activity

3-4 in the backward pass, and we find that the
value is 11-7 = 4 weeks. However at Event 2
we have to evaluate 2 activities, 2-3 and 2-4.
We find that the backward pass through 2-4
gives us a value of 11-6 = 5 while 2-3 gives us
4-0 = 4. We take the smaller value of 4 on the
backward pass.

41

Calculate the Critical Path

Events
1-2
2-3
2-5
3-4
4-7
5-6
6-7
7-8
4-5

Activities
Duration
A
10
E
5
B
9
F
17
G
8
C
3
D
15
H
7
Dummy
0

42

example
Illustration of network analysis of a minor redesign of a product and
its associated packaging.

The key question is: How long will it take to complete this project
?

43

We shall see below how the network analysis diagram/picture we construct

helps us to answer this question.

44

CRITICAL PATH TAKES 24 WEEKS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT

45

TIME ESTIMATES
o Optimistic time (to) It is the shortest time

in which

the activity can be completed.

o Most likely time (tm) It is the probable time
required to perform the activity.
o Pessimistic time (tp) It is the longest estimated time
required to perform an activity.
o Expected time
te = to + 4tm + tp
6

STEPS IN PERT
1.

Identify the specific activities.

2.

Determine proper sequence of the activities.

3.

Construct the network diagram.

4.

Estimate the time required for each activity.

5.

Determine the critical path.

6.

Update the PERT chart.

Activity

Descrip Preced
tion
ence

Optimis Most
tic time Likely
time

Pessimi Expecte
stic
d time
time

Initial
design

12

16

26

17

Survey
market

18

10

Build
prototype

10

18

11

Test
prototype

Redesign
ing

B,D

11

Market
testing

10

Set up
productio
n

15

20

25

20

A-B-E-F-G = 60
A-C-D-E-F-G = 64 (CRITICAL PATH)

Time Estimates in PERT

PERT uses three time estimates for a single
activity. These are:
Most optimistic time: it is least possible
time taken by an activity if everything goes
perfect in project work. (To)
Most pessimistic time: it is the maximum
possible time taken by an activity
considering the worst possibility. (T p)
Most likely time: it is the best estimate of
what would normally occur. (Tm)
50

Expected project completion time/ Expected

duration of activities is calculated by
following formula:
Te=

To+Tp+4Tm
6

51

PERT Formula and Example

PERT weighted average =
optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time

Example:
PERT weighted average =
8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days
6
where:
optimistic time= 8 days
most likely time = 10 days
pessimistic time = 24 days
Therefore, youd use 12 days on the network diagram instead of 10
when using PERT for the above example.
52

52

Advantages of PERT

Expected project completion time.

Probability of completion before a specified date.
The critical path activities that directly impact the

completion time.
The activities that have slack time and that can lend

resources to critical path activities.

Activity start and end dates.

LIMITATIONS
The PERT Formula Requires Too Much Work.
The network charts tend to be large and

unwieldy.
Calculating the time estimates is very complex

for all the activities.

Updating of the project is time consuming and

requires high costs.

Emphasis is laid only on time factors and cost

factors are neglected.

Difference between
CPM & PERT
CPM

PERT

CPM works with fixed

PERT works with probabilistic

deterministic time

time

CPM is useful for repetitive

PERT is useful for non

and non complex projects with

a certain degree of time
estimates.

repetitive and complex projects

with uncertain time estimates.

CPM includes time-cost trade

PERT is restricted to time

off.

variable.

CPM- for construction

PERT- used for R&D

projects.

programs.

Difference between PERT and CPM

PERT
Activity is shown by an
arrow and Event is shown
by node.
Multiple time estimates
are used.
It is used for non routine
jobs.
Cost is assigned to every
activity.
PERT is suitable for new
projects.
Pert is probabilistic.

CPM
Activity and event both
are shown by node.
Single known time is
used.
It is used for routine and
repetitive jobs.
Cost is assumed to have
been related with time only.

CPM is used for project

having past information.
CPM is deterministic.
56

Floats and their calculations

Total floats: It is the time by which the finishing time of an
activity can be delayed without affecting the total project.
TF= Est-Lst or Eft-Lft
.

57

Free Floats: It is the time by which the an activity can be

delayed without affecting the times of succeeding the next
activities
FF=Est of the succeeding activity-Eft of the activity for
which we calculating the Free float.

58

Crashing
Two concepts are associated with all types of project.
These are time and cost.
Suppose we want to complete the project before desired
dates it will increase the cost.
What is Crashing:.

59

Normal time: it is the time taken by

project on an activities under normal
circumstances. Cost associated with it is as
minimum cost.
Crash time: it is the minimum time taken
by project on an activities. Cost associated
with it is as maximum cost.
Crash Cost: Cost associated with an
activities at crash time.
Normal Time: Cost associated with an
activities at normal time
60

Cost slope: it is known as crashing cost per unit of time

Cost slope= (Crash cost-Normal cost)
(Normal time- Crash time)
Critically activities to be crashed first chosen with its help

61

Drawing a Network
It is the first step in network analysis.
Mr. X has a project of writing a book. Various activities
involved are:
Activity
Name
Time(Weeks)
Extensive Reading
A
3
After A Write manuscript
B
4
After B Type the manuscript
C
5
After C Book is printed
D
6
After D Book is binded
E
3
Project Completion time is the Total duration of activities
21 Weeks

62