Project Scheduling / Time Study

INTRODUCTION
■ Schedule converts action plan into operating time
table
■ Basis for monitoring and controlling project
■ Scheduling more important in projects than in
production, because unique nature
■ Sometimes customer specified/approved
requirement
■ Based on Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

2
 NETWORK TECHNIQUES

PERT CPM
Program Evaluation and Critical Path Method
Review Technique Developed by El Dupont for
developed by the US Chemical Plant Shutdown
Navy with Booz Project- about
Hamilton Lockheed same time as PERT
on the Polaris
Missile/Submarine
program 1958

✔Both use same calculations, almost similar

✔Main difference is probabilistic and deterministic in time estimation
✔Gantt Chart also used in scheduling

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 NETWORK
■ Graphical portrayal of activities and event
■ Shows dependency relationships between
tasks/activities in a project
■ Clearly shows tasks that must precede (precedence)
or follow (succeeding) other tasks in a logical manner
■ Clear representation of plan – a powerful tool for
planning and controlling project

4
Example of Simple Network –
Survey

5
Example of Network –
More Complex

6
 DEFINITION OF TERMS IN A NETWORK
■ Activity : any portions of project (tasks) which required
by project, uses up resource and consumes time – may
involve labor, paper work, contractual negotiations,
machinery operations Activity on Arrow (AOA) showed as arrow,
AON – Activity on Node
■ Event : beginning or ending points of one or more
activities, instantaneous point in time, also called ‘nodes’

■ Network : Combination of all project activities and the events

PRECEEDING SUCCESSOR
ACTIVITY

EVENT

7
Emphasis on Logic in Network Construction
■ Construction of network should be based on logical or
technical dependencies among activities
■ Example - before activity ‘Approve Drawing’ can be
started the activity ‘Prepare Drawing’ must be
completed
■ Common error – build network on the basis of time
logic (a feeling for proper sequence ) see example below

WRONG !!!
CORRECT
✔ 8
Example 1- A simple network
Consider the list of four activities for making a simple product:

Activity Description Immediate

predecessors
A Buy Plastic Body -
B Design Component -
C Make Component B
D Assemble product A,C

Immediate predecessors for a particular activity are the activities that,

when completed, enable the start of the activity in question.

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 Sequence of activities
■ Can start work on activities A and B anytime, since neither
of these activities depends upon the completion of prior
activities.
■ Activity C cannot be started until activity B has been
completed
■ Activity D cannot be started until both activities A and C
have been completed.
■ The graphical representation (next slide) is referred to as
the PERT/CPM network

10
 Network of Four Activities
Arcs indicate project activities

A D
1 3 4

B C

Nodes correspond to the beginning and

ending of activities

11
Example 2
Develop the network for a project with following activities and immediate
predecessors:
Activity Immediate
predecessors
A -
B -
C B
D A, C
E C
F C
G D,E,F

Try to do for the first five (A,B,C,D,E) activities

12
Network of first five activities

A D
1 3 4

E
B

C 5
2
We need to introduce a
dummy activity

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 Network of Seven Activities
1 A 3 D 4 G
7
dummy E
B
C 5 F
2 6
●Note how the network correctly identifies D, E, and F as the immediate
predecessors for activity G.

●Dummy activities is used to identify precedence relationships correctly and

to eliminate possible confusion of two or more activities having the same
starting and ending nodes

●Dummy activities have no resources (time, labor, machinery, etc) – purpose

is to PRESERVE LOGIC of the network

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 EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF DUMMYACTIVITY
Network concurrent activities
a
a 2

1 2 1 Dummy

b 3
b
WRONG!!! RIGHT
✔

Activity c not WRONG !

required for e
a
a e
d
1
b 1 b
e
d
c
2
c
WRONG
RIGHT
!!!
✔
RIGHT ✔

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 WRONG!!! RIGHT!!!

a d a d
1 1

b e b
2 2 4
e

c f c f
3 3

a precedes d.
a and b precede e,
b and c precede f (a does not precede f)

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Scheduling with activity time
Activity Immediate Completion
predecessors Time (week)
A - 5
B - 6
C A 4
D A 3
E A 1
F E 4
G D,F 14
H B,C 12
I G,H 2
Total …… 51

This information indicates that the total time required to complete activities is 51
weeks. However, we can see from the network that several of the activities can be
conducted simultaneously (A and B, for example).

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 Earliest start & earliest finish time
■ We are interested in the longest path through the network, i.e.,
the critical path.

■ Starting at the network’s origin (node 1) and using a starting

time of 0, we compute an earliest start (ES) and earliest finish
(EF) time for each activity in the network.

■ The expression EF = ES + t can be used to find the earliest

finish time for a given activity.
For example, for activity A, ES = 0 and t = 5; thus the earliest
finish time for activity A is
EF = 0 + 5 = 5

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Arc with ES & EF time
EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

2
[ 0 ,5]
A
5
1
t = expected activity
time

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Network with ES & EF time
D[5,8]
5
2 3
0 ]
E[ ,1

G[1 4
5 6
1 ,6] F[
5]

0,2
1
4
0,

7
A[

4]
C[5,9]

4 26]
5

[24,
4

I
2
1 6
B[0 1]
,6 ,2
6 ] H[9
12
3

Earliest start time rule:

The earliest start time for an activity leaving a particular node is equal to the
largest of the earliest finish times for all activities entering the node.

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 Activity, duration, ES, EF, LS, LF
EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

3
[ 5, 9 ]
C ]
8 , 12
4[
2
LF = latest finish time
LS = latest start time

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 Latest start & latest finish time
■ To find the critical path we need a backward pass calculation.

■ Starting at the completion point (node 7) and using a latest

finish time (LF) of 26 for activity I, we trace back through the
network computing a latest start (LS) and latest finish time
for each activity

■ The expression LS = LF – t can be used to calculate latest start

time for each activity. For example, for activity I, LF = 26 and t
= 2, thus the latest start time for activity I is
LS = 26 – 2 = 24

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 Network with LS & LF time
D[5,8] 5
2 3[7,10]
0]

G[1 10,24
14[
E[ 1
1[5 5,6] [6, 10]

0,2 ]
5[ 0,5]

,6] F 6,
4[
5]

4]
7
A[
0,

4 4 , 26]
C[5,9]

2
4[8,12]

I[
[ 2 4 ,26]
2
1 6
B[0
6[6 ,6] [ 9 , 21]
H , 24]
,12 2
] 12[1
3

Latest finish time rule:

The latest finish time for an activity entering a particular node is equal to the
smallest of the latest start times for all activities leaving the node.

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Slack or Free Time or Float
Slack is the length of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the
completion date for the entire project.
For example, slack for C = 3 weeks, i.e Activity C can be delayed up to 3 weeks
(start anywhere between weeks 5 and 8).
, 9 ] 3
C [ 5
[ 8 , 1 2]
2 4
ES LS EF LF
5 8 9 12

LF-EF = 12 –9 =3

LS-ES = 8 – 5 = 3

LF-ES-t = 12-5-4 = 3

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Activity schedule for our example
Activity Earliest Latest Earliest Latest Slack Critical
start (ES) start (LS) finish (EF) finish (LF) (LS-ES) path

A 0 0 5 5 0 Yes
B 0 6 6 12 6
C 5 8 9 12 3
D 5 7 8 10 2
E 5 5 6 6 0 Yes
F 6 6 10 10 0 Yes
G 10 10 24 24 0 Yes
H 9 12 21 24 3
I 24 24 26 26 0 Yes
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 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
■ What is the total time to complete the project?
■ 26 weeks if the individual activities are completed on schedule.

■ What are the scheduled start and completion times for each activity?
■ ES, EF, LS, LF are given for each activity.

■ What activities are critical and must be completed as scheduled in order to

keep the project on time?
■ Critical path activities: A, E, F, G, and I.

■ How long can non-critical activities be delayed before they cause a delay in the
project’s completion time
■ Slack time available for all activities are given.

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 Importance of Float (Slack) and Critical Path
1. Slack or Float shows how much allowance each activity has, i.e how long it
can be delayed without affecting completion date of project

2. Critical path is a sequence of activities from start to finish with zero slack.
Critical activities are activities on the critical path.

3. Critical path identifies the minimum time to complete project

4. If any activity on the critical path is shortened or extended, project time will
be shortened or extended accordingly

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 Importance of Float (Slack) and Critical Path (cont)
5. So, a lot of effort should be put in trying to control activities along this path,
so that project can meet due date. If any activity is lengthened, be aware
that project will not meet deadline and some action needs to be taken.

6. If can spend resources to speed up some activity, do so only for critical

activities.

7. Don’t waste resources on non-critical activity, it will not shorten the project
time.

8. If resources can be saved by lengthening some activities, do so for

non-critical activities, up to limit of float.

9. Total Float belongs to the path

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 PERT For Dealing With Uncertainty
■ So far, times can be estimated with relative certainty, confidence

■ For many situations this is not possible, e.g Research, development, new
products and projects etc.

■ Use 3 time estimates

m= most likely time estimate, mode.
a = optimistic time estimate,
b = pessimistic time estimate, and

Expected Value (TE) = (a + 4m + b) /6

Variance (V) = ( ( b – a) / 6 ) 2
Std Deviation (δ) = SQRT (V)

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 Precedences And Project Activity Times
Immediate Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic EXP Var S.Dev
Activity Predecessor Time Time Time TE V σ

a - 10 22 22 20 4 2
b - 20 20 20 20 0 0
c - 4 10 16 10 4 2
d a 2 14 32 15 25 5
e b,c 8 8 20 10 4 2
f b,c 8 14 20 14 4 2
g b,c 4 4 4 4 0 0
h c 2 12 16 11 5.4 2.32
I g,h 6 16 38 18 28.4 5.33
j d,e 2 8 14 8 4 2

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 The complete network

d 6
2
(15,25)
j
a (8,4)
(20,4) e
(10,4)
1 f 7
3
b (14,4)
(20,0)
g
c
(4,0)
(10,4) i
(18,28.4)
h 5
4
(11,5.4)

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 Figure 8-13 The complete Network

EF=20 35
d 6
2
a (15,25) j
(20,4) (8,4)
b e
20 43
(20,0) (10,4)
f CRIT. TIME = 43
1 3 7
(14,4)
g
c (4,0)
(10,4) i
(18,28.4)
h 5
4
(11,5.4)
10 24

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 Critical Path Analysis (PERT)
Activity LS ES Slacks Critical ?
a 0 0 0 Yes

b 1 0 1

c 4 0 4

d 20 20 0 Yes

e 25 20 5

f 29 20 9

g 21 20 1

h 14 10 4

i 25 24 1

j 35 35 0 Yes

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Assume, PM promised to complete the project in the fifty days.
What are the chances of meeting that deadline?
Calculate Z, where

Z = (D-S) / √V
Example,
D = 50; S(Scheduled date) = 20+15+8 =43; V = (4+25+4) =33
Z = (50 – 43) / 5.745
= 1.22 standard deviations.

The probability value of Z = 1.22, is 0.888

1.22

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35
What deadline are you 95% sure of meeting

Z value associated with 0.95 is 1.645

D = S + 5.745 (1.645)
= 43 + 9.45
= 52.45 days

Thus, there is a 95 percent chance of finishing the project by 52.45 days.

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 Comparison Between CPM and PERT
CPM PERT
1 Uses network, calculate float or slack,
identify critical path and activities, guides Same as CPM
to monitor and controlling project

2 Uses one value of activity time Requires 3 estimates of activity time

Calculates mean and variance of time

3 Used where times can be estimated with Used where times cannot be estimated
confidence, familiar activities with confidence.
Unfamiliar or new activities

4 Minimizing cost is more important Meeting time target or estimating percent

completion is more important

5 Example: construction projects, building Example: Involving new activities or

one off machines, ships, etc products, research and development etc

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 BENEFITS OFCPM / PERT NETWORK

Consistent framework for planning, scheduling, monitoring, and

controlling project.

• Shows interdependence of all tasks, work packages, and work

units.

• Helps proper communications between departments and

functions.

• Determines expected project completion date.

• Identifies so-called critical activities, which can delay the

project completion time.

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 BENEFITS OFCPM / PERT NETWORK (cont.)

• Identified activities with slacks that can be delayed for specified

periods without penalty, or from which resources may be
temporarily borrowed

• Determines the dates on which tasks may be started or must be

started if the project is to stay in schedule.

• Shows which tasks must be coordinated to avoid resource or

timing conflicts.

• Shows which tasks may run in parallel to meet project

completion date

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 Gantt Charts
■ Since 1917; Useful for showing work vs time in form of bar charts
e.g.

● Can draw directly or from CPM/PERT network

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