Project Planning &

Scheduling

UNIT - 4
 Introduction- CPM

There are some formal tools to aid project

management. Two of the best known tools that fill
this need are PERT (Program Evaluation Review
Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method).

CPM provides the following benefits:

 Provides a graphical view of the project.
 Predicts the time required to complete the project.
 Shows which activities are critical to maintaining
the schedule and which are not.
 Introduction (Contd.)

The essential technique for using CPM is to construct a

model of the project that includes the following:

 A list of all activities required to complete the

project (typically categorized within a work
breakdown structure
 The time (duration) that each activity will take to
completion,
 The dependencies between the activities
Usefulness
CPM/PERT have been useful in planning costs, scheduling
manpower and machine time. CPM/PERT can answer the
following important questions:

•What will be the project duration? What are the risks/

dependencies/ assumptions involved?

•What are the critical activities which could delay the entire
project if they were not completed on time?

•What is the current status of the project i.e. Is the project on

schedule, behind schedule or ahead of schedule?

•If the project has to be finished earlier than planned, what is

the best way to do this at the least cost?
Terminologies used in CPM/PERT
In order to explain the purpose, structure and operation of PERT and CPM, it is
helpful to define the following terms:

Activity: An activity is an effort that requires resources and takes a certain amount
of time for completion. Examples of activities are: studying for an examination,
designing a part, connecting bridge girders, or training an employee.

Dummy Activity: An activity, which is used to maintain the pre-defined

precedence relationship only during the construction of the project network, is
called a dummy activity. Dummy activity is represented by a dotted arrow and
does not consume any time and resource

Critical activity: A critical activity is an activity that, if even slightly de-layed, will
hold up the scheduled completion date of the entire project.

Path: A path is a series of adjacent activities leading from one event to another.

Critical path: A critical path is the sequence of critical activities that forms a
continuous path between the start of a project and its completion.
The Project Network Concurrent Activities

Activities can occur at the same time (concurrently).

A dummy activity shows a precedence relationship but
reflects no passage of time.
Two or more activities cannot share the same start and
end nodes.

Expanded Network for Building a House Showing Concurrent Activities

Building the Network

 AOA Network

 AON Network
A Sample Set of Project Activities
and Precedences
Task Predecessor
a --
b --
c a
d b
e b
f c, d
g e
Figure 1 Stage 1 of a Sample AON
Network
Figure 2 Stage 2 of a Sample AON
Network
Figure 3 A Completed Sample
AON Network
Figure 4 Stage 1 of a Sample AOA
Network
Figure 5 Stage 2 of a Sample AOA
Network
Figure 6a A Completed Sample
AOA Network
Figure 6b A Completed Sample AOA
Network Showing the Use of a Dummy Task
 Event: An event is the beginning or end of an activity .Events do not
have a time duration. Event is indicated by circle in network diagram

A
15

 Preceding activity : The activity that occur immediately before it .

A B

Activity A is the preceding activity for B

 Succeeding activity : The activity that occur immediately after it .

C D

Activity D is the succeeding activity for c

 Dummy Activity
A&B are concurrent
Activity C follows activity A
Activity D succeeds activities A & B
C & D are the last activities

C
A

B D

17
Situations in network diagram
B
A A must finish before either B or C can
start
C
A
C both A and B must finish before C can
start
B
A
C both A and B must finish before either of
C or D can start
B D

A
B
A must finish before B can start

Dummy both A and C must finish before D can start

C
D
Slack time & critical path :

Slack time or slack of an event is the difference between

Latest finish time (TL) and the earliest start time (TE) of
that event .

Slack Time = ( (TL) - (TE) )

The path connecting events with zero slack is the

critical path

20
Example
1. Construct the CPM Network using the details below and
determine the critical path

Activity Immediate Duration

Predecessor
A - 1
B A 4
C A 2
D A 2
E D 3
F D 3
G E 2
H F,G 1
I C,H 3
J B 2
 CPM NETWORK

A
1 2
 CPM NETWORK

D
A
1 2 7
C

3
 CPM NETWORK
5
E

4
F
D 6

A
1 2 7
C

3
 CPM NETWORK
5
E
G
4
F
D 6
H
A
1 2 7
C

3
 CPM NETWORK
5
E
G
4
F
D 6
H
A I 8
1 2 7
C

3
 CPM NETWORK
5
E
G
4
F
D 6
H
A I 8
1 2 7
C

B
J
3
 CPM NETWORK with duration of each activity
5
E(3)
G(2)
4 F(3)
D(2) 6 H(1)
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)

J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
5
E(3)
G(2)
4
F(3)
0
D(2) 6
H(1)
0
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
5
E(3)
G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
H(1)
0 1
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
5
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
H(1)
0 1
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
H(1)
0 1
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
0 H(1)
0 1 8
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
0
0 H(1)
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
J(2)
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
0
0 H(1)
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
0
0
0 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
0
12
0 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
9
12
0 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
0
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
6
5 6
0 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
6
5 6
3 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 0
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
6
5 6
3 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 1
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
0 J(2)
5
3
 To find the Critical Path LFT
EST
6
5 6
3 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 1
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
10 J(2)
5
3
 Critical Path
6
5 6
3 E(3)
3 G(2)
4
F(3)
0 1
D(2) 6
9
12
8 H(1) 12
0 1 8 9
A(1) I(3) 8
1 2 7
C(2)

B(4)
10 J(2)
5
3
Critical Path Critical Path
1-2-4–5–6–7-8 A–D-E–G–H-I
 CPM NETWORK

c 4
2
7
G
A 5 D 8
7
1 B H K
4 3
E C6 7 8
8 11 11
F I2 J
5 12

5
Critical Path
1-3-6–7-8 45
Event TL T E Slack time
1 0 0 0
2 19 5 14
3 4 4 0
4 26 12 14
5 10 9 1
6 12 12 0
7 23 23 0
8 34 34 0

46
 PERT

 The critical path method (CPM) uses only one time

estimation for each activity . As against this , PERT
(Project Evaluation Review Technique) uses
three time estimation for each activity . Through the
project manager would be interested in completing
the project at the minimum possible time. PERT
uses the three estimation for each activity :

✓ Optimistic time estimates

✓ Pessimistic time estimates

✓ Most likely time estimates

1. Optimistic time estimates (to) :
The shortest possible time in which an activity completed
under ideal conditions.

2. Pessimistic time estimates (tp) :

it is the maximum possible time that it would take to complete
an activity under worst condition.

3. Most likely time estimates (tm) :

It is lies between Optimistic and Pessimistic time estimates .
The time in which an activity can be completed under normal
condition .
EST (Earliest Start Time)
Earliest possible time at which an activity can start .
Calculate in moving forward direction

LST (Latest Start Time)

latest possible time at which an activity can start.
LST = LFT – Activity Duration

EFT (Earliest Finish Time)

Earliest possible time at which an activity can start .
EFT = EST +Activity Duration

LFT (latest Finish Time )

Earliest possible time at which an activity can finish .
Calculate in moving Backward direction
Float or slack :

Excess time available with an activity.

Slack is used for PERT and Float is used in CPM .

Total float = Slack = LFT – EFT

OR LST –EST

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 EXAMPLE :
A machine shop project comprises 8 activities as given , draw a network diagram, calculate
project duration, critical path, calculate EST,LST,EFT,LFT , slack and standard deviation for
each activity

ACTIVITY DURATION

ACTIVITY PREDECESSO Optimistic time Most likely time Pessimistic time

R ACTIVITY
A - 1 2 3
B A 2 5 14
C A 3 3 9
D B 6 9 18
E C 4 5 18
F D 3 6 9
G E 1 5 9
H F,G 3 7 11

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Solution :
Let us calculate the expected time and standard time deviation
for each activity

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 8-0 18-0
D(10)
3 5
B(6) F(6)
0-0 31-0
A(2) H(7)
2-0 8
1 2 24-0 7

C(4) G(5)
4 6
E(7)
6-0 13-0

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 8-8 18-18
D(10)
3 5
B(6) F(6)
31-31
0-0
A(2) H(7)
2-2 8
1 2 24-24 7

C(4) G(5)
4 6
E(7)
6-12 13-19

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The Advantages of PERT and CPM
Detailed planning: The use of PERT and CPM forces management to plan in
detail and to define what must be done to accomplish objectives on time.

Commitments and communications: Management is forced to plan and make

commitments regarding execution times and completion dates. The tools also
provide for better communication among the various departments in an
organization and between suppliers and the client.

Efficient monitoring and control: The number of critical activities in a

network (especially in a large one) is only a small portion of the total activities.
Identification of the critical activities enables the use of an efficient monitoring
system (mainly record-keeping and reports) concentrating only on the critical
activities.

Identifying potential problem areas: The critical activities are also more
likely to become problem areas. Once identified, contingency plans may be
devised.

Proper use of resources: Employing PERT or CPM enables management to

use resources more wisely by examination of the overall plan. Resources can he
transferred to bottleneck or trouble areas from other activities.
Thank you