Network Models

 A common scenario of a network-flow problem arising in industrial logistics concerns

the distribution of a single homogeneous product from plants (origins) to consumer
markets (destinations).
 The total number of units produced at each plant and the total number of units required
at each market are assumed to be known.
 The product need not be sent directly from source to destination, but may be routed
through intermediary points reflecting warehouses or distribution centers. Further,
there may be capacity restrictions that limit some of the shipping links.
 The objective is to minimize the variable cost of producing and shipping the products to
meet the consumer demand.
 The sources, destinations, and intermediate points are collectively called nodes of the
network, and the transportation links connecting nodes are termed arcs.
 Although a production/distribution problem has been given as the motivating scenario, there
are many other applications of the general model.
 Network Models
 Any project involves planning, scheduling and controlling a number of interrelated activities with use of
limited resources, namely, men, machines, materials, money and time.

 The projects may be extremely large and complex such as construction of a housing , a highway, a
shopping complex etc.

 Introduction of new products and research and development projects.

 It is required that managers must have a dynamic planning and scheduling system to produce the best
possible results and also to react immediately to the changing conditions and make necessary changes
in the plan and schedule.
 Network Models
Many Operations Research situations can be modeled using networks; i.e. NODES & ARCS

 Distribution and transportation of goods over a supply chain

 Movement of traffic on (and capacity) of roads, railroads, between airports,…
 Design and capacity of oil and gas pipelines
 Determining time schedules (project or production)

In this module, we will describe the general network problem and provide a mathematical
formulation for each problem with the corresponding solution algorithm.

Three problems will be discussed

 Minimal spanning tree algorithm

 Shortest-route algorithm algorithms
 Maximal flow algorithm
 COMPONENTS of NETWORK
Activity: An activity represents an action and
consumption of resources (time, money, energy)
required to complete a portion of a project. Activity is
represented by an arrow

Event: An event (or node) will always occur at the

beginning and end of an activity. The event has no
resources and is represented by a circle. The 𝒊 𝒕𝒉 event and
𝒋 𝒕𝒉 event are the tail event and head event respectively.

Merge and Burst Events

One or more activities can start and end simultaneously
at an event
 COMPONENTSof NETWORK

Preceding and Succeeding Activities

Activities performed before given events are known as
preceding activities and activities performed after a
given event are known as succeeding activities.

Dummy Activity
An imaginary activity which does not consume any resource and
time is called a dummy activity. Dummy activities are
simply used to represent a connection between events
in order to maintain a logic in the network. It is represented by a
dotted line in a network
ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED IN CONSTRUCTING A NETWORK
 Two activities starting from a tail event must not
have a same end event. To ensure this, it is
absolutely necessary to introduce a dummy
activity

 Looping error should not be formed in a network,

as it represents performance of activities
repeatedly in a cyclic manner.

 In a network, there should be only one start event

and one ending event.

 The direction of arrows should flow from left to

right avoiding mixing of direction.
 RULES IN CONSTRUCTING A NETWORK
 No single activity can be represented more than
once in a network. The length of an arrow has no
significance.

 The event numbered 1 is the start event and an

event with highest number is the end event.
Before an activity can be undertaken, all activities
preceding it must be completed. That is, the
activities must follow a logical sequence (or –
interrelationship) between activities.

 In assigning numbers to events, there should not be

any duplication of event numbers in a network.

 Dummy activities must be used only if it is

necessary to reduce the complexity of a network.

 A network should have only one start event and one

end event.
 Example-1
Draw a network for a house construction project. The sequence of activities with their
predecessors are given in Table
Example -2
Example -3
Example -4
 CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM)
 The critical path for any network is the longest path through the entire network.

 Since all activities must be completed to complete the entire project, the length of the critical path is also the
shortest time allowable for completion of the project.

 Thus if the project is to be completed in that shortest time, all activities on the critical path must be started as soon
as possible. These activities are called critical activities.

 If the project has to be completed ahead of the schedule, then the time required for at least one of the critical activity
must be reduced.

 Further, any delay in completing the critical activities will increase the project duration.

 The activity, which does not lie on the critical path, is called non-critical activity. These non-critical activities may
have some slack time.

 The slack is the amount of time by which the start of an activity may be delayed without affecting the overall
completion time of the project.

 But a critical activity has no slack. To reduce the overall project time, it would require more resources (at extra cost)
to reduce the time taken by the critical activities to complete.
 Scheduling of Activities: Earliest Time (TE) and Latest Time(TL)

Before the critical path in a network is determined, it is necessary to find the earliest
and latest time of each event to know the earliest expected time (TE) at which the
activities originating from the event can be started and to know the latest allowable
time (TL) at which activities terminating at the event can be completed.
Forward Pass Computations (to calculate Earliest, Time TE)

Step 1: Begin from the start event and move towards the endevent.
Step 2: Put TE = 0 for the startevent.

Step 3: Go to the next event (i.e node 2) if there is an incoming activity for event 2, add calculate TE of previous
event (i.e event 1) and activity time.

Note: If there are more than one incoming activities, calculate TE for all incoming
activities and take the maximum value. This value is the TE for event 2.

Step 4: Repeat the same procedure from step 3 till the endevent.
Backward Pass Computations (to calculate Latest Time TL)
Procedure :

Step 1: Begin from end event and move towards the start event. Assume that
the direction of arrows is reversed.

Step 2: Latest Time TL for the last event is the earliest time. TE of the last
event.

Step 3: Go to the next event, if there is an incoming activity, subtract the value
of TL of previous event from the activity duration time. The arrived value is
TL for that event. If there are more than one incoming activities, take the
minimum TEvalue.

Step 4: Repeat the same procedure from step 2 till the start event.
Backward Pass Computations (to calculate Latest Time TL)

As discussed earlier, the non – critical activities have some slack or float.

The float of an activity is the amount of time available by which it is possible to delay
its completion time without extending the overall project completion time.
tij = duration of activity
TE = earliest expected time TL = latest allowabletime
ESij = earliest start time of the activity EFij = earliest finish time of
the activity LSij = latest start time of the activity LFij = latest finish
time of theactivity
Total Float TFij: The total float of an activity is the difference between the latest start time and the
earliest start time of that activity.

TFij = LS ij – ESij....................(1)
Backward Pass Computations (to calculate Latest Time TL)

Free Float 𝑭𝑭𝒊𝒋 : The time by which the completion of an activity can be delayed from its earliest
finish time without affecting the earliest start time of the succeeding activity is called free float.

𝑭𝑭𝒊𝒋 = (𝑬𝒋 – 𝑬𝒊 ) –𝒕𝒊𝒋 ....................(3)

𝑭𝑭𝒊𝒋 = Total float – Head event slack

Independent Float 𝑰𝑭𝒊𝒋 : The amount of time by which the start of an activity can be delayed without
affecting the earliest start time of any immediately following activities, assuming that the preceding
activity has finished at its latest finish time.

𝑰𝑭𝒊𝒋 = (𝑬𝒋 – 𝑳𝒊 ) –𝒕𝒊𝒋 ....................(4)

𝑰𝑭𝒊𝒋 = Free float – Tail event slack

Where tail event slack = Li –Ei
The negative value of independent float is considered to be zero.
Critical Path:
After determining the earliest and the latest scheduled times for various
activities, the minimum time required to complete the project is calculated.
In a network, among various paths, the longest path which determines the
total time duration of the project is called the critical path. The following
conditions must be satisfied in locating the critical path of a network.

An activity is said to be critical only if both the conditions are satisfied.

TL – TE =0
1. Draw the network and find its critical path. Also, the time of completion of the project.
A < D, E
B, D < F
C<G
D, G < H
F, G < I
Network diagram
Task Duration (days)
A 23 G (19)
4 5
B 08 C (20) H (4)
C 20
B(8) F (18) 6 I(10)
D 16 1 3 7
E 24 A (23) E (24)
F 18
G 19 2
H 04
I 10
 Earliest Latest Float
Task Duration Task(or)
Start time Finish time Start time Finish time
(days) Slack
(EST) (EFT) (LST) (LFT)
(LST-EST)
1 -2 23
1 -3 8
1 -4 20
2 -3 16
2 -7 24
3 -5 0
3 -6 18
4 -5 19
5 -6 0
5 -7 4
6 -7 10
Earliest Start Time (ESi)
(At least by this time, the activity is to be started)

Es1 = 0 Es3 + 18
Es2 = 0 + 23 = 23 ES6 = Max.
Es5 + 0
Es3 = Max Es1 + 8 4
G (19)
5
C (20) H (4)
Es2 +16 57
= Max 1
B(8) F (18)
6 I(10)
= Max 8, 39 39 3 7
A (23) E (24)
= 39 =57
ES4 = 20
Es3 + 0 Es2 + 24 2
ES5 = Max
Es4 +19 ES7 = Max. Es5 + 4
Es6 + 10
39
= Max
39
47
=39 = Max 43 = 67
67
 Earliest Latest Float
Task Duration EST EFT LST LFT
Task(or)
(ESi value of (EST+Dura (LFT- (LFi value of Slack
1st node) tion) Duration) nd
2 node)

1 -2 23 0 23
1 -3 8 0 8
1 -4 20 0 20
2 -3 16 23 39
2 -7 24 23 47
3 -5 0 39 39
3 -6 18 39 57
4 -5 19 20 39

5 -6 0 39 39

5 -7 4 39 43
6 -7 10 57 67
Latest Finishing Time (LFi)
(At least by this time, the activity is to be ended)

LF7 = 67
LF6 = LF7 - 10 = 67 – 10 = 57 4
G (19)
5
LF7 - 4 63 C (20) H (4)
LF5 = Min = Min =57
LF6 - 0 57 1
B(8) F (18)
6 I(10)
3 7
LF4 = LF5 - 19 = 38 A (23) E (24)

LF6 - 18 39 =39
LF3 = Min. LF5 - 0 = Min 2
57
LF7 - 24 43
LF2 = Min. = Min = 23
LF3 - 16 23
LF1 = 0
 Earliest Latest Float
Task Duration EST EFT LST LFT
Task(or)
(days) (ESi value of (EST+Dura (LFT- (LFi value of Slack
1st node) tion) Duration) nd
2 node) (LST-EST)
1 -2 23 0 23 0 23 0
1 -3 8 0 8 31 39 31
1 -4 20 0 20 18 38 18
2 -3 16 23 39 23 39 0
2 -7 24 23 47 43 67 20
3 -5 0 39 39 57 57 18
3 -6 18 39 57 39 57 0
20 39 38 57 18
4 -5 19
39 39 57 57 18
5 -6 0
63 67 24
5 -7 4 39 43
6 -7 10 57 67 57 67 0
 G
4 5
C H
B F I
1 3 6
7
A E

Critical activity = Zero float or slack

= (1-2), (2-3), (3-6) & (6-7)

Critical Path = 1- 2 – 3 – 6 - 7

Length of the project = 67 days

Example:
• Construct the network.
Activity Duration
1-2 4
• Compute TE and TL for each activity.
1-3 1 • Find the critical path.
2-4 1
3-4 1
3-5 6
4-9 5
5-6 4
5-7 8
6-8 1
7-8 2
8-10 5
9-10 7
Activity Duration Earliest Time Latest Time Total Float
Start Finish Start Finish
1-2 4 0 4 5 9 5
1-3 1 0 1 0 1 0
2-4 1 4 5 9 10 5
3-4 1 1 2 9 10 8
3-5 6 1 7 1 7 0
4-9 5 5 10 10 15 5
5-6 4 7 11 12 16 5
5-7 8 7 15 7 15 0
6-8 1 11 12 16 17 5
7-8 2 15 17 15 17 0
8-10 5 17 22 19 22 0
9-10 7 10 17 15 22 5