Example Problem
Example Problem
A project consists of the following activities with their respective durations and dependencies:
Tasks:
1. Determine the earliest start (ES), earliest finish (EF), latest start (LS), latest finish (LF),
and slack for each activity.
2. Identify the critical path.
Solution Steps
o Activity F:
▪LF = EF = 19
▪LS = LF - Duration = 19 - 4 = 15
o Activity E:
▪ LF = LS of F = 15
▪ LS = LF - Duration = 15 - 6 = 9
o Activity D:
▪ LF = LS of E (D is not directly linked to F) = 9
▪ LS = LF - Duration = 9 - 2 = 7
o Activity C:
▪ LF = LS of E = 9
▪ LS = LF - Duration = 9 - 5 = 4
o Activity B:
▪ LF = LS of D = 7
▪ LS = LF - Duration = 7 - 3 = 4
o Activity A:
▪ LF = Min(LS of B, LS of C) = Min(4, 4) = 4
▪ LS = LF - Duration = 4 - 4 = 0
3. Calculate Slack:
Slack = LS - ES
o Activity A: 0 - 0 = 0
o Activity B: 4 - 4 = 0
o Activity C: 4 - 4 = 0
o Activity D: 7 - 7 = 0
o Activity E: 9 - 9 = 0
o Activity F: 15 - 15 = 0
4. Identify the Critical Path:
The critical path consists of activities with zero slack. In this case, the critical path is:
Summary
• Critical Path: A → B → D → E → F
• Total Project Duration: 19 days
• All activities have zero slack, indicating they are critical