AON- Project Planning

Module II

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 Network Planning Models
 Models the project activities and their
relationships as a network.

Two Methods:
PERT – Program Evaluation Review Technique
CPM – Critical Path Method
 Both PERT and CPM used AoA initially and later
Precedence network became popular which
follows AON.
 Activity on node (AON)-the ‘nodes’ are the boxes
which represent activities and links between them
represent precedence (sequencing)
 Activity on arrow (AOA) – ‘arrows’ represent
activities and nodes represent possible start/end
of an activity.
 Do B
AON

Do A Do D

Do C
AOA
Do B
Do A
Do D

Do C
CPM uses an activity-on-arrow notation
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where the arrows are the activities
PERT

 PERT is a technique used for the projects where the

time required to complete different activities are
not known (uncertain activities).
 PERT is majorly applied for planning, scheduling,
organization and integration of different tasks
within a project.
 It provides the blueprint of the project and is an
efficient technique for project evaluation.
Critical Path Method

 CPM is a technique used for the projects where the

time needed for completion of project is already
known.(well defined activities)
 It is majorly used for determining the approximate
time within which a project can be completed.
A critical path in project management is the longest
sequence of activities (from Start to End) that must
be finished on time in order for the entire project to
be complete. Any delays in critical tasks will delay the
rest of the project.

Critical path represents the longest duration of

every dependent task, to find the most efficient
schedule while still accomplishing the goals needed
for a successful project
Formulating a Network Model

 AON (Precedence diagram)

 Represent the activities and their relationships
as a graph.
 Activities as nodes
 Lines as dependencies
Rules - Constructing Precedence
Networks
 A project network should have only one start node.
 A project network should have only one end node.
 A node has duration(activities take time to execute)
 Links normally have no duration(they represent the
relationship between activities)
 Precedents are the immediate preceding activities
 Time moves from left to right
 A network may not contain loops
 A network should not contain dangles (loosely tied activities)
A loop represents an impossible sequence

Test- Diagnose-correct sequence: If we know the

number of times this needs to be done, we can draw
a sequence. Else, we cannot calculate the duration
of the project.
Dangle

Dangle: When an activity is disconnected before

all activities in a network have been completed.
• Leaving an activity incomplete

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Resolving Dangle

There should be a logical end

Representing Lagged Activities

Two activities can be carried out in parallel as long as there is a

lag between them.
Documenting amendments to a project can start one day after the
start of prototype testing and completed after two days of testing.
Lagged activities

Lag is the amount of wait time between two tasks. It is the

amount of time by which a successor activity will be
delayed. (a fixed delay between activities)
Ideally both task A and B should get finished on the 12th day
(6+6 days). But, when we insert a waiting time of 2 days
before B can start, then both A and B will get completed only
on the 14th day.
Hammock activity

 Hammock activity- group of tasks that float

between start and end dates (subtasks that needs
to be completed before the end date)
These are used for representing overhead costs or
other resources used(eg. Need for a printer) during
the duration of a set of activities
The name hammock activity comes from the fact that
individual activities hang between the overall dates,
floating, just like a hammock.
Types of links between activities
Finish to start: The following activity starts
when the previous one has been finished
Software
development Acceptance testing

e.g. testing starts when coding has been completed

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  Start to Start: When one activity starts another
has to start as well. e.g. when prototype testing
starts amendment documentation has to start as
well.
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 Finish to finish: when one activity finishes the other must
finish too. A successor activity can only finish after its
predecessor has been completed.
 e.g. when the testing of the prototype is completed so is
the documentation of any amendments
 Eg.First task: Connect system to interfaces and devices
Second task: Install and configure software
We can only complete the software configuration after all
interfaces and devices have been connected.

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 Start to finish: the start of a successor activity is
dependent on the finish of the predecessor activity.
(Dependency: handover of tasks from A to B)
 A logical relationship in which the predecessor
activity can only complete once the successor task
has started.
Eg. A new accounts payable system (successor) has
to start before the old accounts payable system can be
shut down (predecessor).
Eg. Switching to power grid from generator power
while operating.
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You can only deactivate the old system once the new
system has been enabled and users can work with it.
When the cutover to the new system takes place, the
operation of the temporary system is no longer needed.
Operate temporary
system

Acceptance test Cutover to new

of new system system

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The first task, hoisting the object, can only be completed
once team 2 is ready to receive the object (second task).
Dependency Relationships
Fragment of precedence network

Installation cannot start until program testing is completed

Constructing Precedence Networks (activity-
on-node n/w)
 Notation
 Adding Time Dimension

Adding the Time Dimension

 After creating the logical network model and the
interrelationships between those activities, when
each activity should be undertaken must be
marked.
 Each activity duration is estimated
 Forward pass, Backward pass
The critical path approach
• Planning the project in such a way that it is
completed as quickly as possible (min.
amount of time)
• Identify the activities where a delay in their
execution is likely to affect the overall end
date of the project or later activities
(The method calculates the earliest and latest possible
start and finish times for project activities, and it estimates
the dependencies among them to create a schedule of
critical activities and dates)
 Every task will have the following set of start and
finish time.
Earliest start time (ES) - The earliest time, an
activity can start once the previous dependent
activities are over. (earliest of the preceding
activities upon which the current activity depends is
completed, so that the current one can start).
• Earliest finish time (EF) - This would be ES +
activity duration.
Latest finish time (LF) - The latest time an
activity/task can finish without delaying the project
or without affecting the project end.

Latest start time (LS) = LF – duration of the

activity.

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 Earliest start date
 Earliest start date for the current activity =
earliest finish date for the previous
 When there is more than one previous activity,
take the latest earliest finish
 Note ‘day 7’ = end of work on day 7

EF = day 7
ES = day10

EF = day10

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Example
 earliest start = day 5  earliest finish =?
 latest finish = day 30  EF= ES + Duration
 duration = 10 days  = 5+10= day15
 latest start = ?
 LS= LF- duration
 = 30-10= day 20

The earliest finish (EF) would be day 5 plus 10 days i.e.

day 15. (ES + Duration)
The latest start (LS) would be day 30 – 10 days i.e. day
20 (LF-duration)
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A project specification with estimated activity durations and
precedence requirements

Activity Duration (weeks) Precedents

A Hardware selection 6
B Software design 4
C Install hardware 3 A
D Code and test software 4 B
E File take-on 3 B
F Write user manuals 10
G User training 3 E,F
H Install and test system 2 C,D
Precedence network/activity network

Work out the earliest start and end dates for each activity
A 6 wks C 3 wks
Hardware Install
selection hardware

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start Software Code Install and

Finish
design software test

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

User File User
manual Take-on training
 Activity ES duration EF

A 0 6 6
B 0 4 4
C 6 3 9
D 4 4 8
E 4 3 7
F 0 10 10
G 10 3 13
H 9 2 11

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The forward pass – to calculate earliest date on which
each activity may be started and completed

By convention, dates indicate the end of a period. The project is shown as starting at the end of week 0 (or the
beginning of week 1)

A 6 wks C 3 wks

0 Hardware 6 6 Install 9
selection hardware

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start 0 Software 4 4 Code 8 9 Install and 11 Finish

design software test

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

0 User 10 4 File 7 10 User 13

manual Take-on training
The backward pass – to calculate latest date at which
each activity may be started and completed without
delaying the end date of the project
Assumption – latest finish date for the project is the same as the earliest finish date – we wish to complete the
project as early as possible.

A 6 wks C 3 wks

0 Hardware 6 6 Install 9
2 selection 8 8 hardware 11

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start 0 Software 4 4 Code 8 9 Install and 11 Finish

3 design 7 7 software 11 11 test 13

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

0 User 10 4 File 7 10 User 13

0 manual 10 7 Take-on 10 10 training 13
 Activity ES Duration EF LS LF Float

A 0 6 6 2 8 2
B 0 4 4 3 7 3
C 6 3 9 8 11 2
D 4 4 8 7 11 3
E 4 3 7 7 10 3
F 0 10 10 0 10 0
G 10 3 13 10 13 0
H 9 2 11 11 13 2

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FLOAT
 Float (also known as slack) is the amount of time
by which the start of an activity can be delayed
without delaying the project completion time.
 Activity Float – Difference between its earliest
and latest finish date or difference between
Latest (LS) and Early Start (ES)
 LS-ES or LF- EF
or
 Float / Total Float = Latest finish - Earliest start -
Duration
Example

Determine Float, given

 earliest start = day 5
 latest finish = day 30
 duration = 10 days
 FLOAT - What is it in this case?
 Float = LF - ES - duration
 The float would be 30 – 5 – 10 = 15 days
 This also is the same as LF – EF or LS – ES
 30-15 = 15
 20 – 5 = 15
 amount of time (15 days) by which the start of an
activity can be delayed without delaying the project
completion time
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Identifying Critical Path

 The one path that defines the duration of the project is

called as critical path.
 Any delay in an activity on this critical path will delay the
completion of the project.
 Any activity with floating of zero is critical.
 When an activity’s EF & LF is equal in the path, that path
becomes the Critical Path.
Note: Float time information of tasks is very useful to the
project team for taking scheduling decisions when resource
constraints are experienced.
Identifying near Critical Path
 Activities that are not in the critical path
may also become critical in due course.
 Hence, identifying near critical path is
good practice
 A positive float time indicates the flexibility we will have
in delaying the specific activity without delaying the
project completion time.
 Typically, while doing scheduling, the critical path tasks
will have zero float and the non-critical path tasks will
have a positive float.
 That means non-critical path tasks can be delayed to certain
extent without compromising on the project completion
time.
Float = Difference (ES – LS) or (EF – LF) or (LF – ES –
Duration)

A 6 wks C 3 wks

0 Hardware 6 6 Install 9
2 selection 8 8 hardware 11
2 wks 2 wks

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start 0 Software 4 4 Code 8 9 Install and 11 Finish

3 design 7 7 software 11 11 test 13
3 wks 3 wks 2 wks

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

0 User 10 4 File 7 10 User 13

0 manual 10 7 Take-on 10 10 training 13
0 wks 3 wks 0 wks
 A 6 wks C 3 wks

0 Hardware 6 6 Install 9
2 selection 8 8 hardware 11
8 wks 2 wks 5 wks 2 wks

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start 0 Software 4 4 Code 8 9 Install and 11 Finish

3 design 7 7 software 11 11 test 13
7 wks 3 wks 7 wks 3 wks 4 wks 2 wks

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

0 User 10 4 File 7 10 User 13

0 manual 10 7 Take-on 10 10 training 13
10 wks 0 wks 6 wks 3 wks 3 wks 0 wks
 Free float: time by which an activity may be
delayed without affecting any subsequent
activities.
Note: ES for following activity is less than EF for the
current
 Interfering float: time by which an activity
may be delayed affecting any subsequent
activities but not the project end date
 Interfering float = total float – free float
Free float Vs Interfering float
Free float – time by which an activity may be delayed without affecting any subsequent
activities.
Interfering float - time by which an activity may be delayed affecting any subsequent
activities but not the project end date (total float – free float).

D can be 1 wk late and not affect any

other activity = free float
A 6 wks C 3 wks

0 Hardware 6 6 Install 9
2 selection 8 8 hardware 11 D can be further 2wk late . It
affects H but not the project
2 wks 2 wks
end date = Interfering float

B 4 wks D 4 wks H 2 wks

Start 0 Software 4 4 Code 8 9 Install and 11 Finish

3 design 7 7 software 11 11 test 13
3 wks 3 wks 2 wks

F 10 wks E 3 wks G 3 wks

0 User 10 4 File 7 10 User 13

0 manual 10 7 Take-on 10 10 training 13
0 wks 3 wks 0 wks
Shortening the Project Duration

 Consider attempting to reduce activity durations

 Generally time savings are to be found by
increasing the amount of parallelism in the
network and the removal of bottlenecks.
 Critical path
 Can there be more than one critical path?
Yes, there could be more than one critical path if the
two longest paths through the network were of
equal length.
 Sub-critical paths are chains of activities, not on
the planned critical path, but which have small
floats and which could easily become the critical
path as the project develops.
Realize the activity network and apply forward
pass, backward pass and critical path