CPM AND PERT Techniques

RESEARCH PROJECT
Submitted to,
S.S.V. P.G. COLLEGE, HAPUR
Affiliated with
CHAUDHARY CHARAN SINGH UNIVERSITY,
MEERUT
For the degree
MASTERS OF MATHEMATICS
SESSION-2025

Under the supervision

Dr. Sharad Kumar
(S.S.V. College, Hapur)
Submitted On: - 27th May, 2025

BY Barkha Singhal: - 240028328012

 Declaration
I, Barkha Singhal, hereby declare that the research project entitled
"CPM and PERT Technology ", submitted to S.S.V. P.G. College,
Hapur, affiliated with Chaudhary Charan Singh University,
Meerut, is my original work and has been carried out under the
supervision of Dr. Sharad Kumar, Department of Mathematics,
S.S.V. P.G. College.
This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the award of the Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in
Mathematics for the Session 2025. I confirm that this project has
not been submitted, either in part or full, for the award of any other
degree or diploma at this or any other university or institution.
All sources of information and assistance have been duly
acknowledged.

Date: 27th May, 2025

Place: Hapur

Student’s Signature
Barkha Singhal
240028328012
 Certificate

This is to certify that the research project entitled “in CPM and PERT
Technology” submitted by Barkha Singhal, a student of M.Sc.
Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, S.S.V. P.G. College, Hapur
(affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut), has been
carried out under my supervision and guidance.
To the best of my knowledge, the work presented in this project is original
and authentic. It has not been submitted, either wholly or in part, for the
award of any other degree or diploma in this or any other university or
institution.
I consider this project suitable for submission in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics for the
academic session 2025.
Date: 27th May, 2025
Place: Hapur

Supervisor’s Signature Dr.

Sharad Kumar
Department of Mathematics
S.S.V. P.G. College, Hapur
 Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout
the course of this project. Their guidance, encouragement, and belief in my abilities
have played a crucial role in the completion of this work.

First and foremost, I am truly grateful to my academic supervisor, Dr. Sharad Kumar,
for their invaluable guidance, constant encouragement, and insightful feedback at every
stage of this research. Their deep expertise in CPM and PERT Technology provided
the essential foundation for this work, and their constructive suggestions allowed me to
refine my approach and improve the quality of the research. I feel incredibly fortunate to
have had the opportunity to learn from such a knowledgeable and supportive mentor.

I also wish to thank the distinguished faculty members of the DEPARTMENT OF

MATHEMATICS for their ongoing support and for creating an intellectually
stimulating and collaborative environment that facilitated the exchange of ideas. Special
thanks go to my peers and colleagues, whose discussions, feedback, and camaraderie
enriched my understanding, challenged my assumptions, and sharpened my analytical
skills.

Lastly, I am deeply thankful to my FAMILY and FRIENDS for their unwavering

support, patience, and belief in me. Their encouragement provided the motivation I
needed to overcome challenges and continue striving towards my goals. Their love and
understanding were my constant source of strength throughout this journey, and I could
not have completed this project without them.

This project would not have been possible without the contributions, sacrifices, and
support of all these remarkable individuals.
 Abstract
This project explores the application of Critical Path Method
(CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT) as essential tools in project management. Both
techniques are widely used for planning, scheduling, and
controlling complex projects. CPM focuses on identifying the
longest sequence of dependent activities (the critical path) to
ensure timely project completion, while PERT incorporates
probabilistic time estimates to manage uncertainty and
variability in project durations. This project demonstrates the
practical implementation of CPM and PERT through case
studies and simulation models, highlighting their effectiveness
in optimizing project timelines, resource allocation, and risk
assessment. The findings emphasize how integrating these
methodologies enhances decision-making processes and
contributes to more efficient and successful project execution
across various industries.
 Introduction to CPM / PERT Techniques

CPM/PERT or Network Analysis as the technique is sometimes

called, developed along two parallel streams, one industrial and the
other military.

CPM (Critical Path Method) was the discovery of M.R.Walker

of E.I.Du Pont de Nemours & Co. and J.E.Kelly of Remington
Rand, circa 1957. The computation was designed for the
UNIVAC-I computer. The first test was made in 1958, when CPM
was applied to the construction of a new chemical plant. In March
1959, the method was applied to maintenance shut-down at the Du
Pont works in Louisville, Kentucky. Unproductive time was
reduced from 125 to 93 hours.

PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) was devised in 1958 for
the POLARIS missile program by the Program Evaluation Branch of the
Special Projects office of the U.S.Navy, helped by the Lockheed Missile
Systems division and the Consultant firm of Booz-Allen & Hamilton. The
calculations were so arranged so that they could be carried out on the IBM
Naval Ordinance Research Computer (NORC) at Dahlgren, Virginia

The methods are essentially network-oriented techniques using

the same principle. PERT and CPM are basically time-oriented
methods in the sense that they both lead to determination of a time
schedule for the project. The significant difference between two
approaches is that the time estimates for the different activities in
CPM were assumed to be deterministic while in PERT these are
described probabilistically. These techniques are referred as
project scheduling techniques.

In CPM activities are shown as a network of precedence

relationships using activity-on- node network construction

– Single estimate of activity time

– Deterministic activity times

USED IN: Production management - for the jobs of repetitive in

nature where the activity time estimates can be predicted with
considerable certainty due to the existence of past experience.

In PERT activities are shown as a network of precedence

relationships using activity-on- arrow network construction

– Multiple time estimates

– Probabilistic activity times

USED IN: Project management - for non-repetitive jobs

(research and development work), where the time and cost
 estimates tend to be quite uncertain. This technique uses
probabilistic time estimates.

 Useful at many stages of project management

 Mathematically simple

Give critical path and slack time

 Provide project documentation

 Useful in monitoring costs

Limitations of PERT/CPM

 Clearly defined, independent and stable activities

 Specified precedence relationships

 Over emphasis on critical paths

Applications of CPM / PERT

These methods have been applied to a wide variety of problems in

industries and have found acceptance even in government
organizations. These include
  Construction of a dam or a canal system in a region
 Construction of a building or highway
 Maintenance or overhaul of airplanes or oil refinery
 Space flight
 Cost control of a project using PERT / COST
 Designing a prototype of a machine
 Development of supersonic planes

Basic Steps in PERT / CPM

Project scheduling by PERT / CPM consists of four main steps

1. Planning

 The planning phase is started by splitting the total project in

to small projects. These smaller projects in turn are divided
into activities and are analyzed by the department or section.
 The relationship of each activity with respect to other
activities are defined and established and the corresponding
responsibilities and the authority are also stated.
 Thus the possibility of overlooking any task necessary for the
completion of the project is reduced substantially.

2. Scheduling
 The ultimate objective of the scheduling phase is to prepare a
time chart showing the start and finish times for each activity
as well as its relationship to other activities of the project.
 Moreover the schedule must pinpoint the critical path
activities which require special attention if the project is to be
completed in time.
 For non-critical activities, the schedule must show the
amount of slack or float times which can be used
advantageously when such activities are delayed or when
limited resources are to be utilized effectively.

3. Allocation of resources

 Allocation of resources is performed to achieve the desired

objective. A resource is a physical variable such as labour,
finance, equipment and space which will impose a limitation
on time for the project.
 When resources are limited and conflicting, demands are
made for the same type of resources a systematic method for
allocation of resources become essential.
 Resource allocation usually incurs a compromise and the
choice of this compromise depends on the judgment of
managers.
 4. Controlling
 The final phase in project management is controlling. Critical
path methods facilitate the application of the principle of
management by expectation to identify areas that are critical
to the completion of the project.
 By having progress reports from time to time and updating
the network continuously, a better financial as well as
technical control over the project is exercised.
 Arrow diagrams and time charts are used for making periodic
progress reports. If required, a new course of action is
determined for the remaining portion of the project.

The Framework for PERT and CPM

Essentially, there are six steps which are common to both the
techniques. The procedure is listed below:

I. Define the Project and all of its significant activities or tasks. The
Project (made of several tasks) should have only a single start activity
and a single finish activity.
II. Develop the relationships among the activities. Decide
which activities must precede and which must follow
others.
III. Draw the "Network" connecting all the activities. Each
Activity should have unique event numbers. Dummy
arrows are used where required to avoid giving the same
numbering to two activities.

IV. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity

V. Compute the longest time path through the network. This is called the
critical path.

VI. Use the Network to help plan, schedule, and monitor and control the
project.

The Key Concept used by CPM/PERT is that a small set of

activities, which make up the longest path through the activity
network control the entire project. If these "critical" activities
could be identified and assigned to responsible persons,
management resources could be optimally used by concentrating
on the few activities which determine the fate of the entire project.

Non-critical activities can be replanned, rescheduled and resources

for them can be reallocated flexibly, without affecting the whole
project.

Five useful questions to ask when preparing an activity network are:

  Is this a Start Activity?
 Is this a Finish Activity?
 What Activity Precedes this?
 What Activity Follows this?
 What Activity is Concurrent with this?

Network Diagram Representation

In a network representation of a project certain definitions are used

1. Activity
Any individual operation which utilizes resources and has an end
and a beginning is called activity. An arrow is commonly used to
represent an activity with its head indicating the direction of
progress in the project. These are classified into four categories
1. Predecessor activity – Activities that must be completed
immediately prior to the start of another activity are called
predecessor activities.

2. Successor activity – Activities that cannot be started until

one or more of other activities are completed but immediately
succeed them are called successor activities.
3. Concurrent activity – Activities which can be accomplished
 concurrently are known as concurrent activities. It may be
noted that an activity can be a predecessor or a successor to
an event or it may be concurrent with one or more of other
activities.
4. Dummy activity – An activity which does not consume any
kind of resource but merely depicts the technological
dependence is called a dummy activity.

The dummy activity is inserted in the network to clarify the

activity pattern in the following two situations
 To make activities with common starting and finishing points
distinguishable
 To identify and maintain the proper precedence relationship
between activities that is not connected by events.
For example, consider a situation where A and B are concurrent
activities. C is dependent on A and D is dependent on A and B
both. Such a situation can be handled by using a dummy activity as
shown in the figure.

2. Event
An event represents a point in time signifying the completion of
some activities and the beginning of new ones. This is usually
represented by a circle in a network which is also called a node or
connector.
The events are classified in to three categories
1. Merge event – When more than one activity comes and joins
an event such an event is known as merge event.

2. Burst event – When more than one activity leaves an event

such an event is known as burst event.
3. Merge and Burst event – An activity may be merge and
burst event at the same time as with respect to some activities
it can be a merge event and with respect to some other
activities it may be a burst event.

3. Sequencing
The first prerequisite in the development of network is to maintain
the precedence relationships. In order to make a network, the
 following points should be taken into considerations
 What job or jobs precede it?
 What job or jobs could run concurrently?
 What job or jobs follow it?
 What controls the start and finish of a job?
Since all further calculations are based on the network, it is necessary
that a network be drawn with full care.

Rules for Drawing Network Diagram

Rule 1
Each activity is represented by one and only one arrow in the network
Rule 2
No two activities can be identified by the same end events

Rule 3
In order to ensure the correct precedence relationship in the arrow
diagram, following questions must be checked whenever any
activity is added to the network
 What activity must be completed immediately before this
activity can start?
 What activities must follow this activity?
 What activities must occur simultaneously with this activity?

In case of large network, it is essential that certain good

habits be practiced to draw an easy to follow network
 Try to avoid arrows which cross each other
 Use straight arrows
 Do not attempt to represent duration of activity by its arrow
length
 Use arrows from left to right. Avoid mixing two
directions, vertical and standing arrows may be used if
 necessary.
 Use dummies freely in rough draft but final
network should not have any redundant dummies.
 The network has only one entry point called start
event and one point of emergence called the end
event.

Common Errors in Drawing Networks

The three types of errors are most commonly observed in drawing

network diagrams

1. Dangling

To disconnect an activity before the completion of all

activities in a network diagram is known as dangling. As
shown in the figure activities (5 – 10) and (6 – 7) are not the
last activities in the network. So the diagram is wrong and
indicates the error of dangling
 2. Looping or Cycling
Looping error is also known as cycling error in a network
diagram. Drawing an endless loop in a network is known as
error of looping as shown in the following figure.

3. Redundancy

Unnecessarily inserting the dummy activity in network

logic is known as the error of redundancy as shown in the
following diagram

Advantages and Disadvantages

PERT/CPM has the following advantages

 A PERT/CPM chart explicitly defines and makes

visible dependencies (precedence relationships)
between the elements,

 PERT/CPM facilitates identification of the critical path and

makes this visible,

 PERT/CPM facilitates identification of early start, late

start, and slack for each activity,

 PERT/CPM provides for potentially reduced project

duration due to better understanding of dependencies
leading to improved overlapping of activities and tasks
where feasible.

PERT/CPM has the following disadvantages:

 There can be potentially hundreds or thousands of

activities and individual dependency relationships,

 The network charts tend to be large and unwieldy

requiring several pages to print and requiring special
size paper,

 The lack of a timeframe on most PERT/CPM charts

makes it harder to show status although colours can
help (e.g., specific colour for completed nodes),

 When the PERT/CPM charts become unwieldy, they

are no longer used to manage the project.
Critical Path in Network Analysis

Basic Scheduling Computations

The notations used are

(i, j) = Activity with tail event i
and head event j Ei = Earliest
occurrence time of event i
Lj = Latest allowable
occurrence time of event j Dij
= Estimated completion time
of activity (i, j) (Es)ij =
Earliest starting time of
activity (i, j) (Ef)ij = Earliest
finishing time of activity (i, j)
(Ls)ij = Latest starting time of
activity (i, j) (Lf)ij = Latest
finishing time of activity (i, j)

The procedure is as follows

1. Determination of Earliest time (Ej): Forward Pass

computation
  Step 1
The computation begins from the start node and move
towards the end node. For easiness, the forward pass
computation starts by assuming the earliest occurrence
time of zero for the initial project event.

 Step 2
i. Earliest starting time of activity (i, j) is the earliest
event time of the tail end event i.e. (Es)ij = Ei
ii. Earliest finish time of activity (i, j) is the earliest
starting time + the activity time i.e. (Ef)ij = (Es)ij + Dij or
(Ef)ij = Ei + Dij

iii. Earliest event time for event j is the maximum of

the earliest finish times of all activities ending in
to that event i.e. Ej = max [(Ef)ij for all immediate
predecessor of (i, j)] or Ej =max [Ei + Dij]

2. Backward Pass computation (for latest allowable

time)

Step 1
For ending event assume E = L. Remember that all E’s
have been computed by forward pass computations.
 Step 2
Latest finish time for activity (i, j) is equal to the latest
event time of event j i.e. (Lf)ij = Lj

Step 3
Latest starting time of activity (i, j) = the latest
completion time of (i, j) – the activity time or (Ls) ij
=(Lf)ij - Dij or (Ls)ij = Lj - Dij

Step 4
Latest event time for event ‘i’ is the minimum of the
latest start time of all activities originating from that
event i.e. Li = min [(Ls)ij for all immediate successor of
(i, j)] = min [(Lf)ij - Dij] = min [Lj - Dij]

3. Determination of floats and slack times

There are three kinds of floats

 Total float – The amount of time by which the

completion of an activity could be delayed beyond the
earliest expected completion time without affecting the
overall project duration time.
Mathematically
(Tf)ij = (Latest start – Earliest start)
 for activity ( i – j) (Tf)ij = (Ls)ij - (Es)ij
or (Tf)ij = (Lj - Dij) - Ei

 Free float – The time by which the completion of an

activity can be delayed beyond the earliest finish time
without affecting the earliest start of a subsequent
activity.
Mathematically
(Ff)ij = (Earliest time for event j – Earliest time for event i) –
Activity time for ( i,
j)
(Ff)ij = (Ej - Ei) - Dij

 Independent float – The amount of time by which the

start of an activity can be delayed without effecting the
earliest start time of any immediately following
activities, assuming that the preceding activity has
finished at its latest finish time.
Mathematically
(If)ij = (Ej - Li) - Dij
The negative independent float is always taken as zero.

 Event slack - It is defined as the difference between the

latest event and earliest event times.
Mathematically
 Head event slack = Lj – Ej, Tail event slack = Li - Ei

4. Determination of critical path

 Critical event – The events with zero slack times are

called critical events. In other words the event i is said
to be critical if Ei = Li

 Critical activity – The activities with zero total float

are known as critical activities. In other words an
activity is said to be critical if a delay in its start will
cause a further delay in the completion date of the
entire project.

 Critical path – The sequence of critical activities in a

network is called critical path. The critical path is the
longest path in the network from the starting event to
ending event and defines the minimum time required to
complete the project.

Example 1
Determine the early start and late start in respect of all node
points and identify critical path for the following network.
Solution
Calculation of E and L for each node is shown in the network

Norma Earliest Time Latest Time

Activity Start Finish Start Finish Float Time
l Time
(i, j) (Ei) (Ei + Dij ) (Li - Dij ) (Li) (Li - Dij ) - Ei
(Dij)
(1, 2) 10 0 10 0 10 0
(1, 3) 8 0 8 1 9 1
(1, 4) 9 0 9 1 10 1
(2, 5) 8 10 18 10 18 0
(4, 6) 7 9 16 10 17 1
(3, 7) 16 8 24 9 25 1
(5, 7) 7 18 25 18 25 0
(6, 7) 7 16 23 18 25 2
(5, 8) 6 18 24 18 24 0
(6, 9) 5 16 21 17 22 1
(7, 10) 12 25 37 25 37 0
(8, 10) 13 24 37 24 37 0
(9, 10) 15 21 36 22 37 1

From the table, the critical nodes are (1, 2), (2, 5), (5, 7), (5, 8), (7,
10) and (8, 10)

From the table, there are two possible critical paths

i. 1 → 2 → 5 → 8 → 10
ii. 1 → 2 → 5 → 7 → 10

Example 2
Find the critical path and calculate the slack time for the following
network
Solution

The earliest time and the latest time are obtained below

Norm Earliest Time Latest Time

Start Finish Start Finish Float
Activity(i, al
j) (Ei) (Ei + Dij ) (Li - Dij ) (Li) Time (Li -
Tim
Dij ) - Ei
e
(Dij)
(1, 2) 2 0 2 5 7 5
(1, 3) 2 0 2 0 2 0
(1, 4) 1 0 1 6 7 6
(2, 6) 4 2 6 7 11 5
(3, 7) 5 2 7 3 8 1
(3, 5) 8 2 10 2 10 0
(4, 5) 3 1 4 7 10 6
(5, 9) 5 10 15 10 15 0
(6, 8) 1 6 7 11 12 5
(7, 8) 4 7 11 8 12 1
 (8, 9) 3 11 14 12 15 1

From the above table, the critical nodes are the activities (1, 3), (3, 5)
and (5, 9)

The critical path is 1 → 3 → 5 → 9

Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

The main objective in the analysis through PERT is to find

out the completion for a particular event within specified
date. The PERT approach takes into account the
uncertainties. The three time values are associated with each
activity

1. Optimistic time – It is the shortest possible time in

 which the activity can be finished. It assumes that
everything goes very well. This is denoted by t0.
2. Most likely time – It is the estimate of the normal time
the activity would take. This assumes normal delays. If
a graph is plotted in the time of completion and the
frequency of completion in that time period, then most
likely time will represent the highest frequency of
occurrence. This is denoted by tm.
3. Pessimistic time – It represents the longest time the
activity could take if everything goes wrong. As in
optimistic estimate, this value may be such that only
one in hundred or one in twenty will take time longer
than this value. This is denoted by tp.

In PERT calculation, all values are used to obtain the percent

expected value.

1. Expected time – It is the average time an activity will

take if it were to be repeated on large number of times
and is based on the assumption that the activity time
follows Beta distribution, this is given by
te = ( t0 + 4 tm + tp ) / 6

2. The variance for the activity is given by

 σ2 = [(tp – to) / 6] 2

Example 1
For the project

Task: A B C D E F G H I J K
Least time: 4 5 8 2 4 6 8 5 3 5 6
Greatest 8 10 12 7 10 15 16 9 7 11 13
time:
Most likely 5 7 11 3 7 9 12 6 5 8 9
time:

Find the earliest and latest expected time to each event and
also critical path in the network.
Solution
Greatest time Most likely Expected time
Task Least time(t0)
(tp) time (tm) (to + tp + 4tm)/6
A 4 8 5 5.33
B 5 10 7 7.17
C 8 12 11 10.67
 D
2 7 3 3.5
E 4 10 7 7
F 6 15 9 9.5
G 8 16 12 12
H 5 9 6 6.33
I 3 7 5 5
J 5 11 8 8
K 6 13 9 9.17

Expecte Start Finish

Task Earliest Latest Earliest Latest Total
d
float
time (te)
A 5.33 0 0 5.33 5.33 0
B 7.17 0 8.83 7.17 16 8.83
C 10.67 5.33 5.33 16 16 0
D 3.5 0 10 3.5 13.5 10
E 7 16 16 23 23 0
F 9.5 3.5 13.5 13 23 10
G 12 3.5 18.5 15.5 30.5 15
H 6.33 23 23 29.33 29.33 0
I 5 23 25.5 28 30.5 2.5
J 8 28 30.5 36 38.5 2.5
K 9.17 29.33 29.33 31.5 38.5 0
The network is

The critical path is A →C →E → H → K

References
[1] J. J. Moder, C. R. Phillips, and E. W. Davis, Project Management
with CPM, PERT and Precedence Diagramming, 3rd ed. New York:
Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983.

[2] H. Kerzner, Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning,

Scheduling, and Controlling, 12th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2017.

[3] J. R. Meredith and S. J. Mantel, Project Management: A Managerial

Approach, 8th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011.

[4] D. I. Cleland and L. R. Ireland, Project Management: Strategic

Design and Implementation, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

[5] L. S. Srinath, PERT and CPM: Principles and Applications, New

Delhi: East-West Press, 2001.

[6] PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

(PMBOK® Guide), 6th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management
Institute, 2017.

[7] S. Choudhury, Project Management, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill,

1988.