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BY Deepak Asnora Gaurav Garg Adarsh Singh

The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a scheduling tool used to manage projects with interdependent activities. It involves identifying all activities, their durations, and dependencies to calculate the critical path - the longest sequence of activities that determines the project duration. CPM is useful for prioritizing activities, optimizing resources to shorten durations, and monitoring project progress against the schedule.

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deepak asnora
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421 views

BY Deepak Asnora Gaurav Garg Adarsh Singh

The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a scheduling tool used to manage projects with interdependent activities. It involves identifying all activities, their durations, and dependencies to calculate the critical path - the longest sequence of activities that determines the project duration. CPM is useful for prioritizing activities, optimizing resources to shorten durations, and monitoring project progress against the schedule.

Uploaded by

deepak asnora
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BY

DEEPAK ASNORA
GAURAV GARG
ADARSH SINGH
What is C.P.M.?
The Critical Path Method or Critical Path Analysis, is a
mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of
project activities
It is an important tool for effective project management
Commonly used with all forms of projects, including
construction, software development, research projects,
product development, engineering, and plant
maintenance, among others
Any project with interdependent activities can apply this
method of scheduling
What is C.P.M.?
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
(also known as Work Breakdown Structure).
The time (duration) that each activity will take to
completion.
The dependencies between the activities.
C.P.M. Contd…..
CPM calculates
The longest path of planned activities to the end of the
project
The earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish
without making the project longer
Determines “critical” activities (on the longest path)
Prioritize activities for the effective management and to
shorten the planned critical path of a project by:
 “Fast tracking" (performing more activities in parallel)
 “Crashing the critical path" (shortening the durations
of critical path activities by adding resources)
How to use C.P.M.?
1. Define the project and identify each activity
2. Develop relationships among the activities.
(Decide which activities must precede and
which must follow others.)
3. Draw the network connecting all of the
activities
4. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each
activity
5. Compute the longest time path through the
network. This is called the critical path
6. Use the network to help plan, schedule,
monitor, and control the project
7. Calculate the earliest start time, earlier finish time,
latest start time & latest finish time.
8. Determine the total float for each activity on the
basis of difference between the earliest time & latest
time.
9. Calculate the total duration of project.
10. Optimize the cost by shifting resources.
Network Diagram

2 3 4

1 8

5 6 7
Illustration
Consider the following schedule of activities & related
information for the construction of a new plant:
Activity Expected Time Expected Cost
Months Variance Rs. 1000

1–2 4 1 5
2–3 2 1 3
3–6 3 1 4
2–4 6 2 9
1–5 2 1 2
5–6 5 1 12
4–6 9 5 20
5–7 7 8 7
7–8 10 16 14
Network Diagram of Problem
2 6 4
4 2

1 9
3
3
2
1 8
6
5
5
10

7
7
Calculations:
Critical Path
Expected cost of construction
Expected time required to build the
plant
Solution:
From the above diagram, the critical path is
1–2–4–6–8
The expected cost is:
5 + 3 + 4 + 9 + 2 + 12 + 20 + 7 + 14 + 4 = Rs. 8,00,000
The expected time to build the plant is 4 + 6 + 9 + 1
= 20 months
Limitations of CPM
Precise known time. ( Not true in real life)
Changes affects the entire evaluation
Not suitable for situation having indefinite start &
finish
CPM is not a panacea for all ills it only facilitates

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