PERT NETWORK

PERT & CPM

• Terms related to PERT

• Event –Events are considered as Milestone of the project such
as the starting date and the completion date of an activity.
• Activity – It is a task that is to be accomplished to complete
the project. It consumes time and money.
• Network – It is the graphical representation of project
operations composed of events and activities to complete the
project within the scheduled time.
• Slack or Float – Float or Slack is the time by which an activity
can be delayed without affecting the duration of the project.
It gives an indication of criticalness of the activity.
 PERT & CPM

• Slack time refers to event controlled network

• Float time refers to activity controlled network
• Critical Path : This is the longest path on which all the events
will have zero or minimum slack.
• Total duration of a project = Latest Finish Time - Earliest Start
Time
• AOA : Activity on arrow
A 2 B
1 4
C 3 D
 PERT & CPM

• AON : Activity on Node

A D
C

PERT :
This method uses three time estimates : Optimistic time, Most
likely time and Pessimistic time.
Optimistic time (a): This is the shortest time for completing an
activity.
Most likely time (m): This refers to the time that is expected to
occur, if the activities are repeated under exactly the same
condition.
 PERT & CPM

• Pessimistic time(b) : This is the longest time the activity

would take to finish.
• Depending on the values of a, m and b the resulting
distribution of activity duration can take a variety of forms.
Typically, completion of a given activity is assumed to follow
Beta distribution, as shown below :

Beta curve

Probability

a m tei b
Time duration of activity
 PERT & CPM

•• The
  three time estimates are reduced into a single expected
time (tei ) which can be computed using following formula :
• tei = where
• tei = Expected time of the ith activity
• a = Optimistic time
• m = Most likely time
• b = Pessimistic time
• The standard deviation, Ϭi of the completion time of an
activity is calculated as follows :
• Ϭi =
• The variance = = ()2
 PERT & CPM

• Having found the critical path, the PERT methodology assumes

that the aggregation of the mean times and the summation of
variances of critical jobs would yield the expected project
duration(Te) and its variance(VT).
• For a given project, if the critical activities are 1,2,3,………..,k,
we have
Te = te1 + te2 + te3 +……………………..+ tek and
VT or ϬT2 = Ϭ12 + Ϭ22 + Ϭ32 + ………+ Ϭk2
The distribution of the project completion times is normally
distributed with µ = Te and Ϭ = ϬT . This can be used to determine
the probability of completing the project by a given date.
• If there are two (or more) critical paths in a given network,
then the one with largest variance value should be used for
determining Te and VT .
 PERT & CPM

• Earliest Start Time - It is the earliest occurrence time for the

event from which the Activity arrow originates.
• Earliest Finish Time – It is the earliest occurrence time for the
event from which the Activity arrow originates plus the
duration of the activity (t).
EF = ES + t
• Latest Start Time – This is the latest occurrence time for the
Node at which Activity arrow terminates minus the duration
of the Activity (t).
LS = LF – t
• Latest Finish Time – This is the latest occurrence time for the
node at which Activity arrow terminates.
• Slack = (LS – ES) or (LF – EF)
 PERT & CPM

• Rules for computing Earliest Finish Time (EF) and Latest

Finish Time (LF) :
1. Moving forward, find EF time (choosing the maximum at
activity intersection)
2. At last node, maximum EF = LF
3. Use return path to find LF time (choosing minimum at every
activity intersection)
 PERT & CPM

Problem 1. Project with following data are to be completed.

Draw the network and critical path.
(a) What is the minimum duration of the project?
(b) Determine the peak requirement of money and the day on
which it occurs in above schedule.

ACTIVITY PREDECESSORS DURATION COST

(DAYS) (Rs./DAY)
A - 2 50
B - 4 50
C A 1 40
D B 2 100
E A,B 3 100
F E 2 60
 PERT & CPM

EF LF

4 4 EF LF
C=1
3
EF LF A=2 EF LF 9 9
E=3
t=0 7 7
F=2
0 0 5
B=4 D=2
4
1
EF LF
2

EF = ES + t Slack = LS - ES
LF = LS + t Slack = LF – EF 4 4
 PERT & CPM

Activity Duration EF ES = EF - t LF LS = LF - t Event Activity

(t) Slack = on
LS – ES Critical
Or path
LF - EF
A(1-3) 2 2 0 4 2 2 No
B(1-2) 4 4 0 4 0 0 Yes
C(3-5) 1 5 4 9 8 4 No
D(2-5) 2 6 4 9 7 3 No
E(3-4) 3 7 4 7 4 0 Yes
F(4-5) 2 9 7 9 7 0 Yes

Critical Path : 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 = 4 + 3 +2 = 9 days

(a) Therefore, minimum duration of the project = 9 days
 PERT & CPM

(b) Gantt chart is drawn below :

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A C
B D E F

DAY ACTIVITY REQUIREMENT OF MONEY

1 A +B 50 + 50 = 100
2 A+B 50 + 50 = 100
3 B +C 50 + 40 = 90
4 B 50
5 D+E 100 + 100 = 200
6 D+E 100 + 100 = 200
7 E 100
8 F 60
9 F 60
 PERT & CPM

Problem 2. (a) Draw the network using activity on node (AON)

system and find the critical path for the project.
ACTIVITY DESIGNATION PREDECESSOR TIME IN WEEKS
DESIGN A - 21
BUILT PROTOTYPE B A 5
EVALUATE C A 7
TEST PROTOTYPE D B 2
WRITE EQPT. E C,D 5
REPORT
WRITE METHOD F C,D 8
REPORT
WRITE FINAL G E,F 2
REPORT
 PERT & CPM

(b) Using 3 time estimates of activities, find probability of

completing project in 35 weeks.

ACTIVITY TIME ESTIMATION

a = Most b = Pessimistic m = Most likely
optimistic time time time
A 10 12 28
B 4 4 10
C 4 6 14
D 1 2 3
E 1 5 9
F 7 8 9
G 2 2 2
 PERT & CPM

EF LF EF LF

28 28 36 36
EF LF EF LF
C,7 F,8

21 21 38 38

A,21 G,2

EFE,5LF
33 36
EFB,5 LF EFD,2 LF

26 26 28 28
 PERT & CPM

Activity Duration EF ES = EF - t LF LS=LF - t Slack = LS - ES On critical

(t) Path
A 21 21 O 21 0 0 Yes
B 5 26 21 26 21 0 Yes
C 7 28 21 28 21 0 Yes
D 2 28 26 28 26 0 Yes
E 5 33 28 36 31 3 No
F 8 36 28 36 28 0 Yes
G 2 38 36 38 36 0 Yes

There are two critical paths :

(1) A – C – F – G
(2) A – B – D – F - G
 PERT & CPM

Activity a b m Expected Activity

Completion Time
Te =(a + 4m + b)/6
A 10 12 28 22.33
B 4 4 10 8
C 4 6 14 11
D 1 2 3 2.5
E 1 5 9 7
F 7 8 9 8.16
G 2 2 2 2
Expected project completion time =
Completion time of Critical path A – C – F – G = 22.33+11+8.16+2
= 43.49
 PERT & CPM

Completion time of Critical path A – C – F – G = 22.33+11+8.16+2

= 43.49 weeks
Completion of critical path A – B – D – F – G = 22.33+8+2.5+8.16
+2 = 42.99 weeks
So, the total project completion time = 43.49 weeks
 8

***Q. The owner of a restaurant is considering a new computer

project for inventory control. A computer company sent the
following information about the system installation :

Activity Immediate Most Most Likely Most

predecessor Optimistic Time Pessimistic
Time Time
A - 4 6 8
B A 5 7 15
C A 4 8 12
D B 15 20 25
E B 10 18 26
F C 8 9 16
G E 4 8 12
H D,F 1 2 3
I G,H 6 7 8
(a) Determine critical path and expected project completion
time.
(b) Determine the probability that the project will be completed
in 55 days.

E
3 5
B D G

A H I
C
1 2 6 7 8
F

4
Calculation of expected time and variances
Activity a m b Tei =(a+4m+b)/6 Ϭi = (b-a)/6 Ϭi2

A (1-2) 4 6 8 6 4/6 4/9

B (2-3) 5 7 15 8 10/6 25/9
C (2-4) 4 8 12 8 8/6 16/9
D (3-6) 15 20 25 20 10/6 25/9
E (3-5) 10 18 26 18 16/6 64/9
F (4-6) 8 9 16 10 8/6 16/9
G (5-7) 4 8 12 8 8/6 16/9
H (6-7) 1 2 3 2 2/6 1/9
I (7-8) 6 7 8 7 2/6 1/9

Length of different project paths from the project network :

Path : 1-2-3-5-7-8 = 6+8+18+8+7 = 47 days
Path : 1-2-3-6-7-8 = 6+8+20+2+7 = 43 days
Path : 1-2-4-6-7-8 = 6 + 8 + 10 + 2 + 7 = 33 days
(a) Using the expected time of activity duration, we obtain the critical path as
1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 8 since the duration of this path is longest.
Thus we have the expected project length, Te = 6+8+18+8+7
= 47 days
The variance of the project length, VT = 4/9 + 25/9 + 64/9 + 16/9 + 1/9
= 110/9
(b) The project duration is
normally distributed with
Mean(TE ) = 47 days
Standard deviation =√(VT )=√(110/9)
=3.496
The probability of project being
Completed in 55 days is equal to µ=47 X=55
The area under the normal curve lying to the left of X=55 as shown in Figure
above. We have, Z = (55-47)/3.496 = 2.29. From the Normal Table, the area
between Mean and Z = 2.29 under the Normal curve = 0.4890.
Thus the required probability = 0.5 + 0.4890 = 0.9890
Q.FOR A PROJECT OF 12 ACTIVITIES, THE DETAILS ARE GIVEN BELOW. DRAW
THE NETWORK AND FIND EARLIEST OCCURRENCE TIME, LATEST
OCCURRENCE TIME CRITICAL ACTIVITIES AND PROJECT COMPLETION TIME.
[I.P.University 2015]

Activi A B C D E F G H I J K L
ties
Depen - - - B,C A C E E D,F, E J G
dence H
Durati 9 4 7 8 7 5 10 8 6 9 10 2
on
(Days)
 EF LF
25 25
EF LF EF LF EF LF
7
J EF LF K
EF LF 9 9 16 16
26 33 35 35
A E G L
6 8
0 0 EF2 LF 9
1 EF LF H EF LF I
B
C 7 D 21 24 29
3Dummy activity
5
(t=0) F

4
EF
7 LF
21
Activity Duration EF LF SLACK Critical
(t) =LF - EF activity
A 9 9 9 0 A
B 4 4 21 17
C 7 7 21 14
D 8 15 29 14
E 7 16 16 0 E
F 5 12 29 17
G 10 26 33 7
H 8 24 29 5
I 6 30 35 5
J 9 25 25 0 J
K 10 35 35 0 K
L 2 28 35 7
CRITICAL PATH : A – E – J – K
PROJECT COMPLETION TIME = 9 + 7 + 9 + 10
= 35 DAYS