PERT AND CPM

Fortunately, two closely related operations research techniques, PERT (program evaluation and
review technique) and CPM (critical path method), are available to assist the project manager in
carrying out these responsibilities.
PERT and CPM have been used for a variety of projects, including the following types.
1. Construction of a new plant
2. Research and development of a new product
3. NASA space exploration projects
4. Movie productions
5. Building a ship
6. Government-sponsored projects for developing a new weapons system
7. Relocation of a major facility
8. Maintenance of a nuclear reactor
9. Installation of a management information system
10. Conducting an advertising campaign PERT and CPM were independently developed in the
late 1950s. Ever since, they have been among the most widely used OR techniques.
A network used to represent a project is called a project network. A project network
consists of a number of nodes (typically shown as small circles or rectangles) and a number of
arcs (shown as arrows) that lead from some node to another.
1. Activity information: Break down the project into its individual activities (at the desired level
of detail).
2. Precedence relationships: Identify the immediate predecessor(s) for each activity.
3. Time information: Estimate the duration of each activity.
The Critical Path How long should the project take? We noted earlier that summing the
durations of all the activities gives a grand total of 79 weeks. However, this isnt the answer to
the question because some of the activities can be performed (roughly) simultaneously. What is
relevant instead is the length of each path through the network. A path through a project
network is one of the routes following the arcs from the START node to the FINISH node. The
length of a path is the sum of the (estimated) durations of the activities on the path.
Earliest Start Time Rule
The earliest start time of an activity is equal to the largest of the earliest finish times of its
immediate predecessors. In symbols,
ES =largest EF of the immediate predecessors.
Latest Finish Time Rule
The latest finish time of an activity is equal to the smallest of the latest start times of its
immediate successors. In symbols,
LF= smallest LS of the immediate successors.
The slack for an activity is the difference between its latest finish time and its earliest finish
time.