11/3/16

CB510
Lecture 3 – Project Scheduling

Omar El-Anwar, PhD, PMP

Network Calculations
•  The purpose of conducting network calculations
is to know more about the scheduling of
activities:
▫  When will each activity start?
▫  When will each activity finish?
▫  When will the project finish?
▫  Can I delay an activity without delaying the
project?

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Scheduling Process
Forward pass Total
0 Duration
Early times
Start End

The forward pass starts from start to end.

The total project duration is calculated from this pass.

During this pass early times are calculated. This includes:

• Early Start (ES): The earliest time an activity can start if all preceding activities
start on time
• Early Finish (EF): The earliest time an activity can finish if all preceding activities
start on time

Scheduling Process

Start End

Late times
0 Total
Backward pass
Duration
During this pass late times are calculated. This includes:
• Late Start (LS): The latest time an activity can start without delaying the project
• Late Finish (LF): The latest time an activity can finish without delaying the project

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Representing Activity Information:

AON
TF FF

ES Description EF

LS Duration LF

3 0

5 A 15

8 10 18

The Forward Pass

•  The early start of the initial activities is always taken = 0
•  Initial activities are those activities that do not have a
predecessor, that is they can start at the beginning of the
project as they do not depend on other activities

The Early Start of an activity = Maximum Early Finish of all preceding activities

0 C 3
H cannot start until both C and B
3 have finished, since B will finish
6 H 8
2 after C (on day 6) then the earliest
0 B 6 possible start for activity H is day 6
6

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The Forward Pass

•  The early finish of an activity is calculated as follows:
▫  EF = ES + Duration
0 C 3
3
6 H 8
2

0 B 6
6

•  Overall project duration is the largest possible EF of all

activities.

Note
•  All times are denoted as end of day

End of day 3

End of day 6
0 C 3
End of day 0
3
6 H 8
2

0 B 6
6

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Example 1 – Perform CPM

Calculations

B E G
5 5 9

A C F H L
START 2 4 11 5 3

END
D I K
8 8 6

J
5

The Backward Pass

•  During this pass we calculate ‘Late Times’ (LS, LF)
•  The last activities in the schedule are assigned a LF =
Project Duration

The Late Finish of an activity = Minimum Late Start of all succeeding activities

7 C 9
The latest time that B can finish without
8 2 10 delaying the project depends on its
1 B 4
3 4 succeeding activities. The latest possible
4 E 7 start for C is 8 and for E is 4, hence B
4 3 7 should not finish later than day 4 if the
project is not to be delayed.

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The Backward Pass

•  The late start of an activity is calculated as follows:
▫  LS = LF - Duration

7 C 9
8 2 10
1 B 4
1 3 4

4 E 7
4 3 7

Activity Float
•  Represents the amount of flexibility available in
executing an activity.
•  Types of float:
▫  Total Float (TF)
▫  Free Float (FF)

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Total Float (TF)

•  It is the amount of time a particular activity can be delayed
from its early execution time without affecting the project
completion date.
•  Float = 0 à No flexibility à Any delay in the activity will delay the
project
•  Float > 0 à Some flexibility à Some delay in the activity is possible
without delaying the project
•  It is calculated as:
7 C 9
TF = 1
▫  TF = LS act. – ES act. 8 2 10

OR
4 E 7 TF = 0
▫  TF = LF act. – EF act. 4 3 7

Free Float (FF)

•  It is the amount of time a particular activity can be delayed
from its early execution time without affecting the early
execution time of any of its succeeding activities.

•  It is calculated as:

FF = smallest ES of all succeeding activities

– EF of this activity

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Free Float (FF) - Example

17 G 22
10 B 13 20 5 25
15 3 18

14 H 20
For activity B: 18 6 24
FF = Min (14,17) – 13 = 1

Importance of float
•  If Total Float = 0 à Critical Activity
•  If Total Float > 0 à Non-critical Activity
•  In all cases TF ≥ FF

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Critical Path Method (CPM)

•  Using the procedure described above we now are able to
identify all activities in the project that are critical.
•  Critical activities will always form a continuous chain
from the start to the end of a project. This chain is called
the Critical Path.
•  The Critical Path is the longest of all paths in the
network.
•  A network can have more than one critical path.
•  A network must have at least one critical path.

Example 1 Solution – Perform CPM

Calculations
7 0 7 0 7 1
2 B 7 7 E 12 12 G 21
9 5 14 14 5 19 19 9 28

0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 6
0 A 2 2 C 6 6 F 17 17 H 22 22 L 25
0 2 2 2 4 6 6 11 17 23 5 28 28 3 31

End
7 0 0 0 0 0
2 D 10 17 I 25 25 K 31
9 8 17 17 8 25 25 6 31
10 10
10 J 15
20 5 25

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Example 2 Activity IPA Duration

A ---- 4
B ---- 2
C A 5
D A 3
E C 3
F C,D,G 4
G B 3
H G 5
I G 6
J E 4
K H 4
L K 5
M K,I 2
N F.J 9
O L,M 4
P L,M 6

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