Engineering Project

Management (EPM)
Lecture 7

Dr Yasir Ahmad
PROJECT SCHEDULE
MANAGEMENT
 PROJECT SCHEDULE
MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

Project Schedule
Mgmt

1 Plan 3 Sequence 5 Develop

Schedule Mgmt Activities Schedule

2 Define 4 Estimate 6 Control

Activities Activity Durations Schedule
 PERT/CPM

CPM
PERT

• Progm Eval and Review • Critical Path Method

Technique • Dev by Dupont &
• Dev by US Navy for Remington
Polaris Msl Proj • Dev to handle certain
• Dev to handle activity times
uncertain activity times
 ACTIVITY: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
Frank’s Fine Floats is in the business of building
elaborate parade floats. Frank and his crew have a
new float to build and want to use PERT/CPM to help
them manage the project .
The table on the next slide shows the activities
that comprise the project. Each activity’s estimated
completion time (in days) and immediate
predecessors are listed as well.
Frank wants to know the total time to complete
the project, which activities are critical, and the
earliest and latest start and finish dates for each
activity.
 ACTIVITY: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
Immediate Completion
Activity Description Predecessors Time (days)
A Initial Paperwork --- 3
B Build Body A 3
C Build Frame A 2
D Finish Body B 3
E Finish Frame C 7
F Final Paperwork B,C 3
G Mount Body to Frame D,E 6
H Install Skirt on Frame C 2
AC T I V I T Y O N N O D E
( A S O P P O S E D TO AC T I V I T Y O N A R ROW )

Activity
name
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
B D
3 3 G
6
F
3
Start
A
Finish
3 E
7
C H
2 2
 EARLIEST START AND FINISH
TIMES

Step 1: Make a forward pass through the network

as follows: For each activity i beginning at the Start
node, compute:
• Earliest Start Time = the maximum of the earliest finish
times of all activities immediately preceding activity i.
(This is 0 for an activity with no predecessors.)
• Earliest Finish Time = (Earliest Start Time) + (Time to
complete activity i ).
The project completion time is the maximum of the
Earliest Finish Times at the Finish node.
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
B 3 6 D 6 9
3 3 G 12 18
6
F 6 9
3
Start
A 0 3
Finish
3 E 5 12

3 5
7
C H 5 7
2 2

Earliest Start and Finish Times

 LATEST START AND FINISH TIMES

• Step 2: Make a backwards pass through the

network as follows: Move sequentially backwards
from the Finish node to the Start node. At a given
node, j, consider all activities ending at node j. For
each of these activities, i, compute:
• Latest Finish Time = the minimum of the latest start
times beginning at node j. (For node N, this is the
project completion time.)
• Latest Start Time = (Latest Finish Time) - (Time to
complete activity i ).
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
B 3 6 D 6 9
3 6 9 3 9 12 G 12 18
6 12 18
F 6 9
3 15 18
Start
A 0 3
Finish
3 0 3 E 5 12

3 5
7 5 12
C H 5 7
2 3 5 2 16 18

Latest Start and Finish Times

 DETERMINING THE CRITICAL
PATH

• Step 3: Calculate the slack time for each activity by:

Slack = (Latest Start) - (Earliest Start), or
= (Latest Finish) - (Earliest Finish).
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
• Activity Slack Time

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A 0 3 0 3 0 (critical)
B 3 6 6 9 3
C 3 5 3 5 0 (critical)
D 6 9 9 12 3
E 5 12 5 12 0 (critical)
F 6 9 15 18 9
G 12 18 12 18 0 (critical)
H 5 7 16 18 11
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS
• Determining the Critical Path
• A critical path is a path of activities, from the Start node to
the Finish node, with 0 slack times.

• Critical Path: A–C–E–G

• The project completion time equals the maximum of the

activities’ earliest finish times.
• Project Completion Time: 18 days
 EXAMPLE: FRANK’S FINE
FLOATS

B 3 6 D 6 9
3 6 9 3 9 12 G 12 18
6 12 18
F 6 9
3 15 18
Start
A 0 3
Finish
3 0 3 E 5 12

3 5
7 5 12
C H 5 7
2 3 5 2 16 18

Critical Path
 UNCERTAIN ACTIVITY TIMES
• In the three-time estimate approach, the time to
complete an activity is assumed to follow a triangular
distribution.
• An activity’s mean completion time is:

t = (a + m + b)/3

• a = the optimistic completion time estimate

• b = the pessimistic completion time estimate
• m = the most likely completion time estimate
Types of Dependencies or Logical
Relationships
Precedence Diagramming Method
Finish-to-start (FS). A logical relationship in which a
successor activity cannot start until a predecessor
activity has finished. For example, installing the
operating system on a PC (successor) cannot start
until the PC hardware is assembled (predecessor).
Precedence Diagramming Method
Finish-to-finish (FF). A logical relationship in which a
successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor
activity has finished. For example, writing a
document (predecessor) is required to finish before
editing the document (successor) can finish.
Precedence Diagramming Method
Start-to-start (SS). A logical relationship in which a
successor activity cannot start until a predecessor
activity has started. For example, level concrete
(successor) cannot begin until pour foundation
(predecessor) begins.
Precedence Diagramming Method
Start-to-finish (SF). A logical relationship in which a
successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor
activity has started. For example, a new accounts
payable system (successor) has to start before the
old accounts payable system can be shut down
(predecessor).
Cake Example
Precedence Diagramming Method
FS is the most commonly used type of precedence
relationship. The SF relationship is very rarely used,
but is included to present a complete list of the PDM
relationship types.
Precedence Diagramming Method
Lead and Lag
A lead is the amount of time a successor
activity can be advanced with respect to a
predecessor activity.
For example, on a project to construct a new
office building, the landscaping could be
scheduled to start 2 weeks prior to the
scheduled punch list completion. This would
be shown as a finish-to-start with a 2-week
lead. Lead is often represented as a negative
value for lag in scheduling software.
Lead and Lag
A lag is the amount of time a successor activity
will be delayed with respect to a predecessor
activity.
For example, a technical writing team may begin
editing the draft of a large document 15 days
after they begin writing it. This can be shown as
a start-to-start relationship with a 15-day lag as
shown in Figure.
Examples of Lead and Lag
Project Schedule Network
Diagram
Example: EarthMover, Inc.
EarthMover is a manufacturer of road construction
equipment including pavers, rollers, and graders. The
company is faced with a new
project, introducing a new
line of loaders. Management
is concerned that the project might
take longer than 26 weeks to
complete without crashing some
activities.
Example: EarthMover, Inc.
Immediate Completion
Activity Description Predecessors Time (wks)
A Study Feasibility --- 6
B Purchase Building A 4
C Hire Project Leader A 3
D Select Advertising Staff B 6
E Purchase Materials B 3
F Hire Manufacturing Staff B,C 10
G Manufacture Prototype E,F 2
H Produce First 50 Units G 6
I Advertise Product D,G 8