PERT/CPM

By
Medard Muganzi
muganzimedard@yahoo.co.uk
 PERT/CPM
• PERT
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique
• Developed by U.S. Navy for Polaris submarine missile
program of their project office
• Developed to handle uncertain activity times
• CPM
• Critical Path Method
• Developed by Du Pont & Remington Rand
• Developed for industrial projects for which activity times
generally were known
• Today’s project management software packages have
combined the best features of both approaches.
PERT/CPM
• PERT and CPM have been used to plan, schedule, and control
a wide variety of projects:
• R&D of new products and processes
• Construction of buildings and highways
• Maintenance of large and complex equipment
• Design and installation of new systems
PERT/CPM
• PERT/CPM is used to plan the scheduling of individual
activities that make up a project.
• Projects may have as many as several thousand activities.
• A complicating factor in carrying out the activities is that
some activities depend on the completion of other activities
before they can be started.
 PERT/CPM
• Project managers rely on PERT/CPM to help them answer
questions such as:
• What is the total time to complete the project?
• What are the scheduled start and finish dates for each
specific activity?
• Which activities are critical and must be completed
exactly as scheduled to keep the project on schedule?
• How long can noncritical activities be delayed before
they cause an increase in the project completion
time?
Assumption of PERT/CPM
• The project is capable of being broken into small distinct
components activities.
• The flow of activities during project execution is clear and
known.
• Time required for carrying out this activities can be
estimated to a reasonable level of accuracy
• All other factors remain constant during project execution.
Distinction between PERT and CPM
• CPM is deterministic while PERT is probabilistic
• CPM is used in projects whose activities are predictable e.g.
construction works. While PERT is used in projects whose
activities are not predictable e.g. Research and Development
projects.
Importance of network planning
• It helps in identifying the components activities that make up
a project.
• Helps in determining the flow of those activities during
project implementation.
• It helps in determining the critical parts of the project.
• It helps in determining and controlling project cost
• It helps in determining the time required to implement a
project
• It helps in project resource planning.
 NETWORK TERMINOLOGIES
• Activity . A task or a certain amount of work required in a
project, it requires time and resources. Its represented by
an arrow.
• Dummy activity: indicates only predecessor relationship
and do not require time and resources
• Event. Signals the beginning or ending of an activity, it
designates a point in time. Its represented by a circle or
square but a circle(node) is most commonly used.
• Path. A connected sequence of activities leading from the
starting event to the ending event.
 Network Terminologies. Cont,d
• Critical path. Longest sequence of tasks that must be
completed to successfully conclude a project, from start
to finish. Its the longest path (this determines the project
duration)
• Critical activities: These are activities with no slack/float.
• Earliest start (ES). The earliest that an activity can begin
• Earliest finish: the earliest that an activity can complete
(ES + activity time).
• Latest Finish: the latest that an activity can finish and not
change the project completion time.
 Network Terminologies. Cont,d

• Latest start. The latest that an activity can begin (LF-activity

time)
• Slack. Is the maximum amount of time that an activity can
delay its completion before it becomes a critical activity. i.e
delays project completion (LS-ES) = (LF-EF)
Network
• This is a combination of activities, dummy activities and
events in a logical sequence according to the rules for
drawing networks.
• Network: shows the sequential relationship among activities
using nodes and arrows
• Thus a small network might appear as follows:
Rules for drawing Networks
1. A complete network must have only one point of entry and one
point of exit.
2. Every activity must have only one preceding event and only one
succeeding event.
3. An event can have more than one preceding and succeeding
activities.
4. No activity can start until the tail event is reached.
5. No two activities can start and end in the same events.
6. An event is not complete until all activities leading into it are
complete.
7. All activities must face the same direction
8. All activities must be tied into the network
9. Networks are not drawn to scale
How to draw a network diagram
Different Display Techniques:
1.Activity in the box (AIB)
2
Select
Software
5 days
2.Activity on the arrow (AOA)

A B
How to
draw a
network
diagram
AOA
fundamentals

15
How to draw a network diagram
Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network
Diagram for Project X
 How to draw a network diagram
Steps for Creating AOA Diagrams
1. Findall of the activities that start at node 1. Draw their finish nodes and
draw arrows between node 1 and those finish nodes. Put the activity
letter or name and duration estimate on the associated arrow
2. Continuing drawing the network diagram, working from left to right. Look
for bursts and merges. Bursts occur when a single node is followed by two
or more activities. A merge occurs when two or more nodes precede a
single node
3. Continue drawing the project network diagram until all activities are
included on the diagram that have dependencies
4. As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the right, and no
arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram
 How to draw a network diagram
we’ll need to link activities
together.

Sometimes we might
want to show:

Preceding
Activity
Activity

A -
B A
C B
A B C
How to draw a network diagram

Sometimes we might
want to show:

Preceding
Activity
Activity

M K,L
K
M
L
How to draw a network diagram

Sometimes we might
want to show:

Preceding
Activity
Activity

B
B A
A C A
C
 How to draw a network diagram
There is one complication that we need to allow for.

Sometimes we have to use

Dummy activities.

We use a dashed
arrow to record these.

A dummy activity may be needed:

• to prevent 2 or more activities sharing the same starting and ending

events.

• to maintain network logic – i.e. to ensure that the network abides by

the precedence table.
RULES
How to draw a network diagram
N
Does the diagram below abide by Two or more activities
the rules for drawing network may not share the
diagrams? same starting and
ending event.

O
A
C
B

Activity Preceding Activity

C A,B
RULES
How to draw a network diagram
Use a dummy activity. Here’s one way in which it can be done. It prevents
A & B from sharing the same starting and ending event.

C
Loops or a series of activities that lead back to the same event
are not allowed because the essence of network is a
progression of activities always moving onwards in time.
•

“loops” not to be used

All activities must be tied to the network i.e they must
contribute to the progression or be discarded as irrelevant.
Activity which do not link into the overall project are termed
“danglers” should not be used, (except in the case of the one
and only end node)

• Dangling activity
Example of network development
• Develop a network for a project with the following activities and immediate
predecessors.
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR

A -

B -

C B

D A

E B,C

F B,C

G D,E,F
Solution

END
A D G

E
start
C
B
F
Developing Project Net work using AIB/AON.
Project Exercises
Project 1: Verification of a computer system
The followng table shows the activities required for this project.

Activity Duration
ID Activity Immediate Predecessor (Days)
1 Test Module A none 4
2 Test Module B Test Module A 6
3 Test Module C none 7
4 Test Combined Modules Test Module B, Test Module C 4
5 Check User Documents Test Combined Modules 5
6 Print User Documents Check User Documents 2
7 Final Systems Check Test Combined Modules 9
8 Prepare Invoice Final Systems Check 1
9 Ship to Customer Print User Documents, Final 2
Systems Check

28
Project Exercise
4 6 9 1

7. Final System 8. Prepare

1. Test Module A 2. Test Module B
Check invoice

4. Test Combined
Modules 2

9. Ship to
Customer

7 5 2

5. Check User 6. Print User

3. Test Module C
Documents Documents

29
What’s in the box?

Earliest Estimated Earliest

Start Duration Finish

Activity Number
Activity Description

Latest Latest
Float
Start Finish

30
Two Parts to the Analysis
• Forward Pass
• Calculates the Duration of the Project
• Backward Pass
• Calculates the slack/float for each task and shows the
critical path

31
Forward Pass
• In project management it is used
• To calculate the total duration of the Project…

• For each task:

• Take the earliest start time (EST)
• Calculate the Earliest finish time (EFT):

EFT = EST+Duration

32
Example.
• Given the information shown below, find the early start time and
early finish time for activity/task B and C.
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR DURATION
A - 27 days
B A 5 days
C A 10 days
Forward Pass

0 27 27 27 5 32
Task A Task B

27 10 37
Task C

34
Example.
• Given the information shown below, find the early start time and
early finish time for activity/task C.
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR DURATION

A - 27 days

B - 12 days

C A ,B 5 days
Forward Pass

0 27 27 ??
27 5 ??
32
Task A Task C

10
0 12 22
12
Task B

36
Project Exercise

4 6 9 1

7. Final System 8. Prepare

1. Test Module A 2. Test Module B
Check invoice

4. Test Combined
Modules 2

9. Ship to
Customer

7 5 2

5. Check User 6. Print User

3. Test Module C
Documents Documents

37
Start and Finish Nodes
0 4 4 4 6 10 14 9 23 23 1 24
0 0 0
7. Final System 8. Prepare
Start 1. Test Module A 2. Test Module B
Check invoice

10 4 14

4. Test Combined
Modules 23 2 25
25 0 25
9. Ship to
Finish
Customer

0 7 7 14 5 19 19 2 21

5. Check User 6. Print User

3. Test Module C
Documents Documents

38
Backward Pass
• To calculate the float for each task?

• For each task:

• Take the latest start time (LST)
• Calculate the latest finish time (LFT):

LST = LFT-Duration

39
Example.
• Given the information shown below, find the late start time and late
finish time for activity/task A & B.
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE DURATION
PREDECESSOR
A - 27 days
B - 12 days
C A ,B 5 days
Backward Pass

0 27 27 27 5 32
Task A Task C

0 27 27 32

10
0 12 22
12
Task B

15 27

41
Example.
• Given the information shown below, find the late start time and late
finish time for activity/task A.
ACTIVITY IMMEDIATE DURATION EARLY START
PREDECESSOR
A - 7 days 0 days
B A 7 days 10 days
C A 9 days
Backward Pass

27
0 7 34
7 34
10 7 41
17
Task A Task B

3 10 41
10 48
17

34
7 9 43
16
Task C

36
10 45
17

43
Ex1 - After Backward Pass
0 4 4 4 6 10 14 9 23 23 1 24
0 0 0
7. Final System 8. Prepare
Start 1. Test Module A 2. Test Module B
Check invoice
0 0
0 4 4 10 14 23 24 25

10 4 14

4. Test Combined
Modules 23 2 25
25 0 25
10 14 9. Ship to
Finish
Customer
25 25
23 25

0 7 7 14 5 19 19 2 21

5. Check User 6. Print User

3. Test Module C
Documents Documents

3 10 15 21 21 23

44
What about the float?
• Float = LFT-EFT
• Or
• Float = LST-EST

45
What about the float?
• Float represents the amount of time that the task can be
delayed without affecting the outcome of the project
• A task with zero float cannot be delayed and is therefore
critical to the timely completion of the project
• A time optimised project will have a sequence of tasks from
start to finish that have zero float
• This sequence of tasks is called the critical path

46
The
ProjectFloat/Slack
Scheduling – Step 5. is calculated as follows:
Determine Project Duration
Late Finish time (LF) - Early Finish time (EF)
• If the difference is Zero, then the activity is critical.
• If the result is a number greater than zero, then
the activity is not critical and has float.

47
The Critical
Project Path
Scheduling – Step tells
5. management the activities that are
Determine Project Duration
critical or essential in completing the project on time.
It is also important for management to look at activities
with minor float because any delays in those activities
could cause them to be on the critical path.
The Critical Path tells you the activities that can not slip a
day without increasing the total duration of the project
or moving the project completion date. It is the longest
path of logically related activities through the network
which cannot slip without impacting the total project
duration, termed zero float.

48
 Ex1 – Float
0 4 4 4 6 10 14 9 23 23 1 24
0 0 0
7. Final System 8. Prepare
Start 1. Test Module A 2. Test Module B
Check invoice
0 0 0
0 0 4 4 0 10 14 0 23 24 1 25

10 4 14

4. Test Combined
Modules 23 2 25
25 0 25
10 0 14 9. Ship to
Finish
Customer
25 0 25
23 0 25

0 7 7 14 5 19 19 2 21

5. Check User 6. Print User

3. Test Module C
Documents Documents

3 3 10 15 2 21 21 2 23

49
Critical Path Activities and Duration of project
Critical Activities
• Activities 1,2,4, 7 &9 are on a critical path

Duration of the project

• Add duration of each activity of the critical path
=4+6+4+9+2 = 25 Days
 More on the Critical Path
• If one or more activities on the critical path takes longer than
planned, the whole project schedule will slip unless corrective
action is taken
• Misconceptions:
• The critical path is not the one with all the critical activities; it only
accounts for time.
• There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more
paths are the same
• The critical path can change as the project progresses

51
Techniques for Shortening a Project Schedule
• Shortening durations of critical tasks by adding more
resources or changing their scope
• Crashing tasks by obtaining the greatest amount of
schedule compression for the least incremental cost
• Fast tracking tasks by doing them in parallel or
overlapping them
 END
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