Week 5

Developing a Project Plan

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Where We Are Now

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 Developing the Project Plan
• The Project Network
– Tool used for planning, scheduling and monitoring
project progress.
– A graphic flow chart of the project job plan.
– Depicts the project activities that must be completed,
the logical sequences, the interdependencies of the
activities, times for the activities to start and finish
along the longest path(s) (critical path).
– Framework for the project information system that will
be used by project managers to make decisions
concerning project time, cost and performance.

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 Developing the Project Plan
• The Project Network
– Provides the basis for scheduling labor and
equipment.
– Enhances communication among project participants.
– Provides an estimate of the project’s duration.
– Provides a basis for budgeting cash flow.
– Identifies activities that are critical.
– Highlights activities that are “critical” and can not be
delayed.
– Minimize surprises by getting plan out early and
allowing corrective feedbacks.
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 WBS/Work Packages to Network
– Project networks are developed from WBS.
– Project networks is a visual flow diagram of the
O sequence, interrelationships, and dependencies of all
the activities that mush be accomplished to complete
the project.
– An activity is an element in the project that consumes
time.
– Work packages from the WBS are used to build the
activities found in the project network.
– An activity can include one or more work packages.
– Project network provides the project schedule by
identifying dependencies, sequencing and timing of
activities, which WBS is not designed to do.
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 WBS/Work Packages to Network
Developing a network requires
sequencing tasks from all work
packages I
ia
2 2 Cal
2Cb
3 3a

4 THE

FIGURE 6.1
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 Constructing a Project Network

• Terminology
– Activity: an element of the A
project that requires time. DA
Myerseativity

– Merge Activity: an activity that

has two or more preceding B D
activities on which it depends (D).
– Parallel (Concurrent) Activities: Initiates
Activities that can occur at the C
same time (C & D).

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 Constructing a Project Network (cont’d)
• Terminology
Tolink 2activities
– Path: a sequence of connected, dependent activities.
– Critical path: The path with the longest duration
through the network. If activity on the path is delayed,
the project is delayed the same amount of time.

CP Path with longestduration

C
P Mergeactivity

A B D

(Assumes that minimum of A + B > minimum of C in length of times to complete activities.)

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 Constructing a Project Network (cont’d)
• Terminology
– Event: a point in time when an activity is started
or completed. It does not consume time.
– Burst Activity: an activity that has more than one
activity immediately following it (A). EZ
• Two Approaches B Node
– Activity-on-Node (AON) EI Arrow
• Uses a node to depict an activity.
– Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) A C
• Uses an arrow to depict an activity.
w
Burstactivity D

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 Basic Rules to Follow in Developing
Project Networks

1. Networks typically flow from left to right.

2. An activity cannot begin until all preceding
connected activities are complete.
3. Arrows indicate precedence and flow
and can cross over each other.
4. Each activity must have a unique identification
number that is greater than any of its predecessor
activities.
5. Looping is not allowed.
6. Conditional statements are not allowed.
7. Use common start and stop nodes.
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Activity-on-Node Fundamentals

FIGURE 6.2
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Activity-on-Node Fundamentals (cont’d)

FIGURE 6.2 (cont’d)

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 Project Network for Maggie Mee

A B C D E

Boil the noodles Take out the Boil another pot Put vegetable, Shut the fire, put
in a pot with noodles and of water and put prawn and egg the seasoning
water throw way the the noodles into into the water powder
water the boiling water
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Project Network for Automated Warehouse

É Merge
Burst

TABLE 6.1
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 Network Computation Process
• Forward Pass—Earliest Times
– How soon can the activity start? (early start—ES)
– How soon can the activity finish? (early finish—EF)
– How soon can the project finish? (expected time—ET)
• Backward Pass—Latest Times
– How late can the activity start? (late start—LS)
– How late can the activity finish? (late finish—LF)
– Which activities represent the critical path? LongestDuration
– How long can activity be delayed? (slack or float—SL)

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 Network Information

1207 9351
Bst

1a Ea TABLE 6.2

C 16

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Activity-on-Node Network

FIGURE 6.5
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 EF EST DUR
Forward Pass Computation

• Add activity times along each path in the

network (ES + Duration = EF).
• Carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity
where it becomes its early start (ES) unless…
• The next succeeding activity is a merge activity,
in which case the largest EF of all preceding
activities is selected.

I EE ESTDUR
2 NextEs becomes Previous EF enept
18 merge
 ES EF
LS LF

AEF 1045 Bes 15720 DEF

2
0410 AEF 10475 Ces 35150 Takelargest EF

CES 35415

a LS LF Duration b Prevts next LF unless burst smallestLF

LF LS LF LS LF
4 245
1
ES EF
Burst

LS LF LS10
1010
 Backward Pass Computation
• Subtract activity times along each path in the
network (LF - Duration = LS). LS LF Duration
• Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity
LS LEZ
where it becomes its late finish (LF) unless
• The next succeeding activity is a burst activity,
in which case the smallest LF of all preceding
activities is selected.

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 TS LS ES LF EF

Determining Slack (or Float)

• Total Slack (TS)
– Amount of time an activity can be delayed and not
delay the project.
– Amount of time an activity can exceed its early finish
date without affecting the project end date.
– TS = LS-ES = LF-EF.
– Critical path can be identified as those activities that
also have LF=EF or a slack of zero (LF-EF=0, LS-
ES=0)
– The critical path is the network path(s) that has (have)
the least slack in common.

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 TS LS ES LF EF Fs
Forward and Backward Passes Completed with Slack Times

Es EF T Y

15 LF

TS LSTs

face FIGURE 6.8

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 Determining Slack (or Float)
• Sensitivity
– The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change
once the project is initiated.
– Is a function of the number of critical or near-critical
paths.
– A network schedule that has only one critical path
O and non-critical activities would be labeled insensitive.
– A sensitive network would be one with more than one
0 critical path and /or noncritical activities with very little
slack. TS
– Under these circumstances, the original critical path
O is much more likely to change once work get under
way on the project. A senstive network will cause origina
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entrial path to change

 g

Determining Slack (or Float)

• Sensitivity
– Since there is only one critical path and the two other
noncritical paths have 15 and 35 days of slack, the
Automated Warehouse schedule is considerable
flexible.
– Project managers assess the sensitivity of their
network schedules to determine how much attention
they should devote to managing the critical path.

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 Determining Free Slack (or Float)
• Free Slack (or Float) (FS)
Amount of time an activitycanbedelayed
Wtodelayingtheprevious activity
– Amount of time an activity can be delayed without
delaying any immediate following (successor)
activities.
– Or amount of time an activity can exceed its early
finish date without affecting the early start date of any
successor(s).
– FS can never be negative.
– Only activities that occur at the end of a chain of
activities, where you have a merge activity, can have
free slack.

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 Determining Free Slack (or Float)
• Free Slack (or Float) (FS) Howto calculate Freestack
– In Fig. 6.8, activity G has FS of 15 days while
activities B and D do not.
– If activity B is delayed for 5 days, the following
activities (D and G) will have their slack reduced to 10
days and their early start will be delayed 5 days.
– In this example, activity D cannot then start until day
20, which reduces activity D slack to 10 days (LS-
ES=SL or 30-20=10).
– Free slack for activity G is also reduced to 10 days.

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 Practical Considerations
• Network Logic Errors
Notallepted
– No conditional statement such as “if test
successful build proto, if failure redesign”.
– No looping, which is an attempt to return to
an earlier activitiy.

• Activity Numbering
– Each activity needs a unique identification
code – a letter or a number.
– Numbering in ascending order and not done
until after the network is complete.

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 Practical Considerations
• Use of Computers to Develop Networks
– Used with computer software
– Project network and Gantt Chart
x
• Calendar Dates
– Computer programme assign calendar
dates automatically after identifying start
dates, time units, non-workdays and other
information.
x
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 Practical Considerations
• Multiple Starts and Multiple Projects
– Dangler paths give impression that the
project does not have a clear beginning and
ending.
– Avoid dangler paths by tying dangler
activities to a common project start or finish
node.
– For multiple projects, use a common start
and end node to help to identify the total
planning period of all projects.
– Use of pseudo or dummy wait activities from
the common start node allows different start
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dates for each project.
 Automated Warehouse Order Picking System Network

Calender date

FIGURE 6.10
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 Automated Order Warehouse Picking System Bar Chart

Gantt chart

Gray bar indicates the critical path.

FIGURE 6.11
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 Extended Network Techniques
to Come Close to Reality
• Laddering Breaking an activity
– Activities are broken into segments so the following
activity can begin sooner and not delay the work.
– Example: Laying pipe project for 1 mile. Not
necessary dig one mile of trench before the laying
pipe can begin or lay one mile of pipe before refill
can begin.

I
FIGURE 6.12
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 Extended Network Techniques
to Come Close to Reality

• Lags B
– The minimum amount of time a dependent activity
must be delayed to begin or end.
– Use for two primary reasons:
• Lengthy activities are broken down into smaller activities to
reduce the delay in the start of successor activities.
• Lags can be used to constrain start and finish of an activity.
– The most common used relationship extensions are
start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-finish, finish-to-
start.

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 Use of Lags

Finish-to-Start Relationship
– Next activity in a sequence must be delayed even
when the preceding activity is completed.
– For example, removing the concrete forms cannot
begin until the poured cement has cured for two time
units.
– Frequently used when ordering materials,
transportation, legal and mail lags.
– For example, it may take 1 day to place orders but
take 19 days to receive the goods.

FIGURE 6.13
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 Use of Lags

Start-to-Start Relationship
– Activity Q cannot begin until five-time units after
activity P begins.
– Perform a portion of one activity and begin a following
activity before completing the first.
– In pipe laying project, the start-to-start relationship
reduces network detail and project delays using lag
relationship.

FIGURE 6.15
FIGURE 6.14
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New Product Development
Process
FIGURE 6.16

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 Use of Lags (cont’d)

Finish-to-Finish Relationship
– The finish of one activity depends on the finish of another activity.
– For example, testing cannot be completed after any earlier than four
days after the prototype is complete (Fig. 6.17).

Start-to-Finish Relationship
– The finish of the activity depends on the start of another activity.
– For example, system documentation cannot end until three days after
testing has started (Fig. 6.18). All relevant information to complete the
system documentation is produced after the first 3 days of testing.

FIGURE 6.17 FIGURE 6.18

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 Use of Lags (cont’d)

Combination Relationship
– More than one lag relationship can be attached to one activity.
– There relationships are usually start-to-start and finish-to-finish
combinations tied to two activities.
– For example, debug cannot begin until two time units after coding has
started.
– Coding must be finished four days before debug can be finished.

FIGURE 6.19

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Network Using Lags

FIGURE 6.20
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 Use of Lags (cont’d)

• 3 days into the design of the system (activity A), it is possible

to order the required hardware (activity B).
• It takes 4 days after the order is placed (activity B) for the
hardware to arrive so it can begin to be installed (activity C).
• After 2 days of installing the software system (activity D), the
testing of the system can begin (activity E).
• System testing (activity E) can be completed 2 days after the
software is installed (activity D).
• Preparing system documentation (activity F) can begin once
the design is completed (activity A) but cannot be completed
until 2 days after testing the system (activity E).
• The critical path is indicated by the dashed line on the
network.

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 Hammock Activities
• Hammock Activity
– Spans over a segment of a project.
– Has a duration that is determined after the network
plan is drawn.
– Frequently used to identify the use of fixed resources
or costs over a segment of the project.
– Typical examples of Hammock activities are
inspection services, consultants or construction
management services.
– Is very useful in assigning and controlling indirect
project costs.
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 Hammock Activities
• For example, a special color photocopy machine is
needed for a segment of a tradeshow publication
project.
• A Hammock activity can be used to indicate the need for
this resource and to apply costs over this segment of the
project.
• This Hammock is linked from the start of the first activity
in the segment that uses the color photocopy machine to
the end of the last activity that uses it.
• The Hammock duration is the difference between the EF
for the last activity and ES of the first activity.

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Hammock Activity Example

FIGURE 6.21
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 Hammock Activity Example

• Fig. 6.21 shows the example of Hammock activity used

in a network.
• The duration for the Hammock activity is derived from
the early start of activity B and the early finish of activity
F, that is difference between 13 and 5 or 8 time units.

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 Key Terms

Activity Gantt chart

Activity-on-arrow (AOA) Hammock activity
Activity-on-node (AON) Lag relationship
Burst activity Merge activity
Concurrent engineering Parallel activity
Critical path Sensitivity
Early and late times Total slack
Free slack

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Exercise 1:

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Exercise 2

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Exercise 3

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Exercise 4

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 Answer Exercise 1

C is the burst activity, G is the merge activity.

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Answer Exercise 2

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Answer Exercise 3

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Answer Exercise 4

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