Critical Activity : An activity is said to be

critical if a delay in its start will cause further

delay in completion of the entire project .
Critical Path : The sequence of critical activities

in a network is called the critical path . It is the

longest path in the network from the starting
event to the ending event and defines the
minimum time required to complete the project .
In the network it is denoted by double line.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Critical Path Method (CPM) is the technique to
determine the duration of a project with great accuracy .
What is Critical Path ?
- The critical path is defined as the largest duration path

between the first and the last nodes of a project .

- Different paths are possible between these first and last

nodes .

- While tracing a path from the first node to the last

node , one should always move along the direction of

the arrows .

- The duration of a path is simply the sum of the duration

of all the activities on the path .

- Duration of a project is always the same as the duration

of its Critical Path .

Critical Path

Schwalbe

Problem-1
Tasks/Activiti

Time (Days)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

2
3
4
1
2
5
7
2
3

es

Required
Predecessor
s
A
B
B
C
D,E
F,G

Problem-2
Tasks/Activiti
es

Time
(Months)

A
B
C
D
E
F

5
1
2
4
6
3

Required
Predecessor
s
B
A,C
A
D,E

(a) Draw the Network Diagram .

(b) Find the Critical Path and longest duration of the

We are interested in knowing when can an

individual activity (activities) start and finish
at the earliest if no delay occurs .

1.
2.

Having no delay means :

The actual duration of each activity is the
same as its estimated duration .
Each activity begins as soon as all its
immediate predecessors are finished .

Early Start Time / Early Finish

Time

Earliest Starting Time (ES) : The starting time

of each activity if no delay occur anywhere is
called earliest start time .
Earliest Finish Time (EF) : The finishing time
of each activity if no delay occur anywhere is
called earliest finish time .

EF=ES + Estimated duration of the

activity .
ES=Largest EF of its immediate

Schedule Trade-offs

Free slack or free float is the amount of time

an activity can be delayed without delaying the

early start of any immediately following
activities.
Total slack or total float is the amount of time
an activity can be delayed from its early start
without delaying the planned project finish date.
A forward pass through the network diagram
determines the early start and finish dates.
A backward pass determines the late start and
finish dates.

Program Evaluation and Review

Technique (PERT)
PERT is a network analysis technique used to

estimate project duration when there is a high

degree of uncertainty about the individual
activity duration estimates.
PERT uses probabilistic time estimates:
Duration estimates based on using optimistic,

most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity

durations, or a three-point estimate.

Uncertain Activity Durations

Project activity durations are not
known with certainty . It is very rare
that the actual duration will be equal
to the estimated duration . Duration
of each activity is a variable having
a probability distribution .
PERT assumes this distribution to be
a beta distribution and allows three
estimates .

Most likely estimate : (M ) This is the time

estimate that has the highest probability of

occurrence .
Optimistic Estimate :(O) This is the shortest
possible time estimate of an activity .This is
the estimate of duration under most favorable
conditions .
Pessimistic Estimate :(P) This is the longest
possible time estimate of an activity .This is
the estimate of duration under most
unfavorable conditions .

PERT Formula and Example

PERT weighted average =

optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time

6

Example:
PERT weighted average =
8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12
days
6
where:
optimistic time= 8 days
most likely time = 10 days
pessimistic time = 24 days
Therefore, youd use 12 days on the network diagram
instead of 10 when using PERT for the above example.

Problem on PERT
The following table gives details about the various activities of a project . Find
(a) The Critical path of the project and its expected duration . (b) the probability
that the project will be completed within 50 days .

Activity

Node

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J

1-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
3-6
4-6
5-7
6-7
7-8
7-9

10
6
5
1
3
4
1
3
9
3

11
10
8
5
7
9
2
7
12
5

12
14
11
9
5
14
3
11
15
7