Activity Planning

Defining Project and Activities

 A project is composed of a number of interrelated
activities
A project may start when at least one of its activities
is ready to start
A project will be completed when all of the activities
it encompasses have been completed
Defining Project and Activities
An activity must have a clearly defined start and a
clearly defined end-point
The duration of an activity must be forecastable
Some activities might require that others are
completed before they can begin
Identifying Activities
 Three approaches
 Activity based Approach (WBS)
 Product Based Approach
 Hybrid Approach
Types of Dependencies
 There are four kinds of dependencies with respect to
ordering terminal elements

 Finish to start (FS)

A FS B = B doesn't start before A is finished

 Finish to finish (FF)

A FF B = B doesn't finish before A is finished
 (Last chapter written) FF (Entire book written)
Contd..
 Start to start (SS).

 A SS B = B doesn't start before A starts

 (Project work started) SS (Project management activities started)

 Start to finish (SF)

 A SF B = B doesn't finish before A starts

(New shift started) SF (Previous shift finished)
Cont..
Network Planning Models
 We make Precedence network
 use activity on arrow approach
 use activity on node approach
Activity on Node
Network Planning Models
Activity-On-node
EXAMPLE OF ACTIVITY ON ARROW
Activity on arrow consists of
Circles representing Events Such as ‘start’ or ‘end’ of a
given task. Lines representing Tasks

1 3

4
Activity on Arrow
2 4 5

1 6

3
 Lag Time
For example,
 if there must be a two-day delay between the finish of one task
and the start of another, you can establish a finish-to-start
dependency and specify two days of lag time for the successor
task.

 You enter the lag time as a positive value.

Lead Time
 For example, if a task can start when its
predecessor is half finished, you can
establish a finish-to-start dependency and
specify a lead time of 50% for the successor
task.
 Formulating a
Network Model
Rules for constructing activity
on node network model
 A project network should have only one start node
 A project network should only have one end node
 A node has duration
 Links normally have no duration
 Precedents are the immediate preceding activities
 A network may not contain loops
 A network should not contain dangles
 Labeling conventions
6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Activity-On-Arrow Rules and Conventions [1/2]

 A project network may have only one start

node
 A project network may have only one end
node
 A link has duration
 Nodes have no duration
 Nodes are numbered sequentially

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Rules for formulating activity on node Network Model

 A project network should have only one start

node
 More than one activity starting at once? Invent a
‘start’ activity with zero duration
 A project network should have only one end
node
 If necessary, invent an ‘end’ activity

Chapter 6-18
A node has duration
 Node represents an activity
 Activity has duration
 All activities except the first and the last activity
must have:
 At least one activity entering them

 At lease one activity leaving them

Links normally have no
duration
 Links show relationship but have no duration

code

Program
install
test
Data
Take on
Fragment of precedence network
Rules for formulating activity on node Network Model

 Precedents are the immediate preceding

activities

 All have to be completed before an activity

can be started

Chapter 6-21
6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Fragment of A CPM Network - Events

 Node 3 is the event that both ‘coding’ and ‘data

take-on’ have been completed and activity
‘program test’ is free to start

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Rules for formulating activity on node Network Model

 A network may not contain loops

Chapter 6-23
Rules for formulating activity on node Network Model

 A network should not contain dangles

Chapter 6-24
6.8 Formulating A Network Model
Resolving The Dangle
 The figure implies that the project is complete once the
software has been installed and the user manual written
 We should redraw the network with a final completion activity

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6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Activity-On-Arrow Rules and Conventions [2/2]

 A network may not contain loop

 A network may not contain dangle

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6.8 Formulating A Network Model
Labelling Convention

 There are a number of differing conventions that

have been adopted
 Example
6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Activity Labelling

 Typically the diagram is used to record

information about the events rather than
activities
 One of the more common is to divide the
node circle in quadrants

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6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Using Dummy Activities [1/3]

 A logical error occurs when two paths (‘specify

hardware’ and ‘design data structure’) within a
network have a common event although they are
independent

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6.16 Activity-On-Arrow Networks
Using Dummy Activities [2/3]

 Separating the two independent paths and

introducing a dummy activity to link the
completion of ‘specify hardware’ to the start of
the activity ‘code software’

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Project Scheduling Activities
 Serial activities
 Parallel activities
 Merge activities
 Burst activities
Serial Activities
Parallel Activities
Merge Activities
Activity A

Activity B Activity D

Activity C
Burst Activities

Activity B

Activity A Activity C

Activity D
 Forward Pass
 Forward Pass—Earliest Times
 Earliest dates on which activity may be started or
completed, assuming that we know the actual start
date
 How soon can the activity start? (early start—ES)

 How soon can the activity finish? (early finish—

EF), calculated as
 Early Finish (EF) = ES + Duration
 Contd…
There are three steps for applying the forward pass:
 Add all activity times along each path as we move
through the network (ES + Duration = EF)
 Carry the EF time to the activity nodes immediately
succeeding the recently completed node. That EF
becomes the ES of the next node, unless the succeeding
node is a merge point
 At a merge point, the largest preceding EF becomes the
ES for that node (because the earliest the successor can
begin is when all preceding activities have been
completed)
Example
Precedence network
Precedence network after forward
pass
Example
10 E 16
Development
6

start 28 H 30 Finish
24 F 28
Analysis Present
4 2

11 G 20
Design
9

Here development analysis and design wont be linked with start instead
other activities would be linked other than start
FORWARD PASS
Activity Duration predecessor
A 5
B 7 A
C 4 A
D 10 B
E 3 C
F 5 C
G 6 D,E
H 4 G,F
Backward Pass
 Backward Pass—Latest Times
 Latest date at which the project may be
started and finished without delaying the
end date of the project
 How late can the activity start? (late start—LS)
 How late can the activity finish? (late finish—
LF)
 Late Finish (LF) = LS + Dur
Backward Pass
There are three steps for applying the
backward pass:
 Subtract activity times along each path through the network
(LF – Dur = LS).
 Carry back the LS time to the activity nodes immediately
preceding the successor node. That LS becomes the LF of
the next node, unless the preceding node is a burst point.
 In the case of a burst point, the smallest succeeding LS
becomes the LF for that node (because the latest the
predecessor can finish is when any one of the successor
activities should start)
Backward pass example
Backward pass
 10 17

0 2
6.12 Identifying The Critical Path
The Critical Path [2/3]

 Activity’s float: the difference between an

activity’s earliest start date and its latest start
date
 Activity span: the difference between the earliest
start date and the latest finish date

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6.12 Identifying The Critical Path
The Critical Path [3/3]
Cpm= 10+3+6=19

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Example

E
B Dev. Present.
Design 6
5

A
Contract
5 F H
D
Survey Analysis Present
13 4 2

C
Market ID G
6 Demog.
9
 Path One: A-B-E-H = 18 weeks
 Path Two: A-B-D-F-H = 29 weeks
 Path Three: A-C-D-F-H = 30 weeks
 Path Four: A-C-G-H = 22 weeks

 Path three is the critical path