PROJECT

SCHEDULING
TIME MANAGEMENT CPM
INDE 302
 Project Planning

Management of big projects that

consist of a large number of activities
poses complex problems in planning,
scheduling and control especially
when the project activities have to be
performed in a special technological
sequence.
With the help of CPM (Critical Path
Method) and PERT (Project
Evaluation and Review Techniques)
the project Manager can plan the
project ahead of time and foresee
possible sources of trouble and delay
in completion.
PROJECT PLANNING
A project is a set of activities
that are interrelated by a
certain logical precedence
relationship.
 Elements of the Project
Planning process
ØDefine project objectives. (Description of what is to be
accomplished)
ØIdentify activities.

ØEstablish precedence relationships. (which activities come

first, which follow, and so on)
ØMake time estimates.
ØDetermine the resources and work units

ØDetermine the project schedule or plan.

 Computational Procedure
without drawing the network
diagram
The following approach presents a straight
forward technique for CPM analysis using
concepts from set theory. The technique
facilitates computation of activity schedules,
activity slack, and other appropriate values
without drawing the network diagram.
 Computational Procedure
The analyst must only define the immediate
predecessors of any activity. The project
network is analyzed in a recursive manner, one
activity at a time. At any point in the analysis,
the technique looks at the immediate
predecessors and followers for the activity being
analyzed.
 Terminology
Consider any project, P.
Let,
n S=the set of all activities in project P

n P(X)= the set of all immediate predecessors of

activity X
n F(X)= the set of all immediate followers of
activity X
 Terminology
n D(X)=duration of activity X
n ES(X)=earliest starting time for activity X
n EC(X)=earliest completion time for activity X
n LS(X)=latest starting time for activity X
n LC(X)=latest completion time for activity X
n TF(X)=total float time (slack) for activity X
n FF(X)=free float time for activity X
 Approach
Computation of activity schedules and float times can be
partitioned into three stages. These are
§ Forward Pass: Computation of the earliest start,
ES(X), and the earliest completion, EC(X).
§ Backward Pass: Computation of the latest
completion time, LC(X), and the latest start time,
LS(X).
§ Float Pass: Computation of the total float, TF(X), and
free float, FF(X), For every X e S
 INITIALIZATION
n The analytic technique presented in this section requires
that the project has a single starting activity and single
ending activity. If there are multiple starting and/or
ending activities, dummy activities with zero duration
should be defined such that the stated requirement is
satisfied. That is, if there is more than one starting
activity, a dummy activity should be added to precede
the starting activities. If there is more than one ending
activity, a dummy activity should be added to follow the
ending activities.
 Forward Pass
n Computation of the earliest start, ES(X), and the
earliest completion, EC(X).
If P(X) = {f}, then ES(X) = 0
If P(X) ≠{f}, then ES(X)=Max{EC(y)}
for all y e P(X)
Where EC(y) = ES(y) + D(y)
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4

B A 3

C A 5

D B, C 6

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0

B A 3

C A 5

D B, C 6

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3

C A 5

D B, C 6

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4

C A 5 4

D B, C 6

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5 9 14

F D,E 2
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5 9 14

F D,E 2 15 17
Activity Pred. Dur. ES EC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5 9 14

F D,E 2 15 17
In the forward pass, the starting activity is
assigned an earliest start time of zero.
Each subsequent activity in the project is
assigned an earliest start time equal to the
maximum earliest completion time for all its
immediate predecessors. The earliest completion
time for each of the immediate predecessors is
defined to be that predecessor’s early start time
plus the expected activity duration. Early start
and early completion times are calculated for
each activity in this recursive manner
throughout the network.
 Backward Pass
n Computation of the latest completion time,
LC(X), and the latest start time, LS(X).

If F(X) = {f} then LS(X) = EC(X)

If F(X) ≠ {f}, then LS(X) =Min{LS(y)}
for all y e F(X)
Where LS(y) = LC(y) – D(y)
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5 9 14

F D,E 2 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C

B A 3 4 7

C A 5 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15

E C 5 9 14

F D,E 2 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C

B A 3 4 7 D

C A 5 4 9 D,E

D B, C 6 9 15 F

E C 5 9 14 F

F D,E 2 15 17 None
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C

B A 3 4 7 D

C A 5 4 9 D,E

D B, C 6 9 15 F

E C 5 9 14 F

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C

B A 3 4 7 D

C A 5 4 9 D,E

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C

B A 3 4 7 D

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
In the backward pass, the ending activity is not allowed
any free float time. Therefore, the latest completion
time and the earliest completion time are identical. The
latest completion time for each activity should be the
minimum of the latest start for each of the immediate
following activities. The latest start for each of the
following activities is defined to be the latest
completion time minus the activity duration. Latest
completion and start times for each activity are
calculated in this manner, recursively backward through
the network. At the end of this pass, we now have all
activity times defined.
 Float Pass
n Computation of the total float, TF(X), and free
float, FF(X), For every X
n TOTAL FLOAT is the spare time available
when all preceding activities occur at the
earliest possible times and all succeeding
activities occur at the latest possible times.
n Total Float = LS(X)-ES(X)
n Activities with zero Total float are on the
Critical Path
 Float Pass
n FREE FLOAT is the spare time available when all
preceding activities occur at the earliest possible times
and all succeeding activities occur at the earliest possible
times.
If F(X) = {f} then FF(X) = 0
If F(X) ≠ {f},
then FF(X) =Min{ ES(y)}- EC(X)
for all y e F(X)
When an activity has zero Total float, Free float will
also be zero.
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC TF FF

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC TF FF

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4 0

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9 2

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9 0

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15 0

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15 1

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17 0
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC TF FF

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4 0

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9 2

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9 0

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15 0

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15 1

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17 0
 CRITICAL PATH
An activity X is said to be critical if TF(X)=0,
or if ES(X)=LS(X), or EC(X)=LC(X).

The project critical path is given by the set of

activities such that TF(X) = 0. Therefore, the
project critical path is A – C – D – F.
Act Pred Dur ES EC Fol LS LC TF FF

A None 4 0 4 B,C 0 4 0 0

B A 3 4 7 D 6 9 2 2

C A 5 4 9 D,E 4 9 0 0

D B, C 6 9 15 F 9 15 0 0

E C 5 9 14 F 10 15 1 1

F D,E 2 15 17 None 15 17 0 0