Fundamentals of Scheduling 29

Chapter 3

Fundamentals of
Scheduling

THE ROLE OF THE

PROJECT MANAGER AND SCHEDULING

T
he project manager plays an important role in project sched-
uling. The development of a realistic schedule is crucial to
the project’s overall success. The project manager needs to
establish checkpoints and milestones to insure the project is kept on
track. Insuring that the overall project is completed on time is criti-
cal to a project manager’s success The importance of completing a
project “on-time” has great financial consequences. Many clients
include in their contracts a “bonus” or penalty depending on the
projects overall completion date.
The purpose of this chapter is to review the fundamentals of
scheduling which provide the basis for today’s project manage-
ment software programs.
Computer tools for project management are discussed in
Chapter 4.

CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM), PROGRAM

EVALUATION & REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)
AND GANTT CHART

CPM, PERT and Gantt Charts are various methods used to

manage project schedules. This chapter will focus mainly on the
Critical Path Method of Scheduling.
29
30 Project Management and Leadership Skills

The Critical Path Charts are similar to PERT Charts and are
sometimes referred to as PERT/CPM.
On the other hand a Gantt chart is a matrix which lists on the
vertical axis all the tasks to be performed. The horizontal axis is
headed by columns indicating task duration.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

CPM scheduling was developed in the late 1950’s. It was

introduced to the industry as a tool to improve planning and
scheduling of construction programs. Concurrent with industrial
development of CPM, the U.S. Navy introduced a similar method
of scheduling called PERT. PERT is an acronym for Program
Evaluation and Review Technique. The Navy developed this
method to evaluate and monitor progress of the Polaris Missile
Program. The major difference between CPM and PERT is that
PERT is a more probabilistic approach that lends itself to activities
for which there is little or no historical experience, whereas CPM
uses historical information for establishing durations. Subsequent
development led to a considerable amalgamation of the two meth-
ods.
It was not until 1967 that James Kelly developed the tech-
niques of CPM as used today. He used digital computer tech-
niques developed by Rand Corporation and applied them to a
complex construction project for DuPont Corporation. This re-
sulted in completion of a project well ahead of schedule.

OBJECTIVES OF CPM

Figure 3-1 lists the objectives of CPM scheduling. As seen

from the figure, CPM can be used as a logic tool for decision-
making. It provides a means for planning, scheduling, controlling
and presenting alternate courses of action. It also provides a vi-
sual means of communication to Project Management and an or-
Fundamentals of Scheduling 31

ganized approach to implement a schedule program. CPM sched-

uling can be carried out manually or with a computer program.
A major problem with the CPM computer programs can be
the number of activities. Very large networks became the norm
during the 1960’s. Size, not quality, became a dominant factor and
computer scheduling methods became more important than the
scheduling program itself. Theory replaced practicality and, as a
result, quality of scheduling deteriorated.
It was not until the mid-1970’s that a proper balance of com-
puter method and size of networks was achieved. Experience has
shown than 10,000/20,000 activity networks are costly, unmanage-
able and inefficient. Careful prior evaluation of criticality and net-
works with a maximum of 5,000 activities have proven effective.

Figure 3-1. Objectives of CPM

—————————————————————————————
• Plan • Communicate
• Schedule • Organize
• Control • Implement
—————————————————————————————

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Figure 3-2 lists terms and definitions of typical CPM sched-

ules. Brief definitions of each are covered with further explana-
tions to follow.

ARROW DIAGRAMS VS. PRECEDENCE

DRAWINGS VS. TIME-SCALED DIAGRAMS
Figure 3-3 shows three methods of drawing CPM diagrams.
Each has its pros and cons.
Arrow Diagramming, at present, seems to be the most popu-
lar method. This probably stems from the fact that it was the first
32 Project Management and Leadership Skills

Figure 3-2. Terms and Definitions

—————————————————————————————
Activities (arrows) An item of work, with or without its duration.

Nodes (events) Start and finish points of an activity.

Arrow Diagram A Network showing a logical sequence of activi-

ties and events which are graphically shown as
arrows and nodes.

Restraints Limiting activities that prevent other activities

from starting. They are non-time consuming and
are referred to as “dummy” or dependent activi-
ties.

Critical Path The longest duration chain in a Network.

Early Start (ES) As implied this is the earliest time that work can
begin on a given activity.

Late Start (LS) The latest time that a given activity can start
without affecting the overall project duration.

Early Finish (EF) The finish achieved by starting a given activity

at its Early Start and achieving the estimated
duration of that activity.

Late Finish (LF) The latest time that an activity can finish with-
out affecting the overall Project Duration.

Float Spare time available to activities not on the Criti-

cal Path.

Total Float The amount of spare time available to an activity

if all preceding activities are started as early as
possible and all following are started as late as
possible.

Free Float The spare time available to an activity when all

activities in the chain are started as early as
possible.
—————————————————————————————
Fundamentals of Scheduling 33

method to be developed and computerized. It is also easier to

associate with time and flow of job activities.
A major difficulty to arrow diagramming is the “dummy”
activity. Learning the significance and proper usage of “dummies”
requires time and experience. The arrow diagram is also cumber-
some to modify.
The second method is Precedence Diagramming. As shown,
the activities are on nodes. Length and direction of the arrows
have no significance as they indicate only the dependency of one
activity on another. This method is commonly referred to as “Ac-
tivity-on Node.”
This method has received wider acceptance over recent
years. Its primary advantage is that it eliminates “dummy” ac-
tivities. It is also easy to modify. Since there are no events in
the “Activity-on Node” diagrams, it is difficult to use mile-
stones in the network; therefore, visual aspects of precedence
networks are poor. As there is no dateline, it is also very diffi-
cult to view overall status.
Both methods are acceptable, however, arrow diagrams
continue to have the slight edge because of early acceptance
and familiarity.
The third method, showing a time-scaled network, is just a
more “visual” tool of the arrow diagram. It is not designed as a
tool for detailed control, but a technique to present overall sched-
ules to management. It gives a quick and simple picture of the
schedule as it relates to time, activity interfaces and criticality.

SIMPLE NETWORK

Figure 3-4 illustrates a simple network of an arrow diagram.

There are three activities: A, B and C. They can be defined as fol-
lows: A is the beginning activity; B follows A but cannot begin
until A is complete; and C is the final activity following the
completion of B. As shown, there is a logical sequence of work
starting from left to right.
34 Project Management and Leadership Skills

Figure 3-3. CPM Drawing Methods

Fundamentals of Scheduling 35

Figure 3-4. Simple Network

Problem 3-1: Network Development

In order to develop a network, the following example illus-
trates the steps involved. Given the data as indicated in Figure 3-
5, draw an appropriate network.
Activities must follow in a logical sequence.

Analysis
First, read through the given data and note that this in a nine-
activity network. Activity A is the first activity and Activity I is the
last.

Figure 3-5. Network Development Problem

—————————————————————————————
Given:
1) Activity B follows activity A
2) Activity A is the beginning activity
3) Activity C follows activity A
4) Activity C precedes activities E & F
5) Activity D follows activity B
6) Activity G follows activities D & E
7) Activity F precedes activity H
8) Activities G and H precede activity I
9) Activity I is the last activity
Draw the appropriate network.
—————————————————————————————
36 Project Management and Leadership Skills

Figure 3-6 shows the completed network diagram. Networks

become more complex as activities are added and durations are
established for each activity. Activity durations can be in days,
weeks, or months; therefore, it is essential to determine from the
outset the time scale. Logical sequence and durations for each
activity can be determined by past experience or by work content
in relation to available resources. This determination should
evolve from consultation between the scheduler and appropriate
construction and engineering personnel. It is important that an
operating group concur with the schedule development, accept it
as their schedule, and make a commitment to operate as per the
plan and schedule. Work sequence can then be checked and dura-
tions assigned to each activity.
Today the project manager can evaluate complex schedules
using a wealth of software available.

Figure 3-6. Network Development Solution