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BUILDING
A NETWORK
FOR A PROJECT
Intructor: Nguyen Thuy Trang

WBS/Work
Packages to
Network
A

Work Packages B
D
Activities
K

Relationships
among Activities C
F

From Work Package to Network (cont’d)

WBS/Work Packages to Network (cont’d)

FIGURE 6.1 (cont’d)

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 6–5
Companies. All rights reserved.

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Terminology
• Activity
• Merge activity
• Parallel activity
• Burst activity
• Path
• Critical path

Constructing a Project Network

• Terminology
• Activity: an element of the project that requires
time.
• Merge Activity: an activity that has two or more
preceding activities on which it depends. A

• Parallel (Concurrent) Activities: Activities that

can occur independently and, if desired, not at B D

the same time.

C

Constructing a Project Network (cont’d)

• Terminology
• Path: a sequence of connected, dependent activities.
• Critical path: the longest path through the activity network
that allows for the completion of all project-related
activities; the shortest expected time in which the entire
project can be completed. Delays on the critical path will
delay completion of the entire project.
C

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 (more than one dependency arrow
flowing from it).
• Two Approaches B

• Activity-on-Node (AON)
• Uses a node to depict an activity. A C
• Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
• Uses an arrow to depict an activity.
D

Relationships between activities

• Predecessor activities
• Successor activities
• Concurrent activities Concurrent
activity

Predecessor Current Successor

activity activity activity

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Basic Rules in Developing Project Networks

• Networks typically flow from left to right
• An activity cannot begin until all of its preceding activities are
completed
• Arrows indicate precedence and flow and can cross over each other
• Identify each activity with a unique number; this number must be
greater than its predecessors
• Looping is not allowed
• Conditional statements are not allowed
• Use common start and stop nodes

• Activity on Node (AON)

• Activity on Arrow (AOA)

Activity-on-Node Fundamentals

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Activity-on-Node Fundamentals (cont’d)

Constructing a Project Network

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?
• How long can it be delayed? (slack or float—SL)

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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.

Backward Pass Computation

• Subtract activity times along each path in the network (LF - Duration =
LS).
• Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity 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.

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 6–26
Companies. All rights reserved.

Determining Slack (or Float)

• Slack (or Float)
• The amount of time an activity can be delayed after the start of a longer
parallel activity or activities.
• Total slack
• The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire
project.
• The critical path is the network path(s) that has (have) the least slack
in common.

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 6–28
Companies. All rights reserved.

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Practical Considerations
• Network Logic Errors
• Activity Numbering
• Use of Computers to Develop Networks
• Calendar Dates
• Multiple Starts and Multiple Projects

Illogical Loop

Air Control Project

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Air Control Project (cont’d)

Extended Network Techniques to Come Close to

Reality
• Laddering
• Activities are broken into segments so the following activity can begin
sooner and not delay the work.
• Lags
• The minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to
begin or end.
• Lengthy activities are broken down to reduce the delay in the start of successor
activities.
• Lags can be used to constrain finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-
to-finish, or combination relationships.

Example of Laddering Using FS Relationship

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Use of Lags
Finish-to-Start Relationship

Start-to-Start Relationship

Use of Lags Cont’d

Use of Lags to Reduce Detail

New Product
Development
Process

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Use of Lags (cont’d)

Finish-to-Finish
Relationship

Start-to-Finish
Relationship

Combination
Relationship

Network Using Lags

Hammock Activities

• Hammock Activity
• An activity that spans over a segment of a project.
• Duration of hammock activities is determined after the
network plan is drawn.
• Hammock activities are used to aggregate sections of the
project to facilitate getting the right amount of detail for
specific sections of a project.

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Hammock Activity Example

Key Terms
Activity Gantt chart
Activity-on-arrow (AOA) Hammock activity
Activity-on-node (AON) Lag relationship
Burst activity Merge activity
Concurrent engineering Network sensitivity
Critical path Parallel activity
Early and late times Slack/float—total and free

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 6–44
Companies. All rights reserved.

Activity-on-Arrow Network Building Blocks

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Activity-on-Arrow
Network
Fundamentals

Activity-on-Arrow
Network
Fundamentals

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