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Unit 14 Project Scheduling and PERT-CPM (1)

Unit 14 focuses on Project Scheduling and PERT-CPM, detailing the differences between PERT and CPM, their network components, and project management techniques. It emphasizes the importance of critical path calculations and the determination of floats in project scheduling. The unit also includes practical examples and self-assessment questions to reinforce understanding of project management concepts.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
9 views

Unit 14 Project Scheduling and PERT-CPM (1)

Unit 14 focuses on Project Scheduling and PERT-CPM, detailing the differences between PERT and CPM, their network components, and project management techniques. It emphasizes the importance of critical path calculations and the determination of floats in project scheduling. The unit also includes practical examples and self-assessment questions to reinforce understanding of project management concepts.

Uploaded by

Road Dekho
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Operations Research Unit 14

Unit 14 Project Scheduling and PERT-CPM


Structure:
14.1 Introduction
Objectives
14.2 Basic Difference between PERT and CPM
PERT
CPM
Project scheduling by PERT-CPM
14.3 PERT/CPM Network Components and Precedence Relationship
Critical path calculations
Determination of the critical path
Determination of floats
14.4 Project Management – PERT
14.5 Summary
14.6 Glossary
14.7 Terminal Questions
14.8 Answers
14.9 Case Study

14.1 Introduction
In the previous unit, simulation Monte-Carlo method, we studied about the
Monte-Carlo simulation. We also learnt about the various problems of this
method, the applications of the simulation, the advantages and the
limitations of the simulation. In this unit, project scheduling and PERT-CPM
in operations research management, we will study about the basic
difference between PERT and CPM. We will also learn about PERT and
CPM network components, determination of floats and project management.
Project management has evolved as a new field with the development of
two analytic techniques for planning, scheduling and controlling projects.
These are the project evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the
critical path method (CPM). PERT and CPM are basically time-oriented
methods in the sense that they both lead to the determination of a time
schedule.
Projects may be defined as a collection of interrelated activities (or tasks)
which must be completed in a specified time according to a specified

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Operations Research Unit 14

sequence and require resources, such as personnel, money, materials,


facilities, etc. Few examples of such projects are construction of a bridge, a
highway, a power plant, repair and maintenance of an oil refinery or
designing of an air plane, development and marketing of a new product, and
research and development.
The growing complexities of today’s projects have demanded more
systematic and more effective planning techniques with the objective of
optimising the efficiency of executing the project. Efficiency here refers to
the utmost reduction in the time required to complete a project while
ensuring optimum utilisation of the available resources.
Objectives:
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 define a project
 distinguish between PERT and CPM
 apply PERT-CPM method to network analysis
 describe project management

14.2 Basic Difference between PERT and CPM


There are no essential differences between PERT and CPM as both of them
share in common the determination of a critical path. Both are based on the
network representation of activities and their scheduling, which determines
the most critical activities to be controlled in order to meet the completion
date of the project.
14.2.1 PERT
Some key points of PERT are as follows:
 PERT was developed in connection with an Research and Development
(R&D) work. Therefore, it had to cope with the uncertainties that are
associated with R&D activities. In PERT, the total project duration is
regarded as a random variable. Therefore, associated probabilities are
calculated in order to characterise it.
 It is an event-oriented network as in the analysis of a network, emphasis
is given on the important stages of completion of a task rather than the
activities required to be performed to reach a particular event or task.
 PERT is normally used for projects involving activities of non-repetitive
nature in which time estimates are uncertain.
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Operations Research Unit 14

 It helps in pinpointing critical areas in a project, so that necessary


adjustment can be made to meet the scheduled completion date of the
project.
14.2.2 CPM
 CPM was developed in connection with a construction project, which
consisted of routine tasks whose resource requirements and duration
were known with certainty. Therefore, it is basically deterministic.
 CPM is suitable for establishing a trade-off for optimum balancing
between schedule time and cost of the project.
 CPM is used for projects involving activities of repetitive nature.
14.2.3 Project scheduling by PERT-CPM
Project scheduling consists of three basic phases: planning, scheduling and
controlling. Figure 14.1 depicts the three basic phases of PERT-CPM.

Fig. 14.1: Phases of PERT-CPM

 Project planning – Figure 14.2 depicts the activities to be performed in


the project planning phase.

Fig. 14.2: Activities in Project Planning Phase

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 Identify various tasks or work elements to be performed in the project.


 Determine requirement of resources, such as men, materials, and
machines, for carrying out the activities listed.
 Estimate costs and time for various activities.
 Specify the inter-relationship among various activities.
 Develop a network diagram showing the sequential inter-relationships
between the various activities.
 Project scheduling - Once the planning phase is over, scheduling of
the project is when each of the activities required to be performed, is
taken up for execution. The various steps involved during this phase are
given as follows:
1. Estimate the durations of activities. Take into account the resources
required for these executions in the most economic manner.
2. Based on the time estimates, prepare a time chart showing the start
and finish times for each activity. Use the time chart for the following
exercises:
 To calculate the total project duration by applying network
analysis techniques, such as forward (backward) pass and floats
calculation
 To identify the critical path
 To carry out resource smoothing (or levelling) exercises for
critical or scarce resources, including re-costing of the schedule
taking into account resource constraints
 Project controlling – Project controlling refers to comparing the actual
progress against the estimated schedule. If significant differences are
observed then we need to re-schedule the project to update or revise
the uncompleted part of the project.

Self Assessment Questions


1. Project consists of interrelated activities. (True/False)
2. Project activities are to be completed in a specified time according to a
specified sequence. (True/False)
3. PERT and CPM identifies non-critical activities. (True/False)
4. PERT is an activity-oriented network. (True/False)
5. CPM is used for projects that are repetitive in nature.(True/False)

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14.3 PERT/CPM Network Components and Precedence


Relationship
PERT/CPM networks consist of two major components which are as follows:
 Events – An event represents a point in time that signifies the
completion of some activities and the beginning of new ones. The
beginning and end points of an activity are thus described by two events
usually known as the tail and the head events. Events are commonly
represented by circles (nodes) in the network diagram. They do not
consume time and resource.
 Activities – Activities of the network represent project operations or
tasks to be conducted. An arrow is commonly used to represent an
activity, with its head indicating the direction of progress in the project.
Activities originating from a certain event cannot start until the activities
terminating at the same event have been completed. They consume
time and resource.
Events in the network diagram are identified by numbers. Numbers are
given to events such that the arrow head number is greater than the arrow
tail number. Activities are identified by the numbers of their starting (tail)
event and ending (head) event.
Figure 14.3 depicts the network where the arrow (P.Q) extended between
two events represents the activity. The tail event P represents the start of
the activity and the head event Q represents the completion of the activity.

Fig. 14.3: Basic PERT-CPM Network

Figure 14.4 depicts an example of another PERT-CPM network with


activities (1, 3), (2, 3) and (3, 4). As the figure indicates, activities (1, 3) and
(2, 3) need to be completed before activity (3, 4) starts.

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Fig. 14.4: A PERT-CPM Network

The rules for constructing the arrow diagram are as follows:


1. Each activity is represented by one and only one arrow in the network.
2. No two activities can be identified by the same head and tail events.
3. To ensure the correct precedence relationship in the arrow diagram, we
need to answer the following questions as we add every activity to the
network:
 What activities must be completed immediately before these
activities can start?
 What activities must follow this activity?
 What activity must occur concurrently with this activity?
This rule is self-explanatory. It actually allows for checking (and rechecking)
the precedence relationships as one progresses in the development of the
network.

Solved problem 1
Construct the arrow diagram comprising activities A, B, C …….. and L
such that the following relationships are satisfied:
1) A, B and C the first activities of the project, can start simultaneously.
2) A and B precede D.
3) B precedes E, F and H.
4) F and C precede G.
5) E and H precede I and J.
6) C, D, F and J precede K.
7) K precedes L.
8) I, G and L are the terminal activities of the project.

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Solution
Figure 14.5 depicts an analysis network.

Fig. 14.5: Analysis Network

The dummy activities D1 and D2 are used (dotted lines) to establish


correct precedence relationships. D3 is used to identify activities E and H
with unique end events. The events of the project are numbered such
that their ascending order indicates the direction of the progress in the
project.
Note: A dummy activity in a project network analysis has zero duration.
14.3.1 Critical path calculations
The application of PERT/CPM should ultimately yield a schedule specifying
the start and completion time of each activity. The arrow diagram is the first
step towards achieving that goal. The start and completion timings are
calculated directly on the arrow diagrams using simple arithmetic. The end
result is to classify the activities as critical or non-critical.
An activity is said to be critical if a delay in the start of the course makes a
delay in the completion time of the entire project.
A non-critical activity is such that the time between its earliest start and its
latest completion time is longer than its actual duration. A non-critical activity
is said to have a slack or float time.
14.3.2 Determination of the critical path
A critical path defines a chain of critical activities that connects the start and
end events of the arrow diagram. In other words, the critical path identifies
all the critical activities of a project.
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The critical path calculations are done in two phases.


The first phase is called the forward pass. In this phase, all calculations
begin from the start node and move to the end node. At each node a
number is computed representing the earliest occurrence time of the
corresponding event. These numbers are shown in squares. Here we note
the number of heads joining the event. We take the maximum earliest timing
through these heads.
The second phase is called the backward pass. It begins calculations from
the “end” node and moves to the “start” node. The number computed at
each node is shown in a triangle  near the end point, which represents the
latest occurrence time of the corresponding event. In backward pass, we
see the number of tails and take the minimum value through these tails.
Let ESi be the earliest start time of all the activities emanating from event i.
Then ESi represents the earliest occurrence time of event i.
If i = 1 is the “start” event then conventionally for the critical path
calculations, ESi = 0.
Let Dij be the duration of the activity (i, j).
Then the forward pass calculations for all defined (i, j) activities with ESi=0 is
given by the formula:
ESi = maxi {ESi+Dij}
Therefore, to compute ESj for event j, we need to first compute ESi for the
tail events of all the incoming activities (i, j).
With the computation of all ESj, the forward pass calculations are
completed. The backward pass starts from the “end” event. The objective of
the backward pass phase is to calculate LCi, the latest completion time for
all the activities coming into the event i.
Thus, if i = n is the end event, LCn = ESn initiates the backward pass.
In general for any node i, we can calculate the backward pass for all defined
activities using the formula:
LCi = min {LCj-Dij}

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We can now identify the critical path activities using the results of the
forward and backward passes. An activity (i, j) lies on the critical path if it
satisfies the following conditions:
 ESi = LCi
 ESj = LCj
 ESj-ESi = LCj-LCi = Dij
These conditions actually indicate that there is no float or slack time
between the earliest start and the latest start of the activity. Thus, the
activity must be critical.
In the arrow diagram these are characterised by same numbers within
rectangles and triangles at each of the head and tail events. The difference
between the numbers in rectangles or triangles at the head event, and the
number within rectangles or triangles at the tail event is equal to the duration
of the activity. Thus, we will get a critical path, which is a chain of connected
activities, spanning the network from start to end.

Solved problem 2
Consider a network which stands from node 1 and terminates at node 6,
the time required to perform each activity is indicated on the arrows.
Figure 14.6 depicts an analysis network.

Fig. 14.6: Analysis Network

Solution
Let us start with the forward pass with ESi = 0.
Since there is only one incoming activity (1, 2) to event 2 with D12 = 3.
ES2 = ES1+ DS2 = 0+3=3.

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Let us consider the end 3, since there is only one incoming activity (2, 3)
to event 3, with D23 = 3.
ES3 = ES2+ D23 = 3+3 = 6.
To obtain ES4, since there are two activities A (3, 4) and (2, 4) to the
event 4 with D24 = 2 and D34 = 0.
ES4= maxi=2, 3 {ESi + De4}
= max {ES2 +D24, ES3 + D34}
= max {3+2, 6+0} = 6
Similarly, ES5 = 13 and ES6 = 19.
This completes the forward pass.
In the backward pass we have
LC6= 19 = ES6
LC5 = 19-6 = 13
LC4= min J = 5, 6 {LCj – D4j} = 6
LC3 = 6, LC2 = 3 and LC1 = 0
Therefore, activities (1, 2), (2, 3) (3, 4) (4, 5) (5, 6) are critical and (2, 4)
(4, 6), (3, 6), are non-critical.
Thus, the activities (1, 2), (2, 3), (3, 4), (4, 5) and (5, 6) define the critical
path which is the shortest possible time to complete the project i.e., 19
days.
14.3.3 Determination of floats
Once the determination of the critical path is done, we have to compute the
floats for the non-critical activities. For the critical activities this float is zero.
Before showing how floats are determined, it is necessary to define two new
times that are associated with each activity. These are as follows:
 Latest start (LS) time and
 Earliest completion (EC) time
We can define activity (i, j) for these two types of time by:
LSij= LCj – Dij
ECij = ESi + Dij
There are two important types of floats namely:
 Total float (TF)
 Free float (FF)

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The total float TFij for activity (i, j) is the difference between the maximum
time available to perform the activity (= LCj – ESi) and its duration (= Dij)
TFij = LCj – ESi– Dij = LCj – ECij = LSij – ESi
The free float is defined by assuming that all the activities start as early as
possible. In this case FFij for activity (i, j) is the excess of available time
(= ESi – ESi) over its deviation (= Dij); i.e.
FFij = ESi – ESi - Dij
Note: For critical activities float is zero. Therefore, the free float must be
zero when the total float is zero. However, the converse is not true, that is, a
non-critical activity may have zero free floats.
Let us consider the example taken before the critical path calculations. The
floats for the non-critical activities can be summarised as depicted in the
table 14.1.
Table 14.1 Floats for Non-critical Activities
Dura- Earliest Latest Total Free
Activity
tion Start Completion Start Completion Float Float
(i j)
Dij ESi ECij LSij LCj TFij FFij

(1, 2) 3 0 3 0 3 0* 0
(2, 3) 3 3 6 3 6 0* 0
(2, 4) 2 3 5 4 6 1 1
(3, 4) 0 6 6 6 6 0* 0
(3, 5) 3 6 9 10 13 4 4
(3, 6) 2 6 8 17 19 11 11
(4, 5) 7 6 13 6 13 0* 0
(4, 6) 5 6 11 14 19 8 8
(5, 6) 6 13 19 13 19 0* 0
Note: Total float = ESij = LFij - ESij
Free float = Total float - - Head slack
* Critical activity *

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Solved problem 3
A project consists of a series of tasks A, B, C, – D, – E, F, G, H, I with the
following relationships:
 W < X,Y means X and Y cannot start until W is completed
 X,Y < W means W cannot start until both X and Y are completed
With this notation construct the network diagram having the following
constraints A < D, E; B, D < F; C < G, B < H; F, G < I.
Also find the minimum time of completion of the project, the critical path,
and the total floats of each task, when the time (in days) of completion of
each task is as follows:
Task: A B C D E F G H I
Time: 23 8 20 16 24 18 19 4 10
Solution
Figure 14.7 depicts an analysis network.

Fig. 14.7: Analysis Network


ES1 = 0, ES2 = 20, ES3 = 23, ES4 = 59, ES5 = 39, ES6 = 57, ES7 = 67
Table 14.2 depicts an activity table.
Table 14.2 Activity Table
Earliest Latest Table Free
Activity Duration
Start Finish Start Finish Float Float
(i, j) Dij
ESe Eeij Lj-Dij Lj TFij FFij

(1, 2) 20 0 20 18 38 18 0
(1, 3) 23 0 23 0 23 0* 0
(1, 4) 8 0 8 31 39 31 31
(2, 5) 19 20 39 38 57 18 0
(3, 4) 16 23 39 23 39 0* 0

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(3, 7) 24 23 47 43 67 20 20
(4, 5) 0 39 39 57 57 10 0
(4, 6) 18 39 57 39 57 0* 0
(5, 6) 0 39 39 57 57 18 18
(5, 7) 4 39 43 63 67 24 24
(6, 7) 10 37 67 57 67 0* 0
Critical path is 1 – 3 – 4 – 6 – 7.

Self Assessment Questions


6. Events do not consume ________ and _________.
7. Arrow’s head number is _________ than its tail number.
8. Dummy activity is introduced in a network to keep proper _________
relationship.
9. Critical path calculation includes both _________ and _________.

14.4 Project Management – PERT


Probability and cost consideration in project scheduling
The analysis in CPM does not take into account the cases where time
estimates for the different activities are probabilistic. It also does not
consider explicitly the cost of schedules. Here we will consider both
probability and cost aspects in project scheduling.
Probability considerations are incorporated in project scheduling by
assuming that the time estimate for each activity is based on three time
estimates. They are as follows:
a = the optimistic time, which will be required if the execution of the project
goes extremely well.
b = the pessimistic time, which will be required if everything goes bad.
m = the most likely time, which will be required if execution is normal.
ab
The most likely estimate m need not coincide with the mid-point of a
2
and b.
Then the expected duration of each activity D can be obtained as the mean
ab
of and 2 m.
2
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Operations Research Unit 14

Therefore,
ab
 2m
2 a  b  4m
D 
3 6
We can use this estimate to study the single estimate D in the critical path
calculation. These formulae are derived from beta distribution.
The variance of each activity denoted by V is defined by,
2
ba
Variance V =  
 6 

The earliest expected times for the node i is denoted by E (i). For each
node i, E(i) is obtained by taking the sum of the expected times of all
activities leading to the node i, when more than one activity leads to a node
i, then the greatest of all E(i) is chosen. Let i be the earliest occurrence
time of the event i, we can consider i as a random variable. Assuming that
all activities of the network are statistically independent, we can calculate
the mean and the variance of i as follows:
E {i } = ESi and Var{i } =  Vk
k

Where, k defines the activities along the largest path leading to i.


For the latest expected time, we consider the last node. Now for each path
move backwards and substitute the D iJ for each activity (i, j).

Thus we have,
E (Lj) = E (a)
E (i) = L (Lj) – Dij
if only one path events from j to i or if it is the minimum of {E [Lj) – Dij] for all j
for which the activities (i, j) are defined.
Note: The probability distribution of times for completing an event can be
approximated by the normal distribution due to central limit theorem.

Since i represents the earliest occurrence time, event will meet a certain
schedule time STi (specified by an analyst) with probability

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   E( ) STi  E( i ) 


Pr (i  STi) = Pr  i i

 
 V( i ) V( i ) 
= Pr (Z  Ki)
STi  E( i )
Where, Z N (01) and Ki =
V ( i )
It is a common practice to compute the probability that event i will occur no
later than its LCe. Such probability will represent the chance that the
succeeding events will occur within the (ESe, LCe) duration.

Solved problem 4
A project is represented by the network depicted in figure 14.8 and has
the following data:

Fig. 14.8: Analysis Network


Table 14.3 depicts a data table.
Table 14.3 Data Table
Task A B C D E F G H I
Optimistic time 5 18 26 16 15 6 7 7 3
Pessimistic time 10 22 40 20 25 12 12 9 5
Most likely time 8 20 33 18 20 9 10 8 4

Determine the following:


1. Expected task times and their variances.
2. The earliest and latest expected times to reach each event
3. The critical path
4. The probability of an event occurring at the proposed completion
data if the original contract time of completing the project is 41.5
weeks.
5. The duration of the project that will have 97% channel of being
completed.

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Solution
Using the formula we can calculate expected activity times and variance
as depicted in table 14.4.
1 b a 2
D (a  b  4m) V   
6  6 
Table 14.4 Earliest and Latest Expected Time for Events
Activity A B m v
1-2 5 10 8 7-8 0.696
1-3 18 22 20 20-00 0.444
1-4 26 40 33 33-0 5.429
2-5 16 20 18 18-0 0.443
2-6 15 25 20 20-0 2.780
3-6 6 12 9 9-0 1.000
4-7 7 12 10 9-8 0.694
5-7 7 9 8 8-0 0.111
6-7 3 5 4 4-0 0.111

Forward pass
E1 = 0 E2 = 7.8 E3 = 20 E4 = 33 E5 = 25.8 E6 = 29
E7 = 42.8
Backward pass
L7 = 42.8 L6 = 38.8 L5 = 34.8 L4 = 33.0 L3 = 29.8 L2 = 16.8
L1 = 0.
The E-values and L-values are depicted in figure 14.9.

Fig. 14.9: Analysis Network


 The critical path is shown by a thick line in the figure. The critical
path is 1-4-7 and the earliest completion time for the project is 42.8
weeks.
 The last event 7 will occur only after 42.8 weeks. For this we require
only the duration of critical activities. This will help us in calculating
the standard duration of the last event.
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Operations Research Unit 14

Expected length of critical path = 33 + 9.8 = 42.8


Variance of article path length = 5.429 + 0.694 = 6.123
Probability of meeting the schedule time is given by
Pi (Z  Ki) = Pi (Z – 0.52) = 0.30 (from normal distribution table)
Thus, the probability that the project can be completed in less than or
equal to 41.5 weeks is 0.30. In other words, probability that the project
will get delayed beyond 41.5 weeks is 0.70.
 Given that P (Z  Ki) = 0.95. But Z0.9S = 1.64, from normal distribution
STi  E( i ) STi  42.8
table. Then 1.6 u = is 1.6 u  or
V ( i ) 2 .47

Sji = 1.642.47+42.8 = 46.85 weeks.

Self Assessment Questions


10. In a project network, a sequence of activities may form a loop.
(True/False)
11. A critical activity must have its total and free floats equal to zero.
(True/False)
12. A non-critical activity cannot have zero total float. (True/False)
13. The critical path of project network represents the minimum duration
needed to complete the network. (True/False)
14. The analysis in CPM does not take into account the cases where time
estimates for the different activities are probabilistic. (True/False)

14.5 Summary
 Critical path computations are quite simple, yet they provide valuable
information that simplifies the scheduling of complex projects.
 The result is that PERT-CPM techniques enjoy tremendous popularity
among practitioners in the field.
 The usefulness of the techniques is further enhanced by the availability
of specialised computer systems for executing, analysing and controlling
network projects.

14.6 Glossary
Uncertainty: volatility.
Task: activity that has to be completed within the specified time.

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Latest start (LS) time: the latest time that an activity can begin without
delaying the project completion time.

14.7 Terminal Questions


1. Write down the basic difference between PERT and CPM.
2. Explain project management (PERT).
3. A project has 10 activities. The following table shows the information
about the activities.
Table 14.5: Activities information
Activity Preceding activity Duration in weeks
A – 6
B – 3
C A 5
D A 4
E A 3
F C 3
G D 5
H B, D, E 5
I H 2
J I, G, F 3
Draw the network
Find the project duration
Identify the CPM
Prepare the schedule
4. A small project consisting of eight activities has the following
characteristics:
Table 14.6: Time estimates (in weeks)
Most Most
Preceding Most likely
Activity optimistic pessimistic
activity time (m)
time (a) time (b)
A None 2 4 12
B None 10 12 26
C A 8 9 10
D A 10 15 20
E A 7 7.5 11
F B, C 9 9 9
G D 3 3.5 7
H E, F, G 5 5 5

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1. Draw the PERT network for the project.


2. Determine the critical path.
3. If a 30-week deadline is imposed, what is the probability that the project
will be finished within the time limit?
4. If the project manager wants to be 99% sure that the project is
completed on this schedule date, how many weeks before that date
should he start the project work?

14.8 Answer

Self Assessment Questions


1. True
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. Time, resource
7. Greater than
8. Precedence
9. Forward pass & backward pass
10. False
11. True
12. True
13. True
14. True

Terminal Questions
1. There are no essential differences between PERT and CPM as both of
them share in common the determination of a critical path. For more
details refer to section 14.2
2. Probability considerations are incorporated in PERT by assuming that
the time estimate for each activity is based on three time estimates of
optimistic time, pessimistic time and most likely time. For more details
refer to section 14.4
3. b) 20 weeks c) A – D – H – I - J . For more details refer section 14.3
4. b) A – D – G – H c) 0.6591 d) 34.7 weeks. For more details refer
section 14.4
Manipal University Jaipur Page No. 292
Operations Research Unit 14

14.9 Case Study

Kaushik Mills – production capacity building


Kaushik Mills decided to increase its production capacity by building a new
feed mill. The project consisted of a number of separate tasks, some of
which could not be started before others were complete. The table below
shows the lists of activities, along with the times expected for each. The
management wanted to advance the schedule as much as possible in order
to save valuable time in getting the new mill into operation. The president of
the mils commented: ”Every week saved is worth Rs 70,000 in lost
contribution if we can get going”.
Some of the construction activities could be sped up. For example, the firm’s
architects could by working overtime, design the new plant in 10 weeks
instead of the originally estimated 12 weeks. This advancement would cost
the mills an additional Rs 25,000 per week that is advanced.
The president of mills had already held discussions with mill contractors, an
independent firm which was a potential contractor for one of the projects
major tasks, for building the plant. Kaushik Mills intended to do the other
tasks either itself or through its agents. During the talks with the mill
contractors, the management had explored a number of bonus and penalty
clauses. One of these was that for every week that the plant was built ahead
of 10 weeks, the mills would pay contractors an additional Rs 75,000.
Activity Expected Precedent Minimum Crash
Activities Time(weeks) (rs/week)
A 12 - 10 24,000
B 8 A 18 -11
C 6 A 11 3,000
D 13 A 13 -11
E 4 B,C 4 -11
F 101 C 8 30,000
G 6 C 4 1500
H 101 E,F 6 75,000
I 8 D,G 8 -11
J 8 H,I 8 -11
K 4 J 4 -11

Manipal University Jaipur Page No. 293


Operations Research Unit 14

1. The Management of Kaushik Mills desires to know which activities it


would crash? How should they schedule their workers?

References:

 Kapoor V. K. (2005). Operations Research. Sultan Chand and Sons.


 Sharma J. K. (2006). Operations Research. Macmillan India Limited.
 Taha H. Operations Research. Prentice Hall.
 Kanti Swarup & Gupta P. K., & Hira D. S., & Manmohan (2004).
Operation Research. Sultan Chand and Sons.

Manipal University Jaipur Page No. 294

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