Project Scheduling

Prof. Jiang Zhibin

Dept. of IE, SJTU
 What’s a Project?

• Bringing about change is hard

• Many related activities
• Hard to plan production
• A project focuses on the
outcome
• Regular teamwork focuses on
the work process
 Examples of Projects

• Building construction
• New product introduction
• Software implementation
• Training seminar
• Research project
 Project Scheduling

• Establishing objectives
• Determining available resources
• Sequencing activities
• Identifying precedence
relationships
• Determining activity times &
costs
• Estimating material & worker
requirements
•
Project Scheduling Techniques

• Gantt chart
• Critical Path Method
(CPM)
• Program Evaluation &
Review Technique (PERT)
 Gantt Chart

Time Period
Activity
J F M A M J J
Design
Build
Test
 PERT & CPM
• Network techniques
• Developed in 1950’s
• CPM by DuPont for chemical
plants
• PERT by U.S. Navy for Polaris
missile
• Consider precedence
relationships &
interdependencies
• Each uses a different estimate
of activity times
 Questions Answered by PERT &
CPM

• Completion date?
• On schedule? Within budget?
• Probability of completing by ...?
• Critical activities?
• Enough resources available?
• How can the project be finished
early at the least cost?
 PERT & CPM Steps

• Identify activities
• Determine sequence
• Create network
• Determine activity times
• Find critical path
• Earliest & latest start times
• Earliest & latest finish times
• Slack
 Activity on Node (AoN)

Project: Obtain a college degree (B.S.)

Attend class, Receive
Enroll
study etc. diploma

1 2 3
1 month 4? Years 1 day
 Activity on Arc (AoA)

Project: Obtain a college degree (B.S.)

Attend
class, Receive
study,
Enroll etc. diploma
1 2 3 4
1 month 4,5 ? 1 day
Years
 AoA Nodes Have Meaning

Project: Obtain a college degree (B.S.)

1 2 3 4
Graduating
Applicant Student Alum
Senior
 Activity Relationships

1 2
1-2 must be done 4
before 2-3 or 3-4
can start
 Activity Relationships

2-3 must be done

before 3-4 or 3-5
can start 3

1 2 5

4
 Activity Relationships

2-4 and 3-4 must be

done before 4-5 can
start 3

1 2 5

4
 Activity Relationships

When 5-6 is done,

project is complete.
3

1 2 5 6

4
 Network Example

You’re a project manager for

Bechtel. Construct the network.
Activity Predecessors
A --
B A
C A
D B
E B
F C
G D
H E, F
 Network Example - AON

D
B G

A E Z

C H
F
 Network Example - AOA

D G
3 6 8
B E
A
1 2 5 H
7 9
C F
4
 AOA Diagrams

A precedes B and C, B and C precede D

A B
1 2 3 D
4
C

3
B
A C
1 2 4 D 5
Add a phantom arc for clarity.
 Critical Path Analysis
• Provides activity information
• Earliest (ES) & latest (LS) start
• Earliest (EF) & latest (LF) finish
• Slack (S): Allowable delay
• Identifies critical path
• Longest path in network
• Shortest time project can be
completed
• Any delay on activities delays project
• Activities have 0 slack
 Critical Path Analysis Example

Event Description Time

Pred.
ID (Wks)
A None Prepare Site 1
B A Pour fdn. & frame 6
C B Buy shrubs etc. 3
D B Roof 2
E D Do interior work 3
F C Landscape 4
G C Move In 1
 Network Solution

B D E

A 6 2 3 G

1 1
C F
3 4
 Earliest Start & Finish
Steps
• Begin at starting event & work
forward
• ES = 0 for starting activities
• ES is earliest start
• EF = ES + Activity time
• EF is earliest finish
• ES = Maximum EF of all
predecessors for non-starting
activities
 Activity A
Earliest Start Solution

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A 0 1
B B D E
C
D
A 6 2 3 G
E 1 1
C F
F
3 4
For starting activities, ES = 0.
 Earliest Start Solution

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A 0 1
B 1 7 B D E
C 1 4
D 7 9 A 6 2 3 G
E 10 12
F 4 8 1 C F 1
G 12 13
3 4
 Latest Start & Finish Steps

• Begin at ending event & work

backward
• LF = Maximum EF for ending
activities
• LF is latest finish; EF is earliest finish
• LS = LF - Activity time
• LS is latest start
• LF = Minimum LS of all successors
for non-ending activities
 Earliest Start Solution

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A 0 1
B 1 7
B D E
C 1 4 A 6 2 3 G
D 7 9
E 9 12
1 C F 1
F 4 8 3 4
G 12 13 13
 Latest Finish Solution

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A B0 D E1 0 1
B A 61 2 73 G 1 7
C 1 4 1
4 7
1 C F
D 7 9 7 9
3 4
E 9 12 9 12
F 4 8 7 12
G 12 13 12 13
 Compute Slack

Activity ES EF LS LF Slack
A 0 1 0 1 0
B 1 7 1 7 0
C 1 4 4 7 3
D 7 9 7 9 0
E 9 12 9 12 0
F 4 8 7 12 3
G 12 13 12 13 0
 Critical Path

B D E
A 6 2 3 G
1 1
C F
3 4
New notation

ES EF

C7
LS LF

• Compute ES, EF for each activity,

Left to Right
• Compute, LF, LS, Right to Left
 PERT Activity Times

• 3 time estimates
•

•

Optimistic times (a)
Most-likely time (m)
Pessimistic time (b)
• Follow beta distribution
• Expected time: t = (a + 4m +
b)/6
• Variance of times: v = (b - a)2/36
 Project Times

• Expected project a + 4m + b
ET =
time (T) 6
• Sum of critical path
activity times, t b−a
2

σ = 2

• Project variance (V)  6 
• Sum of critical path

activity variances, v
 PERT Probability Example

You’re a project planner for Sun

Microsystems. A software project
has an expected completion time
of 40 weeks, with a standard
deviation of 5 weeks. What is the
probability of finishing the project
in 50 weeks or less?
 Converting to Standardized
Variable

D − T 50 − 40
Z= = = 2.0
σ 5

From Normal Distribution Table,

Probability = 0.5 + 0.4772 = 0.9772
 Time-Cost Models

1. Identify the critical path

2. Find cost per day to expedite each
node on critical path.
3. For cheapest node to expedite, reduce
it as much as possible, or until critical
path changes.
4. Repeat 1-3 until no feasible savings
exist.
 Benefits of PERT/CPM

• Useful at many stages of project

management
• Mathematically simple
• Use graphical displays
• Give critical path & slack time
• Provide project documentation
• Useful in monitoring costs
 Limitations of PERT/CPM

• Clearly defined, independent, &

stable activities
• Specified precedence relationships
• Activity times (PERT) follow
beta distribution
• Subjective time estimates
• Over emphasis on critical path
 Conclusion

• Explained what a project is

• Summarized the 3 main project
management activities
• Drew project networks
• Compared PERT & CPM
• Determined slack & critical path
• Computed project probabilities