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CPM/PERT

Critical Path Method

The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a network-based project scheduling procedure. It is used primarily
for industrial projects for which activity times generally were known. It was developed by James E. Kelly of
Remington Rand and Morgan R. Walker of Du Pont in 1957 to aid in scheduling maintenance shutdown of
chemical processing plants. The Critical Path is the longest path through a CPM/PERT network. The critical
path is composed of activities with zero slack time. Critical Path Activities are activities in a CPM/PERT
network that are on the critical path and consequently have zero slack time. The CPM/PERT is the actual
performance of a task which consumes time and requires resources (such as labor, materials, space, machinery
and the like). It can be understood as representing the time, effort, and resources required to move from one
event to another. A CPM/PERT activity cannot be performed until the predecessor event has occurred.
Activities that must be completed immediately prior to the start of the activity in question are called
Immediate Predecessors. Activity Slacks is the time that starts the activity can be delayed without
exceeding the critical path project time, in other words it is the amount of time that a task in a project network
can be delayed without causing a delay. It is known as Float Activity.
There are two main procedures in a CPM/PERT network the forward pass and the backward pass.
Forward Pass involves moving forward through the project network to determine the earliest start and earliest
finish time for each activity, while the Backward Pass involves moving backward through the network to
determine the latest start and latest finish time for each activity.

Example 1.
A project to manufacture a product is composed of the following activities:

ACTIVITY Predecessors Duration in Days

A Train Workers -- 6
B Purchase Row Materials -- 9
C Manufacture Product 1 A, B 8
D Manufacture Product 2 A, B 7
E Test Product 2 D 10
F Assemble Product 1 and 2 C, E 12
Critical Path

 A critical activity is an activity that cannot be delayed without delaying the completion of the project.
 A delay of n days on a critical activity will increase the length of the project by n days.
 Critical activity should be monitored carefully to avoid delays.
 A critical activity has a total float of zero.
 A path from the start node to the finish node that consists entirely of critical nodes is a critical path.
 A critical path is the longest path from start node to finish node.
 The length of the critical path is the minimum time required for project completion. It is equal to LT(n) =
ET(n), where n is the finish node

C=8 F = 12
3 5 6

B=9
D=7
1 E = 10
A’ = 0 4
A=6
2

The Critical Path of the above example is B → D → E → F: that is 9 + 7 + 10 + 12 = 38 days

This means that the activities on this critical path cannot be delayed. Take note that node 3 must wait for node
2. Thus activity C and D must wait for Dummy Path A’.
Even though that activity A shall be completed in 6 days only, activity C and D must wait for both activities A
and B. This shows that activity A has 3 days’ slack since it can be completed in 6 days only.
Note: The critical path time is not the completion time of the project. It is rather the
mean time of completion or the expected completion time of the project.

For clearer example fill free to visit this you tube site and pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrAf6zdteXI
http://www.improhealth.org/fileadmin/Documents/Improvement_Tools/PERT.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TDh-5n90vk
Example 2. The MMF Academy is considering building a new athletic complex on campus. The complex
would provide a new gymnasium for inter-school sports activities, expanded office space, classrooms,
and intramural facilities. The following activities would have to be undertaken before construction starts.

Activity Description Immediate Time

Predecessor (weeks)

A Survey building site -- 6

B Develop initial design -- 8
C Obtain board approval A, B 10
D Select architect C 5
E Establish budget C 6
F Finalize design D, E 14
G Obtain financing E 13
H Hire contractor F, G 7

a. Draw a project network.

b. Identify the critical path.
c. Develop the activity schedule for the project.
d. Determine the expected completion time of the project.

Step 1: Determine the list of activities, its immediate predecessors, and approximate time, which is already
provided in the problem.

Step 2: Develop the project network.

Step 3: Determine the completion time per activity.

Step 4: Determine the earliest start time and earliest finish time of the initial activities.
Let ES = earliest start time for an activity
EF = earliest finish time for an activity
t = activity time
The earliest finish time for any activity, then EF = ES + t

Step 5: Compute for the earliest start time and earliest finish time using the forward pass.

Step 6: Develop the latest start time and latest finish time using the backward pass.
Let LS = latest start time for an activity
LF = latest finish time for an activity
t = activity time

Step 7: Compute for the latest finish time and latest start time.

Step 8: Compute for the slack of all activities using the formula provided below and identify the zero slack to
determine the critical path. The slack value can be obtained using the formula below:

Slack = LS – ES = LF - EF
 2 6
A F
D
6 5 14 H
1 A’ 4 7 8
E’ 7
B E
C 6 G
8 10 13

3 5

Slack = LS – ES = LF – EF / EF = ES + t / LS = LF – t

Activity ES LS EF LF Slack Critical Path

A 0 2 6 8 2 No
B 0 0 8 8 0 Yes
C 8 8 18 18 0 Yes
D 18 19 23 24 1 No A ES EF
E 18 18 24 24 0 Yes t LS LF
F 24 24 38 38 0 Yes
G 24 25 37 38 1 No
H 38 38 45 45 0 Yes

A 0 6 D 18 23 F 24 38
6 2 8 5 19 24 14 24 38

START H 38 45
FINISH
7 38 45

B 0 8 C 8 18 E 18 24 G 24 37
8 0 8 10 8 18 6 18 24 13 25 38
Asynchronous Activity:
A promoter of championship boxing match must perform the task shown in the table before the boxing match
can held (all durations are in days).
a. Construct the project network.
b. Determine the critical path/s.
c. Find the completion time of the project.

Activity Description Immediate Duration

Predecessor (in days)
A Find site -- 5
B Find engineers A 6
C Hire announcer and referee A 2
D Look for sponsorships A 15
E Set TV and radio ads D 20
F Set up ticket agents B, C, D 3
G Print advertising E, F 2
H Set up transportation F 1
I Last minute details H 1

Program/Project Evaluation and Review Technique

Program/Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a network technique, designed for project planning
and scheduling that uses probabilistic activity times. It is used to handle uncertain activity times. The PERT was developed
under the sponsorship of the U.S. Navy Special Projects Office in 1958 as a tool for scheduling and controlling the Polaris
missile project.
Stochastic PERT is a project scheduling technique in which the activity times are of a probabilistic nature, while
Deterministic PERT is a project scheduling technique in which the activity time and Beta Distribution is a probability
distribution used to describe activity times.
Three Estimates of the Activity Time
1. Optimistic Time is a PERT activity time estimate based on the assumption that it would take the shortest possible
time to complete an activity if everything went right.
2. Most Probable time is a PERT activity time estimate based on the assumption that the time would occur most
frequently if the activity is repeated many times.
3. Pessimistic Time is a PERT activity time estimate based on the assumption that it would take the longest possible
time to complete an activity if everything went wrong.

Mean and Variance of Beta Distribution

𝑎+4𝑚+𝑏 𝑏−𝑎 2
𝑡= 𝜎2 = ( )
6 6

Where: 𝑡 = 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑎 = 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑚 = 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑏 = 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝜎 2 = 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
“Little Learning is better than a little cheating…”
Sir Anre