Ch-3A - Planning & Scheduling
Ch-3A - Planning & Scheduling
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Concept of Project Planning
It bridges the gap from ‘where we are and where we want to go’.
Project plan is the road map that defines how to get from the start to the
final results.
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Importance of Project Planning
Purpose of planning is to reduce uncertainty that exist before a project.
A better planning helps to reduce cost by minimizing waste of resources
(i.e. men, materials, machinery and money).
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Importance of Project Planning
It also establishes benchmark for project control system to
track performance, schedule and budget.
Real test of planner is his / her ability to identify all the work
required to complete project.
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Steps of Planning
Following are Steps of Planning
1. Analyze opportunities by SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats).
2. Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time
bound).
3. Develop premises.
4. Determine and evaluate alternative courses of action.
5. Select best alternative.
6. Formulate action plans.
7. Prepare budgets.
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3.2 Project Planning Process
The basic processes of project planning are:
Scope planning – specifying the in-scope requirements for the project to facilitate
creating the work breakdown structure
Preparation of the work breakdown structure – spelling out the breakdown of
the project into tasks and sub-tasks
Project schedule development – listing the entire schedule of the activities and
detailing their sequence of implementation
Resource planning – indicating who will do what work, at which time, and if any
special skills are needed to accomplish the project tasks
Budget planning – specifying the budgeted cost to be incurred at the completion
of the project
Procurement planning – focusing on vendors outside your company and
subcontracting
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Project Planning Process
Risk management planning – planning for possible risks and considering optional
contingency plans and mitigation strategies
Quality planning – assessing quality criteria to be used for the project
Communication planning – designing the communication strategy with all
project stakeholders
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3.3 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS defines the scope of the project and breaks the work down into components
that can be scheduled, estimated, and easily monitored and controlled.
The idea behind the WBS is to subdivide a complicated task into smaller tasks, until
we reach a level that can’t be further subdivided. It is breaking down the work when
we reach a low enough level to perform an estimate of the desired accuracy.
At that point, it is usually easier to estimate how long the small task will take and
how much it will cost to perform than it would have been to estimate these factors
at the higher levels. Each descending level of the WBS represents an increased level
of detailed definition of the project work.
WBS describes the products or services to be delivered by the project and how they
are decomposed and related. It is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project
into smaller components. It defines and groups a project’s discrete work elements in
a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project.
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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimating and
control, along with providing guidance for schedule development and control.
WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables, and
work packages.
It is a tree structure, which shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an
objective (e.g., a program, project, and contract).
In a project or contract, the WBS is developed by starting with the end objective
and successively subdividing it into manageable components in terms of size,
duration, and responsibility (e.g., systems, subsystems, components, tasks,
subtasks, and work packages), which include all steps necessary to achieve the
objective.
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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The project manager is free to determine the number of levels in the WBS based
on the complexity of the project. We need to include enough levels to accurately
estimate project time and costs but not so many levels that are difficult to
distinguish between components. Regardless of the number of levels in a WBS, the
lowest level is called a work package.
Work packages are the components that can be easily assigned to one person or a
team of people, with clear accountability and responsibility for completing the
assignment. The work-package level is where time estimates, cost estimates, and
resource estimates are determined. A work package at the activity level is a task
that:
can be realistically and confidently estimated;
makes no sense practically to break down any further;
can be completed in accordance with one of the heuristics defined above;
produces a deliverable which is measurable; and
forms a unique package of work which can be outsourced or contracted out.
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100% Rule for Preparing WBS
The 100% rule is one of the most important principles guiding the development,
decomposition and evaluation of the WBS.
The rule applies at all levels within the hierarchy: the sum of the work at the
"child" level must equal 100% of the work represented by the "parent" and the
WBS should not include any work that falls outside the actual scope of the
project, that is, it can’t include more than 100% of the work.
It is important to remember that the 100% rule also applies to the activity level.
The work represented by the activities in each work package must add up to
100% of the work necessary to complete the work package.
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Mutually exclusive elements for WBS
Mutually exclusive elements
In addition to the 100% rule, it is important that there is no overlap in scope
definition between different elements of a WBS.
This vagueness could result in duplicated work or miscommunications about
responsibility and authority. Such overlap could also cause confusion regarding
project cost accounting.
If WBS element names are vague, a WBS dictionary can help clarify the
distinctions between WBS elements. The WBS dictionary describes each
component of the WBS with milestones, deliverables, activities, scope, and
sometimes dates, resources, costs, quality.
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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The WBS creation involves:
Listing all the project outputs (deliverables and other direct results)
Identifying all the activities required to deliver the outputs
Subdividing these activities into sub activities and tasks
Identifying the deliverable and milestone(s) of each task
Identifying the time usage of all the resources (personnel and material) required
to complete each task
The purpose of developing a WBS is to:
Allow easier management of each component
Allow accurate estimation of time, cost, and resource requirements
Allow easier assignment of human resources
Allow easier assignment of responsibility for activities
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General Format of WBS
Format of WBS
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Example of WBS
WBS of Project Phase
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Example of WBS
WBS of Building
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WBS Showing Different Levels
Different levels in WBS
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WBS Showing Different Levels
Levels of WBS in Home Construction
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3.4 Project Scheduling with Bar Chart, CPM and PERT
Project Scheduling
Scheduling is a process of determining sequential order of planned
activities, assigning realistic durations to each activity and determining
start and finish dates for each activity.
Real test of project planner / scheduler is his / her ability to identify all the
project activities required to complete the project.
Scheduling process starts with the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
After completion of WBS, project team members can be selected who
have expertise and ability to clearly define magnitude of detail work.
Project plan and schedule must clearly define individual responsibilities,
schedules, budgets, and anticipated problems.
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Project Scheduling
WBS is the basic tool in project management to identify project activities.
Project work packages are decomposed into smaller and more manageable
components called activities, and are listed in sequential order.
Activities provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, executing, and monitoring
controlling project work.
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Project Scheduling
Scheduler must give adequate time and think before turning to computer to
generate schedule.
It is better to be a better planner than to be proficient in computer application.
There must be an explicit operational plan to guide entire project.
Project plan must include and link three components of project: scope, budget, and
schedule.
Project must be sub-divided into well-defined small elements and sub-activities
that can be measured, and managed.
Project scheduling is a process of determining the sequential order of planned
activities, assigning realistic durations to each activity and layout of activities in time
order to meet project objectives.
It shows starting and completion dates to each activity in a logical sequence in a
graphical diagram.
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Principles of Scheduling
Following are the major principles of scheduling:
Begin planning before starting work, rather than after starting work.
Involve people who will actually perform work in planning and scheduling process.
Keep the plan simple and eliminate irrelevant details that prevent the plan from reading.
Build flexibility into the plan, include allowances for changes and time for reviews and
approvals.
Remember! Schedule is the plan for doing the work, and it will never be precisely correct.
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Responsibilities for Scheduling
Following are the responsibilities for scheduling:
Owner, designer, and contractor are the principal parties in any project.
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Techniques of Project Scheduling
Project manager must choose a scheduling technique that is simple to use and can be
interpreted easily by all project participants.
Commonly used techniques for scheduling are Bar-Chart, Critical Path Method (CPM) and
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT).
Bar-Chart:
Henry L. Gantt introduced bar charts in early 1900s for planning and controlling
production of factories, which is named for Henry Gantt.
Many project engineers prefer bar-chart for project scheduling because of its simplicity,
ease of use, and it does not require extensive interrelationships of activities.
It is an effective technique for project scheduling but has limited application because
construction project requires many interrelationships of activities.
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Critical Path Method (CPM)
CPM was developed in 1956 by DuPont company with Remington Rand as consultants as
a deterministic approach to scheduling.
It is commonly used in engineering and construction project that are resource dependent
and based on accurate time estimates.
Although CPM requires more effort than a bar-chart, it provides more detailed
information that is required for effective project management.
CPM uses one time estimate that represents the normal time (i.e., better estimate accuracy with
CPM) and is deterministic in nature.
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Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT).
PERT was developed in 1957 by the US Navy, with Booz, Allen, and Hamilton Management
consultants, as probabilistic approach to scheduling.
It is more commonly used by manufacturing industry; however, it can be used for risk
assessment of highly uncertain projects.
It is used for R&D projects where the risks in calculating time durations have a high variability.
Both PERT and CPM permit the use of dummy activities in order to develop the logic.
Project Manager must use own judgment and select method of scheduling that best defines
the work to be done and that communicates project requirements to all stakeholders.
It uses three time estimates (optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic) to derive an expected time.
It is probabilistic in nature, based on a beta distribution for each activity time and a normal
distribution for expected time duration. This allows us to calculate the “risk” in completing a project.
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Steps of Project Scheduling
Following are steps of project scheduling:
1. Develop WBS to identify activities that must be performed to complete a
project.
4. Determine the time, cost, and resources required to complete each activity.
5. Analyze costs, and resources required to complete entire project.
6. Communicate results of the plan and schedule.
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Gantt Chart or Bar Chart
Bar Chart
It consists of two coordinate axes.
Horizontal axis represents time required for completion of activities
Vertical axis represents jobs to be performed.
Each bar represents one specific job or activity of the project.
Beginning and end of each bar represents time of start and time of finish of that
activity.
Length of bar represents duration of the activity required for its completion.
Bars are in two sections, upper section indicates planned time and lower section
is left blank for recording progress of work done. Amount of work done is recorded
by shading lower section. Lower section could be extended to show new time of
finishing.
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Advantages of Bar-Chart
Following are advantages of Bar-Chart:
Easy to construct / draw.
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Conversion from Bar-Chart to Milestone Chart and PERT
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Example 1 : Draw bar chart for the finalization of design and work order for
a building project. Project start date is 19 June 2020.
Activity Time (weeks)
B. Design 5 weeks
E. Tendering 4 weeks
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Solution of Example 1
Let us assume the following logical sequence to prepare Bar Chart of example 1.
1. Activity B starts after 2 weeks of working activity A.
2. Activity C starts after 2 weeks of working activity B.
3. Activity D starts after 3 weeks of working activity C.
4. Activity E starts only after finishing of activity D.
5. Activity F starts only after finishing of activity E.
6. Activity G starts only after finishing of activity F.
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Bar chart for the finalization of design and work order for a building
project.
June 2020
Duration
Activity
(weeks) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A 4
B 5
C 4
D 3
E 4
F 1
G 1
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Bar-Chart for Two Story Office and Workshop
.
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Network Analysis System (NAS)
With increased complexity of large projects, necessity for better planning
and scheduling is increasing.
Management is continually seeking better control technique to cope
with project complexities.
Network analysis system provides a comprehensive method for project
planning, scheduling and control.
CPM and PERT are the most modern tool of project management.
Network techniques are called by various names such as “project
evaluation and review technique” (PERT), “critical path method” (CPM ),
“resources allocation for multi-project scheduling”(RAMPS), “least cost
estimating and scheduling” (LESS) etc.
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Network Analysis System (NAS)
Network is a graphical diagram that shows activities and dependencies
of activities.
CPM and PERT networks are flow charts and are sometimes called
network diagrams.
PERT is used on those projects, such as R&D, where percent complete is almost
impossible to determine except at completed milestones.
CPM is used for those projects, such as construction, where percent complete
can be determined with reasonable accuracy and customer billing can be
accomplished based on percent complete.
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Terms Used in Network
Earliest Start Time (ES): ES is earliest possible time by which an activity
can be started.
Earliest Finish Time (EF): EF is earliest possible time by which it can
be finished. EF = ES + D. D is the duration required to complete an
activity.
Latest Finish Time (LF): LF is latest time by which an activity can be
finished without delaying completion of project.
Latest Start Time (LS): LS is latest time by which an activity can be
started without delaying completion of project. LS = LF - D.
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Terms Used in Network
Free Float (FF): It is the amount of time by which start of an activity may
be delayed without delaying early start of succeeding activity.
FFi = ESj - ESi – D = ESj - EFi .
Interfering Float (Int. F): It is the difference between TF and FF. It is also
the part of total float that causes reduction in the total float of
successor activity.
Int. Fi = TF – FF = LFi - ESj.
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Terms Used in Network
Forward Pass:
ES and EF of each activity are computed by the process of forward pass.
ES for an initial event of network is taken zero, as project starts at some specific
date.
When more than one arrow proceeds on a node, greatest value is taken in
computing EF on forward pass. EF = ES + D.
Backward Pass:
LS of each activity are computed by backward pass process, and computation starts
from final event.
LF of all incoming activities for final node equals earliest completion of project.
When more than one arrow occurs on a node, smallest value is taken in
computing LF on backward pass. LS = LF - D.
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Terms Used in Network
Critical path:
It is a series of interconnected critical activities in the network diagram.
Critical activities can be determined with the help of float, as critical
activities have no float time.
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Critical Path Method (CPM)
Advantages of CPM
CPM is a powerful technique of planning and controlling engineering
projects.
Although both methods achieve same results, most Project Managers prefer
Activity on Node Method because it does not require use of dummy.
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Arrow Diagram Method
.
D
3 5
3 F
B
A 9 B’ 4
H
1 2 0 7
7 8
C 6
G
2 E
8
4 6
5
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Precedence Diagram Method
B D F
A H
C E G
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Forward and Backward Pass
.
Backward Pass: LS = LF – D
LS Activity Number LF
Activity Description
ES Duration EF
Forward Pass: EF = ES + D
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Basics of A-O-N Network
Project Manager and his / her team must work together to develop a
schedule to complete project with available resources.
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Types of Precedence Relationship
Finish-to-Start i.e. Delay from the finish of preceding activity to the start of
the succeeding one.
Example: 2FS between activity A and activity B represents that activity B
starts after 2 time-unit delay constraints from completion of activity A.
Start-to-Start i.e. Delay from the start of preceding activity to the start of
the succeeding one.
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Types of Precedence Relationship
Finish-to-finish i.e. Delay from the finish of preceding activity to the finish
of the succeeding one.
Example: 2 FF between activity A and activity B represents that completion
of activity B will take 2 time-unit after completion of activity A.
Start-to-finish i.e. Delay from the start of preceding activity to the finish of
the succeeding one.
Example: 8 SF between activity A and activity B represents that activity B is
finished after 8 time-unit delay from start of activity A.
Note: Situational relationships are always defined from preceding activity to
its successor activity.
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Successor / Predecessor Relationship
D = 4 days D = 7 days
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Model with Successor/Predecessor Relationship (S-S = 2 days and F-F = 4 days of lag)
.
F-F = 4 days
D = 5 days D = 12 days
S-S = 2 days
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Model without Successor/Predecessor Relationship
.
Initial Final
Excavation Excavation
of Footings of Footings
D = 2 Days D = 3 Days
D = 8 Days D = 4 Days
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Multiple Successor/Predecessor Activity Relationships
. S-F = 12 days
S-S = 2 days
F-S = 3 days
Activity A Activity B
DA = 4 days DB = 7 days
F-F = 15 days
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All Activities Appear Critical
0, 10, 6
Excavation F-F = 4
Footings
0, 6, 6
2, 20, 14
S-S = 2 Formwork F-F = 2
and Rebar
2, 12, 14
10, 30, 16 16, 40, 41
Place Erect Steel
S-S = 4 Concrete Columns
10, 6, 16 16, 25, 41
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CPM Diagram without Successor/Predecessor Relationship
.
0 2 4 6 8 10
Initial Continue Final
Excavation Excavation Excavation
0, 2, 2 2, 2, 4 4, 2, 6
2 6 6 10 10 14
Continue Final
Begin Forms Forms and Forms and
and Rebars
Rebars Rebars
2, 4, 6 6, 4, 10 10, 4, 14
10 12 12 14 14 16 16 41
Initial Continue Final Erect Steel
Concrete Concrete Concrete Columns
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Activity on Node (A-O-N)
Activity on Node (A-O-N) also called Precedence diagram is a graphical
method of depicting sequence of activities involved in a project.
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Example 1: Construct a Precedence Diagram. On the diagram compute
the four schedule dates (ES, EF, LS, LF) and the four floats (TF, FF, Int. F,
IF) for each activity. Identify the critical path.
.
Activity Duration Predecessor
A 7 -
B 9 A
C 2 A
D 3 B
E 5 C
F 4 D
G 8 B, E
H 6 F, G
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A-O-N Network Diagram
. 7, 16 17, 20 20, 24
B D F
A H
C E G
7, 2, 9 9, 5, 14 16, 8, 24
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Computation of ES, EF, LS, LF, TF, FF & IF
.Activity Deration ES EF LS LF TF FF Int. F IF Remarks
A 7 0 7 0 7 0 0 0 0 CP
B 9 7 16 7 16 0 0 0 0 CP
C 2 7 9 9 11 2 0 2 0
D 3 16 19 17 20 1 0 1 0
E 5 9 14 11 16 2 2 0 0
F 4 19 23 20 24 1 1 0 0
G 8 16 24 16 24 0 0 0 0 CP
H 6 24 30 24 30 0 0 0 0 CP
Critical Path: A – B – G – H (Chain of Critical Activities).
Project Duration: 7 + 9 + 8 + 6 = 30 unit.
For check: Alternative routes are:
1. A - B - F - H = 7 + 9 + 4 + 6 = 26 unit.
2. A - B - G - H = 7 + 9 + 8 + 6 = 30 unit. (Longest route).
3. A - C - E - G - H = 7 + 2 + 5 + 8 + 6 = 26 unit.
Critical Path: A – B – G – H (Longest route within the Network).
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Example 2. Construct a Precedence Diagram. Compute the four
schedule dates (ES, EF, LS, LF) and the four floats (TF, FF, Int. F, IF)
for each activity. Identify the critical path.
Activity Duration Predecessor
A 3 -
B 2 -
C 4 A
D 5 A
E 3 B
F 6 E
G 4 E
H 5 C, D, F
I 7 H, G
J 2 H
K 5 I, J
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Example 3. Construct a Precedence Diagram. Compute the four schedule dates (ES,
EF, LS, LF) and the four floats (TF, FF, Int. F, IF) for each activity. Identify the critical
path.
Activity Duration Predecessor
A 5 -
B 4 A
C 9 A
D 15 A
E 1 B, C
F 4 C, D
G 9 D
H 9 D
I 9 E, F
J 6 F
K 5 F, G
L 10 H
M 5 I, J
N 10 K, L, M
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Example 4. Draw “A - O - N” diagram from the following activity relationships.
Compute ES, EF, LS, LF, TF, FF, Int. F and IF for the following activities and project
completion time. Also mark the critical path in the network diagram.
Activity Duration (Days) Predecessor Successor
A 4 - B, C. D
B 5 A E
C 7 A F, G
D 5 A G
E 6 B H
F 8 C H, I
G 10 C, D J
H 9 E, F K
I 6 F L
J 8 G L, M, N
K 8 H O
L 10 I, J O
M 4 J P
N 8 J P
O 9 K, L Q
P 6 M, N Q
Q 7 O, P - 61
Example 5: Construct a Precedence Diagram. Compute the four schedule
dates (ES, EF, LS, LF) and the four floats (TF, FF, Int. F, IF) for each activity.
Identify the critical path.
Activity Duration (Days) Predecessor Successor
A 2 - B, C, D
B 3 A E
C 5 A F, G
D 3 A G
E 4 B H
F 5 C H, I
G 8 C, D J
H 7 E, F K
I 4 F L
J 6 G L, M, N
K 6 H O
L 8 I, J O
M 2 J P
N 6 J P
O 7 K, L Q
P 4 M, N Q
Q 5 O, P - 62
Precedence Diagram of Example 5
.
B E H K
3 4 7 6
A C F I L O Q
2 5 5 4 8 7 5
D G J M P
3 8 6 2 4
N
6
LS Activity Number LF
Activity Description
ES Duration EF 63
Example 5: Time Computation
.
9, 2, 12 12, 5, 16 16, 8, 23 23, 11, 29
B E H K
2, 3, 5 5, 4, 9 12, 7, 19 19, 6, 25