26 Pert
26 Pert
CPM and PERT CPM (Critical Path Method) and PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) are network based methods designed to assist in the planning, scheduling, and control of projects. A project is a collection of interrelated activities with each activity consuming time and resources. The objective of CPM and PERT is to provide analytic means for scheduling the activities.
The two techniques, CPM and PERT which were developed independently, differ in that CPM assumes deterministic activity durations, whereas PERT assumes probabilistic durations. First we discuss CPM and then provide the details of PERT.
Network Representation
Each activity of the project is represented by an arc pointing in the direction of progress in the project. The nodes of the network establish the precedence relationships among the different activities of the project.
Use of dummy activity: To establish correct precedence relationships, dummy activities are used. A dummy activity, which is normally depicted by a dashed arc, consumes no time or resources. For example, if two activities that can start concurrently and have the same duration can be represented using a dummy activity as:
Or also as 2
A
1
A B
1
Dummy
B
Dummy
Rule 3: To maintain the correct precedence relationships, the following questions must be answered as each activity is added to the network:
(a) What activities must immediately precede the current activity? (b) What activities must follow the current activity? (c) What activities must occur concurrently with the current activity?
The answers to these questions may require the use of dummy activities to ensure correct precedence among the activities.
H
F
I
8 L 9
2. Construct the project network consisting of activities A to I with the following precedence relationships: (a)A and B, the first activities of the project start immediately.
(b) A and B precede C. (c) B precedes D and E. (d) A and B precede F. (e) F and D precede G and H.
2 A F
Dummy
C G
I
H 6
1
B
5
D
An activity is said to be critical if there is no " leeway" in determining its start and finish times. A non-critical activity allows some scheduling slack, so that the start time of the activity can be delayed or advanced within limits without affecting the total completion time of the project.
To carry out the necessary computations, we define an event as a point in time at which some activities are terminated and others started. In terms of the network, an event corresponds to a node.
j = Latest occurrence time of the event j. Dij = duration of the activity (i,j) The definitions of the earliest and latest occurrence times of the event j are specified relative to start and completion time of the project.
It is to be noted that the earliest occurrence time of the event j is the earliest time at which all the activities emanating from the node j can start. Similarly, the latest occurrence time of the event j is the latest time by which all activities that end at the node j must be completed.
General Step j: If (p, j), (q, j), , (v, j) are the activities ending at node j, we define
ESj = Max { ESp+ Dpj, ESq+ Dqj, , ESv+Dvj } The forward pass ends when ESn has been computed which is the duration of the project.
The computations now start at node n (the end node) and advance recursively to start node 1.
Initial step: We set LCn = ESn General Step i: If (i, p), (i, q), , (i, v) are the activities starting at node i, we define LCi = Min { LCp- Dip, LCq- Diq, , LCv- Div } The backward pass ends when LC1 has been computed which is start time of the project.
ESi = LCi
ESj = LCj
A critical path of the project is a path comprising of critical activities of the project.
It is to be remembered that
a project can have more than one critical path, Any critical path will start at node 1 and will end at node n and that
The sum of the durations of the activities lying on a critical path is the duration of the project.
19 19
Determine the critical path of the project (network) given below. 14 3 4 13 3 C 2 4 5 F 7 I 0 0 A G 6 3 7 4 Dummy 2 0 H 5 1 10
17 17
3 B
3 3 3
7 E