Project Scheduling

Example
 PROJECT SCHEDULING
 It is part of project management within the Planning phase
of
the Systems Development Life Cycle.
 Project Scheduling: Allocate resources to execute all
activities in the project.

 Project: Set of activities or tasks with a clear beginning

and ending points. The amount of available resources
(time, personnel and budget) to carry out the activities is
usually limited. 5
 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD
 Objectives:
 Establish beginning, ending and duration of each activity in
the project.
 Calculate overall completion time of the project given the
amount of usually limited resources.
 Determine the critical path and its duration.
 Determine the slack time for all non-critical activities and
the whole project.
 Guide the allocation of resources other t h a n time such
as staff an d budget.

6
 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD
 Phases
:  Define activities or tasks according to the project objectives.
 A task is an individual unit of work with a clear beginning and a
clear end.
 Identify precedence relationships or dependencies
 Estimate time required to complete each task.
 Draw an activity-on-arrow PERT diagram inserting dummy activities
if required.
 Apply CPM to calculate earliest and latest starting times, earliest
and
latest completion times, slack times, critical path etc.
 Construct a GANTT chart.
 Reallocate resources and resolve if necessary.
 Continuously monitor/revise the time estimates along the project 7
duration.
 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD
 It is determined by adding the times for the activities in
each sequence.
 CPM determines the total calendar time required for the
project.
 If activities outside the critical path speed up or slow down
(within
limits), the total project time does not change.
 The amount of time that a non-critical activity can be
delayed without delaying the project is called slack-time.

5
 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD
ES Activity EF

LS Duration LF

 ES – Activity earliest start time

 LS – Activity latest start time
 EF – Activity earliest finishing
time

 LF – Activity
Slack latest finishing
Time – Maximum time
activity delay
time

2
0
 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD
Step 1. Calculate ET for each node.
For each node i for which predecessors j are labelled with ES(j),
ES(i) is given
by:
ES(i)= maxj [ES(j)+ t(j,i)]

where t(j,i) is the duration of task between nodes

(j,i). Step 2. Calculate LT for each node.

For each node i for which successors j are labelled
with LF(j), LF(i) is given
by:

where t(j,i) is the LF(i)= minjof[LF(j)

duration task –between
t(i,j)] nodes (i,j).
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 CPM – CRITICAL PATH METHOD

Step 3. Calculate slack time for each node.

An activity with zero slack time is a critical activity and cannot be delayed without
causing a delay in the whole project.

Total Float/ Slack Time:  is the amount of time that an activity can be
delayed from its early start date without delaying the project finish date. 
Free Float:  is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed without
delaying the early start date of any successor activity.

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ES Activity EF
LS Duration LF
 D
B

G
A
E

C
F
Assign Weights
D
B

G
A
3 E

C
F
Assign Weights
D
B
4

G
A
3 E

C
F
Assign Weights
D
B 5
4

G
A
4
3 E
1
H
3
C
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF D
B 5
4

G
0 A 3
4
3 E
1
H
3
C
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF D
3 B 7 5
4

G
0 A 3
4
3 E
1
H
3
C
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF D
3 B 7 5
4

G
0 A 3
4
3 E
1
H
3
3 C 5
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

G
0 A 3
4
3 E
1
H
3
3 C 5
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

G
0 A 3
4
3 5 E 6
1
H
3
3 C 5
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4
12
6 } max
12 G 16
0 A 3
4
3 5 E 6
1
H
3
3 C 5
2 F
2
 Calculate ES
Calculate EF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
4
3 5 E 6
1
16 H 19
3
3 C 5
2 5 F 7
2
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
4
3 5 E 6
1
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
2 5 F 7
2
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
4 16
3 5 E 6
1
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
2 5 F 7
2 16
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
3 5 E 6
1
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
2 5 F 7
14 2 16
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
2 5 F 7
14 2 16
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 5
4

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
11
14 } min
 Calculate LS
Calculate LF 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
 Critical Path
7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Total Float (TF)/Slack
TF=LF-EF (Finish Float)
TF=LS-ES (Start Float)

7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7

12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Total Float (TF) /Slack
TF=LF-EF (Finish Float)
TF=LS-ES (Start Float)

7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7
0
12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Total Float (TF) /Slack
TF=LF-EF (Finish Float)
TF=LS-ES (Start Float)

0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7
0
12 G 16
0 A 3
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
11 1 12
16 H 19
16 3 19
3 C 5
9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Total Float (TF) /Slack
TF=LF-EF (Finish Float)
TF=LS-ES (Start Float)
0
0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7 0
0
12 G 16
0 A 3 6
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
0
11 1 12
16 H 19
6
16 3 19
3 C 5 9

9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Free Float (FF)
FF=Min(of ES of Successors)-ES(Activity)-Duration(Activity)

0
0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7 0
0
12 G 16
0 A 3 6
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
0
11 1 12
16 H 19
6
16 3 19
3 C 5 9

9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Free Float (FF)
FF=Min(of ES of Successors)-ES(Activity)-Duration(Activity)
=3-0-3
=0 0
0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7 0
0
12 G 16
0 A 3 6
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
0
11 1 12
0 16 H 19
6
16 3 19
3 C 5 9

9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
Free Float (FF)
FF=Min(of ES of Successors)-ES(Activity)-Duration(Activity)
=5-3-2
=0 0
0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7 0
0
12 G 16
0 A 3 6
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
0
11 1 12
0 16 H 19
6
16 3 19
3 C 5 9

9 2 11 5 F 7
14 2 16
0
Free Float (FF)
FF=Min(of ES of Successors)-ES(Activity)-Duration(Activity)
=5-3-2
=0 0
0 7 D 12
3 B 7 7 5 12
3 4 7 0
0 0
0 12 G 16
0 A 3 6
12 4 16
0 3 3 5 E 6
0
11 1 12 0
0 16 H 19
6
6 16 3 19
3 C 5 9

9 2 11 5 F 7 0
14 2 16
0
9
 GANTT CHART
 A GANTT chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a
project
schedule.
 After the PERT/CPM analysis is completed, the following
phase is to construct the GANTT chart and then to re-
allocate resources and re-schedule if necessary.
 GANTT charts have become a common technique for
representing the phases and activities of a project work
breakdown structure.
 It was introduced by Henry Gantt around 1910 – 1915.

36
 GANTT CHART
 Characteristics:
 The bar in each row identifies the corresponding task
 The horizontal position of the bar identifies s t a r t an d end
times of the task
 Bar length represents the duration of the task
 Task durations can be compared easily
 Good for allocating resources a nd re-scheduling
 Precedence relationships can be represented using
arrows
 Critical activities are usually highlighted
 Slack times are represented using bars with doted lines
 The
The bar
bar of
of each
each activity
activity begins
ends atatthe
theactivity
activitylatest
earliest start
finish time
time
45
(ES)
(LF).

 GANTT CHART
 Advantages
 Simple
 Good visual communication to others
 Task durations can be compared easily
 Good for scheduling resources

 Disadvantages
 Dependencies are more difficult to visualise
 Minor changes in data can cause major changes in the
chart

38
 CONSTRUCTING GANTT CHART
 The steps to construct a GANTT chart from the information
obtained by PERT CHART and CPM are:
1. Schedule the critical tasks in the correct position.
2. Place the time windows in which the non-critical tasks can
be scheduled.
3. Schedule the non-critical tasks according to their earliest
starting times.
4. Indicate precedence relationships between tasks.

39
 CONSTRUCTING GANTT CHART
 Example of an early GANTT chart
construction:

40
CONSTRUCTING GANTT
C HART
Step 1. Schedule critical
tasks:

41
CONSTRUCTING GANTT
C HART
Step 2. Place time windows for non-critical
tasks:

42
 CONSTRUCTING GANTT CHART
Step 3. Schedule non-critical tasks
Step 4. Indicate precedence
relationships:

43
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
 Once the project schedule, (e.g. GANTT chart), has
been
constructed, take into account
 available staff hours
 slack times and
 the project schedule

Assign staff and other resources to each activity in the

project

44
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
 Resource Smoothing is a technique used to re-allocate
resources and re-schedule activities.
 In resource smoothing, non-critical tasks are re-
scheduled within their time window.
 Staff Utilization:(duration of activity x staff required for each
activity, all added together) / (maximum staff required x duration of
project)

45
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
Example
1

46
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
The original schedule (constructed above) for this project is as shown
below.

1. Staff utilisation = (3x2+4x4+5x1+7x3+2x1+4x2+3x5)/(14x6) = 0.857 =

85.5%
47
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
2. Work out the Staff
Profile

48
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
 Now, assume that there are 6 people available for working in this project
but one of them returns from holidays at time=2.
 So re-scheduling is needed because activities A and B cannot be carried out
in parallel until time=2.

49
 STAFFING & RE-SCHEDULING
 Suppose another scenario in which equipment and materials needed to carry
out activities E and F are available at time=5 and time=9 respectively instead
of being available at the activities ES time. Then, rescheduling is needed but
the overall duration of the project is not affected.

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