Unit Four: Project Planning Techniques: Schedule,

Cost, and Resource Utilization

4.1 Work Breakdown Structure

4.2 Project Network
4.3 Estimating Techniques
4.4 Critical Path Analysis
4.5 Scheduling
4.6 Resource Loading
4.7 Key Business Applications
 4.1 Work Breakdown Structure


is a checklist of every activity that must be performed to
create the end product.

is the foundation for the schedule, resource allocation, and
budget plans.

A hierarchical way to break a project into smaller, more
manageable components or work packages/tasks.

A description of WHAT needs to be done.

A way to graphically show what is not in the project in
smaller detail.

A major precursor to budgeting, scheduling,
communicating, allocating responsibility, and controlling
the project.
 FRAMEWORK FOR A WBS

Project
Project XX

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4
 Steps in creating WBS
1.isolating the major work assignments for your project /“What major
work assignments must be accomplished to complete this project?”
2.Identify Tasks. Begin each task with an active verb since you are
listing the action or performance that needs to be done/ “To
accomplish this work assignment, what tasks must be performed or
delivered?”
3.Break down the work efforts until you (or the person responsible for
the area) can assign to them reliable effort estimates (the amount of
effort time needed to accomplish the work task).
4.When you define the lowest level of detail, assign a person or
functional area to take responsibility for doing the work and commit
to a deliverable—the end product of the effort that comprises the
work task.
 Methods of Creating a WBS
• questionnaire,
• one-on-one personal interviews, or
• group sessions.

 We recommend the group sessions as the

vehicle for developing the most
comprehensive work breakdown structure
 work packages are reached when
they include deliverables that:
1. Can be realistically and confidently
estimated.
2. Can be completed quickly.
3. Can be completed without interruption
(in other words, without the need of
more information)
4. May be outsourced or contracted out.
In order to determine if the WBS is complete and accurate,
ask yourself the following questions:
 Is it broken down to the level of detail that guarantees
control to the project manager?
 Do the work efforts at the lowest level begin with an active
verb? (If they are phases, components of
the product, or areas of responsibility, the WBS is not
decomposed completely.)
 Does each activity result in a deliverable and have someone
accountable for completing the activity
on time, within budget, and of the quality acceptable?
If the answers to these questions are yes, the WBS is
complete.
• This example is quite simple and the whole purpose
is to bring the students’ attention to focus on the
WBS itself.
• As you can see, the first level describes the product
we want to achieve once the project is complete.
• By meeting with the stakeholders, the team can start
decomposing the product into smaller, more
manageable components.
• This is what the level 2 is showing below:
• If we take the component called “Wheels” for
example, we may want to break it down into
several pieces. However, the team has to
decide how much detail the work really
requires.
• For this example, we can just break this level
into two pieces:

The bicycle as a product has only two wheels and from a

project management standpoint, this is enough for the team.
• Finally, there could be a component that needs more
details for other reasons. In our example, the team
decides to bring even more detail to the component
called “Testing”. Based on the project’s needs, there
could be a reason to add three more work packages
as you can see in the following figure:
Very important key points to keep in mind while
developing a WBS:
1. The WBS is created with the help of the team.
2. The first level is completed before the project is
broken down further.
3. Each level of the WBS is a smaller piece of the level
above.
4. The WBS includes only deliverables that are really
needed.
5. Deliverables not included in the WBS are not part of
the project
• EXERCISE:
Create a WBS for the project of moving to
other city. You have received a job offer in that
city, and want to plan the move.
 Move

Research Sell home Buy home Pack Move unpack Evaluation

Lessons
Locations Repair Financing Prepare Get there Hire Help
Learned

Plan where
Schools Clean Look Buy boxes Get stuff there
things go

Risks Show Narrow down Garage Sale utilities Unpack

Change
Close Close Pack
address

Change
schools
 4.2 project network
•The WBS defines the tasks logically; then the network
organizes them sequentially.
•Every work task in the WBS must also appear in the network.
•The network analyzes the sequence of task execution and
portrays it in a diagram to ensure that the team is in
agreement about the sequence.
•The team must feel that the sequence provides them with all
prerequisites to their tasks.
•The objective of the network is to portray visually the
relationships of work activities to each other.
•A network demonstrates these relationships and
communicates them more clearly to project team members
and to managers than any other technique.
 OPTIONS FOR PRODUCING A
NETWORK
There are two options for producing a network :
(1) Draw the network free form (a right-brained,
visual approach) or
(2) Determine the immediate predecessor(s) for
each activity (left-brained, analytical approach)or
dependency analysis.
 Visual Approach
•In order to create a visual network, go back
to the WBS and separately label each of the
work tasks.
•the project team is analyzing how the work
tasks can best fit together in a whole project
•draw arrows between each work task
 Analytical Approach
•define the most immediate predecessor(s) for each work task
on the work breakdown structure
•prepare a dependency analysis worksheet that can be
translated to a network
•Assign an identification number or letter to each work activity.
•Then determine the immediate predecessor(s)
using a dependency analysis worksheet
•validate the dependency analysis worksheet.
•Now plot the work tasks onto the network.
 Project Network
• Network analysis is the general name given to certain specific techniques which can be
used for the planning, management and control of projects

• Use of nodes and arrows

Arrows  An arrow leads from tail to head directionally
– Indicate ACTIVITY, a time consuming effort that is required to perform a
part of the work.
Nodes  A node is represented by a circle
- Indicate EVENT, a point in time where one or more activities start and/or
finish.
• Activity/arrow
– A task or a certain amount of work required in the project
– Requires time to complete
– Represented by an arrow
• Dummy Activity
– Indicates only precedence relationships
– Does not require any time of effort
20
 Project Network
• Event/node
– Signals the beginning or ending of an activity
– Designates a point in time
– Represented by a circle (node)
• Network
– Shows the sequential relationships among activities using nodes
and arrows

Activity-on-node (AON)
nodes represent activities, and arrows show precedence relationships
Activity-on-arrow (AOA)
arrows represent activities and nodes are events for points in time

21
• Path
– Sequence of activities that leads from the starting
node to the finishing node
• Critical path
– The longest path; determines expected project
duration
• Critical activities
– Activities on the critical path
• Slack
– Allowable slippage for path; the difference the
length of path and the length of critical path
AOA Project Network for House

3
Lay foundation Dummy
2 0 Build Finish
3 1 house work
1 2 4 6 7
Design house Order and 3 1
and obtain receive Select 1 1 Select
financing materials paint carpet
5

AON Project Network for House

Lay foundations Build house
2 4
Finish work
2 3
7
Start 1 1
3
Design house and 6
3
obtain financing 5 1
1
1 Select carpet
Order and receive
Select paint 23
materials
 Situations in network diagram
B
A
A must finish before either B or C can start

C
A
C both A and B must finish before C can start

A
C both A and C must finish before either of B or D can start

B
D

A
B
A must finish before B can start
Dummy both A and C must finish before D can start

C
D 24
 Network example
Illustration of network analysis of a minor redesign of a product and its associated
packaging.

The key question is: How long will it take to complete this project ?

25
For clarity, this list is kept to a minimum by specifying only immediate relationships, that
is relationships involving activities that "occur near to each other in time".

26
 Questions to prepare activity network

• Is this a Start Activity?

• Is this a Finish Activity?
• What Activity Precedes this?
• What Activity Follows this?
• What Activity is Concurrent with this?

27
 Guidelines for Developing a Network Chart
1. Don’t worry about time estimates or drawing the network
chart to scale. Concentrate on the relationships. The chart
aesthetics can be improved later.
2. Make sure there is only one Start box and one End box.
3. Do not allow any task to dangle. Every task must connect to
another task or to the start or end of the project. In other
words, every task must be integrated into the framework of
the network chart. If several tasks are all ending tasks, tie
them together to one End box.
4. Indicate key go/no-go points in this network chart.
5. Remember that this is a communication tool; it must be
clear to all who use it.
 4.3 Estimating
what estimating is not:

Estimating is not your best guess.

It is not trying to reach a challenge.

It is not succumbing to somebody else’s
demands.

an estimate is not what we estimated the
last time;

not what we estimated the last time plus how much we slipped;

not a conservative number with lots of padding;

not taking someone else’s estimate and then doubling it, and
then increasing the units of time by one;

not providing the expected or “right” answer.

Is “an opinion or judgment of the nature, character, or quality
of a . . . thing” or “a rough or approximate calculation.

Is “a numerical value obtained from a statistical sample and
assigned to a population parameter.

That means that an estimate can and should be more than a
guess, educated or otherwise.

Estimating in project management is a forecasting technique
for determining the amount of effort time and elapsed time
required to complete the work tasks of a project.

attempting to forecast or predict how long the actual effort or
work will take, how many human resources will be required,
and the elapsed time or duration for completing the tasks.
 framework for developing a
forecasting model
•In order to determine the effort time and
elapsed time required to complete a project task,
we need to consider the key variables that affect it.
•Effort time is defined as the amount of a person’s
actual effort given to the task.
•Elapsed time is the duration between when the
task begins and ends.
• For example, in the blank circles marked with directed forward
effort, we could write the key variables that affect our estimates
of the time to complete some of the work tasks in our sample
project.
• Typical variables are the expertise or skill level necessary to
perform the task(s);
• the job knowledge required before a team member can become
productive;
• the number of people working on the task;
• or the number of tasks a single team member is working on
simultaneously.
• In the blank circles directed forward effort, we could write the key
variables that affect our estimates of the elapsed time
necessary to complete some of these tasks.
• Typical variables are waiting for approvals, waiting for vendor
shipments, and dead time.
 4.3.1 ESTIMATING ACTIVITY TIME

• Determining the elapsed time between

events requires that responsible functional
managers evaluate the situation and
submit their best estimates.
• The calculations for critical paths and slack
times in the previous sections were based
on these best estimates.

33
• In this ideal situation, the functional manager
would have at his disposal a large volume of
historical data from which to make his estimates.
• Obviously, the more historical data available, the
more reliable the estimate.
• Many programs, however, include events and
activities that are non-repetitive.
• In this case, the functional managers must
submit their estimates using three possible
completion assumptions:

34
Optimistic completion time.
This time assumes that everything will go according to
plan and with minimal difficulties.
This should occur approximately 1 percent of the time.
Pessimistic completion time.
This time assumes that everything will not go according
to plan and maximum difficulties will develop.
This should also occur approximately 1 percent of the
time.
Most likely completion time.
This is the time that, in the mind of the functional
manager, would most often occur should this effort be
reported over and over again
35
•Before these three times can be combined into a
single expression for expected time, two
assumptions must be made.
•The first assumption is that the standard deviation,
, is one-sixth of the time requirement range.
•This assumption stems from probability theory,
where the end points of a curve are three standard
deviations from the mean.
•The second assumption requires that the
probability distribution of time required for an
activity be expressible as a beta distribution

36
The expected time between events can be found from the expression:

37
4.3.2 Estimating Total
Project Time

38
In order to calculate the probability of completing the
project on time, the standard deviations of each
activity must be known.
This can be found from the expression:

39
40
The total path standard deviation is calculated by the
square root of the sum of the squares of the activity
standard deviations using the following expression:

 The purpose of calculating is that it allows us to establish a

confidence interval for each activity and the critical path.
 From statistics, using a normal distribution, we know that there
is a 68 percent chance of completing the project within one
standard deviation, a 95 percent chance within two standard
deviations, and a 99.73 percent chance within three standard
deviations.
41
 This type of analysis can be used to measure the risks
in the estimates, the risks in completing each
activity, and the risks in completing the entire
project.
 In other words, the standard deviation, , serves as a
measurement of the risk.
 This analysis, however, assumes that normal
distribution applies, which is not always the case.
 As an example of measuring risk, consider a network
that has only three activities on the critical path as
shown below (all times in weeks):

42
43
 Exercise 1
Draw the network and identify the critical path.
Also calculate the earliest–latest starting and
finishing times for each activity:
 Exercise 2
Consider the following network for a small maintenance project
(all times are in days; network proceeds from node 1 to node 7):
a)Draw an arrow diagram representing
the project.
b)What is the critical path and associated
time?
c) What is the total slack time in the
network?
d)What is the expected time for 68, 95,
and 99 percent completion limits?
e)If activity G had an estimated time of
fifteen days, what impact would this
have on your answer to part b?
 4.4 Critical Path Analysis/cpa

• The critical path is the longest sequential

series of tasks leading from the start to the
end of the project.
• It is important to identify the critical path
because a delay in any task on it could delay
the entire project.
 Some Network Definitions
• All activities on the critical path have zero slack
• Slack defines how long non-critical activities can be delayed
without delaying the project
• Slack = the activity’s late finish minus its early finish (or its
late start minus its early start)
• Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest finish of the immediately
preceding activity
• Earliest Finish (EF) = is the ES plus the activity time
• Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF) = the latest an activity
can start (LS) or finish (LF) without delaying the project
completion
• Float is the difference between the late finish and early finish
times for tasks on noncritical paths.
 Earliest Start Time / Earliest Finish
Time
• Make a forward pass through the network as follows:
– Evaluate all the activities which have no immediate
predecessors.
• The earliest start for such an activity is zero ES = 0.
• The earliest finish is the activity duration EF = Activity duration.

– Evaluate the ES of all the nodes for which EF of all the

immediate predecessor has been determined.
• ES = Max EF of all its immediate predecessors.
• EF = ES + Activity duration.

– Repeat this process until all nodes have been evaluated

• EF of the finish node is the earliest finish time of the project.
49
ES, EF Network
 Latest start time / Latest finish time
• Make a backward pass through the network as follows:

– Evaluate all the activities that immediately precede the finish

node.
• The latest finish for such an activity is LF = minimal project
completion time.
• The latest start for such an activity is LS = LF - activity duration.
– Evaluate the LF of all the nodes for which LS of all the
immediate successors has been determined.
• LF = Min LS of all its immediate successors.
• LS = LF - Activity duration.
– Repeat this process backward until all nodes have been
evaluated.

51
LS, LF Network
 4.5 Scheduling

•The major objective of a schedule, sometimes referred

to as a Gantt chart, is to place the data from the
previous four techniques—the WBS, the network, the
estimates, and the critical path analysis—on a time
scale.
•In order to develop a comprehensive time scale, it is
important that we see when work tasks start and end,
which are critical path tasks, which tasks have float
and where it has been allocated, and what the
dependencies of tasks are to one another
 The most common Scheduling techniques are:
• Gantt or bar charts
• Milestone charts Charts

• Line of balance
• Networks
– Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
– Arrow Diagram Method (ADM) [Sometimes called the
Critical Path Method (CPM)]
– Precedence Diagram Method (PDM)
– Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT)
GANTT CHART
 A graphical representation of a Project that shows each task as a
horizontal bar whose length s proportional to its time for
completion.

 GANTT CHART do not show how tasks must be ordered

(precedence) but simply show when a task should begin and should
end

 GANTT Chart is often more useful to for depicting relatively simple

projects or sub projects of a large project, the activities of a single
worker, or for monitoring the progress of activities compared to
scheduled completion dates..
 Project Schedule — Purpose
• Determine if requested completion date is
possible.
• Identify start and completion dates of all work.
• Determine the controlling sequence of
activities.
• Provide data for resource allocation.
• Track progress by providing a baseline.
 Scheduling
Step 1: Estimate Activity Durations
Step 2: Determine Activity Sequence By Creating a Network
Diagram
Step 3: Calculate the Schedule Using Critical Path Method (CPM)
Procedures
Step 4: Show the Schedule by Drawing Gantt and/or Milestone
Charts
 Gantt Chart
Graph or bar chart with a bar for each project activity that shows passage of time
Provides visual display of project schedule

58
 Project X — Gantt Chart
Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Activity Duration

A 2
B 1
C 3
D 1
E
4
F
3
G
2
H
1
I
2
J
1

- Critical - Non-Critical - Slack/Float

 4.6. Resource loading
• used to determine how resources will be
allocated over the duration of a project
and how to verify that they are being
allocated correctly.
• In other words, the purpose is to ensure
that no team members are ever
overloaded.
 Resource Loading
Resource loading describes the amounts of
individual resources an existing schedule requires
during specific time periods.

The loads (requirements) of each resource type

are listed as a function of time period.

Resource loading gives a general understanding of

the demands a project or set of projects will make
on a firm’s resources.
 Resource Loading
The project manager must be aware of the flows
of usage for each input resource throughout the life
of the project.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to ensure

that the required resources, in the required
amounts, are available when and where they are
needed.
There are several options to determine resource
loading as indicated below:
1.Verify by name of employee that the number of
activities (or projects) any one person (or pool) is
working on simultaneously is reasonable.
2.Sum the percentage of time each team member
plans to commit to each activity (or project) in a
single time frame in order to determine a total
percentage greater than or less than the time the
individual has available.
3.Calculate the individual effort allocation for each
team member.
Resource Loading Table
 Resource Loading Chart
Another way to create a visual diagram of
resource management problem is to use resource-
loading charts.
Resource conflicts can be seen in the resource-
loading charts.
They are used to display the amount of resources
required as a function of time on a graph.
Each activity’s resource requirements are
represented as a block (resource requirement over
time).
 Resource Loading Chart
Resource limit is set at 8 hourly units per day.
Display the amount of resources required as a function of time.

4 B 5 5 D 9 9 E 11
Res = 2 Res = 7 Res = 3

1. Start with a
0 A 4 network diagram
Res = 6 11 F 12
Res = 6
4 C 7
Res = 2
 Resource Loading Chart
Activity Resource Duration ES Slack LF
A 6 4 0 0 4
B 2 1 4 0 5
C 2 3 4 4 11
D 7 4 5 0 9
E 3 2 9 0 11
F 6 1 11 0 12

2. Produce a table that shows the

duration, early start, late finish, slack,
and resource(s) required for each
activity.
 Resource Loading Chart
3. Draw an initial loading chart with each
8 activity scheduled at its ES.
Resources

6
Resource
4 imbalance
A D F
B
2 E
C

2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Project Days
 Resource Loading Chart
4. Rearrange activities within their slack to
create a more level profile. Splitting C
8 creates a more level project.
Resources

4 C
A D F
B
2 E
C

2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Project Days
Resource Loading Chart
4.7 Key Business Applications
– Two business decisions often need to
be made when applying planning
techniques: making adjustments to the
schedule in order to meet mandated
target dates and leveling or smoothing
out overloaded resources.
• The consideration of resources adds another
dimension to planning and scheduling.
• It is necessary to estimate the types and
quantities of resources required to perform
each activity.
• Resources can include people, materials,
supplies, equipment, tools, facilities, and other
resources necessary to complete project work.
• A resource requirements plan illustrates the
expected utilization of resources by time
period during the time span of the project.
• In many projects, the quantities of the various
types of resources available to perform the
project activities are limited.
• Several activities may require the same resources
at the same time, and there may not be sufficient
resources available to satisfy all the demands.
• If sufficient resources are not available when
required, some activities may have to be delayed
until a later time when resources are available.
• Therefore, resources can constrain the project
schedule
 Resource-constrained planning
• is an approach to creating a network diagram
and schedule in which the sequence and
dependent relationships of activities are based
on resource constraints that take into account
the availability of a limited quantity of
resources.
 Resource levelling, or smoothing
• is a method for developing a schedule that
attempts to minimize the fluctuations in
requirements for resources.
• Resource leveling attempts to establish a schedule
in which resource utilization is made as level as
possible without extending the project beyond its
required completion time.
• In resource leveling, the required project
completion time is fixed, and the resources are
varied in an attempt to eliminate fluctuation.
 Resource-limited scheduling
• is a method for developing the shortest schedule when the
quantity of available resources is fixed.
• This method is appropriate when the resources available for the
project are limited, and these resource limits cannot be exceeded.
• This method will extend the project completion time, if necessary,
to keep within the resource limits.
• It is an iterative method in which resources are allocated to
activities based on the least slack.
• The steps are repeated until all resource constraints have been
satisfied.
• In resource-limited scheduling, the resources are fixed, and the
project completion time is varied (extended) in order not to
exceed the resource limits.
Fixed and Variable Elements for Resource
Levelling and Resource-limited Scheduling
 Meeting Mandated Target Dates

• Imagine that you and your team have

produced a schedule.
• But then—for some legitimate or whimsical
reason—the client or senior management
requires that the project be completed more
quickly.
• What do you do now?
• The original duration of the project was determined by
isolating the longest series (or path) of activities—the
critical path.
• Therefore, it is the critical path activities that must be
shortened.
• This is commonly called critical path compression.
• By compressing some activities on the critical path, you
can shorten the duration of the project.
• The major technique of critical path compression is to
break a critical path activity into overlapping tasks, a
technique sometimes called fast tracking the project.
• There are five alternatives for fast tracking:
1) Decompose the work even further.
2) Alter the finish-to-start
relationships.
3) Assign more resources.
4) Remove an activity from the critical
path.
5) Expedite a critical path activity.
 Crash Times
• The basic difference between PERT and CPM lies in
the ability to calculate percent complete.
• PERT is used in R&D or just development
activities, where a percent-complete
determination is almost impossible.
• Therefore, PERT is event oriented rather than
activity oriented.
• In PERT, funding is normally provided for each
milestone (i.e., event) achieved because
incremental funding along the activity line has to
be based on percent complete.
• CPM, on the other hand, is activity
oriented because, in activities such as
construction, percent complete along the
activity line can be determined.
• CPM can be used as an arrow diagram
network without PERT.
• The difference between the two methods
lies in the environments in which they
evolved and how they are applied.
The environmental factors which had
an important role in determining
the elements of the CPM
techniques were:
a) Well-defined projects
b) One dominant organization
c) Relatively small uncertainties
d) One geographical location for a project
• The CPM (activity-type network) has
been widely used in the process
industries, in construction, and in
single-project industrial activities.
• Common problems include no place
to store early arrivals of raw
materials and project delays for late
arrivals.
• Using strictly the CPM approach, project
managers can consider the cost of
speeding up, or crashing, certain phases of
a project.
• In order to accomplish this, it is necessary
to calculate a crashing cost per unit time as
well as the normal expected time for each
activity.
• CPM charts, which are closely related to
PERT charts, allow visual representation of
the effects of crashing.
 requirements:
• For a CPM chart, the emphasis is on activities,
not events.
• Therefore, the PERT chart should be redrawn
with each circle representing an activity rather
than an event.
• In CPM, both time and cost of each activity are
considered.
• Only those activities on the critical path are
considered, starting with the activities for which
the crashing cost per unit time is the lowest.
• Figure 12–16 shows a CPM network
with the corresponding crash time for
all activities on and off the critical
path.
• The activities are represented by
circles and include an activity
identification number and the
estimated time.
• The costs expressed in the figure are
usually direct costs only.
FIGURE 12–16. CPM network.
• To determine crashing costs we begin with the
lowest weekly crashing cost, activity A, at $2,000
per week.
• Although activity C has a lower crashing cost, it is
not on the critical path.
• Only critical path activities are considered for
crashing.
• Activity A will be the first to be crashed for a
maximum of two weeks at $2,000 per week.
• The next activity to be considered would be F at
$3,000 per week for a maximum of three weeks.
• These crashing costs are additional expenses above
the normal estimates.
• A word of caution concerning the
selection and order of the activities that
are to crash:
• There is a good possibility that as each
activity is crashed, a new critical path will
be developed.
• This new path may or may not include
those elements that were bypassed
because they were not on the original
critical path.
• Returning to Figure 12–16 (and assuming that
no new critical paths are developed), activities
A, F, E, and B would be crashed in that order.
• The crashing cost would then be an increase of
$37,500 from the base of $120,000 to
$157,500.
• The corresponding time would then be reduced
from twenty-three weeks to fifteen weeks.
• This is shown in Figure 12–17 to illustrate how
a trade-off between time and cost can be
obtained.
• Also shown in Figure 12–17 is the increased
cost of crashing elements not on the critical
path.
• Crashing these elements would result in a cost
increase of $7,500 without reducing the total
project time.
• There is also the possibility that this figure will
represent unrealistic conditions because
sufficient resources are not or cannot be
made available for the crashing period.
FIGURE 12–17. CPM crashing costs.
• The purpose behind balancing time
and cost is to avoid wasting
resources.
• If the direct and indirect costs can be
accurately obtained, then a region of
feasible budgets can be found,
bounded by the early-start (crash)
and late-start (or normal) activities.
• This is shown in Figure 12–18.
FIGURE 12–18. Region of feasible budgets.
• Since the direct and indirect costs are
not necessarily expressible as linear
functions, time–cost trade-off
relationships are made by searching
for the lowest possible total cost (i.e.,
direct and indirect) that likewise
satisfies the region of feasible
budgets.
• This method is shown in Figure 12–19.
FIGURE 12–19. Determining project duration.
• Like PERT, CPM also contains the concept
of slack time, the maximum amount of
time that a job may be delayed beyond
its early start without delaying the
project completion time.
• Figure 12–20 shows a typical
representation of slack time using a CPM
chart.
• In addition, the figure shows how target
activity costs can be identified.
FIGURE 12–20. CPM network with slack.
• Figure 12–20 can be modified to include
normal and crash times as well as normal
and crash costs.
• In this case, the cost box in the figure would
contain two numbers:
– The first number would be the normal cost,
and
– the second would be the crash cost.
• These numbers might also appear as running
totals.