Term Paper

CIV038
Construction Management

Topic: - CPM: Data required and steps in Updating

Submitted To Submitted By
Mrs. Mandeep Kaur Atish Kumar
Roll No.:- 15
Reg.No. : - 4100070015
Class: - Diploma Civil
Semester: - 6th
 Acknowledgements
I Am Heartily Thankful To My Teacher Mrs. Mandeep
mam, Whose Encouragement, Guidance And Support
From The Initial To The Final Level Enabled Me To
Develop An Understanding of The Subject.
Lastly, I Offer My Regards And Blessings To All Of Those
Who Supported Me In Any Respect During The
Completion Of The Term Paper.
And also Thanks Google.com

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 CONTENTS
S.N. Description Page No.
1. Critical Path Method 4

2. Why the CPM 5

3. How to use CPM 5

4 Data Required for Updating 6

5 Step in the Process of Updating 7

6 When to Update 8

7 Steps in CPM Project Planning 9

8 CPM Limitation 11

9 Reference 12

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 Critical Path Method
The critical path method is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of
project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management.

In 1957, DuPont developed a project management method designed to address the

challenge of shutting down chemical plants for maintenance and then restarting the
plants once the maintenance had been completed. Given the complexity of the process,
they developed the Critical Path Method (CPM) for managing such projects.

Today, it is commonly used with all forms of projects, including construction, software
development, research projects, and product development, engineering, and plant
maintenance, among others. Any project with interdependent activities can apply this
method of scheduling.

• Path

– A connected sequence of activities leading from the starting event to the

ending event

• Critical Path

– The longest path (time); determines the project duration

• Critical Activities

– All of the activities that make up the critical path

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Why the CPM?
The CPM formally identifies tasks which must be completed on time for the whole
project to be completed on time Identifies which tasks can be delayed for a while if
resource needs to be reallocated to catch up on missed tasks. It helps you to identify the
minimum length of time needed to complete a project. The CPM determines both the
early start and the late start date for each activity in the schedule.

How to use the CPM?

Project Network Diagram

 Any schematic display of the logical relationships of project activities. of project

activities.

Building a Precedence Diagram

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Sample

Data Required for Updating

The following information is necessary to update the plan at an intermediate stage of
execution of a project.

1. Original network

2. Original network calculation chart

3. Stage at which updating is being done i.e., a point in time of updating.

4. Execution position of the project at that stage

5. New information and knowledge which will affect the duration time of the
activities to be performed.

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Step in the Process of Updating

1. Describe
The point in time at which updating is to be done according to the original
plan.

2. Record
What has happened actually till the updating point?

3. Summaries
The knowledge attained in the tabulated form as given below:

Updating
Activity Whether complete or not If in progress, Completion
additional time required for
Yes /No If yes, time taken for required for the activities yet to
completion completion begin

4. Place:-
The information contained in the updating table on to the original network. This
is done by:

 Assigning the time of update as the earliest occurrence time for the tail event of
the project.
 Allotting zero time duration for all activities which have been completed;
 Entering the remaining estimated durations of those activities which are
progress.
 Entering the estimated durations based on new knowledge of activities which
are still to be commended

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 5. Perform
Calculations of earliest occurrence time and latest occurrence time network these on the
network known as updated network.

Updating Cycle

When TO Update

The following points must be kept in view while deciding the time of Updating:

1. For shorter duration projects, the updating must be done frequently by taking into
account the latest position of the execution of the project.

2. For large duration projects, the process of updating must be increased as the project
is progressing toward completion. Duration of project goes on decreasing as project
progresses, and behaving more or less like a small duration project.

3. Whenever there is major change in the duration of any of the activity the updating is
to be done.

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4. Updating is essential 'if there is change in the estimated duration of any activity
falling on the critical path. If the duration of a critical activity increases, remedial
measures are necessary and if the activity duration decreases, this may allow changes in
the project plan which, were not possible previously.

After updating there may be some changes in the completion time of the project.
If updating time comes out to be more, the planner has two options:-

1. He may ask the executing authorities to perform the operations on the critical
path faster than previously estimated. Such execution will require the
arrangement of more resources i.e., man-power and material etc., and

2. He may redraw some portion of the network containing those activities which
have still not commenced. Such alteration means change in the company’s
policy of execution which leads to revised inter-dependence of operations.

From the above it is clear that CPM is not only useful in the planning stage of a,
project but also aids the decision-maker during execution and to some extent in
controlling the completion of project on schedule.

Steps in CPM Project Planning

1. Specify the individual activities.
2. Determine the sequence of those activities.
3. Draw a network diagram.
4. Estimate the completion time for each activity.
5. Identify the critical path (longest path through the network)
6. Update the CPM diagram as the project progresses.

1. Specify the Individual Activities:- From the work breakdown structure, a listing can
be made of all the activities in the project. This listing can be used as the basis for
adding sequence and duration information in later steps.

2. Determine the Sequence of the Activities:- Some activities are dependent on the
completion of others. A listing of the immediate predecessors of each activity is useful
for constructing the CPM network diagram.

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3. Draw the Network Diagram:- Once the activities and their sequencing have been
defined, the CPM diagram can be drawn. CPM originally was developed as an activity
on node (AON) network, but some project planners prefer to specify the activities on
the arcs.

4. Estimate Activity Completion Time:- The time required to complete each activity can
be estimated using past experience or the estimates of knowledgeable persons. CPM is a
deterministic model that does not take into account variation in the completion time, so
only one number is used for an activity's time estimate.

5. Identify the Critical Path:- The critical path is the longest-duration path through the
network. The significance of the critical path is that the activities that lie on it cannot be
delayed without delaying the project. Because of its impact on the entire project, critical
path analysis is an important aspect of project planning.

The critical path can be identified by determining the following four parameters for
each activity:

 ES - Earliest start time: the earliest time at which the activity can start given that
its precedent activities must be completed first.

 EF - Earliest finish time, equal to the earliest start time for the activity plus the
time required completing the activity.

 LF - Latest finish time: the latest time at which the activity can be completed
without delaying the project.

 LS - Latest start time, equal to the latest finish time minus the time required to
complete the activity.

The slack time for an activity is the time between its earliest and latest start time, or
between its earliest and latest finish time. Slack is the amount of time that an activity
can be delayed past its earliest start or earliest finish without delaying the project.

The critical path is the path through the project network in which none of the activities
have slack, that is, the path for which ES=LS and EF=LF for all activities in the path. A
delay in the critical path delays the project. Similarly, to accelerate the project it is
necessary to reduce the total time required for the activities in the critical path.

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6. Update CPM Diagram:- As the project progresses, the actual task completion times
will be known and the network diagram can be updated to include this information. A
new critical path may emerge, and structural changes may be made in the network if
project requirements change.

CPM Limitations

CPM was developed for complex but fairly routine projects with minimal uncertainty in
the project completion times. For less routine projects there is more uncertainty in the
completion times, and this uncertainty limits the usefulness of the deterministic CPM
model. An alternative to CPM is the PERT project planning model, which allows a
range of durations to be specified for each activity.

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Reference
Websites

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method

 http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/

 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Critical-Path-Method--What-Is-It-
And-How-Can-It-Help-You-/677819

Book

 Project Planning and Control with PERT and CPM by BC Punmia, KK

Khandelwal

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