SCHEDULING THE PROJECT

Intro of Project Network Language of PERT & CPM

SCHEDULE
A schedule consists of a list of a project's terminal elements with intended start and finish dates. Terminal elements are the lowest element in a schedule, which is not further subdivided

PERT & CPM Networks

PERT vs CPM 1. Developed by the U.S. Navy, 1. Developed by DuPont a consulting firm & Lockheed Aircraft 2. Uses probabilistic estimates of activity durations It is used for non repetitive jobs Makes use of the dummy activities Deals with the concept of crashing. 2. Uses deterministic estimates of both cost and time to allow cost/time trade-offs Used for repetitive jobs Does not make use of the dummy activities Does not deal with crashing.

Continued.

PERT & CPM Networks

PERT & CPM similarities

1. Both methods employed networks to schedule and display task sequences 2. Both methods identified activities a critical path of tasks that could not be delayed without delaying the projects;

3. Both methods identified activities with slack (float)that could be somewhat delayed without extending the project time; 4. Anything that could be done with PERT can also be determined through CPM

The language of PERT/CPM

Activity- a set of tasks required by a project; use resources &

time

Event- An identified state resulting from the completion of one

or more activities. Events consume no resources or time

Milestones- identifiable and noteworthy events marking

significant progress on the project

Network- a diagram of nodes connected by directional arcs; Path- a series of connected activities between any two
events in a network Critical path- the set of activities on a path from the projects start to finish event, that if delayed, will delay the completion date of the project. Marked by events having a zero slack.

Building the Network

Two ways to display a network: AON (CPM), AOA (PERT) Example:

Tasks a b c d e f g

Predecessor --a b b c,d e AON S t a r t

c
f d S t a r t e

b
e

Example: Activity on Arrow

A completed sample of AOA network showing the use of a dummy task: 1 S S t t a a r r t t a a

c
1 d

d
b 2 2 e 4 e

S S t t a a r r t t

Dummy task: It shows a technological linkage. These are used in

situations where two activities have the same start and finish nodes or where a single activity connects to two or more nodes.

Critical Path & critical time

Activity A B C D E F G H Predecessor -A A A B, C D D, E Duration 5 days 4 3 4 6 4 5 6

I J

F G, H

6 4

Slack time
Slack/Float: It is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the project; Slack= LST-EST = LFT-EFT

Problem
Activity Immediate Predecessor(s) Time Taken

A B C D E F G H I J K

A B B A C D A E,G,H F,I,J

12 9 10 10 24 10 35 40 15 4 6

Probabilistic Time Estimates

Pessimistic time (Tp): the maximum possible time required to accomplish a task, assuming everything goes wrong;

Most likely time (Tm): the best estimate of the time

required to accomplish a task, assuming everything proceeds as normal.

Optimistic time (To): the minimal possible time required to accomplish a task, assuming everything is in your

favour

Construct a PERT Network

Activity Precedences Optimistic A B C D E F None None A B C C 2 8 7 6 9 10 Time Estimates (Weeks) Pessimistic 4 8 11 6 11 18 Most Likely 3 8 9 6 10 14

G H
I J

C, D F, G
E I

11 6
4 3

11 14
6 5

11 10
5 4

Slacks/Floats Types

Total float
extra

time available to complete an activity if its started as early as possible and finished as late as possible. (LF- ES)
time available to complete an activity when its started at EOT of its preceding activity and finished at EOT of its succeeding activity an activity is started at LOT of preceding activity and finished at EOT of succeeding

Free float
Extra

Independent float
When

PROJECT CRASHING

Project Crashing

Crashing

reducing project time by expending additional resources

an amount of time an activity is reduced

Crash time

Crash cost
cost of reducing activity time Activity Cost Slope: It indicates the additional cost incurred per unit of[Crash cos t NormalCost ] time saved in reducing the duration [ Normal Time Crash Time ] of an activity. Activity cost slope:

Goal

Project Cost

Direct costs
Consists

of labor, material, machine time, etc. and is associated with individual activities. If the time duration of the activities are reduced, the direct cost increases.

Indirect Costs
Associated

with the project not the activities If the duration of the project is reduced/ crashed, the indirect costs decrease. Administrative overhead, rent of equipment, etc.

Time-Cost Tradeoff
Minimum cost = optimal project time Total project cost Indirect cost Cost ($)

Direct cost Crashing Project duration Time

Problem on crashing

For a network shown below, normal time, crash time, normal cost and crash cost are given in the table. Construct the network by crashing it to the optimum level and find out the optimal project cost. Indirect cost is given as Rs 100per day.
Activity NORMAL Time (days) Cost(Rs) CRASH Time (days) Cost(Rs)

1-2
2-3 2-4 2-5 3-4 4-5

3
6 7 8 4 5

300
480 2100 400 320 500

2
4 5 6 3 4

400
520 2500 600 360 520

Resource Leveling

Resource leveling is a project management technique used to examine unbalanced use of resources (usually people or equipment) over time, and for resolving over-allocations or conflicts