CP&M - Lec 10 CPM

Critical Path Method (CPM)
BACKGROUND
• Managers have been planning, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling
large scale projects for hundred years, but it has only been in the last 50
years that management science techniques have been applied to major
projects.
• In 1957, the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by Kelly and
Walker to assist in building and maintenance of chemical plants.
PERT/CPM
• CPM stands for Critical Path Method.

• CPM is used to plan the scheduling of individual activities that make up
a project.
• CPM can be used to determine the earliest/latest start and finish times
for each activity, the entire project completion time and the FLOAT time
for each activity.
• CPM is called a deterministic approach.
Importance of CPM
• By using CPM analysis you will be able to answer questions such as:
1. When will the entire project be completed?
2. What are the critical activities or tasks in the project, that is, the ones that will delay
the entire project if they are late?
3. Which are the noncritical activities, that is, the ones that can run late without
delaying the whole project’s completion time?
4. At any particular date, is the project on schedule, behind schedule, or a head of the
schedule?
5. On any given date, is the money spent equal to, less than, or greater than the
budgeted amount?
6. Are there enough resources available to finish the project on time?
CPM
• Finding the critical path is a major part of controlling a
project.
• The activities on the critical path represent tasks that
will delay the entire project if they are delayed.
• Manager gain flexibility by identifying noncritical
activities and re-planning, rescheduling, and
reallocating resources such as personnel and finances.
Determining the Critical Path
• Step 1: Make a forward pass through the network as
follows: For each activity i beginning at the Start node,
compute:
• Earliest Start Time (ES) =

• This is the earliest possible start of any activity.
• The maximum of the earliest finish times of all activities
immediately preceding activity i. (This is 0 for an activity with
no predecessors.). This is the earliest time an activity can begin
without violation of immediate predecessor requirements
𝐸𝑆 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝐹(𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠)

• Earliest Finish Time (EF) = (Earliest Start Time) + (Time to complete
activity i. This represent the earliest time at which an activity can
end.)
The project completion time is the maximum of the Earliest

Finish Times at the Finish node.
• Step 2: Make a backwards pass through the network.
• Move sequentially backwards from the Finish node to the
Start node. At a given node, j, consider all activities ending at
node j. For each of these activities, (i,j), compute:
• Latest Start Time (LS) = (Latest Finish Time) - (Time to
complete activity (i,j)). This is the latest time an activity can
begin without delaying the entire project.
• Latest Finish Time (LF)= the latest time an activity can
finish without delaying the project.
• The minimum of the latest start times beginning at node j.
This is the latest time an activity can end without delaying
the entire project.
𝐿𝐹 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦
= 𝑀𝑖𝑛. 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑆 𝑜𝑓 (𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠)
• Step 3: Calculate the float time for each activity

by:
Total Float = (Latest Start) - (Earliest Start), or
= (Latest Finish) - (Earliest Finish).
Free Float = (Earliest finish of activity under
consideration) – (Earliest start of successor
activity).
A critical path is a path of activities, from the Start
node to the Finish node, with ZERO FLOAT times.
Calculate TPT, find Critical Path
9
Example no 1 Draw Arrow Network and perform the CPM
calculations for the following schedule of the Project
Activity IPA Duration(Days)
A - 5
B A 8
C A 6
D B 9
E B, C 6
F C 3
G D,E,F 1
Solution:
• Total Project Time=23 Days
• Critical Activities= A-B-D-G
• Non-Critical Activities= C-F-E
• Total Float of C=5 Days
• Total Float of E=3Days
• Total Float of F= 6 Days
• Free Float of E= 6 Days
• Free Float of F= 6 Days
• Free Float of C=2 Days
Example no 2 Draw Arrow Network and perform the CPM
A - 2
B A 6
C A 10
D A 4
E B 7
F B,C 5
G C,D 3
H E,F 5
I G,H 2
Solution:
• Total Project Time=24 Days
• Critical Path=1-2-4-7-6-9-10
• Critical Activities= A-C-F-H-I
• Non-Critical Activities= B-E-D-G
• Total Float of B=2 Days
• Total Float of E=2 Days
• Total Float of D= 13 Days
• Total Float of G= 7 Days
• Free Float of B= 0 Days
• Free Float of E= 2 Days
• Free Float of D=6 Days
• Free Float of G=7 Days
AON (Example)
Time Immediate
Required Predecessor
Activity Description (in days) Activities
A Excavate --
B Lay foundation A
C Rough plumbing B
D Frame B
E Finish exterior D
F Install HVAC D
G Rough electric D
H Wooden Work C, E, F, G
I Install cabinets H
J Paint H
K Final plumbing I
L Final electric J
M Install flooring K, L
Draw A-O-N Network.

Assignment Questions for Self Practice
Question no 1 Draw Arrow Network and perform the CPM
Activity IPA Duration(Weeks)
A - 3
B A 7
C A 4
D B 5
E B,C 8
A - 7
B - 10
C A 15
D A,B 8
E C,D 4
A - 2
B A 4
C A 6
D A 9
E B 5
F B,C 7
G D,E,F 3
A - 6
B - 2
C A 8
D A,B 5
E B 3
F D,E 6
G C,D 5
H F,G 2
A - 6
B - 2
C - 8
D A 5
E C 3
F D 6
G A,B 5
H E 2
I F 12
J G 3
K H 4
L I 5
M G,K 6
N J,L 7
O J,M 1
Que.
A project consists of 13 activities in all from A to N. Assume time
required for each activity as “R”, “R+1”, “R+2”.,,,,,.
Activity A and N are the first and last activity of the project,
respectively. At the end of activity A, activities B and C can be started
simultaneously. Activity D follows B and activities E and F follows C.
Activity G can be started on the completion of D & E. Activity H follows
F and activities K and M can be started simultaneously on completion
of H. Activity I follows G and K both, and activity N is the last activity
which can be started on completion of M, and L which is a succeeding
activity of M, the work finishes at the end of N.
i. Construct a precedence diagram, ii. On the diagram, compute the four
schedule dates (ESD, EFD, LSD, LFD) and the floats for each activity, also
Identify the critical path.

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Critical Path Method (CPM)

• CPM stands for Critical Path Method.

• Earliest Start Time (ES) =

𝐸𝑆 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝐹(𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠)

The project completion time is the maximum of the Earliest

• Step 3: Calculate the float time for each activity

Draw A-O-N Network.

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