...Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 NETWORK TECHNIQUES 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Critical Path Method (CPM) ……………………………………………………………..…………………………………… 8 2.2.1 Steps of CPM Project Planning ……….……………………………………………………………………………… 9 2.2.2 Example of CPM …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11 2.2.3 Benefits of CPM …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 2.2.4 Limitation of CPM …………….…………………………………………………………………………………………. 12 2.3 Project Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) ……..……………..………………………………………… 13 2.3.1 Steps of PERT in Project Planning ……....……………………………………………………………………….. 14 2.3.2 Benefits of PERT……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16 2.5.1 Limitation of PERT ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 3.0 CONCLUSION 17 4.0 REFERANCES 29 1.0 INTRODUCTION: 1.1 What is a project? A project is a series of activities directed to accomplishment of a desired objective. A project have a defined start which is when the descision of the project process starts and also a defined end where by that point the goal and the objectives of that project is achived. 1.2 What is project management? Project management its concerned with the overall planning and co-ordination of a project from conception to completion aimed at meeting the stated requirements and ensuring completion on time, within cost and to required quality standards. Project management is normally reserved for focused, non-repetitive, time-limited...
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...Some activities of project are critical in the sense that delay in their commencement will delay the overall project completion time. Therefore, management and scheduling of projects is inevitable. In this paper, project scheduling in agriculture, for establishing 300 hectares grape garden in Agricultural Research Center of University of Zabol, is carried out by CPM (Critical Path Method) and PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) methods. Results show that the minimum completion time of this project, based on using Normal time and PERT method is 390 days and 364.67 days, respectively. Also the results obtained from employing CPM method indicate that the cost of reducing the project completion time to 365 days is 23643530 Rials. Key words: Project scheduling % CPM % PERT % Agriculture INTRODUCTION Project scheduling and control refers to the planning, scheduling and control of projects, which consist of numerous activities. In the other words, Scheduling issue is a frequent task in the control of various systems such as manufacturing processes [1], project management [2] and service system control (reservation systems, timetabling). Examples can be found in diverse areas such as shipbuilding, road construction, oil refinery maintenance, missile launching and auditing. The management of such projects is problematic, because certain activities must be completed in a prescribed order or sequence. This means that some of these activities are critical so that they delay in their commencement...
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...The Expert Says Question: What role does the Critical Path play in EV Analysis? The Expert Says: In our example the positive schedule variance indicates the project is ahead of schedule. However, the critical path for this project is A – C – E and requires additional evaluation. Delays on the critical path will impact the end date and deserve special attention. Here task A is on the CP and is significantly (10%) behind schedule. Be careful when analyzing project totals for SV and SPI as the Critical Path is not directly taken into consideration! The Expert Says Question: Should the PM use slack at will? The Expert Says: Slack is a great tool for the Project Manager to help manage the project schedule and complete the project on time. Slack is really "flexibility" in the schedule along the non-critical paths which can be utilized when required to compensate for unforeseen circumstances. Slack should be used with discretion because using slack will decrease the "flexibility" and move non-critical paths closer to becoming critical. The Expert Says Question: If we know how far we can crash all the tasks, why don't we just crash them at them all the way and avoid working the iterative process? The Expert Says: Be careful not to shorten the tasks on the critical path too much, otherwise we may not be spending our money efficiently. In the diagram below, the "all crashed" line shows us by adding resources to all tasks, we can finish in 22 days instead of 29 days. By taking...
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...Work Breakdown Structure Ducks Unlimited will be holding its Keystone Conference in Charlottesville, NC in less than 21 months. There has been a reduction in budgeting due to economic conditions beyond the control of Ducks Unlimited. The operating budget for the conference has been reduced by nearly than 75%. Therefore changes have been made to reflect the reduction. The teams who are responsible for speakers, venue, marketing, and registration are all still in place. However there will be fewer speakers and fewer representatives attending the conference. Ducks Unlimited will be divided into regions for the purpose of the conference: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, South, and Pacific. Out of each of these five regions will come five regional representatives and one senior manager who will speak at the conference. Otherwise, the WBS does not change significantly. Cost Estimates Hotel and transportation costs for the event have been reduced because of the need to provide lodging for much fewer attendees. With such a small conference, catering costs will also be reduced by nearly 70%. Costs will be shaved even more with the venue selection. A smaller venue capable of accommodating 30 to 40 attendees will be required, down from the 100 guests originally scheduled. Administration needs and technical requirements will change with the new budget parameters. Administration costs will decrease since attendance at the conference will be very exclusive. Fewer flyers...
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...Week 2: Homework 1. Problems 3.3 The critical path is ACFH and the time is 21 days 3.6 Critical path is B–D–E–G Total project takes 26 days Activity | Time | ES | EF | LS | LF | Slack | Critical | A | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 13 | No | B | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Yes | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 11 | No | D | 10 | 5 | 15 | 5 | 15 | 0 | YES | E | 3 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 0 | YES | F | 6 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 11 | NO | G | 8 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 26 | 0 | YES | 3.7 There are four paths: Path | Hours | ACEG | 19.5 | BDFG | 24.9 | ACDFG | 28.7 | BEG | 15.7 | Grant Chart 3.15 ABEF: 6 weeks ACF: 7 weeks The critical path is ACF Activity | Time | ES | EF | LS | LF | Slack | Critical | A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | YES | B | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | NO | C | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | YES | E | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | NO | F | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | YES | 3.18 We have: AD (11 weeks), B (8 weeks), CE (12 weeks). So CE is the critical path Activity | Daily Crash Cost | Maximum Crash | A | 100 | 1 day | B | 50 | 2 days | C | 100 | 1 day | D | 150 | 2 days | E | 200 | 3 days | So if Crash C by 1 day ($ 100) to 11 days Crash C by 1 day ($200) and A by 1 day ($100) to 10 days Crash E by 2 days ($400) and D by 2 days ($300) to 8 days Totally, the minimum cost of crashing by 4 days is: $100 + $200 +$100+$400+$300 = $1,100 2. Find a recent or historical news story about a major mismanaged project...
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...the following questions. 1. Describe the nature of the project, and its key objectives. 2. Define “Dummy Activities” and describe their role in this project. 3. Describe the key problem(s) in this project and the strategies used to address these problems. Introduction This case example, although for a very small project, illustrates some interesting features of planning using critical path analysis. although there are only 17 activities, the precedence logic is a little complex to draw clearly owing to the number of crossed links, and we show how this difficulty is easily overcome by inserting dummy activities at three of the crossover points. Our case example demonstrates the application of pert (program evaluation and review technique), in which the estimated duration for each activity can be subjected to a probabilistic study in an attempt to forecast the most likely completion time for the entire project. Finally, this case will demonstrate how a project manager need not accept the results of time analysis without question, but can plan to apply extra effort to expedite critical activities (usually for additional cost) to bring the planned project completion date forward. Project Background CEN-CONSTRUCT is a medium-sized business located in Sydney, Australia that is owned and operated by a family. It is principally a consulting company that specializes in aviation civil engineering, having worked on runway construction and paving projects as well as several...
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...CPM (Critical Path Method) determines the longest path and the critical activities along this path in a project network; the project completion time can't be shorter than the duration of this longest path unless such techniques as time crashing are used. PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) incorporates probabilistic elements into the computation of activity durations and hence the project completion time; PERT uses optimistic (o), most probable (m), and pessimistic (p) activity times to estimate the expected activity times. Expected time is given by (o + 4m + p) / 6 and variance is given by ((p - o)/6)2 . The reason for dividing by 6 is due to the fact that the area under the normal curve between -3 and 3 accounts for more than 99% of the total probability of 100%. In case of standard normal curve, = 1; hence -3 = -3(1) = -3 and 3() = 3(1) = 3 and the difference between 3 and -3 is 6. An example will illustrate the PERT/CPM technique. Example: The optimistic, most probable, and pessimistic times (in days) for completion of activities for a certain project are as follows: ACTIVITY | IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR | OPTIMISTIC TIME (o) | MOST PROBABLE TIME (m) | PESSIMISTIC TIME (p) | A | - | 4 | 5 | 6 | B | - | 6 | 8 | 10 | C | A | 6 | 6 | 6 | D | B | 3 | 4 | 5 | E | B | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | C,D | 8 | 10 | 12 | G | E | 6 | 7 | 8 | H | C,D | 12 | 13 | 20 | I | F,G | 10 | 12 | 14 | a) Find the critical path...
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...Evaluation of my performance in relation to planning the project Introduction: Planning is a key skill required throughout the life. The purpose of the planning is to find out how the project outcomes will be achieved successfully within both the required quality and timescale. Planning helps to work out the most effective way of reaching your target and prepare to overcome unexpected difficulties in advance. Planning develops the ability to prioritize the tasks. If I did not plan my project I would have not known what tasks I was required to do and what my time limit was, which could have lead ultimately to the failure of the project. The purpose of evaluating my performance in relation to planning is so that I can identify what I did well and what I did not do well. This will help me to carry out better planning in the future I hope that by improving my planning techniques. It will help me in all aspects of my life. Planning techniques used: I used five different techniques to enable me to produce final product. These techniques were action plan, summary action plan, mind maps, Gantt chart and critical path. These are techniques used by professional companies for their planning. The techniques I used were generally effective and helped me to a number of tasks and a final product by the final deadline with required quality. Action plan: To plan my project, first of all I and the other people in the group read the brief and identified the tasks that we would be...
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...Production management Critical Path Method (CPM): 1) Critical Event: An event in the project which cannot be delayed by any amount of time beyond its earliest occurrence time without affecting total project completion time. 2) Critical Activity: An activity whose start or completion cannot be delayed by any amount of time without affecting total project completion time. Float of critical activity is zero. Necessary and sufficient conditions for identifying critical activities: a) Necessary condition: If the earliest occurrence time (E) and latest occurrence time (L) at the head and tail events of an activity is same (i.e. Ei = Li and Ej = Lj) then that activity may be a critical activity. b) Sufficient condition: If the necessary condition is satisfied and if difference between earliest occurrence time of the head event and the earliest occurrence of the tail event is equal to the activity time, then that activity is definitely a critical activity. i.e. an activity is definitely critical when: 1) Ei = Li and Ej = Lj and 2) Ej – Lj =tij 3) Critical Path: The sequence of critical activities in a network diagram is called as critical path. The critical path is the longest path in the network diagram. The critical path defines the minimum project completion time. It means if the duration of critical path is say 20 days, then the project can be completed at the earliest in 20 days. ...
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...it may be possible to decrease their completion times by spending more money how does this affect the overall completion time of the project?) PERT was developed by the US Navy for the planning and control of the Polaris missile program and the emphasis was on completing the program in the shortest possible time. In addition PERT had the ability to cope with uncertain activity completion times (e.g. for a particular activity the most likely completion time is 4 weeks but it could be anywhere between 3 weeks and 8 weeks). CPM - Critical Path Method Definition: In CPM activities are shown as a network of precedence relationships using activity-on-node network construction – Single estimate of activity time – Deterministic activity times USED IN : Production management - for the jobs of repetitive in nature where the activity time estimates can be predicted with considerable certainty due to the existence of past experience. PERT Project Evaluation & Review Techniques Definition: In PERT activities are shown as a network of precedence relationships using activity-on-arrow network construction –...
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...Critical Path Analysis & PERT Charts Planning and scheduling more complex projects The benefit of using CPA over Gantt Charts is that Critical Path Analysis formally identifies tasks which must be completed on time for the whole project to be completed on time, and also identifies which tasks can be delayed for a while if resource needs to be reallocated to catch up on missed tasks. The disadvantage of CPA is that the relation of tasks to time is not as immediately obvious as with Gantt Charts. This can make them more difficult to understand for someone who is not familiar with the technique. A further benefit of Critical Path Analysis is that it helps you to identify the minimum length of time needed to complete a project. Where you need to run an accelerated project, it helps you to identify which project steps you should accelerate to complete the project within the available time. This helps you to minimize cost while still achieving your objective. As with Gantt Charts, the essential concept behind Critical Path Analysis is that you cannot start some activities until others are finished. These activities need to be completed in a sequence, with each stage being more-or-less completed before the next stage can begin. These are 'sequential' activities. Other activities are not dependent on completion of any other tasks. You can do these at any time before or after a particular stage is reached. These are non-dependent or 'parallel' tasks. Use the following steps to draw a...
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...representing the current time by a vertical line. This makes it easy to see where each activity should be and to show its current status. You can read more about Gantt charts on Wikipedia. Many tasks require that prior tasks are completed before they can be initiated, but unfortunately, Gantt charts are not a good method of showing theinterrelationship between tasks, so computers must be used to set up and maintain the network of tasks. One commonly-used technique is Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) which uses a detailed diagram of all anticipated tasks in a project, organised into a network to represent the dependence of each task on those that must precede it. PERT can be used to analyse the tasks involved in completing a project, especially the duration of each task, and identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project. PERT makes it possible to schedule a project without knowing the precise details and durations of all the activities. You can read more aboutPERT on Wikipedia. The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a similar project planning and management technique which also uses...
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...Capacity- The upper limit on the load that an operating unit can handle Design capacity- Maximum output rate of service capacity an operation, process, or facility is designed for. Effective Capacity-Design capacity minus allowances such as personal time and maintenance. Efficiency-Actual output / Effective capacity X 100% Utilization- Actual output / Design capacity X 100% Factors Facilities 1.Design 2.Location 3.Layout 4. Environment Product/Service 1.Design 2.Product or service mix Process 1.Quantity capabilities 2.Quality capabilities Human Factors 1.Job Content 2.Job Design 3.Training and experience 4.Motivation 5.Compensation 6.Learning Rates 7. Absenteeism and labor turnover Policy Operational 1.Scheduling 2.Materials Management 3.Quality Assurance 4.Maintenance Policies 5.Equipment Breakdowns Supply Chain External Factors 1.Product standards 2.Safety regulations 3.Unions 4.Pollution control standards Capacity Cushion- Which is an amount of capacity in excess of expected demand when there is some uncertainty about demand Economies of Scale-If the output rate is less than the optimal level, increasing output decreases unit cost Diseconomies of Scale- If output is increased beyond optimal level avg unit costs would become larger. Present Value- Expresses in current value the sum of all future cash flows of an investment proposal Cash Flow-The diff between cash received from sales and other sources and cash outflow for labor, material...
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...SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN (PERT) AND (CPM) Critical Path Analysis and PERT are powerful tools that help you to schedule and manage complex projects. They were developed in the 1950s to control large defense projects, and have been used routinely since then. Program (Project) Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a project management tool used to schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. It is basically a method to analyze the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project. The Critical Path Method or Critical Path Analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities.Critical path method seeks to determine the longest possible continuous pathway taken from the initial event to the terminal event. It determines the total calendar time required for the project; and, therefore, any time delays along the critical path will delay the reaching of the terminal event by at least the same amount. PERT Networks and CPM Arrow Diagramsare similar in manyways and yet take paths that are often-different:Both aresystematic ways of analyzing and planningthe components ofa program or project.Both have been used extensively byindustry and government. CPM uses activity oriented network while PERT uses event oriented network. Furthermore durations of an activity may be estimated with a fair degree of accuracy...
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...Introduction When an organization in any sector seeks to break away from the national arrangements and set its own pay system, there are a number of constraints on its freedom of choice. These include financial constraints, labor market constraints, employee expectations and occupational arrangements. Construct a Cost-Benefit Analysis matrix for an organization that is considering replacing its internal payroll system with a payroll outsourcing service. Include direct and indirect revenue enhancements and direct and indirect cost reductions. "As software tools become easier to use and vendors start to focus on smaller businesses, a shift is taking place. Enterprises are finding that payroll, the process that gave birth to BPO (business process outsourcing), can often be done better with more flexibility and less expense in -house" (Musich page 19, 2002). The payroll service that any organization chooses should offer a number of different ways to pay the employees. Service should also be able to handle payroll setup for new employees, payroll report and PTO accrual and tracking usage. Intuit payroll system has been rated the gold award winner as the best payroll system in 2015. When conducting a Cost Benefit Analysis, the organization must take a look at the cost of that the new software will bring compared with the benefits of having the system. Cost include the actual price of the software, the cost of installation, user training and the annual maintenance. The benefits...
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