CMP 560A

Assignment 2
Dr Eldeib
The diagram below is a simplified version of the project network diagram in figure
3.23.Two branches were deleted to simplify the calculations (GH and JK). The
durations of each task are shown in the table and in the book. The critical path is
highlighted in Red.

We will follow the methodology shown in the table below. For each task there are
four dates:
-

Early Start
Early Finish
Late Start
Late Finish

We will go through a Forward Pass to find all the early starts and early finish dates
until we find the total duration of the project.

Then we will go backwards from the end to find the late end and late start of each
task.
The rules are:
Early Finish = Early Start + Duration.
Late Start = Late Finish Duration.
Early Start of a task = Early Finish of Previous task.
If a task depends on multiple tasks, take the latest Early Finish.
It is best to put the results in a table like the one shown below:
Forward Pass
Task
A
A-B
B-D
D-I
I-J

Duration
0
3
5
2
2

Early Start
0
0
3
8
10

Early Finish
0
3
8
10
12

A-E
E-G
G-J
J-L

4
3
2
8

0
4
7
12

4
7
9
20

A-C
C-F
F-H
H-K
K-L

5
3
1
4
3

0
5
8
9
13

5
8
9
13
16

Finish

20

20

Late Start

Late Finish

Hence duration of project = 20 days. Now we perform the backward pass to

determine slack. Tasks in red are on the critical path.

Late Finish of a task = Late Start of following task.

Task

Duration

Early
Finish
0
3
8
10
12

Late Start

0
3
5
2
2

Early
Start
0
0
3
8
10

A
A-B
B-D
D-I
I-J

Slack

0
0
3
8
10

Late
Finish
0
3
8
10
12

A-E
E-G
G-J
J-L

4
3
2
8

0
4
7
12

4
7
9
20

3
7
10
12

7
10
12
20

3
3
3
0

A-C
C-F
F-H
H-K
K-L

5
3
1
4
3

0
5
8
9
13

5
8
9
13
16

4
9
12
13
17

9
12
13
17
20

4
4
4
4
4

Finish

20

20

20

20

0
0
0
0
0

Tasks with zero slack are on the critical path.

Try to solve a simplified version of the problem in figure 3.24 of the book using the
same method. Simplify the diagram as follows:
Change the connection from I-J to F-J with the same duration.
Remove tasks E-F.
This will simplify the problem considerably.