PERT AND CPM

Introduction:

Quality Management software

QM for Windows provides mathematical analysis for Operations Management, Quantitative
methods, or Management Science. It features calculation methods for PERT/CPM, Linear
Programming, Decision Analysis, Transportation problem, Statistical functions, Game
Theory, Goal Programming, etc.

This program can be helpful for students, who are following Management Science texts such
as Introduction to Management Science by Taylor, Quantitative Analysis for Management by
Render, as well as the the Operations Management textbooks.

Quality management software (QM software) helps companies to implement the

requirements of ISO 9001:2015 and other quality management systems. It consists of various
components that support companies with increasing their customer orientation, building up
a knowledge management system, to establish a process management introducing risk
management and Increasing the quality of products and business processes through
a continuous improvement process.

Quality management software supports companies in implementing the requirements of

quality management systems. It consists of several modules that cover the requirements of the
respective standard or management system.

Components of quality management software are modules for process management, for
increasing customer orientation, knowledge management software, risk management
software, and CIP-Software.

Project management:

Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and

experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria
within agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to a
finite timescale and budget.

A key factor that distinguishes project management from just 'management' is that it has this
final deliverable and a finite timespan, unlike management which is an ongoing process.
Because of this a project professional needs a wide range of skills; often technical skills, and
certainly people management skills and good business awareness.

Project management involves the planning and organization of a company's resources to

move a specific task, event, or duty towards completion. It can involve a one-time project or
an ongoing activity, and resources managed include personnel, finances, technology,
and intellectual property.
No matter what the industry is, the project manager tends to have roughly the same job: to
help define the goals and objectives of the project and determine when the various project
components are to be completed and by whom. They also create quality control checks to
ensure completed components meet a certain standard.

From start to finish, every project needs a plan that outlines how things will get off the
ground, how they will be built, and how they will finish. For example, in architecture, the
plan starts with an idea, progresses to drawings, and moves on to blueprint drafting, with
thousands of little pieces coming together between each step. The architect is just one person
providing one piece of the puzzle. The project manager puts it all together.

Project management tools and techniques are precisely what makes managing project easier
and more effective. Planning tools and techniques in management include
CPM,PERT,KANBAN, SWOT analysis and the Gantt chart etc.

Program Evaluation Review Technique(PERT)

Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) is a project management planning tool used
to calculate the amount of time it will take to realistically finish a project. PERT charts are
used to plan tasks within a project — making it easier to schedule and coordinate team
members.

In project management, the Project Evaluation Review Technique, or PERT, is used to

identify the time it takes to finish a particular task or activity. It is a system that helps in the
proper scheduling and coordination of all tasks throughout a project. It also helps in keeping
track of the progress, or lack thereof, of the overall project. In the 1950s, the Project
Evaluation Review Technique was developed by the US Navy to manage the Polaris
submarine missile program of their Special Projects Office.

A PERT network chart for a seven month project with five milestones (Nodes 10 through
50)and six activities (Arrows A through F).
Creating a PERT Chart
A flowchart is used to depict the Project Evaluation Review Technique. Nodes represent the
events, indicating the start or end of activities or tasks. The directorial lines indicate the tasks
that need to be completed, and the arrows show the sequence of the activities.

There are four definitions of time used to estimate project time requirements:

Optimistic time(o) – The least amount of time it can take to complete a task

Pessimistic time(p) – The maximum amount of time it should take to complete a task

Most likely time(m)– Assuming there are no problems, the best or most reasonable estimate
of how long it should take to complete a task.

Expected time(Te)– Assuming there are problems, the best estimate of how much time
will be required to complete a task.

Te=(o+4m+p)/6

Components of PERT Network

1. Events: The specific accomplishments in a project represented by circles in a PERT chart.

2. Activities: The time consuming aspects of a project represented by arrows in a PERT

chart.

3. Critical path: The sequence of events in a project that in total requires the most time to
complete.

PERT planning involves the following steps :

1. Identify the specific activities and milestones.

2. Determine the proper sequence of the activities.

3. Construct a network diagram.

4. Estimate the time required for each activity.

5. Determine the critical path.

6. Update the PERT chart as the project progresses.

Management Tools:
PERT supplies a number of tools for management with determination of concepts such as:

Float/Slack – Refers to the amount of time a task can be delayed without resulting in an
overall delay in completion of other tasks or the project.
Critical Path – Indicates the longest possible continuous path from the start to the end of a
task or event.

Critical Path Activity – Refers to an activity without any slack.

Network Diagram.

Network Diagrams are a graphical portrayal of the activities and events of a project. They
show how each activity relates to others in the project, the sequence of activities, and the
need to perform some tasks before others.
PERT PROBLEM:

SOLUTION:

STEPS:

1.Open QM Windows software

2. Select the project management (PERT/CPM) in the left side box.

3. Select the option based on our customized problem, Here we are selecting single time
estimation.

4. You can get one pop up window.

5. Give the project name or Title name and number of activities, table structure and column
types

6. Here we are selecting according to our problem

7. click on ‘OK’ option

8. You can get one pop-up window

9. Enter the problem data in respective column like

 Activity number
 Start Node
 End Node
 Optimistic time
 Most likely time
 Pessimistic time
10. After that select the solve option

11. problem solution can displayed

12.Go to the solution option and click on the charts

13. It will show the Network diagram

14. Gantt chart for Early Time

15.Gantt chart for Late Time

16.Gantt chart for Early Time and Late time

Importance of PERT system

1.Reduction in cost

2.Saving in time

3.Determination of activities

4.Elimination of risk in complex activities

5.Flexibility

6.Useful in decision making

7.Useful in research work

Advantages of PERT
1.It helps maximize the use of resources.

2.It makes project planning more manageable.

3.It’s useful even if there is little or no previous schedule data.

4.It enables project managers to better estimate or determine a more definite completion date.

Disadvantages of PERT
1.In complex projects, many find PERT hard to interpret, so they may also use a Gantt Chart, another
popular method for project management.

2.It can be tedious to update, modify, and maintain the PERT diagram.

3.It entails a subjective time analysis of activities and, for those who are less experienced or are
biased, this may affect the project’s schedule.
 critical path method (CPM)
The critical path method (CPM) is a technique where you identify tasks that are necessary for
project completion and determine scheduling flexibilities. A critical path in project
management is the longest sequence of activities that must be finished on time in order for
the entire project to be complete. Any delays in critical tasks will delay the rest of the project.
CPM revolves around discovering the most important tasks in the project timeline,
identifying task dependencies, and calculating task durations.
CPM was developed in the late 1950s as a method to resolve the issue of increased costs due
to inefficient scheduling. Since then, CPM has become popular for planning projects and
prioritizing tasks. It helps you break down complex projects into individual tasks and gain a
better understanding of the project’s.
Key Steps in Critical Path Method
Let's have a look at how critical path method is used in practice. The process of using critical
path method in project planning phase has six steps.

Step 1: Activity specification

You can use the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to identify the activities involved in the
project. This is the main input for the critical path method.

In activity specification, only the higher-level activities are selected for critical path method.

When detailed activities are used, the critical path method may become too complex to
manage and maintain.

Step 2: Activity sequence establishment

In this step, the correct activity sequence is established. For that, you need to ask three
questions for each task of your list.

Which tasks should take place before this task happens.

Which tasks should be completed at the same time as this task.

Which tasks should happen immediately after this task.

Step 3: Network diagram

Once the activity sequence is correctly identified, the network diagram can be drawn (refer to
the sample diagram above).

Although the early diagrams were drawn on paper, there are a number of computer softwares,
such as Primavera, for this purpose nowadays.

Step 4: Estimates for each activity

This could be a direct input from the WBS based estimation sheet. Most of the companies use
3-point estimation method or COCOMO based (function points based) estimation methods
for tasks estimation.

You can use such estimation information for this step of the process.

Step 5: Identification of the critical path

For this, you need to determine four parameters of each activity of the network.

Earliest start time (ES) - The earliest time an activity can start once the previous dependent
activities are over.

Earliest finish time (EF) - ES + activity duration.

Latest finish time (LF) - The latest time an activity can finish without delaying the project.

Latest start time (LS) - LF - activity duration.

The float time for an activity is the time between the earliest (ES) and the latest (LS) start
time or between the earliest (EF) and latest (LF) finish times.

During the float time, an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date.

The critical path is the longest path of the network diagram. The activities in the critical path
have an effect on the deadline of the project. If an activity of this path is delayed, the project
will be delayed.

In case if the project management needs to accelerate the project, the times for critical path
activities should be reduced.

Step 6: Critical path diagram to show project progresses

Critical path diagram is a live artefact. Therefore, this diagram should be updated with actual
values once the task is completed.

This gives more realistic figure for the deadline and the project management can know
whether they are on track regarding the deliverables.

CPM PROBLEM:

Determine the following:

(i)Construct the operational network

(ii)Locate the critical path

(iii)Calculate the mean and the standard deviation for the critical path.
STEPS:

1.Open QM Windows software

2. Select the project management(PERT/CPM) in the left side box

3. Select the option based on our customized problem, Here we are selecting single time
estimation

4. You can get one pop up window

5. Give the project name or Title name and number of activities, table structure and column
types
6. Here we are selecting according to our problem

7. click on ‘OK’ option

8. You can get one pop-up window

9. Enter the problem data in respective column like

 Activity number
 Start Node
 End Node
 Single activity time

10. After that select the solve option

11. problem solution can displayed

12. Go to the solution option and click on the charts

13.It will show the network diagram

14.Gantt chart for Early time

15.Gantt chart for late time

16.Gantt chart for Early Time and Late Time

Advantages of CPM:
1. It figures out the activities which can run parallel to each other.
2. It helps the project manager in identifying the most critical elements of the project.
3. It gives a practical and disciplined base which helps in determining how to reach the
objectives.
4. CPM is effective in new project management.
5. CPM can strengthen a team perception if it is applied properly.
6. CPM provides demonstration of dependencies which helps in the scheduling of
individual activities.
7. It shows the activities and their outcomes as a network diagram.
8. It gives a fair and concise procedure of documenting of project.
9. It helps in determining the slack time.
10. An explicit and clear approach of communicating project plans, schedules, time and cost
performance is developed.
11. It is extensively used in industry.
12. It helps in optimization by determining the project duration.

Disadvantages of CPM:
1. The scheduling of personnel is not handled by the CPM.
2. In CPM, it is difficult to estimate the completion time of an activity.
3. The critical path is not always clear in CPM.
4. For bigger projects, CPM networks can be complicated too.
5. It also does not handle the scheduling of the resource allocation.
6. In CPM, critical path needs to be calculated precisely.