Introduction to Project

Management
 Project Management
• What is a project?
– Unique, one time operations designed to
accomplish a set of objectives in a limited time
and/cost frame.
Project Lifecycle
 Project Planning and scheduling
Critical Path Method

• Key Terms
– Work Breakdown Structure, Precedence Relations,
Network Diagram
– Early Start Schedule (Forward Pass)
– Late Start Schedule (Backward Schedule)
– Gantt Chart, Resource diagram
– Slack
– Critical Path (longest path in the network)
 Activity List
Normal
Activity Weeks Predecessors
A 3
B 6
C 2
D 5 A
E 2 C
F 7 A
G 4 B,D,E
 F
A (7)
(3)
D
(5)

Start B G End
(6) (4)

E
(2)
C
(2)

Do Forward and Backward Pass ES EF

LS LF

Critical Path Slack

 3 10
0 3 5 12
0 3
0 F 2
A (7)
(3)
D
0 0 3 8 (5) 12 12
0 0 3 8 12 12
0
Start B G End
(6) 0 6 (4)
2 8
8 12
2
8 12
E 0
(2)
C 2 4
(2) 6 8

0 2 4
4 6
ES EF
4
LS LF

Critical Path Slack

 Cost Table for Project

Normal Crash
Cost Slope,
Activity Weeks $ Weeks $
$/week
A 3 5,000 2 10,000 5000
B 6 14,000 4 26,000 6000
C 2 2,500 1 5,000 2500
D 5 10,000 3 18,000 4000
E 2 8,000 2 8,000 -
F 7 11,500 5 17,500 3000
G 4 10,000 2 24,000 7000
 Project Planning and scheduling
Critical Path Method (ctd)

– Crashing (Reduce the project duration)

– Crashing rules
• only critical activities are crashed
• Crashing typically done period by period
• Activity with the least additional cost per period
is typically crashed first (greedy heuristic)
• Cautious about parallel paths
 In this example :
• Critical path is : A-D-G
• Among these three, D has the minimum
cost slope, so it should be crashed first
keeping the above points in mind.
Total Project Cost = 61,000 + 4,000 = 65,000
F
A (7)
(3)
D
(4)

Start B G End
(6) (4)

E
(2)
C
(2)

Total project time = 3 + 4 + 4 = 11

Critical Path
Schedule in order to complete the job within ten (10) weeks
(Again D has the least additional cost per week)

F
A (7)
(3)

D
(3)

Start B G
End
(6) (4)

E Total project time = 3 + 3 + 4 = 10

(2)
C
(2)
Critical Path Total Project Cost = 61,000 + 8,000 = 69,000
Now, there are 3 Critical paths A-D-G, B-G and A-F
Project is planned to be completed in six weeks
and penalty cost of $10,000 per week for every
week that project is late
We have the following parallel critical paths to crash now for further one
week reduction in project completion:
• A-D-G which would additionally cost :
A ($5000), D (cannot crash) and G (7000). Minimum =$5000 (Activity A)
• A-F which would additionally cost :
$5000 (Activity A) or 3000 (Activity F ). Minimum =$3000 (Activity F)
• B-G which would additionally cost:
$6000 (Activity B) or $7000 (Activity G). Minimum =$6000 (Activity B)

• Better to crash Activity G alone or better to crash all

A, F, and B together or to F and G together?
Greedy Heuristic: Crash F and G by 1 week each
($3000+$7000) additional cost
Can we complete in 6 weeks?