CRITICAL PATH METHOD

CPM
For project managers to effectively plan and
control a project, they need to be able to
process large amounts of data quickly and
accurately to enable them to create order in a
complex situation.
The critical path method (CPM) offers a
structured approach to project planning
which has been designed to meet this need.
 Network Diagram
After establishing WBS The next
process is to establish a logical
relationship between the activities
using a network diagram.
The network diagram may be
defined as a graphical presentation
of the project's activities showing
the planned sequence of work.
 Network Diagram
In its simplest form only two items of
information are required:
 List of activities
 Logic constraints, also called logical links,
logical dependency or logical relationships
between the activities
 Network Diagram ….
The network diagram, also called precedence
diagram method (PDM) is a development of
the activity-on-node (AON) concept where
each activity is represented as a node or a box
 Definition of an Activity
An activity may be defined as any task, job or
operation which must be performed to
complete the work package or project.
A WBS work package can be sub-divided
into one or more activities, with the work
packages and activities using different
numbering systems.
The terms activity, task, work and job are
often used interchangeably.
 Definition of an Activity

In the network diagram an activity is always

represented by an identity number, which
can be alpha or numeric and is presented in
a box.
 The activity should be given a description to
ensure the project team members
understand the work content - this can be
expanded on a job card.
 Logical Relationships

The network diagram shows the sequence of

the activities where these logical relationships
can be either mandatory or discretionary.
Mandatory or hard dependencies are
limitations of the build method, for example,
on a construction project the foundations
must (hard logic) be built before the walls and
roof are erected, whereas scheduling the
electrical work before the plumbing work is
discretionary (soft logic).
 Logical Relationships
Discretionary logic is the preferred or best
practice defined by the project team.
Before we can draw the network diagram we
must define the logical relationships between
all the activities.
There are two basic relationships:
 Activities in-series.
 Activities in-parallel.
 Logical Relationships
Activities in Series: When the activities are in series
they are carried out one after the other.
 When the network is first developed this would
probably be the most common type of relationship.
 An example of activities performed in series on a
house project would be the foundation (activity
AlOO), followed by the walls (A200), followed by
the roof (A300).
 When reading a network diagram for a project start
on the (top) left side and move to the right and
downwards (see figure 1).
 Logical Relationships
Activities in Parallel: When activities are in
parallel they can be performed at the same
time, which is a more efficient use of time
than activities in series.
 An example on house project would be the
installation of plumbing (activity A400) and
electrical fittings (A500) simultaneously after
the roof is fitted (A300), followed by the
painting (A600) (see figure 2).
 How to Draw the Logical Relationships

 The terms logical relationship, constraint,

dependency and link are all used interchangeably to
represent the lines drawn between the activity
boxes.
 The preferred presentation shows the constraint
lines drawn from left to right, starting from the right
side of one activity box into the left side of the
following box.
 However, many software packages have the lines
drawn from the top and bottom of the boxes.
 Initially an arrow at the end of the constraint may
help you to follow the direction of work flow
 Activity Logic Table
For ease of reading, logic information is
often compiled in a tabular format, with
each record (or Line) defining a relationship.
 Planning software usually names the before
and after activities as preceding and
succeeding activities as detailed below (see
tables 1 and 2):
A common problem when developing the
network diagram is to introduce activities on
the basis of time rather than logic.
At this point in the planning process think
only of the sequence of the activities - as the
constrains of duration, procurement,
resources and costs will be introduced later.
 Activity Durations
We need two more items of information
before we can proceed with the CPM time
analysis:
 Activity durations
 Activity calendar or work pattern
Time units can be expressed as hours, days,
weeks, months, or shifts depending on the
length of the activities and the project
 Activity Durations
An activity's duration will run from the start
to the finish of the activity.
An activity's duration is linked to resources -
increasing the resources will obviously
shorten the duration.
At this point certain assumptions will have
to be made and adjusted later.
 Calendar or work pattern
Calendar or work pattern are common
terms used in the planning software to
describe an activity's working profile, in
other words, on what days of the week the
resources or activity will be working.
As a first step we will assume the activity is
working seven days a week, this is usually
termed continuous working
 Critical Path Method Steps
We are now ready to perform the CPM time
analysis to establish the start and finish dates
for all the activities.
Before we do, let us first recap on the CPM
steps we have outlined:
 Draw the logic network diagram
 Assign durations to all the activities
 Impose a work calendar.
In addition to the logic table developed above,
an activity table would include the following
headings (see table 5):
 Start Date
• Start Date: We need to give the project a
start date (this can always be changed later).
• The CPM analysis needs a start date from
which to schedule the work, if no date is
given the planning software would use
today's date as the default option.
 Start Date…….
By setting the start date the first iteration
will give the planner a feel for the end date
of the project using the given logic, activity
durations and calendar.
If a target completion date is given, the
above parameters (logic, duration, calendar
and start date), can be adjusted accordingly.
Early Start: The earliest date by which an
activity can start assuming all the preceding
activities are completed as planned.
Early Finish: The earliest date by which an
activity can be completed assuming all the
preceding activities are completed as
planned.
Late Start: The latest date an activity can
start to meet the planned completion date.
Late Finish: The latest date an activity can
finish to meet the planned completion date.
Target Start and Target Finish: In addition to
the calculated dates there may be a number
of imposed dates, influenced by the delivery
of materials, access to subcontractors, or
other milestones
 Activity Box
The activity box key indicates where to
position the values in the activity box.
This layout varies with the software
package, but the format in figure 5
 Forward Pass
We use the term forward pass to define the
process of calculating the early start date
(ES) and early finish date (EF) for all the
activities.
For convenience the early start date of the
first activity in all the examples will be either
day one or the first day of the month (i.e. 1st
May).
 Forward Pass
Consider a simple project with two activities
A and B: The relationship between A and B is
finish-to-start, this means activity A must be
completed before B can start.
• The early finish date of an activity is
calculated by adding the activity duration to
the early start date, using the following
formula.
 In the equation the minus one is required to
keep the mathematics correct
 a bar chart it can be clearly seen that a three
day activity which starts on day 1 will finish
on day 3
• Using
  the above equation to find the early
finish date (EF) of activity A (see figure 8),

= 1+3 - 1
=3
• To calculate the early start date (ES) of
activity B use the following formula:

(Activity (B) can only start the day after

Activity (A) has finished)
=3+1
=4
•To  calculate the early finish date (EF) of B use
the same formula as we used previously
on activity A.

=4+4- 1
=7
 backward pass
• We need to perform a backward pass to
calculate the late start date (LS) and late-
finish date (LF) of each activity.
The late-finish date for the last activity may
be assigned, if not, use the early-finish date
 (see figure 11).

=7
 backward pass
• To
  calculate the late start date (LS) of activity
B use the following formula:

=7-4+1
=4
 backward pass
• Note the plus one in the formula to keep the
mathematics correct.

=4-1
=3

=3-3+1
=1
 Activity Float
Activity float, also called slack, is a measure
of flexibility, or inherent surplus time in an
activity's scheduling.
This indicates how many working days the
activity can be delayed or extended before it
will effect the completion date of the project
or any target finish dates (milestones).
 Activity Float

• Float
  is calculated by either of the two equations:
 Float = Late Start - Early Start
 Float = Late Finish - Early Finish
Mathematically they are both the same,
therefore select the equation you are most
comfortable with.
Using the previous example:

=1-1
=0
The float for activity B is also 0.
Where an activity has zero float this
indicates it is on the critical path.
 Activity Float
This now completes the forward pass
and backward pass: completing the
CPM time analysis for the logic table 3
and figure 4, developed earlier in the
chapter