Critical Path Method (CPM)
Introduction
▪ CPM is a Project Management’s technique that analyzes
which activities have the least amount of scheduling
flexibility (i.e., the most mission-critical)
▪ Then predicts project duration schedule based on the
activities that fall along the “critical path.”
▪ Activities that lie along the critical path cannot be delayed.
▪ Activities are "critical," meaning that they have to be done
on time or else the whole project will take longer
CPM provides the following benefits:
• Provides a graphical view of the project.
• Predicts the time required to complete the project.
• Shows which activities are critical to maintaining the schedule
and which are not. 15 days
14/7/99
15 days
M1 T3
8 days T9
T1 5 days 4/8/99 25/8/99
25/7/99
T6 M4 M6
4/7/99 M3
start 20 days 7 days
15 days
T7 T11
T2
25/7/99 10 days 11/8/99 5/9/99
10 days
M2 M7 M8
T4 T5 15 days
T10 10 days
18/7/99
T12
M5
25 days
T8 Finish
19/9/99
Approaches
Two approaches are used for the critical path method:
1) Activity On Node (AON)
2) Activity On Arrow (AOA)
Activity On Node (AON)
It models the activities and events of a project as a
network. Activities are depicted as nodes on the
network and events that signify the beginning or ending
of activities are depicted as arcs or lines between the
nodes.
Steps in CPM Project Planning
• Specify the individual activities.
• Determine the sequence of those activities.
• Draw a network diagram.
• Estimate the completion time for each activity.
• Identify the critical path (longest path through the network)
• Update the CPM diagram as the project progresses.
Definitions
The critical path can be identified by determining the following four
parameters for each activity:
ESij = early start time: the earliest time activity (i,j) can start
without violating any precedence relations
EFij = early finish time: the earliest time activity (i,j) can finish
without violating any precedence relations
LSij = late start time: the latest time activity (i,j) can start without
delaying the completion of the project
LFij = late finish time: the latest time activity (i, j) can finish without
delaying the completion of the project
Formulae
1) ES (K)= max [EF(J) : J is an immediate predecessor of K]
2) EF (K)= ES (K) + Dur (K)
3) LF (K)= min [LS(J) : J is a successor of K]
4) LS (K)= LF(K) – Dur (K)
Example
Activity Immediate Duration
Predecessor (weeks)
A ---- 5
B ---- 3
C A 8
D A,B 7
E ---- 7
F C,E,D 4
G F 5
Network Diagram
ES=0 ES=5
EF=5 EF=13
LF=5 LF=13
LS=0 LS=5
A C
ES=0 ES=17 ES=22
EF=0 ES=5 EF=22 EF=22
LF=0 ES=0 EF=12 LF=22 ES=22
LS=0 EF=3 LF=13 LS=17 LS=22
LF=6 LS=6
LS=3
Start B D F G End
ES=13
EF=17
LF=17
LS=13
ES=0
EF=7
LF=13
LS=6
Slacks
• The slack time for an activity is the time between its earliest and latest start
time, or between its earliest and latest finish time.
• Slack is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed past its earliest start or
earliest finish without delaying the project.
Critical activities do not have any Slack
TS = Total Slack: the time that the completion of an activity can be delayed without
delaying the end of the project
TS (K)= LS(K) – ES(K)
FS = Free Slack: the time that an activity can be delayed without delaying both the
start of any succeeding activity and the end of the project
FS (K)= min [ES(J) : J is successor of K] – EF(K)
Summary
Activity Dur ES EF LF LS TS FS
A 5 0 5 5 0 0 0
B 3 0 3 6 3 3 2
C 8 5 13 13 5 0 0
D 7 5 12 13 6 1 1
E 7 0 7 13 6 6 6
F 4 13 17 17 13 0 0
G 5 17 22 22 17 0 0
The Critical Path is:
A C F G
Class Exercise
Activity Predecessor Duration
A none 2 days
B A 1 day
C B 1 day
D C 4 days
E C 3 days
F D,E 1 day
G F 3 days
H A 2 days
I A 5 days
J H,I 2 days
K J,G 2 days
References
• Handouts
