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Called a precedence diagram Arrows show how tasks are ordered and flow of time
Dummy Activities
Required due to AOA rule that each task is represented by one Arc, which connects two events Parallel tasks have a different duration
If terminated on one event (instant in time), implication is that they both have the same duration Not generally the case Cannot change the schedule if one event slips without revising the diagram
Do not remove dummy activity when the result creates two or more activities between a start/finish node pair
Length of lines and/or placement of bubbles have no significance regarding task duration
Gantt chart task duration indicated by length of bar
Level of detail must show all schedule constraints Plan for schedule changes during project Allow for workarounds Show all significant events/milestones Network must/should correlate to WBS
Clean schedule interfaces
Start Event
Establish Start Date Calculate all other event dates using Schedule Logic and Task Duration Schedule network determines dates, not the other way around If finish date is incompatible with project goals, you must adjust the schedule assumptions
Logic (Workarounds) Task Duration (More People or Overtime)
Late Time
Start Finish
Critical Path
Concept of Path Length through network Calculate for all possible paths by traversing Network from left to right Longest path length from start event to finish event is critical path Activities on the critical path cause a day-for-day slip in the completion event After calculating the critical path, look for things that can be done in parallel
Shortens critical path
By definition, events on the critical path cannot be started early Can have more than one critical path, on that path events cannot be started early
Calculated by taking the sum of all task durations on the longest path leading to the event
Traverse network from left to right
Total Slack
Slack is the range of allowable time between when a task can be started, and when it must be started
Once slack is used up, the finish date of the project is affected The task of interest is now on the critical path
Total slack of an activity is the amount of slack available to all activities on a given subpath of a network Total slack of activities on the critical path is zero
Free Slack
Activities not on the critical path can be delayed without affecting the start time of succeeding tasks Free slack of an activity is the amount of time that the activity can slip without affecting its successors
Assumes that the TE of all preceding tasks has been met
Start-to-Start,SS
Finish-to-Finish, FF
Start-to-Finish, SF
Finish-to-Start, FS
Summary
Introduced network methods and PDM for scheduling Networks display the connections between project activities and impact on each other Determine critical activities and slack times PDM reflects the realities of projects work
Class handout of MT exam on 22 February Return on 27 February to my office (no class on 27 February)
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PERT CPM Resource Allocation GERT