Critical Path Method
Critical Path Method
Critical Path Method
Following the rule that a “legal” path must always move in the
direction of the arrows, we could enumerate 22 unique paths from
Start to Finish, with associate times ranging from a minimum of
14 days (path a-b-c-r-v-w-x) to a maximum of 34 days (path a-b-c-
d-j-k-l-n-t-s-x). The latter is the critical path; it determines the
over-all project time and tells us which jobs are critical in their
effect on this time. If the contractor wishes to complete the house
in less than 34 days, it would be useless to shorten jobs not on the
critical path. It may seem to him, for example, that the brickwork
(e) delays progress, since work on a whole series of jobs (p-q-v-w)
must wait until it is completed. But it would be fruitless to rush
the completion of the brickwork, since it is not on the critical path
and so is irrelevant in determining total project time.
Shortening the CP
(1) Mark the value of S to the left and to the right of Start.
(2) Consider any new unmarked job all of whose predecessors have
been marked, and mark to the left of the new job the largest
number marked to the right of any of its immediate predecessors.
This number is its early start time.
(3) Add to this number the job time and mark the result (EF time)
to the right of the job.
Thus, at the conclusion of this calculation the ES time for each job
will appear to the left of the circle which identifies it, and the EF
time will appear to the right of the circle. The number which
appears to the right of the last job, Finish, is the early finish time
(F) for the entire project.
Suppose now that we have a target time (T) for completing the
project. T may have been originally expressed as a calendar date,
e.g., October 1 or February 15. When is the latest time that the
project can be started and finished?
In order to be feasible it is clear that T must be greater (later) than
or equal to F, the early finish time for the project. Assuming this is
so, we can define the concept of late finish (LF), or the latest time
that a job can be finished, without delaying the total project
beyond its target time (T). Similarly, late start (LS) is defined to be
LF—t, where t is the job time.
(2) Consider any new unmarked job all of whose successors have
been marked, and mark to the right of the new job the smallest LS
time marked to the left of any of its immediate successors.
(3) Subtract from this number the job time and mark the result to
the left of the job.
Exhibit V Calculation of Late Start and Late Finish Times for Each
Job
Concept of Slack
If the target date (T) equals the early finish date for the whole
project (F), then all critical jobs will have zero total slack. There
will be at least one path going from Start to Finish that includes
critical jobs only, i.e., the critical path.
If T is greater (later) than F, then the critical jobs will have total
slack equal to T minus F. This is a minimum value; since the
critical path includes only critical jobs, it includes those with the
smallest TS. All noncritical jobs will have greater total slack.
Significance of Slack
When a job has zero total slack, its scheduled start time is
automatically fixed (that is, ES = LS); and to delay the calculated
start time is to delay the whole project. Jobs with positive total
slack, however, allow the scheduler some discretion in setting
their start times. This flexibility can usefully be applied to
smoothing work schedules. Peak loads that develop in a particular
shop (or on a machine, or within an engineering design group, to
cite other examples) may be relieved by shifting jobs on the peak
days to their late starts. Slack allows this kind of juggling without
affecting project time.3
(2) Several jobs have free slack. Thus the contractor could delay
the completion of i (rough wiring) by two days, g (the basement
floor) by one day, h (rough plumbing) by four days, r (the storm
drains) by 12 days, and so on—without affecting succeeding jobs.
3. The list of prerequisites for a job may include more than the
immediate prerequisites; e.g., job a is a predecessor of b, b is a
predecessor of c, and a and b both are predecessors of c.
Then those jobs that are on the critical path (together with jobs
that have very small total slack, indicating that they are nearly
critical) can be more closely checked, their times re-estimated,
and another CPM graph constructed with the refined data.
Cost Calculations
New Developments
Conclusion
FL
Ferdinand K. Levy has just become Assistant
Professor at Stanford University.
GT
Gerald L. Thompson is Professor of Applied
Mathematics and Industrial Administration,
Carnegie Institute of Technology.
JW
Jerome D. Wiest is Assistant Professor,
University of California at Los Angeles.