ABA 2510

COST PLANNING &

CONTROL
LECTURE 5:
PLANNING & SCHEDULING
TECHNIQUES

Introduction

A schedule is the conversion of WBS into an

operating time table, in the form of network of
activity & event relationships that graphically
portrays the sequential relations btn tasks in a
project
Serves as a basis for monitoring & control
project activity
A key input in establishing the monitoring &
control system

Benefits of scheduling

Provides a consistent framework for planning,

monitoring & control

Illustrates the interdependency of all tasks,

work packages & elements

Denotes the times when resources must be

available

Determines project completion date

Identifies so called critical activities..

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Benefits of scheduling cont

Identifies activities with float/slack

Identifies dates which tasks must be

started

Identifies which tasks may be run in

parallel

It relieves some interpersonal conflict by

clearly showing task dependencies
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Types of Planning & Scheduling tech

Gantt or bar charts
Milestone charts
Line of balance
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT)
Arrow Diagram Method (ADM) or
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Graphical Evaluation and Review
Technique (GERT)

Gantt Chart

Developed around 1917 by Henry L.

Gantt a pioneer in scientific management
Involves the use of bar charts with:

specified start time

completion time and
duration.

Does not show the dependency

relationship among the activities and the
logical flow of the project.
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Gantt Chart cont

Advantages of Gantt charts includes:

Easily understood
Easy to construct
Do not require frequent updating
They provide a picture of the current state of
a project
Powerful devices for communicating to senior
mgt

Gantt Chart cont

Gantt Chart Example

Network techniques
Network
Techniques

Activity on
Arrow

CPM

Activity on
Nodes

PERT

PNA
(PDM)

GERT
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Network Fundamentals
Activity is an identifiable, quantifiable, discrete
lowest level element of work, which must be
performed during the course of the project. Each
activity consumes time for their completion.
Example of activities include;
Excavation, Fixing steel, building a wall, constructing a
roof ,curing concrete etc
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Network Fundamentals cont

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Network Fundamentals cont

The activities are represented by arrows pointing
in the forward direction
The tail of the arrow depicts the commencement of an
activity and the arrow head its termination
The length of the arrow is not drawn to scale
Arrows are neither curved nor drawn in reverse
direction

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Event

It is the state that marks the completion of a

preceding activity & the beginning of a
succeeding one.
It has no duration
Symbolically shown by a circle or ellipse
The events are labeled numerically to identify
them & describe the connecting activities
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Event cont

The first event of a project is called the start event,

and the last, end event

Preceding event- an event at which an activity starts

Succeeding event-the event which terminates an

activity

Key event the event of significance i.e building

ready for occupation, its occurance is termed as a
milestone

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Event cont

Dangling event-The loose events before the addition

of dummies.

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Bust & Sink points

IN fig A, event 26 must take place before event 7,18&

31.In Fig. B event 7,18 & 31 must take place prior to
26.

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Sink /Merge

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Dummy activity

It is a superimposed activity, which does not

represent any specific operation or process. it has
Zero duration & consumes no resources. Its
purpose is twofold:
To provide a logical link to maintain the correct
relationship of activities
To simplify the description of concurrent activities in
terms of event numbers
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Dummy activity cont

F follows C and E starts after completion of C

& D. Activity H provides the logical link

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Event timings & Associated terms

Earliest event time(EET)- it is the earliest time an

a)

event can take place, assuming that all the events

prior to it also occur at their earliest time

The EET is set at Zero, while the EET of subsequent

events is calculated by adding the activity duration into it
in the process known as forward pass.

If there is more than one activity terminating into the

event, consider the largest value

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Event timings & Associated terms

Latest Event Time (LET)- it is the latest time by

b)

which an event can occur, if the project is to be

completed within the specified time.

Unless otherwise specified, the LET of the end event

EET. The remaining events are calculated by subtraction
in the reverse direction in the process known as
backward pass.

If there is more than one activity diverging from an

event, consider the lowest value

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Event timings & Associated terms

c)

Slack- the difference between the LET & EET of an

event

d)

Critical events- the events having Zero slack, they

must take place at a stipulated time without fail.
Any change in their occurrence would affect the
project completion time.

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Activity timings & Connected terms

a)

Earliest start time(EST)- the earliest time an activity

can be started, assuming that all the activities prior
to it have taken place as early as possible.The EST
of an activity EET of the preceding event

b)

Latest start time(LST)the latest time an activity can

start consistent with the completion of the
project in the stipulated time. Determined by
subtracting preceding event
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Activity timings & Connected terms

c)

Earliest finish time(EFT)- the earliest time by which

an activity can be completed, assuming that all the
activities prior to it begin at their ESTs

d)

Latest finish time(LFT) the latest time by which an

activity must be completed to ensure the
completion of the project within the stipulated
time. LFT=LET
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Activity timings & Connected terms

e)

Float/activity slack - the difference between the

latest start time(LST) & the earliest start
time(EST) of an activity

f)

Critical activities - the activities including dummy

ones having Zero float

g)

Network Critical Path the path of critical

activities (including dummy activities) which links
the start & end events
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Duration Estimation Methods

a)

One-time estimate

b)

Three-time PERT estimate

c)

Non-linear distribution

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One-time estimate
Estimation is based on one or more of the

a)

following;
i.

Planning data

ii.

Past experience on execution of similar project

iii. Average time assessed by experts

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Three-times PERT estimate

When the exact duration of an activity like R &D,
is not certain, duration is computed using;

Where;

Te =Expected completion time

To=Optimistic time, assuming that everything goes extremely well

Tp = pessimistic time, assuming that everything goes wrong

Pm = most likely time, assuming normal conditions

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Example

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Questions?

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