The Critical Path Method in project planning

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'''The Critical Path Method''' is a step by step technique that is used to schedule a set of project activities. It analysis what activities are least flexible and the project duration is predicted based on the activities that fall along the critical path. The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be completed on time in order for the project to complete on the predetermined scheduled date <ref>[http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/critical-path.html BusinessDictionary, unknown, 2016.] </ref>. By delaying an activity on the critical path leads to a delay on the completion time of the entire project as these activities have no slack. Activities along the path cannot start until the predecessor activity is completed. When using CPM to plan a project a graphical diagram is often represented showing how each activity is related to the others (1). This method is one of several tools that is important to keep the project on track and is convenient for all forms of projects, including research projects, product development, construction industry, maintenance and many more.  
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'''The Critical Path Method''' is a step by step technique that is used to schedule a set of project activities. It analysis what activities are least flexible and the project duration is predicted based on the activities that fall along the critical path. The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be completed on time in order for the project to complete on the predetermined scheduled date <ref>[http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/critical-path.html Critical Path, BusinessDictionary, 2016.] </ref>. By delaying an activity on the critical path leads to a delay on the completion time of the entire project as these activities have no slack. Activities along the path cannot start until the predecessor activity is completed. When using CPM to plan a project a graphical diagram is often represented showing how each activity is related to the others <ref>[http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/critical-path.html Critical Path Method, webopedia, 2016.] </ref> (1). This method is one of several tools that is important to keep the project on track and is convenient for all forms of projects, including research projects, product development, construction industry, maintenance and many more.  
  
 
A joint venture between the Dupont chemical company and computer firm Remington Rand Univac led to a development of the Critical Path Method in the 1956 to tackle the interrelationships of separate activities within a project schedule (3).
 
A joint venture between the Dupont chemical company and computer firm Remington Rand Univac led to a development of the Critical Path Method in the 1956 to tackle the interrelationships of separate activities within a project schedule (3).
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Revision as of 14:06, 10 September 2016

The Critical Path Method is a step by step technique that is used to schedule a set of project activities. It analysis what activities are least flexible and the project duration is predicted based on the activities that fall along the critical path. The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be completed on time in order for the project to complete on the predetermined scheduled date [1]. By delaying an activity on the critical path leads to a delay on the completion time of the entire project as these activities have no slack. Activities along the path cannot start until the predecessor activity is completed. When using CPM to plan a project a graphical diagram is often represented showing how each activity is related to the others [2] (1). This method is one of several tools that is important to keep the project on track and is convenient for all forms of projects, including research projects, product development, construction industry, maintenance and many more.

A joint venture between the Dupont chemical company and computer firm Remington Rand Univac led to a development of the Critical Path Method in the 1956 to tackle the interrelationships of separate activities within a project schedule (3).

In this article the Critical Path Method (CPM) is described, a step by step guidance on how to apply the method is discussed and the tradeoff between cost and time are analyzed. Furthermore, a comparison to other project management techniques is performed and its limitations and advantages are addressed.


Contents

Overview

Introduction to CPM and purpose

History

General methodology

Application

CPM graph box layout

CPM graph creation

Forward pass

Backward pass

Slack calculation

CPM graph and critical path

Cost and time trade off

Comparison to related project management technique

Advantages of CPM

Disadvantages and limitations of CPM

Conclusion

References

  1. Critical Path, BusinessDictionary, 2016.
  2. Critical Path Method, webopedia, 2016.


Annotated Bibliography

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