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Instructor: John Bing

Student: Nawaf Basudan Assignment: A5: CH 5--PROJECT
Course: BUA 345--Operations & Supply
Date: 07/05/19 MGT
Chain Management

The following information is known about a project to upgrade a point-of-sale system at Kids and Tots Apparel:

Activity Activity Time (days) Immediate Predecessor(s)

A 6 —
B 3 A
C 5 A
D 4 B, C
E 3 D
F 4 E
G 7 E

a. Draw the network diagram for this project.

A network diagram is a network planning method, designed to depict the relationships between activities, that consists of
nodes (circles) and arcs (arrows). In this case, use the arcs to represent the precedence relationships between the
activities. A precedence relationship determines a sequence for undertaking activities; it specifies that one activity cannot
start until a preceding activity has been completed.

Use the given information to draw the network diagram. Note that the Immediate Predecessor(s) column indicates the
precedence relationships. If activity X is a predecessor of activity Y, then activity Y cannot start until activity X has been
completed, and we indicate this with an arrow that goes from X to Y on the network diagram. Also, we indicate the activity
time of each activity below the corresponding activity.

The network diagram for this project is shown below.

b. Determine the critical path and project duration.

The critical path is the sequence of activities between a project's start and finish that takes the longest time to complete.
Thus, the activities along the critical path determine the completion time of the project.

Look at each path from start to finish and determine the time it takes to complete the path.

Path Estimated Time (days)

ABDEF 20
ABDEG 23
ACDEF 22
ACDEG 25

Based on the table above, the critical path is path A C D E G and the project duration is 25 days.

c. Calculate the slack for each activity.

The maximum length of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project is called activity slack.
Consequently, activities on the critical path have zero slack. Activity slack can be calculated in one of two ways for any
activity, as shown below, where S represents the slack, LS is the activity's latest start time, ES is the activity's earliest start
time, LF is the activity's latest finish time, and EF is the activity's earliest finish time.

S = LS − ES or 
 S = LF − EF

The earliest start and earliest finish times are obtained as follows:

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1. The earliest finish time (EF) of an activity equals its earliest start time plus its estimated duration, t, or EF = ES + t.

2. The earliest start time (ES) for an activity is the earliest finish time of the immediately preceding activity. For activities with
more than one preceding activity, ES is the latest of the earliest finish times of the preceding activities.

To obtain the latest start and latest finish times, we must work backward from the finish node. We start by setting the latest
finish time of the project equal to the earliest finish time of the last activity on the critical path.

1. The latest finish time (LF) for an activity is the latest start time of the activity that immediately follows. For activities with
more than one activity that immediately follow, LF is the earliest of the latest start times of those activities.

2. The latest start time (LS) for an activity equals its latest finish time minus its estimated duration, t, or LS = LF − t.

To compute the early start and early finish times, begin at the
start node at time zero. Because activity A has no
predecessors, the earliest start times for this activity is zero.
The earliest finish time for activitiy A is computed below.

EFA = 0 + 6 = 6

Because the earliest start time for activities B and C is the earliest finish time of activity A, ESB = 6 and ESC = 6. Compute
EF for these activities.

EFB = 6 + 3 = 9 and EFC = 6 + 5 = 11

The earliest start time for activity D is the latest EF time of all immediately preceding activities. Find ESD .

ESD = 11

Compute EF for activity D.

EFD = 11 + 4 = 15

Continue this same process to find ES and EF for the rest of the activities.

Activity Earliest Earliest

Activity Time (days) Start (days) Finish (days)
A 6 0 6
B 3 6 9
C 5 6 11
D 4 11 15
E 3 15 18
F 4 18 22
G 7 18 25

To obtain the latest start and latest finish times, we must work backward from the finish node. We start by setting the latest
finish time of the project equal to the earliest finish time of the last activity on the critical path. So, the latest finish time of
activities F and G is the earliest finish time of activity G, which is 25 days. Compute the latest start time for these activities.

LSF = 25 − 4 = 21 and LSG = 25 − 7 = 18

The latest finish time for activity E is the earliest LS time of all activities that immediately follow activity E. Find LFE .

LFE = 18

Compute LS for activity E.

LSE = 18 − 3 = 15

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Continue this same process to find LF and LS for the rest of the activities.

Activity Latest Latest

Activity Time (days) Finish (days) Start (days)
A 6 6 0
B 3 11 8
C 5 11 6
D 4 15 11
E 3 18 15
F 4 25 21
G 7 25 18

All of the information is shown in the table below. Use the equation S = LS − ES or S = LF − EF to find the slack time for each
activity.

Activity Start (days) Finish (days) Critical Slack

Activity Time (days) Earliest Latest Earliest Latest Path (days)
A 6 0 0 6 6 Yes 0
B 3 6 8 9 11 No 2
C 5 6 6 11 11 Yes 0
D 4 11 11 15 15 Yes 0
E 3 15 15 18 18 Yes 0
F 4 18 21 22 25 No 3
G 7 18 18 25 25 Yes 0

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