The document discusses developing a network diagram and critical path for building a house project. It explains that the network diagram shows relationships between activities using arrows to represent "finish to start" dependencies. A table is provided listing 15 activities in building a house, their duration, predecessor activities, and descriptions. The tasks are to construct the network diagram visually and determine the duration of each activity by considering dependencies.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NETWORK DIAGRAM AND CRITICAL PATH Adapted and edited from A Practical Introduction to Management Science 4 th edition

2. BUILDING A HOUSE THE NETWORK DIAGRAM IS ABOUT CREATING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ACTIVITIES

3. BUILDING A HOUSE RELATIONSHIPS ARE ALSO REFERRED TO AS DEPENDENCIES – THE MOST BASIC IS “FINISH TO START”

4. BUILDING A HOUSE THUS THE BASIC QUESTION IS WHICH ACTIVITIES MUST BE FINISHED BEFORE WHICH ACTIVITIES CAN START

5. BUILDING A HOUSE THE USE OF AN ARROW (SPECIFICALLY IN THE NOTATION USED IN THIS EXAMPLE) SHOWS THIS RELATIONSHIP Activity A Must Be Finished Before B Can Start A B

6. BUILDING A HOUSE THE USE OF AN ARROW (SPECIFICALLY IN THE NOTATION USED IN THIS EXAMPLE) SHOWS THIS RELATIONSHIP But Activity E, F and G Don’t Have to Wait for Each Other D E F G Frame HVAC Rough Electric H Sheet Rock

7. BUILDING A HOUSE THE USE OF AN ARROW (SPECIFICALLY IN THE NOTATION USED IN THIS EXAMPLE) SHOWS THIS RELATIONSHIP Note That E, F and G Don’t Have to Start and Finish At The Same Time D E F G Frame HVAC Rough Electric H Sheet Rock

8. BUILDING A HOUSE THE USE OF AN ARROW (SPECIFICALLY IN THE NOTATION USED IN THIS EXAMPLE) SHOWS THIS RELATIONSHIP They However Need to Be Finished Before H Can Start D E F G Frame HVAC Rough Electric H Sheet Rock

9. Task 1 Is to Create These Dependencies By Listing the Steps That Happen Before Each Activity

10. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES Time Immediate Required Predecessor Activity Description (in days) Activities A Excavate B Lay foundation C Rough plumbing D Frame E Finish exterior F Install HVAC G Rough electric H Sheet rock I Install cabinets J Paint K Final plumbing L Final electric M Install flooring

11. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES Time Immediate Required Predecessor Activity Description (in days) Activities A Excavate -- B Lay foundation A C Rough plumbing B D Frame B E Finish exterior D F Install HVAC D G Rough electric D H Sheet rock C, E, F, G I Install cabinets H J Paint H K Final plumbing I L Final electric J M Install flooring K, L

12. Task 2 TEST THE LOGIC BY CONSTRUCTING THE NETWORK DIAGRAM

13. An Activity-On-Node (AON) Network Install Cabinets A B C D E F G H I J K L M Excavate Lay Foundation Rough Plumbing Frame Finish Exterior HVAC Rough Electric Sheet Rock Paint Final Plumbing Final Electric Install Flooring

14. Basic Rules for Constructing the Network Diagram Networks typically flow from left to right; An activity cannot begin until all of its preceding activities are complete; Arrows indicate precedence and flow and can cross over each other; Identify each activity with a unique number ; this number must be greater than its predecessors; Looping is not allowed; Use unique start and stop nodes.

15. Task 3 DETERMINE DURATIONS FOR EACH ACTIVITY

16. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES Time Immediate Required Predecessor Activity Description (in days) Activities A Excavate 3 -- B Lay foundation 4 A C Rough plumbing 3 B D Frame 10 B E Finish exterior 8 D F Install HVAC 4 D G Rough electric 6 D H Sheet rock 8 C, E, F, G I Install cabinets 5 H J Paint 5 H K Final plumbing 4 I L Final electric 2 J M Install flooring 4 K, L

17. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES Time Immediate Required Predecessor Activity Description (in days) Activities A Excavate 3 -- B Lay foundation 4 A C Rough plumbing 3 B D Frame 10 B In this chart we read that: Activity A (excavating the property) takes 3 days to complete. Activity B (lay foundation) takes 4 days to complete but can not start until Activity A is complete. So from start to finish of Activity B takes 7 days. Activity C (rough plumbing) takes 3 days to complete but Activity B must be completed first. To complete Activity B, Activity A must be complete. Total time from start to end of Activity C takes 10 days. Activity D (frame) takes 10 days to complete but can not be completed until Activity B is complete. In this case, you do not need to have Activity C complete to finish Activity D.

18. Look at this a different way Let’s go back to the house idea. If you want to build a house what is the first thing you want to do? Do you buy the materials and then start building? Do you dig the foundation and start pouring cement? Do you buy the curtains, carpet, drapes, and windows? No, the first thing you do is decide on the type of house you want and what it should look like. If you just start building you may end up with a house you really didn’t want.

19. The first mistake of project management There is an old saying that goes, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” There is another line that goes, “if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know if you even got there?

20. The first mistake of project management Many projects fail because the teams do not know what they want. Teams don’t start with a vision of what it will look like, they start with what they have and start to build. The problem is that when you start to put the project together you may not be able to take one step and make it match the next step.

21. The first mistake of project management Think about building an instrument for a spacecraft and after it is built finding out that the power supply isn’t correct for the instrument. Believe it or not, this has happened many times. One group started a project and at every step change had to make major changes to what they had just done. This caused delays and cost more money.

22. In CPM you build from the future to the present You don’t build a house unless you know what it is going to look like. In a project you do not start unless you know what you want it to look like or what you want it to do. You start with the finished product and figure out what steps it will take to complete each step. In the case of a house, you figure out what the outer shape will be, what the roof will look like, what it will take to build the roof and the walls, what will have to go inside the walls, what the floor will look like…..

23. What does this mean for you? As you work through this course: Think about what you want Think about what steps will need to be taken to get what you want Think about the order for the steps Think about if the steps will actually connect to each other efficiently Draw a diagram showing the steps, what the step looks like when it is complete, and who will be responsible for that step