Network Diagram Critical Path Examples
Free Printable Network Diagram Critical Path Examples
In this video you will learn what is meant by the critical path on a project.
Network diagram critical path examples. The critical path is defined as the longest path through the network which means it defines the minimum completion date of the project. The analysis not only indicates completeness of project schedule but also ascertains degree of scheduling flexibility. Recall that the critical path method describes the longest sequence of activities necessary to deliver the project successfully. A four step process is employed which determines the critical path as well as the floats of non critical path items.
This s because the critical path cp activities show the longest path of the project to finish and therefore any activity on the critical path will have zero floats. Calculating critical path for a network diagram task 1 4 days task 2 5 days task 3 3 days task 4 7 days task 5 4 days identify tasks durations dependencies. Find out the length of all the paths in the network diagram the longest path is the critical path float ef lf es ls. Identify your project s critical path the critical path refers to the longest path you have in the precedence diagram you created.
Critical path analysis is the process of identifying the longest path in a schedule network diagram. Last you might want to also read risk management practices that can help you protect your project from time and cost over runs. Critical path examples can get complex but in theory the critical path method and critical path definition is always the same and follows the steps mentioned in this article. This network diagram will form the basis of the final critical path.
You can do this using excel s sumproduct function. Using the critical path diagram from the previous section activities 2 3 and 4 are on the critical path so they have a float of zero. Enter durations for all activities previously calculated. Critical path activities should have zero floats.
Moreover critical path analysis also reveals the minimum duration required to complete a project. Estimate duration of each activity. When there s a delay on a critical path cp activity it will cause project delays respectively. Critical path method definition.
The next longest path is activities 1 3 and 4. To compute the critical path you must first calculate how long each of the individual paths will take to complete. Thus to figure out the critical path we first need to estimate the duration of each activity.