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Critical Path Analysis CPA

Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a project management tool used to: 1) Identify all individual project activities and their order and dependencies; 2) Determine which activities can be done simultaneously to reduce the project duration; and 3) Identify the critical path which has no time flexibility - any delay will delay the whole project. The CPA is constructed by estimating activity times and accounting for dependencies like resources and weather. Once complete, the CPA shows the minimum time needed to complete the project and identifies float or spare time that can absorb delays without pushing out the end date. Managing the critical path is key to keeping projects on schedule.

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Nico Wukkup Sargent Allamby
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52 views2 pages

Critical Path Analysis CPA

Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a project management tool used to: 1) Identify all individual project activities and their order and dependencies; 2) Determine which activities can be done simultaneously to reduce the project duration; and 3) Identify the critical path which has no time flexibility - any delay will delay the whole project. The CPA is constructed by estimating activity times and accounting for dependencies like resources and weather. Once complete, the CPA shows the minimum time needed to complete the project and identifies float or spare time that can absorb delays without pushing out the end date. Managing the critical path is key to keeping projects on schedule.

Uploaded by

Nico Wukkup Sargent Allamby
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Critical Path Analysis CPA (Network Analysis)

Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a project management tool that:

 Sets out all the individual activities that make up a larger project.
 Shows the order in which activities have to be undertaken.
 Shows which activities can only taken place once other activities have been completed.
 Shows which activities can be undertaken simultaneously, thereby reducing the overall time
taken to complete the whole project.
 Shows when certain resources will be needed – for example, a crane to be hired for a building
site.

In order to construct a CPA, it is necessary to estimate the elapsed time for each activity – that is the
time taken from commencement to completion.

Then the CPA is drawn up a based on dependencies such as:

 The availability of labour and other resources


 Lead times for delivery of materials and other services
 Seasonal factors – such as dry weather required in a building project

Once the CPA is drawn up, it is possible to see the CRITICAL PATH itself – this is a route through the
CPA, which has no spare time (called ‘FLOAT’ or ‘slack’) in any of the activities. In other words, if
there is any delay to any of the activities on the critical path, the whole project will be delayed unless
the firm makes other changes to bring the project back on track.

The total time along this critical path is also the minimum time in which the whole project can be
completed.

Some branches on the CPA may have FLOAT, which means that there is some spare time available for
these activities.

What can a business do if a project is delayed?

 Firstly, the CPA is helpful because it shows the likely impact on the whole project if no action
were taken.

 Secondly, if there is float elsewhere, it might be possible to switch staff from another activity
to help catch up on the delayed activity.

 As a rule, most projects can be brought back on track by using extra labour – either by hiring
additional people or overtime. Note, there will be usually be an extra cost. Alternative
suppliers can usually be found – but again, it might cost more to get urgent help.

The key rules of a CPA

 Nodes are numbered to identify each one and show the Earliest Start Time (EST) of the
activities that immediately follow the node, and the Latest Finish Time (LFT) of the
immediately preceding activities
 The CPA must begin and end on one ‘node’ – see below
 There must be no crossing activities in the CPA
 East activity is labelled with its name eg ‘print brochure’, or it may be given a label, such as
‘D’, below.
 The activities on the critical path are usually marked with a ‘//’

In the example below

 The Node is number 3


 The EST for the following activities is 14 days
 The LFT for the preceding activities is 16 days
 There is 2 days’ float in this case (difference between EST and LFT)
 The activity that follows the node is labelled ‘D’ and will take 6 days

  

A simple example – baking a loaf of bread

Here is a simple example, in which some activities depend on others having been undertaken in order,
whereas others can be done independently.

Activity Preceded by Elapsed time (minutes)


A weigh ingredients - 1
B mix ingredients A 3
C dough rising time B 60
D prepare tins - 1
E pre-heat oven - 10
F knock back dough and place in tins C&D 2
G 2 nd dough rising time F 15
H cooking time E&G 40

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