Activity-On-Node
Networks
Used by precedence networks
Has become popular
Widely adopted
Activities are represented as nodes
The links between nodes represent
precedence (or sequencing) requirements
Activity-On-Node Networks
Fragment of a network developed as an
activity-on-node network
Formulating A Network Model
Constructing Precedence Network Rules [1/2]
A project network should have only one
start node
More than one activity starting at once?
Invent a ‘start’ activity with zero duration
A project network should have only one
end node
If necessary, invent an ‘end’ activity
A node has duration
Links normally have no duration
Formulating A Network Model
Constructing Precedence Network Rules [2/2]
Precedents are the immediate
preceding activities
All have to be completed before an
activity can be started
Time moves from left to right
A network may not contain loops
A network should not contain dangles
If necessary, connect to the final node
Formulating A Network Model
Fragment of Precedence Network
Installation cannot start until program testing
is completed
Program test cannot start until both code and
data take-on have been completed
Formulating A Network Model
Network Contains Loop
A loop is an error in that it represents a
situation that cannot occur in practice
Program testing cannot start until errors have
been corrected?
Formulating A Network Model
A Dangle
A dangling activity such as “write user
manual” should not exist as it is likely to lead
to errors in subsequent analysis
Formulating A Network Model
Resolving The Dangle
The figure implies that the project is complete
once the software has been installed and the user
manual written
We should redraw the network with a final
completion activity
Activity-On-Node Networks
Labelling Convention
There are a number of differing conventions
that have been adopted
Example
Activity-On-Node Networks
Adding The Time Dimension
The critical path approach
Planning the project in such way that it is
completed as quickly as possible
Identifying delayed activities
The method requires the estimation of
duration of each activity
Forward pass: calculate the earliest dates at
which activities may commence and the
project completed
Backward pass: calculate the latest start
dates for activities and the critical path
Activity-On-Node Networks
Adding The Time Dimension
Example of Estimated Activity Duration of A Project
Activity-On-Node Networks
Adding The Time Dimension
The Precedence Network of The Example Project
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE FORWARD PASS
The Calculation of Earliest Start Date [1/4]
Activities A, B and F may start
immediately
The earliest date for their start is zero
Activity A will take 6 weeks
The earliest it can finish is week 6
Activity F will take 10 weeks
The earliest it can finish is week 10
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE FORWARD PASS
The Calculation of Earliest Start Date [2/4]
Activity C can start as soon as A has finished
Its earliest start date is week 6
It will take 3 weeks, so the earliest it can finish is
week 9
Activities D and E can start as soon as B is
complete
The earliest they can each start is week 4
Activity D will take 4 weeks, so the earliest it can
finish is week 8
Activity E will take 3 weeks, so the earliest it can
finish is week 7
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE FORWARD PASS
The Calculation of Earliest Start Date [3/4]
Activity G cannot start until both E and
F have been completed
It cannot start until week 10 - the later
of weeks 7 (activity E) and 10 (for
activity F)
It takes 3 weeks and finishes in week 13
Similarly, activity H cannot start until
week 9 – the later of the two earliest
finished dates for the preceding
activities C and D
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE FORWARD PASS
The Calculation of Earliest Start Date [4/4]
The project will be complete when both
activities H and G have been completed
The earliest project completion date
will the later of weeks 11 and 13 – that
is, week 13
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE FORWARD PASS
The Network After The Forward Pass
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE BACKWARD PASS
The Latest Activity Dates Calculation [1/3]
The latest completion date for activities
G and H is assumed to be week 13
Activity H must therefore start at week
11 at the latest (13-2) and the latest start
date for activity G is week 10 (13-3)
The latest completion date for activities
C and D is the latest date at which
activity H must start – that is week 11
The latest start date of week 8 (11-3),
and week 7 (10-3) respectively
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE BACKWARD PASS
The Latest Activity Dates Calculation [2/3]
Activities E and F must be completed by
week 10
The earliest start dates are weeks 7 (10-3)
and 0 (10-10) respectively.
Activity B must be completed by week 7
(the latest start date for both activities D
and E)
The latest start is week 3 (7-4)
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE BACKWARD PASS
The Latest Activity Dates Calculation [3/3]
Activity A must be completed by week 8
(the latest start date for activity C)
Its latest start is week 2 (8-6)
The latest start date for the project start
is the earliest of the latest start dates for
activities A, B and F
This week is week zero
It tells us that if the project does not
start on time it won’t finish on time.
Activity-On-Node Networks
THE BACKWARD PASS
The Network After The Backward Pass
Activity-On-Node Networks
Identifying The Critical Path
The Critical Path [1/3]
Critical path: One path through the
network that defines the duration of the
project
Any delay to any activity of this critical
path will delay the completion of the
project
Activity-On-Node Networks
Identifying The Critical Path
The Critical Path [2/3]
Activity’s float: the difference between an
activity’s earliest start date and its latest
start date (or, equally, the difference
between its earliest and latest finish dates)
A measure of how much the start date or
completion of an activity may be delayed
without affecting the end date of the project
Activity span: the difference between the
earliest start date and the latest finish date
Measure of maximum time allowable for the
activity
Activity-On-Node Networks
Identifying The Critical Path
The Critical Path [3/3]
Activity-On-Node Networks
Identifying The Critical Path
The Significance of The Critical Path
In managing the project, we must pay
particular attention to monitoring activities
on the critical path
The effects on any delay or resources
unavailability are detected and corrected at
the earliest opportunity
In planning project, it is the critical path
that we must shorten if we are to reduce
the overall duration of the project
Activity-On-Node Networks
Activity Float
Other Measures of Activity Float
Free float: the time by which an activity
may be delayed without affecting
subsequent activity
The difference between the earliest
completion for the activity and the earliest
date of the succeeding activity
Interfering float: the difference between
total float and free float
Tells us how much the activity may be
delayed without delaying project end date
Activity-On-Node Networks
Shortening The Project Duration
Reduce activity duration
Applying more resources to the task
Working overtime
Procuring additional staff
The critical path indicates where we must
look to save time
From previous example, we can complete
the project in week 12 by reducing the
duration of activity F by one week
