a project planning and scheduling technique which was developed in the mid-1950's by Morgan R. Walker of the E.I. DuPont de Nemours Company Engineering Department of Wilmington, Delaware and James E. Kelley of Sperry Univac. It is an approach for defining the structure of a project. It establishes a network of project phases with nodes to indicate start and stop points. Critical project activities are determined and are used as a point of reference for scheduling. The technique was originally developed for linear programming and was called "network analysis." (See PERT).
CPM, a system of project planning, scheduling, and control, which combines all relevant information into a single master plan, permitting the establishment of the optimum sequence and duration of operations; the interrelation of all the efforts required to complete a construction project are shown; and indication is given of the effort which is critical to timely completion of the project.
A management technique used to plan and control a project which combines all relevant information into a single plan defining the sequence and duration of operations, and depicting the interrelationship of the Work elements required to complete the project. The critical path is defined as the longest sequence of activities in a network which establishes the minimum length of time for accomplishment of the end event of the project. Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) and Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) are both common techniques used in CPM scheduling.
A network analysis technique used to predict project duration by analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of total float). Early dates are calculated by means of a forward pass using a specified start date. Late dates are calculated by means of a backward pass starting from a specified completion date (usually the forward pass's calculated project early finish date).
a technique used to predict project duration by analysing which sequence of activities has the least amount of scheduling flexibility. The critical path method is a modelling process that defines all the project's critical activities which must be completed on time. The start and finish dates of activities in the project are calculated in two phases. The first phase calculates early start and finish dates from the earliest start date forward. The second phase calculates the late start and finish activities from the latest finish date backwards. The difference between the pairs of start and finish dates for each task is the float or slack time for the task (see float). Slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the project completion date. By experimenting with different logical sequences and/or durations the optimal project schedule can be determined.
A project management method of calculating the total duration of a project based on individual task durations and their dependencies.
A method of project schedule development which indicates flows of work and integrates individual schedule components.
A Project Management technique invented by American industry in 1958 as a means of controlling costs and schedules. CPM is based on identifying and managing a path of critical activities that determine the project duration. CPM theory is based on the concept that preceding tasks, not probability, determine the course of a project. CPM is frequently used with PERT.
A technique to determine the order in which operations must be executed to complete a project in minimum time, and determine which operations have some "float" or capacity to be rescheduled without affecting the minimum time.
A network analysis technique used to predict project duration by analysing which path (sequence of activities) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (float or slack). Early dates are calculated using a forward pass; late dates are calculated using a backwards pass. (PMI)
Work scheduling where all major jobs are laid out in a diagram to show the proper sequence of work and the necessary time required for each, providing a visualization so that indications can be made to show which operations are critical to others.
The Critical Path Method, abbreviated CPM, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is a very important tool for effective project management. It was developed in the 1950's in a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects.
