NETWORK DIAGRAM

Network diagramming is a critical path scheduling technique used for controlling resources.
Critical path scheduling is a scheduling technique whose order and duration of a sequence of
task activities directly affect the completion date of a project.
Critical path : the shortest time in which a project can be completed. Critical path must have 0
slack time.
Slack time : the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project.

Tutorial :
Ex : Given the following order of activities & time estimation , draw the network diagram, find the
critical path
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

Activity
Collect Requirement
Design Screens
Design Database
Coding
Documentation
Testing
Integration

Time Estimate (Days)

1
2
2
3
2
3
1

Preceding Activity
A
A
B,C
D
D
E,F

Step :
1.
2.
3.
4.

Draw the network diagram: Include the task name & time estimate (duration time in days)
Find the early finish & early start timeusing forward pass
Find the late finish & late start using backward pass
Calculate Slack time to find critical path

1. Draw the Network Diagram with each cell format as follow :

Early
Start
(ES)
Slack
Time
Late
Start
(LS)

Task
Name

Early Finish
(EF)
Slack Time

Duration Late Finish

Time
(LF)

2. Find the early finish & early start timeusing forward pass
Formula for ES of 1st activity: ES=0 (no preceding task)
Formula for ES of next activity : ES = EF of previous task
Ex : EF for A = 1, so ES for B = 1

If there is more than 1 previous task, choose the highest value for ES
Ex ; for task G there are task E & F as the previous tasks, therefore chooseES for F : 9
because it is higher.

Formula for EF = ES + Duration Time

Ex: EF for A = 0 (ES) + 1(Duration Time) = 1.

2
0

1
1

C
2

G
1

F
3

10

3. Find the late finish & late start using backward pass
Formula for last activity: LF=10 (full week)
Formula for last activity: LS= LF duration time
Formula for next activity : LF = LS of previous task
Ex : LF for G = 10, so LS for G = 10 1= 9
LS for G is 9, so LF for F= 9

If there is more than 1 previous task, choose the lowest value for LF
Ex ; for task D there are task E & F as the previous tasks, therefore choose LS for F : 6
because it is lower.

3
3

10

10

4. Calculate Slack time to find critical path

Formula : LS ES OR LF EF

1
0
1
0
0
0

A
1

B
2

3
0
3
3
0
3

1
0
1
1
0
1

C
2

3
0
3

D
3

6
1
7

6
0
6

Note : there are 4 paths overall

A->B->D->E->G
A->B->D->F->G
A->C->D->E->G
A->C->D->F->G

8
1
9

9
0
9

6
0

9
0

Remember ; critical path have 0 slack time, therefore the critical path is :
A->B->D->F->GOR A->C->D->F->G

G
1

10
0
10