1. Welcome to your final year at school!
Introductions

2. Teams Tom Lara Alex A B Lloyd George Emma Luke H C Russell Alysha
Luke S

3. BUSS3 Operational Strategies: Lean Production
Outline the meaning and value of Critical Path Analysis
Apply CPA to a business case to calculate Earliest Start Time (EST), Latest Finish Time (LFT) and Float
Explain with examples how CPA can be used to achieve Lean Production

4. Hats enough! – Activity 1
Write your ideas
on your worksheet
You are the manager of a small retail outlet, Hats Enough, selling hats, gloves etc.
The popularity of your business has meant you need to consider opportunities for growth in order to satisfy consumer demand
You realise that relocation is one your main options
To get an understanding of the complexity of the task you brainstorm all the factors you feel might be involved in relocating

5. Hats enough! – Activity 2
Having identified a range of activities involved in a relocation, you will need to create a mental plan covering the ORDER in which the activities should take place.
Assuming you have purchased a new outlet in the new shopping centre, you have to create a TIME LINE to plan the move, using the activities you identified in Activity 1.
How long?
1 day
5 days
3 days
1 month
Activity D
Activity B
Activity A
Activity C
Write your ideas
on your worksheet

6. Critical Path Analysis
CPA is sometimes called network analysis
It’s a tool used to plan activities so that a job can be completed in the SHORTEST time
It breaks down a job into a number of tasks and looks at their DEPENDENCIES
Used commonly in manufacturing and construction

7. Parts of a Network

8. A simple Network diagram

9. Illustrating simultaneous activities

10. Developing the network

11. Earliest Start Time (EST)
The main reason for drawing a network is to identify the CRITICAL activities
To do this we must calculate the earliest time at which any given activity can start
This is called the Earliest Start Time (EST) of the activity
EST = EST of Previous activity + Duration of previous activity

12. Earliest Start Time (EST)

13. EST and simultaneous activities

14. EST Recap The EST of the first activity is always ZERO
Calculate the EST by working Left to Right across a network
EST = EST of Previous activity + Duration of previous activity
When there are 2 simultaneous activities the HIGHEST figure is used as the EST

15. Latest Finish Time (LFT)
There is one final piece of information needed to complete our network diagram
To identify the CRITICAL activities we must also know the latest time at which any given activity must end
This is called the Latest Finishing Time (LFT) of the activity
It is calculated by working BACKWARDS across the network using the following formula
LFT = LFT at the end of following activity – Duration of following activity

16. Latest Finish Time (LFT)

17. LFT and simultaneous activities

18. LFT Recap The LFT of the last activity is always equal to its EST
The LFT of the first activity is always ZERO
Calculate the LFT by working Right to Left across a network
LFT = LFT at the end of following activity – Duration of following activity
When there are 2 simultaneous activities the LOWEST figure is used as the LFT

19. Hats enough! – Activity 3 Order your SORT CARDS in a time line
Arrows and Nodes!
Order your SORT CARDS in a time line
Insert arrows and record the task and duration (see activity 4 for duration)
Before and after each activity add a node
Enter the ESTs for the whole project
Enter the LFTs by working backwards
Identify any activities which you think could be carried out at the same time to speed up the process

20. Hats enough! – Activity 4 Put away the sort cards
Building the network!
Put away the sort cards
Read the table to identify DEPENDENT activities with 2 immediate predecessors

21. The Float Any activity without spare time is CRITICAL
Spare time is referred to as the FLOAT

22. Calculating the FLOAT
FLOAT= LFT – (EST+ Duration)
Total FLOAT = the amount of spare time available for an activity without delaying the whole project
Activity
LFT
EST
Duration
Total
FLOAT A 14 12 2 AA B 17 3

23. What does this mean? This data tells us:
Activity
LFT
EST
Duration
Total
FLOAT A 14 12 2 AA B 17 3
This data tells us:
Activity A can be delayed 2 weeks without delaying the whole project
Activity AA is CRITICAL
any delay will hold up the project
Activity B is CRITICAL

24. Identifying the Critical Path

25. Advantages of CPA
Managers need to consider exactly what activities are involved in a project
Managers can identify CRITICAL activities to be completed on time to get the whole project completed ASAP
Good use of CPA can enable managers to reduce time to market and costs, and make the business more efficient

26. Disadvantages of CPA Diagrams can become complicated and unmanageable
Relies on good estimates from reliable staff
Can be padded to make performance look better than it really is
OR can be overoptimistic
Can make the company v. dependent on suppliers and hence they need to be v. reliable

27. Other issues
Managers must agree ‘what success looks like’ so that staff do not cut corners
Managers must also agree what resources and spend are available to the project
Managers must also watch the utilisation of resources throughout the project in order to schedule work to make the most of paid staff

28. CPA and Lean Production
Lean production aims to reduce wastage and thereby make a business more efficient and competitive.
Two operational strategies based on CPA to achieve Lean Production:
Kaizen (continuous improvement)
JIT – Just In Time production

29. Kaizen
Employees attempt to improve what they do in some small way every day
Small regular contributions from the whole firm can have big cumulative effects

30. Raw Materials and components
JIT
Holding stock increases costs:
Warehousing, breakages, capital
JIT aims to minimise the stocks held at any point of the production process:
Raw Materials and components
Work in progress
(unfinished goods)
Finished goods

31. Homework For Friday assessment
Revise CPA method and calculation to score application and analysis marks
Research and revise qualitative issues in CPA to score evaluation marks

32. BUSS3 Operational Strategies: Lean Production
Outline the meaning and value of Critical Path Analysis
Apply CPA to a business case to calculate Earliest Start Time (EST), Latest Finish Time (LFT) and Float
Explain with examples how CPA can be used to achieve Lean Production

33. It’s your lucky day!