1. USING MS PROJECT Project management software programs such as Microsoft Project can be used to compute the earliest and latest start and finish times and slack for each activity. They can also help to schedule a projects resources We demonstrate the use of MS Project for a sample project.

2. E XAMPLE P ROJECT Table 1: Task, Duration, and Immediate Predecessor Information for Construction Project IMMEDIATE DURATION TASKDESCRIPTION PREDECESSORS (WEEKS) 1START --0 2Excavate and Pour Footers 13 3Pour Concrete Foundation 21 4Erect Rough Wall & Roof 34 5Install Siding 46 6Install Plumbing 43 7Install Electrical 44 8Install Wallboard 6,75 9Lay Flooring 86 10Do Interior Painting 83 11Install Interior Fixtures 9,103 12Install Gutters & Downspouts 52 13Do Grading & Landscaping 123 14FINISH 11,130

3. MS P ROJECT S ETUP Launch MS Project, click on New, OK Click on Project, Project Information, select a start date, OK Click on Save icon, type in project name, OK

4. MS P ROJECT S ETUP

5. Use Tools, Change Working Time, to make necessary adjustments Tools, Options, click on Schedule tab select weeks in Duration is entered in make sure New tasks are effort driven is not checked default task type is fixed duration Click Set as Default, OK

6. MS P ROJECT S ETUP Tools, Options, Schedule

7. E NTERING T ASK I NFORMATION Gantt Chart is the default view, Entry table on left, chart on right Type in task name in the field, tab over to enter duration ( w for weeks) Enter predecessor task numbers in the Predecessors field Can use link and unlink icons (see text) MS Project automatically gives start and finish dates based on critical path analysis (to be discussed) The Task Information icon can be used to access information about a particular task

8. E NTERING T ASK I NFORMATION

9. N ETWORKS IN MS P ROJECT The Gantt Chart view shows task linkages Change view to Network Diagram by clicking on the icon on the panel on the extreme left Red activities on critical path, blue activities have slack Use zoom to focus in as desired

10. Network Diagram

11. G ANTT C HARTS IN MS P ROJECT

12. C RITICAL P ATH A NALYSIS MS Project automatically computes the critical path and the earliest and latest start and finish times and slack Project, Project Information, Statistics shows the critical path is 26 weeks in our project

13. C RITICAL P ATH A NALYSIS

14. Critical path tasks can be identified as those have zero total slack (TS) or float TS = LF – EF = LS – ES The TS of only 1 task can be used if we want to be certain about not delaying the project Free slack (FS) of a task is the difference between the smallest of the ESs of the tasks immediate successors and the tasks EF. Using FS does not affect the start times of a tasks successors FS <= TS FS of of multiple tasks can be used without delaying the project

15. C RITICAL P ATH A NALYSIS To display the results just shown in MS Project, in the Gantt Chart view, click Views, select Table: Entry, and click on Schedule