Critical Path Analysis

Critical Path Analysis is a planning and management tool with the following advantages:

• Allows a business to plan ahead - efficiency
• Is time related giving an accurate plan
• Enables resources to be planned ahead
• Allows for good management
• Helps with cash flow management
• Reduces waste

CPA may be used as part of the decision making process to allow a business to plan and monitor operations

Time related – identifies the maximum time for an operation to be completed

Identify potential problems in implementing operation Identifies where and when resources (including human ones) are needed

Advantages

• Maximise efficiency in the use of time
• Improve efficiency and generate cost saving in the use of resources
• Beneficial to monitoring cash flow

Disadvantages

• Usefulness may be limited in complex and large scale operations
• Necessity of having clear and reliable information
• Skilled management and team philosophy is essential

Process

• Identify and prioritise the activities and how long each task will take to do
• Identify which activities must be done before others
• EST – identify earliest start time
• LFT – identify latest finish time
• Identify the float – tasks which can be completed outside the critical path
• Identify the critical path – points connecting ESTs and LFTs (where these are the same)

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