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Business

Determining the Slack Time of a Project

Determining the Slack Time of a Project

Part 1

Activity Duration Early Start Early Finish Late Start Late Finish Total Slack
A 2 0 2 4 6 4
B 10 2 12 6 16 4
C 8 2 10 7 15 5
D 15 2 17 8 23 6
E 7 12 19 16 23 4
F 20 10 30 15 35 5
G 12 19 31 23 35 4
H 5 31 36 35 40 4

The period between the planned completion date and the date by which the critical path must be completed is known as slack time (Eby, 2022). Slack time is calculated by subtracting the latest completion time from the earlier finish time (Daniels, 2021).

While doing a forward pass through a network, work starts at the customer’s starting milestone and moves to the right. On the other hand, the backward pass begins at the customer’s end date milestone rather than when the forward pass terminates. If the forward pass concludes before the customer’s end date, there may be slack on the crucial path (Daniels, 2021).

For this case, the planned completion date is 40 weeks. To determine the critical path, one picks the activities that should not be altered (Gido & Clements, 2009). When the critical path is delayed, the overall process gets delayed. The critical path in this case scenario is A-B-E-G-H. Through the forward pass, the process is completed within 36 weeks, given the current estimates. Therefore, the work can be completed within 40 weeks since no negative slacks exist.

Part 2

Assuming that activities A, B, and C did end after three weeks, twelve weeks, and thirteen weeks, respectively, the process would finish within 38 weeks. This is before the planned completion date, thus positive slacks, meaning the work can still be finished within the planned timeframe.

Activity Duration Early Start Early Finish Late Start Late Finish Total Slack AF
A 2           3
B 10           12
C 8           13
D 15 3 18 8 23 5  
E 7 12 19 16 23 4  
F 20 13 33 15 35 2  
G 12 19 31 23 35 4  
H 5 33 38 35 40 2  

Activity F should receive more attention if the process needs to be sped up again. The process in F can be reduced by two weeks to finish along with process G to make the overall process finish faster.

References

Daniels, R. (2021, August 17). How to Calculate Slack Time? Slack Time Formula Explained with Example. Business Study Notes: <https://www.businessstudynotes.com/finance/project-management/slack-time-formula-calculation/>

Eby, K. (2022, July 20). Everything You Need to Know About Slack Time in Project Management. Smartsheet :< https://www.smartsheet.com/content/slack-time-project-management>

Gido, J., & Clements, J. P. (2009). Successful project management. Cengage learning.

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Question 

Determining the Slack Time of a Project

Determining the Slack Time of a Project

Calculate the ES, EF, LS, and LF times and the slack for each activity in the figure below and identify the critical path for the project. Can the project be completed in 40 weeks? Assume that Activity A actually finished at 3 weeks, Activity B actually finished at 12 weeks, and Activity C actually finished at 13 weeks. Recalculate the expected project completion time. Which activities would you focus on in order to get the project back on schedule?