Critical-path planning and scheduling

Among the major problems facing technical management today are those involving the coordination of many diverse activities toward a common goal. In a large engineering project, for example, almost all the engineering and craft skills are involved as well as the functions represented by research, development, design, procurement, construction, vendors, fabricators and the customer. Management must devise plans which will tell with as much accuracy as possible how the efforts of the people representing these functions should be directed toward the project's completion. In order to devise such plans and implement them, management must be able to collect pertinent information to accomplish the following tasks:

(1) To form a basis for prediction and planning

(2) To evaluate alternative plans for accomplishing the objective

(3) To check progress against current plans and objectives, and

(4) To form a basis for obtaining the facts so that decisions can be made and the job can be done.