Project Network Analysis for a New Laptop Computer Project

This report details a project network analysis for the launch of a new laptop computer. It begins with an introduction to project network management, focusing on creating an Activity on Node (AON) diagram to visualize project activities and dependencies. The report then identifies the critical path, calculates the earliest and latest start and finish times for each activity, and determines the total project duration. Furthermore, the report addresses project crashing, analyzing cost implications and identifying activities that can be expedited to reduce the overall project timeline, considering factors like improvement factors and potential cost increases. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and emphasizes the importance of the project network in making informed decisions about project scheduling and resource allocation, ultimately aiming for a successful product launch.

Running head: PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
Project Network for a New Laptop Computer
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion....................................................................................................................................2
3. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................6

2PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
1. Introduction
The project is based on presenting an understanding of the various factors that are related
with the defining of a project network within the management of projects. In this report, the
discussion would be focused on the detailing a network based on introduction of a new computer
within the market. The following parts of the report would thus focus on defining an AON
diagram. The project network have also been defined, which identifies the critical path while also
determining the factors that would act in order to determine the quick release of the computer
within the market.
2. Discussion
a) The AON (Activity on Node) network diagram for the concerned project is being
shown in the below figure.
(Figure 1: The AON Diagram for the Project)
(Source: Created by author)
The critical path for the project is set by considering the activities A, F, G, D and J.
Hence, the scheduled duration of the project is = Sum of the total tasks in the critical path

3PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
= (90 + 25 + 14+ 20 + 45) days
= 194 days
b) From the given scenario, it can be discussed that the management needs the project to
be completed 5 days prior to the scheduled period. Hence, the critical activities within the project
would need to be crashed by a time period of 5 days.
From the consideration of the project network, the critical path, length of critical path,
earliest start, earliest finish, latest start and latest finish for the consideration of each activity are
discussed as follows:
Critical
Path
Length Of
Critical Path
Earliest Start Earliest
Finish
Latest Start Latest Finish
A 90 0 90 0 90
B 90 105 95 110
C 105 110 110 115
D 20 129 149 129 149
E 149 170 149 170
F 25 90 115 90 115
G 14 115 129 115 129
H 149 177 149 177
I 90 120 119 149
J 45 149 194 149 194
c) Based on consideration of the given case of the project, it has been discussed that the
management would prepare for an incentive structure based on bringing the computer to the
market in a quick position. On the other hand, another competitor of the manufacturer would be
bringing a similar product to the market at an approximately same time when the discussed
product would be launched.

4PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
Activity Normal Time
(days)
Normal Cost Crash time
(days)
Crash Cost Improvement
Factor
($,000) ($,000)
A 90 $2,250 85 $2,520 54
B 15 $180 13 $210 15
C 5 $90 4 $120 30
D 20 $300 19 $330 30
E 21 $231 17 $315 21
F 25 $250 21 $382 33
G 14 $70 12 $112 21
H 28 $390 25 $450 20
I 30 $510 28 $570 30
J 45 $1,350 41 $1,530 45
The critical activities in the project are: A, F, G, D and J.
From the reports from the above table and considering the critical activities, the
improvement factor for activity G is least. Hence, this activity should be crashed first. The
crashing of activity G would bring in a reduction of project duration by 2 days.
The next lowest figure, which is the lowest in terms of improvement factor is activity D.
Upon crashing of the activity D, a reduction in the project duration would be for 1 day. The total
duration of project would be reduced to 3 days.

5PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
The improvement factor for activity F is the next lowest improvement factor. After
crashing, there would be a reduction in project duration by 4 days. Thus, the total reduction in
the duration of the project is 7 days.
Hence, the critical path duration after the crashing would be: 90 + 21 + 12 + 19 + 45 =
187 days.
Based on the capabilities of investment, the management should be able to decide the
early release target of the concerned product after comparing them with the normal scheduled
delivery time. After the evaluation of the improvement factors, the activities, which needs to be
crashed are: G, D and F. Hence, the exclusion of the discussed activities would result in early
delivery of the project in the market and would lead to success.
3. Conclusion
The above report thus discusses about the different aspects in relation to the launch of a
new computer within the market. From the understanding developed from the diagrams and
project outputs, it can be concluded that these factors highly help in determining the most critical
activities to be performed within the project. Based on the outputs related to project, an
understanding has been developed for determining the possible time in which the computer could
be launched within the market and help towards the business progress.

6PROJECT NETWORK FOR A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER
Bibliography
Ahipasaoglu, S.D., Natarajan, K. and Shi, D., 2019. Distributionally robust project crashing with
partial or no correlation information. Networks, 74(1), pp.79-106.
Meier, C., Browning, T.R., Yassine, A.A. and Walter, U., 2015. The cost of speed: Work
policies for crashing and overlapping in product development projects. IEEE Transactions on
Engineering Management, 62(2), pp.237-255.
Susanto, A.D., Ahmadi, A. and Suharyo, O.S., 2018. The Optimization of Multipurpose Building
Development on Project Scheduling Using Precedence Diagram Method
(PDM). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASRO-STTAL, 9(1), pp.1-7.
Zhang, J., Song, X. and Díaz, E., 2016. Project buffer sizing of a critical chain based on
comprehensive resource tightness. European Journal of Operational Research, 248(1), pp.174-
182.