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Advantages and Disadvantages of Critical Path Method (CPM)

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Critical Path Method (CPM) is a network analysis approach. It find out which sequence of activities has the least measure of scheduling resilience by which it predict the duration of the project. It is based on the estimation of the standard time needed for execution of a activity. CPM manages the both time and cost of the project.

In this method, the critical path of the project is established by identifying the critical activities of the project. Critical activities are the activities whose total float value is ‘0’.

Advantages of Critical Path Method (CPM):
It has the following advantages:

  1. It figures out the activities which can run parallel to each other.
  2. It helps the project manager in identifying the most critical elements of the project.
  3. It gives a practical and disciplined base which helps in determining how to reach the objectives.
  4. CPM is effective in new project management.
  5. CPM can strengthen a team perception if it is applied properly.
  6. CPM provides demonstration of dependencies which helps in the scheduling of individual activities.
  7. It shows the activities and their outcomes as a network diagram.
  8. It gives a fair and concise procedure of documenting of project.
  9. It helps in determining the slack time.
  10. An explicit and clear approach of communicating project plans, schedules, time and cost performance is developed.
  11. It is extensively used in industry.
  12. It helps in optimization by determining the project duration.

Disadvantages of Critical Path Method (CPM):
It has the following disadvantages:

  1. The scheduling of personnel is not handled by the CPM.
  2. In CPM, it is difficult to estimate the completion time of an activity.
  3. The critical path is not always clear in CPM.
  4. For bigger projects, CPM networks can be complicated too.
  5. It also does not handle the scheduling of the resource allocation.
  6. In CPM, critical path needs to be calculated precisely.

Last Updated : 02 Mar, 2020
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