Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Twelfth Edition

Project Management Techniques: PERT and CPM

Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the critical path method (CPM) were both developed in the 1950s to help managers schedule, monitor, and control large and complex projects. CPM arrived first, as a tool developed to assist in the building and maintenance of chemical plants at duPont. Independently, PERT was developed in 1958 for the U.S. Navy.

Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)

A project management technique that employs three time estimates for each activity.

Critical path method (CPM)

A project management technique that uses only one time factor per activity.

The Framework of PERT and CPM

PERT and CPM both follow six basic steps:

1. Define the project and prepare ...