Difference between PERT and CPM


Project management is a structural way of scheduling, executing, and controlling the various phases of a project with the end goal being to complete the project on time. Two project management techniques that every manager should know about are PERT and CPM. These techniques help provide an overview of the project's progress and all the tasks involved in completing it.

What do you understand by PERT?

PERT is a technique used to plan and track projects, manage risks, and allocate resources. PERT helps identify the minimum time needed to complete a project, as well as manage any potential delays that could arise. It can also be used for budgeting and planning purposes by estimating the cost of a study at the start of a project.

Things to know about PERT

There are many different project management tools that you can use. PERT is a technique that breaks down the process into a network of activities and events and then analyzes how long each activity will take. You can also examine the path all the events connected with the most time, called the critical path.

How to create a PERT Chart?

A PERT Chart can be used to help you schedule and prioritize projects.

Follow these steps to create a PERT Chart −

  • Make sure to recognize milestones and significant ones to keep track of what's happening and to make sure that you’re accomplishing your goals

  • You're in charge of determining the exact sequence for your project

  • Make a network diagram

  • Document the estimated time for each project activity

  • Managing critical paths

  • Updating the chart as you make progress in your project

What do you understand by CPM?

If you're looking for a project model that's extremely easy to use, try the Critical Path Method (CPM). It was created by James Kelly and Morgan Walker in the 1950s and is a resource−utilizing algorithm.

CPM is an abbreviation for cost per mile. It's primarily used in project management to determine what tasks are critical as well as non−critical, so conflicts and bottlenecks can be avoided.

When someone talks about CPM, they're talking about the project that has taken the least amount of time to complete and only used the smallest amount of resources possible.

The Critical Path Method has been used in many different industries, such as construction, aerospace, and software development.

Benefits of CPM

  • The outline helps managers and leaders with long−term project coordination and planning

  • Keeps track of important activities

  • It's easy to plan, schedule, and control projects using the online management dashboard

  • It enhances productivity

  • You can get the resources you need

Cons of CPM

  • As a beginner, it may be difficult to understand

  • It is quite expensive

  • Planning a campaign can be time−consuming. Sometimes, it's a faster and more efficient idea to promote on a cost−per−thousand−impressions basis which means you pick how much you want to spend on ads each day and the system will automatically deliver your message as many times as you paid for.

  • It can't control or form the schedule of someone involved in the project

  • It's impossible to monitor how well you're allocating resources

Project Management CPM

The Critical Path Method is a step−by−step technique that projects the most critical and non−critical activities of the project. CPM goals are to evaluate time−bound issues, and tough process blocks hard to move in the project. Once CPM is appropriately put on, it will help keep your projects on track.

  • You can try different colors that will help you recognize the action that needs to be completed on time so that the whole project is finished right on schedule.

  • The project timeline includes a section that indicates the amount of time that can be spent on each task before interrupting the overall plan. This prevents small setbacks from snowballing into bigger problems later in the project

  • Measures the time it will take to complete a project

  • Use this function to know the latest time an activity is started to manage the schedule

Just take the total duration from all of its nodes to find out how long it'll take for a specific action to complete. The Critical Path is the one with the longest duration.

Difference between PERT and CPM

PERT CPM
PERT is a project management strategy that utilizes both the planning and organizing phases, in addition to the scheduling and control strategy. CPM, on the other hand, is a statistical project management process that emphasizes only the scheduling and control elements.
PERT stands for Planning, Estimating, and Reviewing. It's a technique that is often used to plan the time taken to complete a task. Unlike CPM, PERT is not just a means of controlling your time and cost. It's also a way to understand and control the scope at each stage.
PERT was an evolution of a research and development project. CPM was heavily used in construction projects.
PERT sets deadlines CPM is about producing content
The PERT model is a probabilistic one Deterministic models are used in CPM
PERT offers three estimates for time, to, tp, and mt. These can be optimistic or most likely. On the one hand, there's CPM, which provides one estimate.
The best−suited methods for estimating an accurate time are PERT. CPM is a great choice when you want an estimate to be reasonable.
PERT stands for the Program Evaluation and Review Technique. It deals with activities that you can't predict. CPM is the time a visitor spends on your site, that is predictable.
If your job isn't repetitious, PERT is the best way to allocate resources. Although the work is repetitive, CPM involves filling a number of different roles.
PERT doesn’t allow you to divide critical and non−critical categories. CPM allows a company to allocate hours more efficiently by dividing its work into critical and non−critical categories.
There is no crashing concept in PERT. Crashing is a technique that compresses CPM, cutting down on total project duration and cost.

Conclusion

With the passage of time, techniques and methods are being merged in PERT and CPM. As a result, they're both used more often in projects as a single tool. The main difference between them is that PERT emphasizes the importance of time while CPM focuses on cost optimization.

Updated on: 14-Dec-2022

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