CritPath.XLS The Critical Path Method on a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
by John O. McClain    Links: [ Free Software | John McClain's Page | Errors ]   27 Oct 2007

Now compatible with both Excel 2003 and Excel 2007.

The Critical Path Method calculates the Earliest Start and Finish times for each activity in a project, and from that the earliest time at which the project may be completed. It then works backward to compute Latest Start and Finish times that allow some of the activities to be delayed without affecting the completion time for the entire project. The slack or float for each activity is the difference between Latest and Earliest start times. The CritPath.xls spreadsheet contains a macro to do that for you, and it produces a time-scale Gantt Chart of your project. An example is included on the spreadsheet.

After the Macro has run, your spreadsheet will contain formulas for computing the start and finish times, and the slack. This means you can change any of the activity times and the resulting changes will be reflected immediately on your spreadsheet. It also means that you can use @RISK to simulate the project with uncertain activity times.

This is a very simple program, intended for teaching purposes. It instructions and an example. You are welcome to use it in any manner, and change it as you see fit. The program comes without any guarantee whatsoever, and is distributed free of charge.

Click Here to get a free copy of the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.

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If CritPath.xls Doesn't Work:
Some users find that the macros in this workbook do not work or don’t appear in the Macro menu.
If this happens, your file contains a sheet named “Warning” on which you will find instructions about what to do.

Back to: [ Free Software | John McClain's Page ]

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