Good morning everyone. Today we’re going to talk about operations planning, which is all about how a business organises its resources and activities to make sure things get done efficiently. In simple terms, operations planning is like creating a roadmap for a project. It helps managers decide what needs to be done, in what order, how long each task will take, and who will do it.
When a business plans operations carefully, it avoids problems like running out of time, spending too much money, or missing deadlines. This is especially important in industries like construction, manufacturing, or IT, where projects can be large and complex. To handle these kinds of projects, businesses often use special planning tools such as network diagrams and Critical Path Analysis, or CPA.
Let’s start with network diagrams. A network diagram is a visual chart that shows all the activities in a project and the order they must be completed in. You can think of it like a map that guides the whole project from start to finish. Each activity is represented by a line or arrow, and it connects to circles or boxes called nodes, which show where one task ends and another begins. Some tasks depend on others before they can start, and those links are shown by lines called dependencies.
Sometimes there are dummy activities too. These do not take any time or resources, but they show the relationship between tasks. For example, in planning a school event, you can’t start decorating the hall until it’s cleaned. Cleaning and decorating are two separate activities, but cleaning must happen first, so that dependency would be shown on the diagram.
Now let’s move on to Critical Path Analysis or CPA. This is a technique used to figure out the shortest possible time in which a project can be completed. It helps managers identify which tasks are critical — meaning, if any of them are delayed, the whole project will be delayed.
To find the critical path, project managers do two main calculations called the forward pass and the backward pass. The forward pass helps find the earliest start and earliest finish times for each task. The backward pass shows the latest start and latest finish times without delaying the project. The activities that have zero flexibility — or zero float — make up the critical path. The total time of these activities gives you the minimum project duration.
Other tasks that are not on the critical path have something called float. Float means how long a task can be delayed without affecting the overall project. There are two types of float — total float and free float. Total float is how much time an activity can be delayed without delaying the whole project, while free float is how long it can be delayed without affecting the next activity.
For example, if you are building a school, tasks like laying the foundation, building walls, and installing the roof are critical. If any of these are delayed, the whole project slows down. But smaller tasks, such as painting or landscaping, may have some float time, meaning they can start later without affecting the final deadline.
Now let’s look at how CPA helps managers. It allows them to focus on the most important tasks and allocate resources where they are needed most. It also helps identify where there is flexibility so that workers and materials can be used more efficiently. CPA gives managers a clear timeline, helps them plan for risks, and makes it easier to track progress during the project.
Of course, there are benefits and limitations. The benefits include better time management, lower costs, and improved decision-making because managers can see which tasks are priorities. However, there are also some limitations. CPA depends on accurate estimates of how long each task will take, and if those estimates are wrong, the whole plan may be off. It can also become very complicated for large projects, and it does not take resource shortages into account unless used with other tools.
To sum up, operations planning helps businesses manage projects efficiently and effectively. Network diagrams and CPA allow managers to see how activities fit together, identify which ones are critical, and make
