3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

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Di³erence Between PERT and CPM

December 24, 2015 By Surbhi S  — 9 Comments

Program (Project) Management and Review Technique (PERT) and
Critical Path Method (CPM) are two popular statistical tools used by the
business entities for the management of the project. These two methods are used in
the successful completion of a project and hence used in conjunction with each
other. Nevertheless, the truth is that CPM is different from PERT in a way that the
former cost based while the latter is time­based. In the same manner, there are
many differences between PERT and CPM, which we are going to discuss in this
article.

Content: PERT Vs CPM

http://keydifferences.com/difference­between­pert­and­cpm.html 1/11
3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

BASIS FOR
PERT CPM
COMPARISON

Meaning PERT is a project CPM is a statistical technique of

management technique, project management that
used to manage uncertain manages well defined activities
activities of a project. of a project.

What is it? A technique of planning A method to control cost and

and control of time. time.

Focus on Event Activity

Model Probabilistic Model Deterministic Model

Estimates Three time estimates One time estimate

Appropriate for High precision time Reasonable time estimate

estimate

Management of Unpredictable Activities Predictable activities

Nature of jobs Non­repetitive nature Repetitive nature

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3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

BASIS FOR
PERT CPM
COMPARISON

Critical and No differentiation Differentiated

Non­critical
activities

Suitable for Research and Development Non­research projects like civil

Project construction, ship building etc.

Crashing Not Applicable Applicable

concept

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De¶nition of PERT
PERT is an acronym for Program (Project) Evaluation and Review Technique, in
which planning, scheduling, organising, coordinating and controlling of uncertain
activities take place. The technique studies and represents the tasks undertaken to
complete a project, to identify the least time for completing a task and the
minimum time required to complete the whole project. It was developed in the late
1950s. It is aimed to reduce the time and cost of the project.

PERT uses time as a variable which represents the planned resource application
along with performance specification. In this technique, first of all, the project is
divided into activities and events. After that proper sequence is ascertained, and a
network is constructed. After that time needed in each activity is calculated and the
critical path (longest path connecting all the events) is determined.

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3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

De¶nition of CPM
Developed in the late 1950’s, Critical Path Method or CPM is an algorithm used for
planning, scheduling, coordination and control of activities in a project. Here, it is
assumed that the activity duration are fixed and certain. CPM is used to compute
the earliest and latest possible start time for each activity.

The process differentiates the critical and non­critical activities to reduce the time
and avoid the queue generation in the process. The reason behind the identification
of critical activities is that, if any activity is delayed, it will cause the whole process
to suffer. That is why it is named as Critical Path Method.

In this method, first of all, a list is prepared consisting of all the activities needed to
complete a project, followed by the computation of time required to complete each
activity. After that, the dependency between the activities is determined. Here,
‘path’ is defined as a sequence of activities in a network. The critical path is the
path with the highest length. 

Key Di³erences Between PERT and CPM

The most important differences between PERT and CPM are provided
below:

1. PERT is a project management technique, whereby planning,
scheduling, organising, coordinating and controlling of uncertain
activities is done. CPM is a statistical technique of project management
in which planning, scheduling, organising, coordination and control of
well­defined activities takes place.

2. PERT is a technique of planning and control of time. Unlike CPM,
which is a method to control costs and time.

3. PERT is set according to events while CPM is aligned towards
activities.

4. A deterministic model is used in CPM. Conversely, PERT uses
probabilistic model.

5. There are three times estimates in PERT i.e. optimistic time (to), most
likely time ™, pessimistic time (tp). On the other hand, there is only
one estimate in CPM.

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6. PERT technique is best suited for a high precision time estimate,
whereas CPM is appropriate for a reasonable time estimate.

7. PERT deals with unpredictable activities, but CPM deals with
predictable activities.

8. PERT is used where the nature of the job is non­repetitive. In contrast
to, CPM involves the job of repetitive nature.

9. There is a demarcation between critical and non­critical activities in
CPM, which is not in the case of PERT.

10. PERT is best for research and development projects, but CPM is for
non­research projects like construction projects.

11. Crashing is a compression technique applied to CPM, to shorten the
project duration, along with least additional cost. The crashing concept
is not applicable to PERT.

Conclusion
The difference between these two project management tools is getting blurred as
the techniques are merged with the passage of time. That is why, in most projects,
they are being used as a single project. The primary point that distinguishes PERT
from CPM is that the former gives the extreme importance of time, i.e. if the time is
minimised, consequently the cost will also be reduced. However, cost optimisation
is the basic element, in the latter.

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Filed Under: Business

Comments

karan chovatiya says
April 13, 2016 at 1:57 am

mind blowing …! very easy to understand anybody ….really like that
concept..thanks …:)

Reply

gowtham says
June 1, 2016 at 4:48 pm

Awesome … just mind blowing it is very easy to understand.

Reply

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3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

shashikumar says
July 2, 2016 at 2:48 pm

nice easy to understand and was very important

Reply

Tuabur says
July 13, 2016 at 2:57 pm

Truly it it very easy and quite descriptive as well as so much helpful to
understand why need pert and cpm

Reply

rudolph says
September 8, 2016 at 12:52 pm

good one

Reply

K. A. Sreekrishna says
October 11, 2016 at 7:58 pm

A good insight to PERT & CPM.

Reply

Bikash says
http://keydifferences.com/difference­between­pert­and­cpm.html 7/11
3/9/2017 Difference Between PERT and CPM (with Comparison Chart) ­ Key Differences

December 15, 2016 at 7:22 am

This a great article. Simple and lucid…

Reply

Surbhi S says
December 15, 2016 at 9:39 am

Thanks all of you for sharing your views with us.

Reply

Amad Ahmad says
January 7, 2017 at 9:59 pm

great and easy. thank U for sharing

Reply

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