14-1 A bank has decided to install automatic data processing equipment. The project will begin with the determination of the alternatives and end with the transfer of processing operations to the equipment that has been selected and installed. In any case, the bank's management wants to plan and schedule the project by the Critical Path Method.
The personnel involved determine the jobs that must be performed in the course of carrying out the project, ascertain their interrelationships, and estimate their time requirements. The results are as follows:

Job Immediate predecessors Required time, weeks ARUD BLU HIK 0 B A 6 C B 3 B 2 E B 9 F B 5 G C, D 10 E F 16 G. H 7 J I 12 J 0 a Construct a project graph. Then suppose that the earliest point at which the project can be started is designated as point zero. Determine the early start and early finish times for each job and show these on the project graph.
b Continue by assuming that the established target completion date is 54 weeks from point zero. Determine the late start and late finish times for each job and show these on a second copy of the project graph.
c Find the slack times for the respective jobs by working with, first, the calculated start times and, next, the calculated finish times. Then analyze these results to determine the critical path. (Ans. A-B-E-H-I-J-K)
d Repeat the foregoing with an established target completion date of 50 weeks from point zero. With an established target completion date of 48 weeks from point zero. Can the latter be met? Explain.
e Determine the critical path by enumerating the available paths from the start of the project to its finish, obtaining the total time for the respective paths, and comparing these total times.