Control Procedures: PERT and GANTT Charts

The role of an operations manager is to ensure products are manufactured and delivered on time, on budget, and to customer specifications. Two primary techniques are used to monitor the progress of production and aid both managers and employees in constantly monitoring production and activities associated with meeting deadlines. The use of PERT and GANTT charts can aid in maximizing operational effectiveness in an organization that relies on production.

Developed in the 1950s for constructing nuclear submarines, the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) assists users in analyzing the tasks to carry out given project, estimate the time needed to complete each task, and compute the minimum time needed to complete the whole project. This allows users to calculate the critical path, which is the sequence of tasks that takes the longest time to complete. This aids in monitoring for delays in the process. The GANTT chart is a simple bar chart and a strategy manufacturers use for monitoring production progress. This bar chart identifies what projects are being worked on and how much has been completed at any given time.

Determine in each scenario whether he/she is using the PERT chart or GANTT chart

1) Calton is studying the production progress of several projects going on in the company.

2) Owen is computing the minimum time needed to complete the whole project.

3) Aidan reviews the projects in progress to determine how much of each has been completed at a given time.

4) Eilysh is attempting to identify the sequence of tasks that takes the longest to complete.

5) Taryn uses her computer to track what projects are being worked on.

6) Nicolas is analyzing tasks to carry out a particular project.

7) Julia is the production manager and is interested to see at a glance when projects are scheduled to be completed and what the status is now.

8) Drew is estimating the time needed to complete each task associated with a given project.