Calculating the Project Network Critical Path in Uncertainty Conditions

Correct scheduling of the project is the necessary condition for the project success. In traditional models, the activities duration times are deterministic and known. In real world however, accurate calculation of time for performing each activity is not possible and is always faced with uncertainty. In this paper, the duration of each activity is estimated by the experts as linguistic variables and the said variables are represented in fuzzy numbers form using the fuzzy theory. Estimating the project accomplishment duration and determining the project critical path will be possible through resolving a fuzzy linear programming model. For solving model, Fuzzy Critical Path Method Algorithm (FCPMA) is introduced that uses fuzzy numbers ranking. In none of this method steps the defuzzification of the fuzzy numbers occurs, and the project accomplishment duration is gained in trapezoidal fuzzy number. Finally the performance of the introduced algorithm is shown using an application example.