RusTech Tooling is a large job shop operation that builds machine tools and dies to manufacture parts for specialized items. The company primarily bids on government-related contracts to produce parts for such items as military aircraft and weapons systems, as well as the space program. The company is bidding on a contract to produce a component part for the fuselage assembly in a new space shuttle. A major criterion for selecting the winning bid, besides low cost, is the time required to produce the part. However, if the company is awarded the contract, it will be strictly held to the completion date specified in the bid, and any delays will result in severe financial penalties. To determine the project completion time to put in its bid, the company has identified the project activities, precedence relationships, and activity times shown in the following table:

Time Estimates (weeks)

Activity Activity Predecessor a m b a — 3 5 9 b a 2 5 8 c a 1 4 6 d a 4 6 10 e b 2 8 11 f b 5 9 16 g c 4 12 20 h c 6 9 13 i d 3 7 14 j d 8 14 22 k

f, g 9 12 20 l h, i 6 11 15 m e 4 7 12 n j 3 8 16 o n 5 10 18 If RusTech wants to be 90% certain that it can deliver the part without incurring a penalty, what time frame should it specify in the bid?

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