The materials discussed on these pages are strongly related to PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method), two methods developed in the 1950's for controlling complex projects. Since the computer age was just beginning, some of the approximations used for the analysis were necessary simplifications and the methods were primarily implemented by hand or with batch runs on main-frame computers. Although computer technology has made the methods much more efficient and accessible, some of the approximations remain.

This add-in implements of the methods of project management using Excel. An important advance is that the analysis is mostly dynamic in the sense that changes in the data are reflected immediately on the results. This makes possible dynamic interactions between model and user. It also allows the computer to automatically search for the schedule that optimizes a user-defined objective function.