LEOPARD PROJECT CONTROLS
Primavera P6
Effect of Retained Logic, Progress Override, and Actuals Dates on the Project Schedule in Primavera P6
Ideally, the project should progress as per plan. Predecessor activities should be completed before their successor activities but sometimes it doesn't happen that way and out-of-sequence progress is observed. It happens because some successor activities are not truly fully dependent on their predecessor activities and weak relationships exist between such activities. Let us say we have a project with Activities A, B, C & D, all linked together by finish-to-start relationships. Activity A started and completed as planned but Activity C started out-of-sequence instead of Activity B. Primavera P6 gives three options to depict its effect on balance activities. To [...]
Updating All Activity IDs in Primavera P6 with Excel
Creating a professional Oracle Primavera P6 schedule involves aligning your activity IDs with some client guidelines or made-in standards. These guidelines or standards vary a lot from one client to another one. Let’s say that you have created a schedule of +1000 activities and you need to meet some new guidelines from your client on how to make the activity IDs. You have three choices: Update these activity IDs manually. Use the Built-in Oracle Primavera P6 function. Use a combination of Microsoft Excel and Oracle Primavera P6 to update these activities. Updating all the activity IDs manually will be a [...]
Estimate to Complete (ETC) Calculation in P6 with Different Scenarios
Earned Value Management (EVM) offers project KPIs, which in turn help in the estimation of the balance cost to complete. Therefore, EVM is the best tool for project cost control. Regarding Earned Value Analysis, Oracle Primavera P6 calculates most of the values automatically for a resource-loaded schedule. Estimate to Complete (ETC) calculations require some user inputs to best relate to the project situation and the forecast. Estimate to Complete (ETC) is the remaining cost required to complete the project. This cost can not be calculated based on a single mathematical formula only and requires an actual depiction of the project [...]
Earned Value Management in Primavera P6
Earned Value Management compares project current actuals against project baseline schedule values. The best way to measure the project's true performance status is by comparing actuals to date to the approved baseline. A project KPIs can be measured from cost or labor units/hours. A project’s progress can be well justified if cost is also considered accordingly. If we say the project has achieved 60% of actual progress against 40% of planned progress, this may look very nice. But, if the same project has already spent 80% of the total cost for 60% of progress, then we may not be [...]
Essential Project Management Tools in MS Project: PDM, PERT, CPM, and Gantt Chart
Precedence Diagram Method (PDM): While handling complex projects with stringent multiple deadlines there is always a possibility that the Project Manager may underestimate or even ignore the criticality of some aspects towards the achievement of a milestone and ultimately the final milestone of project completion. In an attempt to avoid a dire situation like this, the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) was developed. Initially, the Project Managers used to draw an empirical schedule as the PDM as shown below: This diagram helped the Project Manager by indicating dependencies and requirements to achieve any milestone or project completion without much concern [...]
Focus on Schedule Lag in Primavera P6
Introduction to Primavera P6 Schedule Lag When scheduling and planning to utilize scheduling best practices, one of the subjects that the project team will try to avoid is the subject regarding schedule lag. Positive schedule lag should be used sparingly, and although the Defense Contract Management Association (DCMA) allows limited positive lags in the project schedule, no more than five percent of these positive lags should exist. DCMA provides contract administration services for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal organizations and international partners. The organization is a key part of the acquisition process from pre-award contracts throughout [...]
