hi edgar...
can u specifically tell what ur problem is??? in what stage are u now? are you still creating your baseline programme or on the updating stage?

Hi Edgar,
Now u talking in same language, I agree with your word "There’s only one way to do real planning...If you know other way..?" .Why i agreed?, in my experience at site, there is so many Executer, Their idea somtimes unbelieveable, never been think before, somtimes its very simple way to solve the problem. So as a team we will find the best method that save cost, faster, safe. Thats why when planner doing their schedule until level4 they keep changes their links. This is the causes.

Totally agree with Raja, to become a multi-disciplined planner takes time and extra effort. Also, you need to learn other trades within the project scope because the project budget can’t accomodate planners in every discipline which I thinks adds to the challenge. Not all course taken up in Engineering can be applied on the real world, but the decision making and how to tackle a certain problem will surely be....
To Edgar, your from Phils? I have read you have taken some people on your side..hehehehe!!! but still IMO, don’t wait yourself to become emotionally breakdown before deciding to...resign!!!

Have a good planning day to all of you!!!

I suggest in creating a risk plan the first thing to do in the checklist is the Qualification of the planner itself, As planners doing the job must have the specialty or experience to that specific work.i.e
Building
Oil gas
Bridges
Roads Dams
Nuclear Plants
Pipelines
Powerplants
etc. etc..
One should be familiar to each specific job to considered himself as a qualified planner not a micky mouse planning engineer as what i observed. some are doing all things as listed above becuase they know primavera software which is a big mistake in hiring a planner.

In planning there are lot of things that needs to specialized. I notice some planners are already quiet proud becuase they knew well how to maneuver the premavera software, where in fact the most things planner to be called planners is to have experience to its specific job , i mean your exposure on the field of construction. I mean when a planner has experience in high rise building for example i’m sure he/she can’t be as effective in doing like oil/gas, refineries , roads and the likes, It’s very sad to say some planners they called themselve planners to all things which is in my opinion totally shit.. and unacceptable. hope you got what i mean..

Hi Edgar,
I got a story for U, its about monkey with P3.
1.Predict - first of all the monkey try to predict the P3, is it the same with other tree in the jungle. how the taste is?
2.Pretend - then he try to pretend he already taste and touch it.
3.Present - Then he present to his friends among monkeys of the jungle, that he already taste and touch P3.
The result all the monkey got some kind of plague which . the monkeys will scream, until now the monkey dont want to taste or touch the P3 again, only human being use it.
So u have to figure out this modern fairy tales story.
cheers

Hello Bill,

Your assumption is correct. I went to University. I taught in my Alma Mater for three years after graduation. I decided to leave the secured world of academe and plunge into the Wild Wild West of Construction.

I always have faith that planning and scheduling should be approach in the engineering way.

Cheers,

Charlie

Hello Edgar,

Planning is never guesswork. Guesswork are only for Primavera encoders disguise as Planning Enginee (remove the R because they are not registered or recognized engineer).

This is where the superiority of engineering background is necessary for Primavera Planners.

For those real planners with engineering background, start with review/study/analyze/understand the plans and drawings, read the contract document related to the scope of planning activities, review the BOQ. Wisdom thought me to compress the thick BOQ prepared by QS into CSI Masterformat. The CSI Masterformat give meaning in the using WBS.

Identify meaningful Activity Description. For Primavera users, visualize the views, layout and filters that your comfortable or familiar or previous experienced. This will give meaning to individual Activity ID.

Identify the Activity ID, Activity Description, compute the quantities for each activity.

Establish relationship of Activities (Finish to Start-if possible). Run the schedule with data date as the start of project. A schedule is generated.

The above is only preliminary steps in creating a schedule by planning engineer. It is not guesswork. It needed brain that comes from five long years in college with extra years of actual field experience. Also the above is only for novice planning engineer.

It is still a long, long way to become experts.

Cheers and be inspired

Charlie

Edgar,

Charlie has explained to you very well. Since your schedules are neither resouce loaded nor cost loaded use the physical progress to calculate the overall percentage complete.

Go to site, walk through, visualize what is happening around and discuss with site supervisors / engineers on work progress. Collect the info and key-in the progress in your current work programme.

Once completed calculate the schedule, get the percent complete and update your report.

Also, suggest to copy Bldg A, B & C as a SUBPROJECT to one MASTERPROJECT file. IT will make your life easier to monitor the work progress in case if your management asking for overall percent complete.

Regards.

Hi Edgar,
There is so many type of solution and method as I said we are the driver, we are the schedule creator, So we should know how to solve and gave the solution for the problem. If the situation like u said it is simple we just go through BOQ we doing matrix Measurement or we go through the old planning databank we measure how many percent progress, resource..etc per square feet(little bit tedious).
But never seen the situation like u said... maybe this is first one.

Hi Raja,

I understand your concern due to the work environment you are in. Also, I agree with your observation since I worked in the Petro-chemical, oil and gas sector.

It so happen that I also worked in Qatar for two (2) years and I know the company including the nature of the works involved. I maybe wrong since a lot of dynamic events related to construction boom happen in Qatar after June 2004.

Well anyway we will try to hear more from Edgar.

Cheers

Charlie

Hello Edgar,

I think I know your dilemma. This is more related to the school of thoughts. Maybe your previous experience is related to the American School of thought while now it maybe your first time to work in an environment wherein the English School of thought is operational.

Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with the two school of thought. And don’t worry, you are not alone, some were able to overcome the adjustment while some are still struggling.

You can use cost to measure progress. Get the total cost and use this as the denominator to arrive at the equivalent percent weight distribution. Another approach is to assign manhours to individual items, get the total manhours and use the total manhour as the denominator to arrive at the equivalent percent weight distribution of individual item.

Your physical progress is the quantities installed divided by the tender BOQ. For the computation of quantities you need to coordinate with you QS. But sometimes inter-department coordination will take too long to get the quantities. You can do a quick quantity take-off or you walk around and get the feel of how much percentage work was accomplished.

After you determined the physical progress, multiply the physical progress with the equivalent percent weight distribution to arrive at percent progress of individual item. You sum the total percent progress of individual item to arrvie at the overall progress.