John,

In principle you’re quite right - using manhours is a perfectly good unit-of-measure. We also use manhours to monitor the progress of both the design elements and manufacture. The good thing about manhours is that it is normally a uniform unit of measure that can be applied almost anywhere - thus becomes very easy to summarise in a complex programme structure. However, you’re also quite right in that, in compiling the initial estimates for the job, (especially on site work) you’d use a unit that is physically evident, such as metres-of-pipe, number of terminations etc. Ultimately though, all these units need to be converted into MONEY. This can be done via an intermdediate conversion into manhours or directly into a monetary value.

I’ve had many a discussion/debate with my peers and PMs as to how you could/should monitor progress. There is no absolutely right/wrong way of doing it. The important thing is that the people understand how it’s being done, and if it is being done automatically, then to understand how the system calculates it. This is why we mostly use manhours - because it is very easy to use, and the system recognises and calculates it - and it’s also far easier to determine whether the output data is a pile of poo.

When it comes to summarising a progress value for a project, it can become horrendously complicated if using different sets of measurement units. This is why both P3 (as far as I understand it) and MSP do not summarise Physical % Complete. It cannot do it because it is not using a uniform unit of measure.

When debating such issues, I like to take the example of manufacturing a new car. Are you going to monitor progress by using the total weight, the quantity of components or the manhours to build it? All are physical entities, but each method will give you a different Physical % Complete for the same stage of completion However, they will still give you the same total result in monetary cost. This is why it is absolutely crucial, when using EV, to get your initial % complete as accurate as possible - because all other EV data originates from the BCWP result. So if you get your % complete wrong, then the rest of your data will be skewed.

So, when our PMs, Directors etc. ask about "physical progress" I start by asking them about which physical entity they wish to know. It’s a smart-ass question, but if they wish to know a value that can be mathematically proven, then they have to tell us which one they want to use. Of course, when they think about it, they have absolutely no idea. The only common understanding, therefore, is MONEY...which is precisely why EV is always ultimately converted into such terms.

Cheers.

james.

Cheers.

James,
we usually use several WBS in one project. One of these WBSs is organized by activity types. In this WBS physical percent complete can be calculated for all project phases. Actualy I don’t like percents, I prefer volumes (quantities) that have been done.
Then you may apply some weights for different types of work or use Money. The last approach is common. But it shall not be called as physical.

I use to work always on multi disciplines project, as power plants or refinery !!
As most of you know, in this kind of projects you have to plan and monitorize civil, mechanical, eletrical & instrumental activities ! So different u.m. !!
At the beginning of the project , when you have to prepare the master schedule and the level 3 schedule , you must receive all the quantity you can relatited to the different disciplines. Then applying production rates you calculate the hours to to that activities. So you have all the hours diveded by disciplines and overall hours.
Then you calculate the activities weightage for each activities inside disciplines and the weightage by disciplines for the overall.Then you can calculate phisical progress in two ways : discipline one and overall.
I’m sorry for my english .
Regards
Luigi

I Agree with Zhang.
I think if you can generate report with respect to cost & duration, it is more than enough for a project team to know where we are heading. Putting % weightage using quantities in each activity may require a lot of time and confusion will arise if not properly done.

Some of the questions that should be answered
1. What is the weightage that we can give on a. structural works b. finishing works c. MEP works? are you going to include snagging also?
2. On what basis did you arive on such weightage? a. by previous experience b. by sitting with the construction team c. using company’s past project or d. combining manhours and cost.
3. Why do we require this one? and not use cost/duration?

Hope this help...

Regards,

Rolyn

It’s only my opinion.
I don’t want put my project style to others.

If you want you can put weightage for each every activity,and happy with "now the physical progress of our project is 34.66%":)

Hello,
I’ll not try to get the overall physical progress.
Just think why you need it. concrete is conrete, cable is cable, you can not combine it.

You may combine it using weightage,but what is the basis of the weightage, why set this avtivity 0.1, the other 0.15,maybe it is based on cost or duration. then what is the difference between duration/cost progress

when updating remain duration, I will use actual quantity and actual productivity rate to make it more acurate for each activity, that will give me a more resonable forecast of time.

We are managing time / cost, so progress based on duration / cost is enough.

Yes ... but P3e/P5 do not summarize Physical % Complete by WBS ... thts why use physical weight units ... in Assignments, u can get % Complete by any level of WBS.

Regards.

I had already wrote about this subject in a thread called S-Curve (i think)

U have to estipulate physical weights for all activities. Use 1.000.000 = 100%, so u will not have to use a lot of decimals (eg 0,0000008). In P3e u have to create a ficticius resource and assign to all activities using your physical weights as budget units. Define duration type as Fixed Units and Duration. Update with informations u get from construction site.

U can get S-curve from P3e (Activity Usage Profile) or go to Assignments and copy / paste to Excel (i prefere this option)

Regards.

Nicolas,

Why should you develop somethings what’s already in the software. I think people better start learning how to use it.
Ofcourse i understand that a lot of people want to use there own tools. Also costcontrollers have this attitude and i can understand because they dont want to learn the planningsoftware. But i think as a planning engineer you better use the software. When we look at Primavera (P3e or P3win) it can give you al the % complete’s and details you want on each level manhours and/or financial.

Kind Regards

Henk

what do you mean Nic, P3 is not a database?

It depends on the software you are using. In Spider Project you just enter physical quantities that were done along with the time and money that were spent. Nothing special.