Dear Planning Planet Member,

With all that is going on in the world we hope that this finds you safe and well.

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Why do we need Delay Analysis in Construction Claims? Because The Delay Must Affect The Critical Path The Construction Contracts often state that no adjustment to the critical milestones dates or the scheduled completion dates would be made unless the delay affects a critical path activity. 

This concept is consistent with industry practice, as stated in the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol... Read more...

On Monday 1 June starts the call for entries to Project Controls Expo Awards 2021.

Calling on professionals and organisations from all sectors, to submit their entries for their best projects and professionals in the last year.

Entering the awards will give a great opportunity to organisations and individuals to gain well-deserved recognition for their achievements.

List of categories:

When working on a schedule, there are times you would like to find an easy and quick way to carry out some activities in Primavera P6 such as, assigning multiple predecessors or successors to multiple activities at the same time.

This quick tip assumes that you know how to assign predecessors & successors using the Activity Details form.

Read the article...

You can choose to present any project data in Portfolio Project as bar graphs, pie charts or any other type of diagram. They are only a few clicks away.  Read more...

In Primavera P6, there are three options in the Scheduling Options dialog as follows: Retained Logic Progress Override Actual Dates

These three options control how Primavera P6 calculates “Out of Sequence Progress”.

Read more...

#EVA25 - PLAN B Following the unique circumstances that we are currently going through; we have had to re-schedule our 25th anniversary event that was due to take place in May to the following new dates:

• Thursday 09th & Friday 10th July 2020

In our aim to keep you all informed of any further developments, we will continue to monitor the situation and will review these new dates again on Saturday 6th June 2020. In the meantime, keep safe.

There is also a plan C.  Learn more...

Understanding Primavera P6 Percent Complete Types

by Paul E Harris

When you create a new project in P6 the default Percent Complete Type is Duration.

Is this the best option and do you understand the difference between Duration, Physical and Units Percent Complete? It is my opinion the this should always be changed to Physical for several reasons.

Click on this link>>> to read an article on P6 percent Complete Types and how they calculate.

Accelerate you understanding of scheduling software and advance your career with Eastwood Harris books and training material on:

• Microsoft Project,
• Oracle Primavera P6 and
• Elecosoft (Asta) Powerproject 

Paul E Harris, 

Director, 

Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd

The impetus, of this narrative, through the detailed content of this work, takes a unique look into the industrial world and at many of the subjects in a manner and degree of detail as never seen in print before. There are many persons who don’t understand or just have a misconception of what exactly is the true meaning of the term: Project Controls.

Even many head hunters, through their utilization of poorly designed databases, evaluate process and project controls candidates as falling within the same genre.  Check it out...

Cost Management Matters: 5 reasons for cost overruns in project controls

Proper planning is the key to a successful project, but of course, there are a few problems beyond the realm of planning as it is not always possible to predict what would happen after a project starts.

One of the major problems is the cost overrun. Besides the underlying nature of massive and complex projects, poor execution of project management leads to increased costs. A good project management team must be capable of identifying the possible sources of cost overruns early and mitigate their effect.

This article will present the 5 most elemental and evident technical reasons for the cost overruns and the ways to dodge them while working on a project. Read more

Estimating the cost of rotating equipment with accuracy

The advantage of developing cost models with parametric relations is that a reliable cost estimate can be obtained just based on the process conditions/variables. Any attempt to improve the models further based on a realistically applicable set of engineering variables will enhance their accuracy. However, there is a difference in approach when tackling the rotating equipment cost models compared to the static ones. Read more about the cost data

Join us in yet another free and live ScheduleCleaner webinar!

Hosted by Techmodal, one of the leading consultancy and technology companies in the UK, this webinar will show you the importance of sharing data and collaboration within the supply chain using ScheduleCleaner. 

Save the date:

4^thJune: 10 am UK time 

Enroll in this webinar to learn more about ScheduleCleaner, its key functionalities, and potential use cases. Find more information here. 

ScheduleReader displays a complete overview of linear scheduled projects from xer, xml and xls files that are created with a linear scheduling software such as Primavera P6.

The Linear Scheduling View features:

• Visually simplified projects in a single one-page view
• Display of Activities alongside a time and distance axis 
• Geometrical shapes in different colors showing the occupation of the work site over time 

San Luis Resort, Galveston Island, Texas JANUARY 17 – 20, 2021

Two keynotes – Seventy-plus breakouts – Six networking events – One conference

Planning & Scheduling 2021, Dealing with Corona Virus and other Black Swan Events

From our host Fred Plotnick:  How to run a railroad if not knowing which way the trains are going?  Plan two tracks!  Registration is OPEN

Planning Planet Forum posts - Join the Conversation... 493,191 unique views this year and counting...

I'm sure you've heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin, who I'm sure you know was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. A busy and very talented man indeed. Franklin said “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

Now I'm a recruiter, a businessman and other things, what I am not is a Construction or Infrastructure Planner, so if you are a Construction or Infrastructure Planner you'll have a more knowledgeable opinion as to your importance.

Of course I plan my business, plan my financials, have to plan my life to run businesses, have down time, etc. I employ people, run a successful home and family, all this takes application, organisation, and planning, but how important is it to have high quality Planners in your business?

I am shocked daily by how haphazard some companies recruit Planners, often not hiring what I would classify as a Good Planner, not reference checking, sometimes overpaying on salaries and day rates. Like in any profession there are the exceptional, the good, the average, the bad, and the do not touch ever. Even large companies that you would think should have near perfect recruitment processes, they often use generic recruiters that cannot tell the difference between a scheduler, software jockey or a high-quality Planner. No doubt they are good at something, and probably are cheap, but as we all know cheap is rarely good quality. These companies then wonder why these hires do not last. I wonder...

Anyway, it would be good to hear from you if you are a Construction or Infrastructure Planner as to your summary of the importance of the Planning function or the Planner to a construction or infrastructure company or project, here's my shot...

The programme is key to the projects success & must be based on what can be proven wherever possible. This can only be done by working in conjunction with the experts in each field and by having an understanding of the constraints involved in offshore activities and contract conditions. It's not the software which gets the job done, its the person, their application and dedication and the knowledge shared.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you're looking to hire a quality Planner for your business, or looking for that next great job move, permanent or contract. I cover all of the UK, Europe and take on worldwide appointments if I believe the job to be a high quality one.

Can I suggest that you follow our LinkedIn company page where we post news, views, jobs, career advice, our quarterly newsletter and more.

Anyway, all the best,

Bill Wynn, Director, T: 0203 887 1893 | 07342 334819, E: bill@constructionfuturesuk.com

Coding Structures in ARES PRISM

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

12:00PM EST

Register for a Live Webinar on “Coding Structures in ARES PRISM” which will be presented by Chris Kunneke who has over 15 years of international experience in estimating, project controls, cost, earned value, planning, scheduling, engineering and procurement. The live webinar will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 12:00PM EST/ 9:00AM PST.

Description: When managing a project's budget, organizations use cost codes. Most of the time, the coding is defined by one group within a company, causing frustration for everyone else on the project. With ARES PRISM, you can use your own coding structure, and still report information to other stakeholders per their coding requirements. Come learn how you can use multiple coding structures with the same data set on a project.

A superior alternative to the "most popular" software for us as planners?

Spider Project

Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios. 

Check it out here...  Ask questions here...

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