11 Jul 2025 Project Controls News

Dear Planning Planet Member,

Join the Global Community [1] - welcome to the newsletter; did you know that this newsletter goes to the largest community of project controllers on planet Earth? 

WEBSITE UPGRADE  - Data Migration Proven,  AI Verification of Repeatable Data Clone Proveb, Web and Mobile Portal GUI 30% Complete

About a month ago, we launched ALICE Plan, a 2D digital canvas that lets you view, plan and modify your construction schedules more intuitively.

Reading a Gantt chart can be overwhelming. But what if you could plan just as effectively with a visual tool that makes sense right away?

With ALICE Plan, you can do that and more:

• “See” the full picture of your schedule — what’s happening, when, and where
• Get a clear view of how tasks connect — visualize activities by zones, trades and phases
• Filter and analyze the critical path 
• Communicate schedules to stakeholders  — visually on the canvas or with a ‘playback timelapse’

Before building this, we spent a lot of time with construction teams to understand how they approach planning. The feedback was clear: they wanted a way to view the schedule without relying on a complex 3D model, which isn’t surprising because 100% of the industry thinks visually. So we built ALICE Plan to support the industry’s workflow and enhance decision-making. And now, we’re seeing users across the industry bringing their schedules to life with ALICE Plan.

Watch our on-demand launch webinar [2] to learn more and see how ALICE Plan work

• Planning Planet members who sign up using this link [3] will get 100 credits to try Schedule Studio for 30 days (enough to generate several schedules)

• nPlan says: it can reduce the time you spend building v1 of your schedule by >95%

When you’re working at the frontiers of technology or entering emerging industries, accurate cost estimating can feel like a guessing game. But it doesn’t have to be.

In Cleopatra Enterprise’s upcoming webinar, you will learn how structured cost models can help you take control—even when data is scarce and the risks are high. Whether you're building your first model or refining an existing one, you'll gain valuable insights to support strategic, early-stage decision-making.

Register today [5]...

Why do so many Shutdowns, Turnarounds & Outages (STOs) fail despite meticulous planning?

Too often, risk is treated like a checkbox during planning. Once the plan is approved, it disappears until it returns as budget overruns, delays, or safety incidents. The best-performing STO teams manage risk as an integrated, daily practice.

Here are 5 practical ways they do it: 

1. Keep risk registers dynamic and updated daily
2. Share risk ownership across functions and contractors 
3. Run pre-mortems and stress-test scenarios before execution 
4. Track leading indicators instead of waiting for incidents 
5. Assign clear roles and owners for each critical risk 

If you’re rethinking how your STO handles risk, explore this article from expert Raymond Hagedoorn [7]...

Using spreadsheets and other data silos for Shutdowns, Turnarounds, and Outages doesn’t just create inefficiency — it creates serious risk and the potential for multi-million-dollar losses.

iPlanSTO [8]is a purpose-built turnaround management platform designed by industry experts.

It delivers real-time visibility, smarter resource coordination, and integration with the systems you already use — helping you avoid overrun, reduce downtime, and protect your margins for only $99K.

What are you waiting for, [Click Here [9]] to try our free iPlanSTO ROI calculator today to find out how much you could save.

Visualise all your events at a glance.

iPlanSTO provides you with real-time insights through the inbuilt S-Curve, empowering your teams to make faster, more informed decisions.

No more waiting for updates. Just clear visibility.

Using live data from the job site, you can report, react, and deliver on time.

Speak to James Holt [10],  today to discuss your specific requirements and discover how iPlanSTO can keep your next event on track.

IAMTech Knowledge: Why your Software Project may be Failing - and how to Revive it [11] - Whether you’re running a refinery, a process plant, or just figuring out how to modernise your processes, here are five secrets, from a seasoned software provider (and not-so-seasoned gardener), IAMTech MD , to help ensure your next software rollout bears fruit.

For more information visit us [12]... 

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 [15]...   Ask questions here [16]...

CCC26 is in Reno NV January 18-19-20-21

Read more [17]...

Thank you,
FRED Plotnick