04 Jun 2021 Project Controls News

Dear Planning Planet Member,

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It doesn't matter your skill level or seniority we help you to be ever more work fit!

Be under no illusion budgets will become tougher, you may have already lost your job, be looking for a new one, or concerned about keeping your current position; either way, be ready to exploit wherever you are in the world with our workout.

Planner? Scheduler? Risk Manager? Cost Engineer? PMO Practitioner? Project Controls Lead?

No matter we supply a pain-free route to absolute work fitness! We offer: 

By default, Microsoft Project does not have a baseline percent (%) complete field or column like you would find in other scheduling software like Primavera P6.

This video outlines steps to follow if you want to display a baseline percent (%) complete column in a Microsoft Project schedule. It also shows how to roll-up percent (%) complete to summary tasks based on weighted percent (%) complete of the subtasks.  Read more [3]...

Many companies like to keep their schedules on a daily basis so that all activities start at the start of the day, finish at the end of the day and all durations are in round days. P6 does not have functions like the Elecosoft (Asta) Powerproject “Snapping” function that keeps all task to a round day, so users have to be more careful with Primavera P6.

There are two rounding errors issues:

• Firstly, how do you identify that you have rounding errors, and 
• Secondly identifying what is causing rounding errors.

If you wish to learn how to identify and resolve P6 rounding errors then please read this article which is an extract from my 99 Tricks and traps for Oracle Primavera P6 Professional book by clicking on this link>>> [5]

Accelerate your understanding of scheduling software to advance your scheduling career.  Be able to prepare better schedules with Eastwood Harris books, online videos available through Udemy [6] and training material on:

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

Details at Eastwood Harris [7]

Paul E Harris, Director Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd

The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point assessment helps the Department of Defense evaluate schedules to see whether they are well-built and adhere to best practices that are important to the success of the project.

The DCMA 14 Point Assessment Metrics with EV Method is used to analyze MSP Projects with LOE tasks. Most of the DCMA 14-Point metrics look only at activities that are baselined with a duration > 0d. The two exceptions are the Critical Path Test and the BEI. 

Read the blog post [10]...

Do you seek PROMOTION or do you want to better UNDERSTAND YOUR Stengths and SKILLS (in private) or do you seek that NEW ROLE?

Proven Practitioner provides... 

ALL THE TOOLS YOU NEED

Go to Premium [11] and sign up!  

Make schedule quality integral to the way you plan.

XER Schedule Toolkit have recently introduced a range of new integrity metrics combined with a scoring mechanism that makes the process of assessing and improving project schedules much easier.

All RAG and score thresholds are fully configurable, allowing you to create and save project or client specific templates.

We offer affordable packages for the enterprise, meaning access to these vital tools are no longer just for the elite.

Start your free trial today Find out more here [12]...

Cleopatra Enterprise at ACHEMA Pulse

Online All June | Live 15 – 16 June

Cleopatra Enterprise is proud to be exhibiting at ACHEMA Pulse 2021. ACHEMA Pulse is the digital flagship event for the global process industry – focusing on chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech. The digital event allows you to expand your business network, exchange ideas about innovative solutions and get inspired. 

During the event more than 900 influential companies will exhibit their products and newest developments. Throughout the entire event you can visit the virtual booth of Cleopatra Enterprise to ask your questions regarding Cleopatra Enterprise or project controls in general.

For more information about ACHEMA Pulse, the program of the event, or tickets, click here [13].

On-demand Webinar

Digital Turnaround Work Package Management:
Achieving Improved Turnaround Efficiency

Watch the webinar [14] to get a digital work package planning roadmap that works.

The key to the successful implementation of a turnaround is having detailed work packages.

This 50-minute webinar will help you identify the importance of a full work package planning for your shutdowns and turnarounds using advanced technology and tooling. With this, you will achieve standardization, a more consistent breakdown and description of the work, and improved turnaround performance.

During the webinar, we cover:

• What work package planning is and why it is important
• The responsibilities of a work package planner
• The common challenges during work package planning
• The power of the integration between scope management, estimating and work package planning
• A brief introduction to Cleopatra: How the advanced software system can help you in work package management and improve turnaround efficiency

Featured Speaker

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 [19]...  Ask questions here [20]...

Build your network and keep up to date by following us on social media, just click the icons to get started.

An S-curve is a representation of the cost, resource, or any other unit consumed plotted against the time taken used by project managers to check the cumulative, actual, and remaining budget for the project at any given time. 

How can you use S-curves to monitor project progress in Primavera P6? Read here [26].

Primavera P6 database can contain millions of values, dates, dozens of tables along with massive amounts of data storage, and other data. However, file corruption and data pollution are a huge problem when it comes to large storage capabilities.

How to solve the crucial database corruption problems? Read here [27].  

We are again supporting this charity event:

H.R.H. The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Memorial Cup

EnglandFans FC v Tartan Army Select FC
Friday 18th June 2021
Kick-Off: 12.00 pm
Bedfont Sports Club
Bedfont Sports Recreation Ground
Hatton Road, Bedfont, Middlesex, TW14 9JR

As you can see, the fixture is being played in memory of H.R.H. The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and this gives both England and Scotland fans the chance to pay their respects to a much respected member of the Royal Family.  The Scotland fans are happy with this arrangement.

Confirmed guests you may know include:

• Eminent journalist, author and broadcaster, Patrick Barclay, who is a regular guest at these fans matches and is very supportive of what EnglandFans FC try and promote with these fan-friendly fixtures. 
• Also confirmed is ex-Nottingham Forest, FC Cologne, Arsenal and England striker, Tony Woodcock. Tony played for the brilliant Nottingham Forest team managed by legendary manager, Brian Clough, winning he old First Division in 1978, followed by the European Cup in 1979. Tony has 42 caps (16 goals) for England and played at the UEFA 1980 European Championship and the FIFA 1982 World Cup. 
• Also invited is ex-Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Darlington and Scotland defender, Frank Gray.  Frank is a highly decorated footballer having won a string of honours at both Leeds and Forest, including the old First Division, the European Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup. Frank has 32 caps (1 goal) for Scotland and played at the FIFA 1982 World Cup, playing in all three group matches.

We look forward to hearing back from you all and it will be excellent to see you again at this event.

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