24 Feb 2023 Project Controls News

Dear Planning Planet Member,

Join the Global Community [1] - did you know that this newsletter goes to the largest community of project controls professionals on planet Earth!  

ARES PRISM, the premier capital project management solution for large construction projects, is thrilled to announce the company's rebrand to Contruent and the launch of Contruent Enterprise - an innovative SaaS solution that empower owners and EPCs to build large construction projects with precision and speed. The rebrand reflects ongoing efforts to help digitize the construction industry and battle inefficiencies that result in costly delays.

See what Contruent has reimagined for the Capital Project Management Industry. [3]..

Benchmarking is a key aspect in optimizing your plant turnarounds!

It allows you to compare the performance of prior TAs and use this information to improve future planning by assessing historical costs and improving the accuracy of future estimates.

Turnarounds are resource intensive, and it is critical to optimize processes to gain the most value from these events, reducing the time the plant is offline.

In this blog, we will look at what Plant Turnarounds are, and how benchmarking can help improve your efficiency, reduce costs, and cut down the time they take to increase production revenue.

Read the blog here [5]...

To manage the project time and cost updates, one must create a baseline program with measurement tools to record project progress. The main methods available for a project planner to adopt are the “Time-Phased Budget” and “Cost-Loaded Schedule.”

Take a look [7] at how both of these methods can be adapted to update and monitor the project baseline and add value to the project management team.

Competition and market forces are challenging organizations more than ever. This makes the imperative to optimize return on investment vital to success. To keep pace, organizations need to ensure they invest in a mix of projects that delivers the highest value. They must implement solutions and strategies that allow them to quickly evaluate all ideas, opportunities, and potential projects. This is the essence of project portfolio management. But how can you optimize project portfolio management? Read more here [9]. 

NEW BOOK & TRAINING MATERIAL!!!

Paul E. Harris has just released his new Oracle Primavera P6 Version 22 PPM book and this may be ordered from links here>>>. [10]

Books are available in paperback, spiral, Kindle, Kobo, Google books and training course providers may buy instructor PowerPoint slide shows through this link.

Paul E. Harris has also written a paper that expands on the information published by Oracle by outlining the changes a PPM user will see in P6 Version 22 and adding some comments on the usability of the features.

Click on this link to see What’ New in P6 Version 22 PPM>>> [11].

For people who would like to see the changes in previous versions please click on these links:

• What’s new in P6 Version 21 PPM>>> [12]
• What’s new in P6 Version 20 PPM>>> [13]
• What’s new in P6 Version 19 PPM>>> [14]

Accelerate your understanding of scheduling software to advance your scheduling career and be able to prepare better schedules with Eastwood Harris books [15], training courses and online videos on the following software packages:

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

Online videos available through Udemy by following these links:

• Microsoft Project, [16]
• Oracle Primavera P6 [17] and 
• Elecosoft (Asta) Powerproject  [18]

Please follow these links:

• Eastwood Harris books and training materials are available here>>> [19]
• Eastwood Harris inhouse, one-to-one and public training courses are offered through Primaskills Pty Ltd, more details here>>> [20].

Paul E Harris

Director Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd

As a sophisticated project management tool used in a variety of industries for planning and scheduling, Primavera P6 has advanced features that many may not be aware.

Check out these [22] tips and tricks on how to enhance your Primavera P6 knowledge.

Are you ready to excel in your knowledge of Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) with John Hollmann in an exclusive masterclass

You will discover the ins and outs of QRA to enable you to make effective, risk-aware investment decisions and see real-life demonstrations of empirically- valid QRA application practices.

Save your spot [23]... 

Staying up-to-date with the ever-changing demands of our field is an essential aspect of being an STO expert.

This is why Cleopatra Enterprise has prepared a Turnaround Management Survey [24] to gain a collective insight into the challenges and opportunities of the STOs of today.

Your participation will contribute hugely to the future-proofing of our field!

Fill in the survey now and gain a chance to win one of the two special prizes: 

• A smartwatch
• A free spot in the Cost Engineering Academy course: Turnaround Management & Control.

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 [26]...  Ask questions here [27]...