Project Programme Management Newsletter No.2

Newsletter Title Winter Edition November 2009

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Dear Reader The team at Project Programme Management Ltd are delighted with the positive response we received following the distribution of the first issue of our newsletter.

We would like to thank all our readers for your support and hope you continue to enjoy reading and subscribing to future issues.

In this months issue we are delighted to be featuring our first guest article. We hope to make guest articles a frequent feature so if you have a service or product you would like featured please contact us.

We also invite you to contact us with your feedback and tell us if there are any issues / products you would like us to focus on in future issues.

With thanks From The Project Programme Management Ltd Team.

Inside this issue: Main Feature:

Programme Critical Paths: Critical or Non Critical?

Part 1

Page 2

Guest Article:

by PMA Technologies LLC GPM速 - Graphical Path Method

Page 4

Focus: Software Asta Jobplan

Page 6

Contact Us: Project Programme Management Ltd contact details

Page 7

Programme Critical Paths: Critical or Non-Critical?

Part 1 All construction project programmes will have a critical path. The critical path is simply the longest series of activities within the programme.

In major software planning systems the critical path will be highlighted usually in red outline to each critical activity within the programme. These critical activities will be logically linked from the start activity of the programme through to the finish. Examples of soon start activities can be programme milestones such as contract award to substantial completion or practical completion.

On all projects, depending at which stage they are at, the critical path within the programme will always be demonstrated. For example at pre-construction or tender stage, the critical path within the programme can be demonstrated in line with logic linking. However, this may not be the case when the project becomes ‘Live’.

Tender Stage At tender stage, the programme structure must reflect the nature of the contract that is being entered into.

For example, a Design & Build contract must reflect the critical activities such as planning permission, design activities, procurement and construction, not forgetting commissioning. In a traditional form of contract usually only construction activities will be required, however it is best practice to include design and procurement.

Once the programme logic is established the critical path should become a contractual item that the contractor should identify within the tender return. This approach is best practice in order that the client is informed of the longest series of activities within his project. It must be realised by the contractor also that any delay cause to the critical path will have an affect or impact on the completion date at the project. This begs the question if the critical path is set, will it be fixed or inflexible during the duration of the project?

Live Contract Stage Contract Stage Upon contract award and with the agreement of the contract administrator, the critical path of the project programme will become a contractual element of the programme. The contractor will then measure and report his contractual performance against the contract programme in terms of planned and actual progress.

During this point within the project cycle the critical path may change from the original contract plan. Reasons for this could be the following 1.

2.

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Poor subcontract performance Unforeseen ground conditions Unforeseen events on site Delay and disruption Design variations Procurement issues Inclement weather Client delays Under-resourcing

These so called ‘delay events’ may have an impact on the contract programme. To overcome these delay events, the contractor may be requested by the contract administrator to advise and resubmit the contract programme in line with the form of contract. The revised programme may therefore have a revised critical path incorporated into it differing from the original tender programme and the contractors original critical path objectives within the programme. Prior to submission of the revised contract programme, the contractor must firstly assess the progress on site to date and the progress of the critical path. This is very important in determining compensation moneys due to the contractor. Most delay analysis approaches focus on the critical path of the programme which as mentioned previously is the longest series of activities in the project programme.

In such cases of determination for an extension of time and or moneys due, the critical path will be impacted only. However, in some pre-revision exercises, the criticality of the programme will lie in the programme status at that point in time when the programme is being revised.

‘The devil is in the detail...’

For all the technology in planning software today, it must be noted that without religious weekly monitoring of the project programme on site, the software system invested by the contractor will be a waste of time and money. The monitoring of projects must be undertaken by baseline monitoring.

Baseline monitoring is simply planned versus actual progress. However, the critical path within the programme will change within the project when baseline monitoring is applied. Most programme status is reported in this manner at project status meetings with the client and contractor. However, in essence one understated rule of progress monitoring of projects is called the ‘distributed average percent complete’. This is where the devil in the detail lies and is thrown into the spotlight. As an example, a project could contain four blocks of apartments namely A,B,C and D. The critical path of the programme is running through block A. Blocks B,C and D are non-critical. The progress monitoring of the programme at week 20 indicates that block A is three weeks behind programme. At this point, the contractor states that the critical path is three weeks in delay and he reports that the project is three weeks behind. With this example some software packages will report that the project is three weeks behind...

To be continued in Spring Edition February 2010.

In the world of project management, critical path method (CPM) is the dominant planning and scheduling tool. Early on, CPM was visual in nature, yielding a project network diagram conveying activities and logic ties. By the mid-1980s, with the computational power of the PC rising, graphics were ousted by databasedriven scheduling engines, and CPM morphed into a software-controlled, database-driven, batched proc ess. Today, most CPM software generates database-driven schedules controlled via keyboard and mouse.

GPM was created as an alternative to the software-controlled, database-driven CPM mindset.

Rooted in robust mathematics, yet graphical in nature, GPM’s interactive mantra facilitates real-time, hands-on scheduling. GPM lets users plan and schedule simultaneously, al lowing them to carry out re source leveling, schedule optimization, and time/cost trade-offs as the schedule is being built. The goal of GPM is to transform planning and scheduling into an engaging, planner-dominated experience for stake holders. This new way of thinking posits a number of new concepts. The logic diagramming method (LDM), float, drift, gap, buffer, pro portional link offset, forensic total float, and hammock are briefly introduced in this summary.

GPM planning and scheduling involves drawing a project network model of logically related, dated objects (activities, fixed and floater milestone events, etc.). At the core of this network is LDM, a blend of precedence diagramming method (PDM) and arrow diagramming method (ADM). LDM resembles a time-scaled version of ADM with PDM logic. Start-to-start (SS), finish-to-finish (FF) and start-to-finish (SF) logic is accepted through embedded nodes, placed in between or directly on an activity’s start or finish node. Driving relation ships are modeled by a common node or a vertical link. Noncontrolling links include a horizontal leg.

Figure 1 – Example of a GPM Schedule Using LDM Notation GPM is not early-dates biased; it allows activities to be scheduled anywhere within their total float range, focusing on planned dates instead of early dates. From links and object dates, GPM continually calculates link gaps and total floats for dated objects. Link gaps are calculated from the dates of the two connected objects; total floats are algorithmically calculated from gaps. An activity that may be delayed within in its total float range has float and is a floater. An activity that may gain schedule within its total float range has preceding float or drift, and is a drifter. An activity with neither float nor drift is critical. For every object, float plus drift is a constant equal to CPM total float. Because GPM continuously refreshes durations, dates, floats, resource profiles, and other data in real time, it eliminates the black-box mystery behind CPM software applications.

GPM brings back the concept of proportional link offset (i.e., PDM lead/lag). Proportional offset allows the amount of overlap in an SS, FF or SF relationship to vary contingent upon variation in the duration of the host activity. In many situations, this better reflects the reality in the field than a traditional, constant overlap does.

With both gain and delay available if an activity is scheduled within its total float range, GPM provides 4 prospective float measures.

1) Float measures available slippage and/or duration extension beyond planned dates without necessarily causing an overrun of the project completion date or an interim completion date. 2) Drift measures available schedule gain and/or duration extension to earlier planned dates without forcing an earlier project start or release date. 3) Float plus drift equals total float. 4) Buffer measures the minimum of the gaps for all logic ties to the activity’s successors. Unlike CPM, forensic float, forensic drift, and forensic total float, counterparts (left of the data date) to prospective floats are calculated for completed activities. This breakthrough reveals the as-built critical path, heretofore a missing link in retrospective schedule analysis.

Gaps are key in GPM as all floats and drifts originate at the gap level. GPM provides two gap factors. 1) Gap measures days the predecessor may slip and/or extend without delaying its successor. 2) Drift-gap measures days the successor may backslide and/or extend to earlier planned dates without forcing the predecessor back.

Currently, the only GPM software application is NetPoint®. NetPoint is mathematically based and intuitive to learn and use, making it ideal for scheduling practitioners and nonscheduling trained stakeholders alike. This tool allows project managers, superintendents, subcontractors and other stakeholders to collaboratively, in one session (using hand-touch or a stylus or the mouse and keyboard) build a network and schedule by graphically positioning objects on a planning surface, using a variety of simple and intuitive links to convey relationships.

Development of NetPoint started in January 2004 and the system was commercially released in September 2009. An example of a simple NetPoint schedule is shown in Figure 2. The histogram at the bottom represents resource profiles in color-coded bars, both in daily and cumulative formats.

A hammock – aggregating all activities, dates, and logic ties within a portion of a network (commonly called a fragnet) into one continuous activity spanning from the earliest start to the latest early finish of the fragnet – is also displayed.

Figure 2 – A Simple GPM-based NetPoint Plan/Schedule As a collaboration tool, the NetPoint application provides planning, scheduling, resource management, and other project control capabilities similar to what Primavera and Microsoft® Project offer; however, within the software architecture, there exist major differences and enhancements that underscore how GPM provides a planning-centric, real-time, collaborative, and intuitive planning environment. Unlike CPM applications anchored in database-driven scheduling engines controlled via keyboard and mouse, NetPoint is an interactive, object-based system that allows hand-directed planning and scheduling using touch or a stylus.

© 2009 PMA Technologies LLC

www.pmatechnologies.com

Focus: Software

Asta Jobplan was officially launched on the 23rd September 2009. This new addition to the Asta range of products is designed for businesses ‘planning small , yet frequent jobs according to resources’.

Asta jobplan is the ideal package for small contractors, engineers and trades including plumbers, electricians etc.

Asta Jobplan offers users a number of key benefits: •

An ‘at a glance’ view of the company’s work schedule by day/week/month or year, enabling them to see immediately who is available to work and book in a job as soon as a customer calls

•

The ability to map resources – people, vehicles, equipment and crews – into any given job and see how long an employee can spend on the job, their percentage of availability, whether their time is being used to the full and what alternative options they have available for that particular job

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It shows the number of days each resource is allocated to a job and enables them to identify any double bookings or conflicts immediately

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Holidays and sick leave can be entered to see the impact these absences have on workload or an assigned job

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Clear and professional-looking reports can be printed for use in making or justifying business decisions

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A ‘Project Viewer’ which is free to distribute and enables users to share the status of jobs at any given time with colleagues or partners

*All the above information is taken from the Asta Powerproject Jobplan Brochure. A full copy of this brochure can be obtained from Project Programme Management Ltd.

Project Programme Management Ltd is an authorised reseller of Asta Powerproject Products and an authorised partner of Synchro. If you would like further information on the software featured in this months Focus Section or on the services provided by Project Programme Management Ltd you can contact us at: Project Programme Management Ltd Cappagh Inistioge Co.Kilkenny Tel: 056 7758788 E-mail: info@ppm5d.ie www.ppm5d.ie

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Š 2009 Project Programme Management Ltd .