55614585 project managment application of primavera p6

7/22/2019 55614585 Project Managment Application of Primavera p6

1/51

PROJECT MANAGEMENTANDAPPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6HAMMAD REHMAN BHATTI


2/51

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6

By; Hammad Rehman BhattiBE Civil Engineering (NUST)


3/51

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6 Page3of 51

Table of Contents

Sr.

No.

Description Page

Table of contents 3-4

A Project 5

B Project Management 5

1. Project management knowledge areas 5-7

2. Project management process groups 7

C Introducing Primavera Project Management 7

1. Primavera Timesheets 7

2. Methodology Management 8

3. Features that are new or improved in Project Management 8-9

D EPS (Enterprise Project Structure) 9

E Work breakdown structure (WBS) overview 9F OBS (organizational breakdown structure) 9

G Calendars 9

1. Schedule Dates 10

2. Anticipated Dates 10

H Base methodology 10

I Activities 10-11

1. Activity codes and values 11

2. Activity types 11

3. Activity dates 12-14

4. Activity Network 14

5.

Predecessor 156. Successor 15

J Relationship 15

1. Driving Relationship and Non-Driving Relationship 15

2. Types of Relationship 15

3. Lag 16

K Duration 16

1. Original Duration 16

2. Actual Duration 16

3. Remaining Duration 16

4. At Complete 17

5.

Duration Types 17L Scheduling projects 17

1. Critical path 18

2. Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling 18

3. Forward pass 18

4. Backward pass 18

5. Calculating a schedule 18

6. Automatic scheduling 18

7. Analyzing the schedule using multiple critical float paths 18-19

8. Total Float (days) 19

9. Free Float (days) 19

M Constraints 19Types of constraints 19-21


4/51


Sr.No.

Description Page

N Baselines 21-22O Roles 22P Resources 22-23

1. Primary Resources 23

2. Resource Security 23

3. Current Project Resources 23

4. Leveling resources 23-24

5. Manual future period buckets/values 24

6. Leveling priority definitions 24

7. Driving resource 25

8. Non Driving resource 25

9.

Scheduling "non-driving" resource assignments 25Q Activity Percent Complete 25

1. Physical Percent Complete 25-26

2. Duration percent Complete 26

3. Units Percent Complete 26

R (Non)Labor Units/(Non)Labor Cost/Material Cost 26

1. Budgeted 26

2. Actual 26

3. Remaining 26

4. At Complete 26

S Establishing budgets 26

1.

Budget 272. Variance 27

3. Spending Plan 27

4. Benefit Plan 27

T Earned Value 27

1. Earned Value Cost 27-28

U Estimate to Complete 28

V Planned Value Cost 28

W Expenses 28

X Resource curves 28-29

Y Future period bucket planning 29-30

Z Store Period Performance 30AA Secure code 30

BB Thresholds 30-31

1. Threshold parameter definitions 31-34

CC Project Complexity 34

DD Important Terminologies 34-50

EE References 51


5/51


PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6

A. Project

A project constitutes a plan for creating a product or service. A project has a start and finish date and consists of some or all of thefollowing: activities, resource assignments, a work breakdown structure (WBS), an organizational breakdown structure (OBS),calendars, relationships, baselines, expenses, risks, issues, thresholds, and project-specific codes, reports, and work productsand documents.

A project is a set of activities and associated information that constitutes a plan for creating a product or service. A project has astart and finish date, work breakdown structure (WBS), and any number of activities, relationships, baselines, expenses, risks,issues, thresholds, and work products and documents. A project may also have its own Web site. While resources typically extendacross all projects, each project has its own resource assignments. Similarly, while calendars, reports, and activity codes mayspan projects, they can also be project-specific.

B. Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceedneeds and expectations from a project. Meeting or exceeding stakeholder needs and expectations invariably involves balancingcompeting demands among

Scope, time, cost and quality Stakeholders with different needs and expectations Identified requirements (needs) and unidentified requirements (expectations)

The term project management is sometime used to describe an organizational approach to the management of ongoingoperations. This approach more properly called management by projects treats many aspects of ongoing operations as projects inorder to apply project management to them.

1. Project management knowledge areas

The Project management knowledge areas, describes project management knowledge and practice in terms of theircomponent processes. These processes have been organized into nine knowledge areas as described below and illustratedin figure-1;

a. Project Integration Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consistsof project plan development, project plan execution, and integrated change control.

b. Project Scope Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, tocomplete the project successfully. It consists of initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and scopechange control.

c. Project Time Management

Describes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. It consists of activity definition, activitysequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development and schedule control.


6/51


Figure-1

d. Project Cost Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of theresource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost control

e.

Project Quality Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It consistsof quality planning, quality assurance and quality control.

f. Project Human Resource Management

Describes the processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It consists ofthe organizational planning, staff acquisition and team development.

g. Project Communications Management

Describes the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage andultimate disposition of project information. It consists of communication planning, information distribution, performancereporting and administrative closure.


7/51


h. Project Risk Management

Describes the processes concerned with identifying, analyzing and responding to project risk. It consists of risk

management planning, risk identification qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning andrisk monitoring and control.

i. Project Procurement Management

Describes the processes required to acquire goods and services from outside the performing organization. It consists ofprocurement planning, solicitation planning, solicitation, source selection, contract administration, and contract closeout.

2. Project management process groups

Project management process can be organized into five groups of one or more processes each;

a. Initiating processes: authorizing the project or phase.b. Planning processes: defining and refining objectives and selecting the best of the alternative courses of

action to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to address. c. Executing processes: coordinating people and other resources to carry out the plan.d. Controlling processes: ensuring that project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress

regularly to identify variances from plan so that corrective action can be taken when necessary.e. Closing processes: formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end.

C. Introducing Primavera Project Management

The Project Management module is comprehensive, multiproject planning and control software, built on Oracle and Microsoft SQL

Server relational databases for enterprise-wide project management scalability. The Project Management module can stand alonefor project and resource management, or it can be used in conjunction with other products, including the Timesheets moduleMethodology Management module, and Primavera's Web application.

The Project Management module enables your organization to store and manage its projects in a central location. The modulesupports work breakdown structures (WBS), organizational breakdown structures (OBS), user-defined fields and codes, critical-path-method (CPM) scheduling, and resource leveling.The Project Management module provides

An enterprise project structure (EPS), which enables project managers to manage multiple projects, from the highestlevels of the organization to the individuals that perform specific project tasks. Multiple users can access the sameprojects concurrently.

Centralized resource management, including resource timesheet approval and the ability to communicate with project

resources who use Primavera Timesheets Integrated risk management Issue tracking Management by threshold A tracking feature that enables you to perform dynamic cross-project rollups of cost, schedule, and earned value Work products and documents that can be assigned to activities and managed centrally A Report wizard that helps you create customized reports to extract any data from the Project Management database

1. Primavera Timesheets

A project communication tool you can add on to the Project Management module.Team members or Timesheets-licensedusers can log into the Timesheets module, either over the Web or their local area network and receive a cross-project view of

their assignments, access to Activity Details, and a simple timesheet to record their progress.


8/51


2. Methodology Management

The Methodology Management module is a system for authoring and storing methodologies, or project plan templates. By

using the Methodology Management module, your organization can gather its best practices and store them in a centrallocation. This allows project managers to create custom project plans by selecting, combining, and tailoring methodologies,rather than creating project plans from scratch for each new project. In this way, your organization can continually improveand refine methodology activities, estimates, and other information with each new project.

3. Features that are new or improved in Project Management

a. Manually plan future period resource allocation in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet of the Resource Assignmentsand Activities windows. When work on an activity is planned to be performed sporadically or at varying levels ofeffort, you can manually enter future period budgeted units or remaining units to reflect the plan more accuratelythan a defined resource curve. The new project privilege 'Edit Future Periods' controls who can manually enter oredit future period data.

b. You can define role availability (limits) over time in the Roles dictionary. A new user preference enables you tospecify how you want to calculate role limits: by using the limit of the role's primary resource, or by using the rolelimits you define. When you choose to define role limits and calculate role availability using the defined limits, youcan view the role limit and allocation limit in spreadsheets, charts, and histograms that display role data in both theProject Management module and the Primavera Web application.

c. Assign user interface views to users on the Global Access tab of the Users dialog box. User interface views arecustomized views of the Primavera Web application that enable and disable access to Primavera Web applicationfunctionality. You can only create user interface views in the Primavera Web application. The new global privilege'Edit User Interface Views' controls who can create, edit, delete, and assign views.

d. Create a reflection of an active project. A reflection is a copy of an active project that contains a link to the originalproject. This allows you to make changes to the reflection and then merge selected changes back into to theoriginal project, keeping active project data such as timesheet information intact.

e. A new activity attribute called Owner enables organizations to specify one person responsible for an activity. Theoption to designate an Activity's Owner is of particular use for organizations who want to collect activity progress

information from project team members who are not assigned resources or Timesheets users because it can becombined with the appropriate Primavera license to enable status reporting. Specifically, a user who has a TeamMember license and the appropriate OBS project access and security privileges can use Primavera's Webapplication to update progress for activities they are associated with as Activity Owner. Additionally, to supportoversight and approval processes, the Activity Owner designation can be combined with the use of the newReflection project feature, which offers the capability to review all changes and specify which, if any, should bemerged into the active source project associated with the Reflection. See Using Reflection projects and ActivityOwner features to collect and review activity status.

f. The new Timesheets license provides access to the Timesheets application only. In previous versions, usersrequired a Team Member license to access Timesheets. The existing Team Member license still provides access toTimesheets, but has been enhanced to provide additional functionality in the Primavera Web application, such asadding/editing activity relationships, activity expenses, and user-defined fields. For users who require access to thePrimavera Web application to update data for their projects, as well as access to Timesheets, you can assign the

Team Member license; for users who only require access to Timesheets to report their time, you can assign theTimesheets license.

g. Import and export projects between Project Management modules in XML format.h. The new project privileges 'Edit Resource Assignments for Resource Planning' and 'Edit Role Assignments for

Resource Planning' control who can assign, delete, and modify resource/role assignments on a project or WBSlevel in Primavera's web resource management application.

i. The new project privilege 'Edit Committed Flag for Resource Planning' controls who can identify committedresource and role assignments on a project or WBS level in the Resource Planning view in Primavera's webresource management application.

j. The new global privilege 'Edit Global Scenarios' controls who can create, edit, and delete global scenarios inPrimavera's Web Portfolio Management module.

k. The new global privilege 'Edit Global Dashboards' controls who can create, edit, and delete global dashboards inthe Primavera Web application. Users with this privilege can create dashboards available to all Primavera Web

application users, and specify the content and layout of all global dashboards; all Primavera Web application userscan create personal dashboards available only to them, or to specific users.


9/51


l. Two new project-level options let you specify if Timesheets users can: (1) view activities that belong to inactiveprojects (2) report that they have completed work for an assignment. These options appear on the Project DetailsResources tab.

m.

Two new administrative preferences let you specify global-level options related to Timesheets. You can choosewhether to allow resources to assign themselves to activities and whether to allow resources to report time againstcompleted activities and assignments. The global option to allow resources to assign themselves to activities canbe overridden for individual projects on the Project Details Resources tab.

n. In the Resource Assignments window and on the Activity Details Resources tab, you can add columns that displaythe date an assignment was made and the Primavera login name of the person who made the assignment. Thesecolumns are available under the General category in the Customize Columns dialog box.

o. Curtains and spotlights in P6 are now associated with the layouts. In previous versions of the software, these itemswere associated with the project. When databases are upgraded to P6, all curtains and spotlights that are savedwith the open layout will be displayed regardless of which project is open.

D. EPS (Enterprise Project Structure)

The Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) forms the hierarchical structure of your database of projects. Each EPS node or folder)can be subdivided into multiple levels to represent the work that needs to be done in your organization. The number of levels andtheir structure depend on the scope of your projects and how you want to summarize data.

You can use the EPS to;

Perform top-down budgeting and resource and cost analysis Organize work breakdown and organizational breakdown structures into one common structure Manage multiple projects from the highest levels of the organization to the individuals that perform specific project tasks Implement coding standards for flexible reporting Maintain appropriate security throughout the enterprise

E. Work breakdown structure (WBS) overview

A WBS is a hierarchy of work that must be accomplished to complete a project, which defines a product or service to be produced.The WBS is structured in levels of work detail, beginning with the deliverable itself, and is then separated into identifiable workelements.

Each project has its own WBS hierarchy with the top level WBS element being equal to that of each EPS node or project. EachWBS element may contain more detailed WBS levels, activities, or both.

When creating a project, the project manager typically develops the WBS first, assigns documents to each WBS element, andthen defines activities for performing the element's work. In addition to document and activity assignments, each WBS elementalso has an assigned calendar, specific earned value calculation settings, and an assigned OBS element responsible for all workincluded in the WBS element.

F. OBS (organizational breakdown structure)

An OBS is a hierarchical arrangement of a project's management structure. User access and privileges to nodes and projectswithin the enterprise projects structure (EPS) hierarchy are implemented via a responsible manager defined in the enterprise-wideOBS hierarchy.

G. Calendars

You can create and assign calendars to each resource and each activity. These calendars define the available work hours in eachcalendar day. You can also specify national holidays, your organization's holidays, project-specific work/non-workdays, andresource vacation days. Calendar assignments are used for activity scheduling, tracking, and resource leveling. Whether an

activity uses its assigned calendar or the calendar of an assigned resource depends on the activity type you specify.\


10/51


Three calendar pools are defined: global, resource, and project. The global calendar pool contains calendars that apply to allprojects. The project calendar pool is a separate pool of calendars for each project. The resource calendar pool can be a separatepool of calendars for each resource. You can assign either resource or global calendars to resources, and you can assign either

global or project calendars to activities.

You can link resource and project calendars to global calendars. Then, if you make changes to a global calendar, your changesapply to all resource and project calendars that are linked to the modified global calendar.

1. Schedule Dates

Date Field; Definition

a. Planned Start; The start date of the project.

b. Must Finish By; A date constraint placed on the project end date.

c. Data Date; The date used as the starting point to calculate the schedule.

d. Finish; The latest early finish date calculated when the Project Managementmodule last scheduled the project.

e. Actual Star t; The actual start date of the project, if the project has started.

f. Actual Fin ish ; The actual finish date of the project, if the project has finished allactivities in the project has actual finish dates.

2. Anticipated Dates

Date Field; Definition

a. Anticipated Start ; The user-defined date the project is expected to start; used duringthe project planning stage, and set at the WBS, EPS, or project level.

b. Anticipated Fi nish; A date constraint placed on the project end date.

H. Base methodology

A base methodology provides the basic infrastructure of activities performed during a project. A base methodology can include alife cycle, work breakdown structure, organizational breakdown structure, and work product and document assignments. A projectplan uses one base methodology.

I. Activi ties

Activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They are the lowest level of a work breakdown structure (WBS) and, assuch, are the smallest subdivision of a project that directly concerns the project manager. Although you can divide activities intosteps, an activity's primary resource is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of an activity's steps, while theproject manager is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of the overall activity.

You can define the following information for an activity:

Activity ID and name, which enables you to uniquely identify and describe the activity Activity start and finish dates

Activity calendar


11/51


Activity type, duration type, and percent complete type, which are used to specify which calendar applies to an activity;whether an activity is a milestone; how to keep an activity's unit values, duration values, and resource units/time valuessynchronized; and how to calculate an activity's percent complete

Activity codes and values, which enable you to classify and categorize activities Constraints on the activity's scheduled start and finish dates Expenses Predecessor and successor relationships, which are used to define relationships with other activities Work products and documents and deliverables Resources Notes and feedback, which are used to communicate with the resources working on an activity Roles, which enable you to identify skill requirements for staffing the activity Steps, which divide the activity into smaller units Work breakdown structure element

1. Activi ty codes and values

Activity codes and values enable you to filter, group, sort, and report activity information according to your organization'sunique requirements. For example, if your organization has more than one location, you can create a Location code withvalues such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. You can then associate activities with a specific location, such as NewYork.

You can define three types of activity codes, global activity codes, EPS-level activity codes, and project-level activity codes.You can assign global activity codes and values to activities in all projects. You can assign EPS-level activity codes andvalues to the EPS. EPS-level activity codes are useful when you don't want certain codes to be accessible to all users, orproject-specific. You can assign project-level activity codes and values to activities only in the project for which the codeswere created. Each activity code can have an unlimited number of values.

2. Activi ty types

Activity types control how an activitys duration and dates are calculated.

a. Task dependentb. Resource dependentc. Level of effortd. Start Milestonee. Finish Milestonef. WBS summary

Each activity must be assigned an activity type.

a. Task dependent activity

For a task dependent activity, assigned resources schedule according to the activitys calendar rather than according totheir designated resource calendars. Use task dependent activities when multiple resources assigned to the sameactivity need to work together.

b. Resource dependent activity

Resources assigned to this type of activity are scheduled to work according to the resources calendars rather than theactivitys calendar. The activitys duration is determined by the availability of resources to work on the activity. Useresource dependent activities when multiple resources assigned to the same activity can work independently.


12/51


c. Level of effort activity

A level of effort activitys duration is dependent on its predecessor and/or successor activities. Level of effort activities

cannot have constraints assigned to them. Level of effort activities are not included when leveling resources. Use levelof effort activities for on-going tasks that depend on other activities. For example, you could assign level of effortactivities for clerical work, a security guard, or even some aspects of project management.

A level of effort activity is similar to but different from a hammock activity.

A level of effort activity uses its assigned calendar to summarize its dates. Hammocks are not scheduled usingtheir own calendar.

Any type of relationship can be assigned to a level of effort activity. Only a start-to-start and finish-to-finishrelationship can be assigned to a hammock activity.

A level of effort activity's duration is calculated from the earliest early start of its predecessors/successors(linked to the start end of the level of effort activity) to the latest early finish of its predecessors/successors(linked to the finish end of the level of effort activity).

A hammock activitys duration is calculated from the earliest early start of its predecessors to the latest early finish of itssuccessor activities.

d. Start milestone activity

A start milestone activity marks the beginning of a major stage in the project. Since a start milestone activity does nothave a duration, it is sometimes referred to as a zero duration activity.

A start milestone may have a primary resource and expenses associated with it, but cannot have resource assignments,role assignments, or time-based costs such as labor. You can assign work products or documents to a start milestone.

e. Finish milestone activity

A finish milestone activity marks the end of a major stage in the project. Since a finish milestone activity does not haveduration, it is sometimes referred to as a zero duration activity.

A finish milestone may have a primary resource and expenses associated with it, but cannot have resourceassignments, role assignments, or time-based costs such as labor. You can assign work products and documents to afinish milestone.

f. WBS summary activi ty

Use a WBS summary activity to summarize a WBS level. The WBS summary activity comprises a group of activities thatshare a common WBS level. For example, all activities whose WBS codes start with A (A.1, A.1.1, A.1.1.2, A.2, A.3 andso forth) can be part of one WBS activity whose WBS code is A. At a lower level, all activities whose WBS codes startwith A.1 (A.1, A.1.1, A.1.1.2 and so forth) can be part of a WBS activity whose WBS code is A.1.

The dates calculated on a WBS summary activity are based on the earliest start date of the activities in the group andthe latest finish date of these activities. The WBS summary activity duration is calculated based on its assignedcalendar.

Note

You cannot assign constraints to WBS summary activities.


13/51


3. Activi ty dates

The following table defines the types of activity dates available in the module and how they are used to plan and schedule

your project.

Date Field Definition

a. Start For an activity that has not started, the current start date of theactivity. Set to the remaining start date until the activity is started,then set to the actual start date.

b. Finish For an activity that has not started, the current finish date of theactivity. Set to the activity planned finish date when the activity is notstarted, the remaining finish date when the activity is in progress,and the actual finish date once the activity is completed.

c. Actual Star t The date on which the activity is actually started.

d. Actual Fin ish The date on which the activity is actually finished.

e. Early Start The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity canbegin. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based onactivity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability.The Early Start equals the Remaining Start unless you preserve thescheduled early dates during leveling.

f. Early Finish The earliest possible date the activity can finish. This date iscalculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships,schedule constraints, and resource availability. The Early Finishequals the Remaining Finish unless you preserve the scheduledearly dates during leveling.

g. Late Start The latest possible date the remaining work for the activity mustbegin without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculatedby the project scheduler based on activity relationships, scheduleconstraints, and resource availability. The Late Start equals theRemaining Late Start unless you preserve the scheduled late datesduring leveling.

h. Late Finish The latest possible date the activity must finish without delaying theproject finish date. This date is calculated by the project schedulerbased on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resourceavailability. The Late Finish equals the Remaining Late Finish unlessyou preserve the scheduled late dates during leveling.

i. Planned Start For an activity that has not started, the date the activity is scheduledto begin. This date is set equal to the early start date by the project

scheduler but can be updated manually by the project manager. Thisdate is not changed by the project scheduler once you apply an

Actual Start date.

j. Planned Finish For an activity that has not started, the date the activity is scheduledto finish. This date is set equal to the early finish date by the projectscheduler but can be updated manually by the user. This date is notchanged by the project scheduler once you apply an Actual Finishdate.

k. Anticipated Start The expected start date of the project, EPS node, or WBS level,used during the planning phase. This date is manually entered and isnot affected by scheduling. An anticipated start date cannot beentered at the activity level.

l. Anticipated Fini sh The expected finish date of the project, EPS node, or WBS level,

used during the planning phase. This date is manually entered and isnot affected by scheduling. An anticipated finish date cannot be


14/51


entered at the activity level.

m. Remaining Start The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity isscheduled to begin. This date is calculated by the project scheduler

but can be updated manually by the user. Before the activity isstarted, the Remaining Start is the same as the Planned Start. Oncethe activity has started, the Remaining Start is equal to the DataDate. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Start is blank.

n. Remaining Finish The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity isscheduled to finish. This date is calculated by the project schedulerbut can be updated manually by the user. Before the activity isstarted, the Remaining Finish is the same as the Planned Finish.When the activity is complete, the Remaining Finish is blank.

o. Remaining Late Start The latest possible date the remaining work for the activity mustbegin without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculatedby the project scheduler based on activity relationships, scheduleconstraints, and resource availability. When the activity is complete,

the Remaining Late Start is blank.p. Remaining Late Finish The latest possible date the activity must finish without delaying the

project finish date. This date is calculated by the project schedulerbased on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resourceavailability. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Late Finishis blank.

q. Expected Finish The date the activity is expected to finish, according to the primaryresource. Typically, the primary resource enters this date inTimesheets. When scheduling your projects, you may choose to usethe Expected Finish dates or not.

r. Constraint Date The constraint date for the activity is the date for which the activity'sconstraint applies. You can enter a primary and secondaryconstraint. Depending on the constraint type, this date could be a

start date or a finish date. For example, if the constraint is a FinishOn constraint, the constraint date is the date on which the activitymust finish.

If the activity does not have a constraint, this field will be empty.

4. Activi ty Network

The Activity Network displays your project as a diagram of activities and relationships according to the work breakdownstructure (WBS). A red border around an activity box indicates a critical activity. A line connecting activity boxes indicates anactivity relationship.

You can control nearly every aspect of the Activity Network, including the appearance of activities, the contents of activityboxes, and the spacing between activities.

The left pane of the Activity Network layout always displays the WBS hierarchy, regardless of the current grouping selection.The right pane displays the selected WBS elements assigned activities. If you specify a grouping option other than WBS, theright pane of the Activity Network layout groups and displays the selected WBS elements activities according to the activitydata item you specify, for example, grouped by project status or budget at completion.

You can save the Activity Network layout on your computer to e-mail to another project user or to retrieve later.

You can use an Activity Network layout to

Easily view relationships among activities and the flow of work through a project Examine and edit an activity and its predecessors and successors Focus on the driving relationship path


15/51


Determine at a glance whether an activity has started or finished

To make the Activity Network layout more effective, you can

Change the Activity Network template to view different activity information and levels of detail Right-click anywhere in the Activity Network to access commands that enable you to change the information

displayed or format data Combine the Activity Network with a Trace Logic layout to focus on a specific sequence of activities.

5. Predecessor

An activity that must occur before another activity. A predecessor activity controls the start or finish date of its successors. Anactivity can have multiple predecessors, each with a different relationship to it.

6. Successor

An activity that must occur after another activity. An activity can have multiple successors, each with a different relationshipto it.

J. Relationship

A relationship defines how an activity relates to the start or finish of another activity or assignment. Add relationships betweenactivities to create a path through your schedule from the first activity to the last activity. These relationships, which form the logicof the project network, are used together with activity durations to determine schedule dates. An activity can have as manyrelationships as necessary to model the work that must be done. You can also identify relationships between activities that are indifferent projects; this type of relationship is referred to as an external relationship.

1. Driving Relationship and Non-Driving Relationship

Driving relationship is the one which determine the start date of its successor activity.

Non-Driving relationship is the one which cannot determine the start date of its successor activity.

2. Types o f Relationship

Following relations are generally used;

a. Finish to startb. Finish to finish

c.

Start to startd. Start to finish

a. Finish to start (FS) relationship

A relationship in which the start of a successor activity depends on the completion of its predecessor activity. This is thedefault activity relationship.

A

B


16/51


b. Finish to f inish (FF) relationship

A relationship in which the finish of a successor activity depends on the finish of its predecessor activity.

c. Start to s tart (SS) relationship

A relationship between activities in which the start of a successor activity depends on the start of its predecessor.

d. Start to f inish (SF) relationship

A relationship between activities in which a successor activity cannot complete until its predecessor activity starts.

3. Lag

An offset or delay from an activity to its successor. Lag can be positive or negative and it is based on the calendar of thesuccessor activity.

K. Duration

1. Original Duration

The expected number of work periods required to complete the selected activity. You can type a new time value and unit.

2. Actual Duration

The actual number of work periods spent on the selected activity. If the selected activity is complete, type a new number.

3. Remaining Duration

The remaining number of work periods needed to complete the selected activity. If the selected activity is in progress, type anew number.

A

B

A

B

A

B


17/51


4. At Complete

An estimate of the duration at completion time for the selected activity. (At Complete Duration = Actual Duration + Remaining

Duration). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new at complete estimate.

5. Duration Types

None of the duration type option effects all of the schedule until one or more resource is assigned to the activity. Thefollowing options are available.

a. Fixed Units

Activity requires fixed amount of work and will be finished faster if more resources are assigned.

Choose Fixed Units if you want the activity units to remain constant when the duration or resource units per timechange. This type is used when the total amount of work is fixed, and increasing the resources can decrease the activityduration. You most often choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities.

b. Fixed Durations and Unit/Time

Activities will take the same amount of time no matter what resources are assigned.

Choose Fixed Duration & Units/Time if you want the activity duration to remain constant and the remaining units tochange. This type is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period regardless of the resourcesassigned. You most often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities.

c. Fixed Unit/Time

Activities have resources with fixed productivity per time period.

Choose Fixed Units/Time if you want the resource units per time to remain constant when the activity duration or unitschange. This type is used when an activity has fixed resources with fixed productivity output per time period. You mostoften choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities.

d. Fixed Durations and Units

Activities indicate that neither the activities duration nor units will change regardless of the number of resourcesassigned to the activity.

Choose Fixed Duration & Units if you want the activity duration to remain constant and the units/time to change. Thistype is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period and the total amount of work is fixed. Youmost often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities.

L. Scheduling projects

Your project schedule can be calculated one of two ways: when you choose the Scheduling command or each time you make achange that affects schedule dates.

The Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling technique is used to calculate project schedules. CPM uses activity durations andrelationships between activities to calculate the project schedule.


18/51


19/51


While you can determine the critical path of activities based on total float or longest path, these methods do not offer insightinto sub-critical paths that may also affect the project schedule. For example, if you choose to identify critical activities basedon a maximum total float threshold, the module will identify all activities beyond the threshold as critical even if the activities

have no relationships or do not affect the project end date. Likewise, if you choose to identify critical activities based onlongest path, the module will identify the critical path of activities but will not identify sub-critical paths that affect the criticalpath.

In the Advanced tab of the Schedule Options dialog, you can choose to calculate a specific number of critical float pathsbased on total float or free float. You can also choose the activity you want the float paths to end on. By choosing an activity,you can calculate multiple float paths that affect the entire project schedule, a specific part of the schedule, or a milestone inthe schedule.

When you schedule the project, the module identifies the most critical float path in the schedule and assigns those activitiesa Float Path value of 1. Then, depending on the number of paths you choose to calculate, the module identifies other floatpaths (sub-critical float paths) that affect the most critical float path and numbers the paths in ascending order (beginning with2) based on the criticality of the path.

After you schedule a project, you can display the Float Path and Float Path Order columns in the Activity Table. Group byFloat Path to view the activities in each critical float path, then sort by Float Path Order to view the order in which theactivities were processed.

Note

Calculating multiple critical float paths does not affect how you define critical activities. When you schedule a project, youmust choose to define critical activities by a maximum float time or by longest path in the General tab of the ScheduleOptions dialog box. When you run the scheduler, activities are flagged as critical based on this setting. If you also choose tocalculate multiple critical float paths, the float paths are calculated after the project has been scheduled. Critical activities thatare not part of a critical float path remain tagged as critical.

8. Total Float (days)

A Total Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's total float (the amount oftime the activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date) falls beyond the threshold values.

9. Free Float (days)

A Free Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's free float (the amount of timethe activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any successor activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Free Float threshold monitoring can only be applied at the activity level, not at the WBS level.

M. Constraints

User imposed restrictions on network logic are known as Constraints.

1. Types of constraints

Network logic alone cannot reflect all project situations. Sometimes activities must be accomplished according to specificdates rather than on dates determined by other activities in the project. To model dependence on specific dates, assignprimary and secondary constraints to activities.

Listed are the types of constraints;

a. Start constraintsb. Finish constraints


20/51


c. Mandatory constraintsd. Late constraints

a. Start Constraints

Start constraints are;

i. Start onii. Start on or Afteriii. Start on or Before

i. Start on

A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a start date. The start on constraint can delay an early startor accelerate a late start to satisfy the imposed date. Unlike the mandatory start constraint, which can violate

the network logic, this constraint protects it.

ii. Start on or After

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the earliest time it can begin. When calculating a schedule,the start on or after constraint is used in the forward pass only if the calculated early start date will be earlierthan the imposed date. This constraint affects only early dates. The early start date of an activity with a starton or after constraint cannot be earlier than the imposed date, although the network logic may cause the earlystart to occur later.

iii. Start on or before constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the latest date it can start. When calculating a schedule, the

start on or before constraint is used in the backward pass only if the calculated late start date will be later thanthe imposed date. This constraint may decrease total float. It only affects late dates.

b. Finish Constraints

Finish constraints are;

i. Finish onii. Finish on or Afteriii. Finish on or Before

i. Finish on

A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a finish date. The finish on constraint can delay an earlyfinish or accelerate a late finish to satisfy the imposed date.

ii. Finish on or After

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the earliest time it can complete. The finish on or afterconstraint reduces float to coordinate parallel activities, ensuring that the finish of an activity is not scheduledbefore the specified date. It is usually applied to activities that have few predecessors that must finish beforethe next phase of a project.


21/51


iii. Finish on or before constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the latest time it can be finished. The finish on or before

constraint affects only late dates. Use this constraint to ensure that the late finish date of an activity is not laterthan the date you impose.

c. Mandatory Constraints

Mandatory constraints are;

i. Mandatory Startii. Mandatory Finish

i. Mandatory Start

A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late start dates equal to the date you specify. Themandatory early start date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. A mandatory early start date couldaffect the late dates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities thatlead from the constrained activity.

Note

When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar non work time, the early and late dates are not set equalto each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid work time and the late date is moved back(earlier) to the first valid work time. This can cause negative float in the schedule.

ii. Mandatory Finish

A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late finish dates equal to the date you specify.The mandatory finish date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. This constraint affects the latedates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities that lead from theconstrained activity.

Note

When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar non-work time, the early and late dates are not set equalto each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid work time and the late date is moved back(earlier) to the first valid work time. This can cause negative float in the schedule.

d. Late Constraints

A late constraint is;

i. As l ate as poss ibl e constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity or work unit with positive float that allows it to start as late as possiblewithout delaying its successors. This constraint sets the early dates as late as possible without affectingsuccessor activities.

N. Baselines

Before you update a schedule for the first time, you should create a baseline plan. A baseline is a complete copy of a project plan

that you can compare to the current schedule to evaluate progress. Within layouts, you can display baseline data in graphical andcolumn data format to perform cost and schedule analysis.


22/51


The simplest baseline plan is a complete copy, or snapshot, of the original schedule. This snapshot provides a target againstwhich you can track a project's cost, schedule, and performance. When you create a baseline, you can save a copy of the currentproject to use as the baseline or you can choose to convert another project in the EPS hierarchy to a baseline for the current

project.

You can save an unlimited number of baselines per project; however, the number of baselines you can actually save per project isdetermined by administrative preference settings, which are typically controlled by the project controls coordinator oradministrator. Regardless of the number of baselines you save for a project, at any given time you can select only up to threebaselines for comparison purposes.

The Baselines feature includes an option for you to specify which baselines you want to use for comparison. The project-levelbaseline is used for project/activity usage spreadsheets and profiles, as well as earned value calculations. You must have the EditProject Details Except Financials project privilege to set the project baseline.

You can assign primary, secondary, and tertiary baselines. If you do not select a baseline to use, the current project is used bydefault. Using the administrative preference setting, you can choose which values to use for earned value calculations, either

budgeted or at completion.

To help categorize, or track, multiple baselines for a single project, you can assign each baseline a type that reflects its purpose,for example, initial planning baseline, what-if project baseline, or mid project baseline. The administrator or project controlscoordinator defines the available baseline types.

Baselines do not exist as separate projects that you can access. To copy or modify a baseline project, you must first unlink it fromits current project by restoring it as a separate project. You can then work with this restored baseline project as you would anyother project in the EPS.

You can also automatically add new data from the current project to the baseline and modify existing baseline data that haschanged in the current project using the Update Baseline feature.

O. Roles

Roles are project personnel job titles or skills, such as mechanical engineer, inspector, or carpenter. They represent a type ofresource with a certain level of proficiency rather than a specific individual. Roles can also be assigned to specific resources tofurther identify that resource's skills. For example, a resource may have a role of a engineer and manager.

You can create a set of roles to assign to resources and activities in all projects in the enterprise. You can establish an unlimitednumber of roles and organize them in a hierarchy for easier management and assignment. The set of roles you assign to anactivity defines the activity's skill requirements. You can also define unique price per unit rates for each role for accurate costplanning.

You can temporarily assign roles during the planning stages of the project to see how certain resources affect the schedule. Once

you finalize your plans, you can replace the roles with resources that fulfill the role skill levels. Five proficiency levels can beassigned to roles: Master, Expert, Skilled, Proficient and Inexperienced.

P. Resources

Resources include the personnel and equipment that perform work on activities across all projects. Resources are generallyreused between activities and/or projects. In the Project Management module, you can create a resource pool that reflects yourorganization's resource structure and supports the assignment of resources to activities. The Project Management module alsoenables you to distinguish between labor, material, and non labor resources. Labor and non labor resources are always time-based, and material resources, such as consumable items, use a unit of measure you can specify. You can create and assignresource calendars and define a resource's roles, contact information, and time-varying prices. If a resource uses Timesheets youcan also assign a login name and password to the resource.

Define a master list of resources consisting of the resources necessary to complete the projects in your organization. Then, groupresources to create an easily accessible pool from which you can draw when assigning resources to a project. For each resource,


23/51


set availability limits, unit prices, and a calendar to define its standard work time and non-work time, then allocate resources to theactivities that require them. To enable grouping and rollups of your resources across the organization, set up resource codes andassign code values.

Resources are different than expenses. While resources can be time-based and generally extend across multiple activities and/orprojects, expenses are one-time expenditures for non-reusable items required by activities. The Project Management moduledoes not include expenses when leveling resources.

1. Primary Resources

The Project Management module allows you to assign primary resources to activities. An activity's primary resource istypically the resource who is responsible for coordinating an activity's work. Using Timesheets, the primary resource alsoupdates the activity's start date, finish date, and expected end date. In addition, if an activity has any material resources, theprimary resource may also be responsible for reporting the material resource's units as well. With the exception of materialresources, all other resources are responsible for reporting their own hours for assigned activities.

2. Resource Security

Resource security allows the administrator to restrict your resource access by assigning you to a node in the resourcehierarchy. That node is your root node. Once assigned to a resource node, you have access only to your root node and all ofits children. In the Resource Assignments window you still have access to current project resources even if they are outsideyour root node.

3. Current Project Resources

Current project resources are resources that belong to any of the following categories:

Assigned to an activity in the currently open project(s) Assigned to a risk in the currently open project(s) Assigned to an issue in the currently open project(s) Assigned to the currently open project(s) on the WBS or Project level in Primavera's Web application

4. Leveling resources

Resource leveling is a process that helps you ensure that sufficient resources are available to perform the activities in yourproject according to the plan. During resource leveling, an activity is only scheduled to occur when its resource demands canbe met. To accomplish this, tasks may be delayed to resolve resource availability conflicts.

Typically, you level during the forward pass through a project. This determines the earliest dates to schedule an activity whensufficient resources will be available to perform the task.

If forward leveling delays the project's early finish date, late dates remain unchanged unless you clear the checkbox topreserve scheduled early and late dates in the Level Resources dialog box. In this case, a backward pass recalculates latedates.

Tip

While resource leveling provides one way to resolve resource conflicts, you may also want to consider alternative solutions,such as changing activity relationships or reallocating resources.

Notes

The maximum amount of work that a resource is capable of doing for a given time period is defined by the resourcesMax Units/Time value in the Units & Prices tab of Resource Details.


24/51


Leveling is disabled when no projects are open. Resource curves are not used when leveling; however, manual future period values are considered when leveling.

5. Manual future period buckets/values

A manual future period bucket is a futureperiod resource or role assignment bucket, or time period, that contains a value thatwas manually entered or edited in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet (in the Resource Assignments or Activities windows).Typically, a resource or role assignment to an activity that has a manually-entered value in a future period bucket is referredto as an assignment with "manual future period buckets" or "manual future period values."

6. Leveling priority definitions

Projects typically contain more than one chain of activities. If two activities from different chains are ready for leveling, theProject Management module chooses one using the priorities you specify in the Leveling Priorities area of the LevelResources dialog box. Then, it sorts numbers first, then alphabetic characters, followed by blank values. If you specify no

prioritization codes, the Project Management module sorts by activity ID.

The following table defines your priority and order options for leveling resources.

Priority Ascending Descending

Activity ID Levels activities withlower IDs first.

Levels activities withhigher IDs first.

Activity Priority Levels lower priorityactivities first.

Levels higher priorityactivities first.

Early Finish Levels activities withearlier, early finishdates first.

Levels activities with later,early finish dates first.

Early Start Levels activities withearlier, early start datesfirst.

Levels activities with later,early start dates first.

Free Float Levels activities withless free float, or morecritical activities, first.

Levels activities with morefree float, or less criticalactivities, first.

Late Finish Levels activities withearlier, late finish datesfirst.

Levels activities with later,late finish dates first.

Late Start Levels activities withearlier, late start datesfirst.

Levels activities with later,late start dates first.

Original Duration Levels activities with

shorter originaldurations first.

Levels activities with

longer original durationsfirst.

Planned Finish Levels activities withearlier planned finishdates first.

Levels activities with laterplanned finish dates first.

Planned Start Levels activities withearlier planned startdates first.

Levels activities with laterplanned start dates first.

Project Priority Levels lower priorityprojects first.

Levels higher priorityprojects first.

Remaining Duration Levels activities withshorter remainingdurations first.

Levels activities withlonger remainingdurations first.

Total Float Levels activities withless total float, or more

Levels activities with moretotal float, or less critical


25/51


7. Driving resource

A resource that determines the duration of the activity to which it is assigned. The Project Management module automaticallycalculates the activity duration based on the quantity to complete and the units per time period of the driving resource.

Defining resources as driving, by marking the Drive Activity Dates by Default checkbox for new resource assignments in theProjects window, Project Details, Resources tab, only establishes its default status; you can change it for any specificassignment.

If an activity has more than one driving resource, the resource that takes the longest to complete determines the duration ofthe activity.

8. Non Driving resource

Resources that do not drive the dates of the activity they are assigned to are considered to be non driving.

9. Scheduling " non-driving" resource assignments

Resources that do not drive the dates of the activity they are assigned to are considered to be non-driving. You can defineresources as driving or non-driving by default in the Projects Window, Project Details and Resources tab. When schedulingnon-driving resources, the Project Management module applies the following rules:

When scheduling on the forward pass, if the activity has any driving resource assignments, the ProjectManagement module will calculate the early start date of the activity as the earliest Early Start date of all drivingresource assignments. Once the Early Start of the activity is calculated from the driving assignments and

relationships, all non-driving resources are scheduled on or after this date using its assignment duration. The EarlyFinish dates of the non-driving assignments can fall earlier or later than the Early Finish of the activity. When scheduling on the backward pass, the Late Start date of the activity and all non-driving resources is

calculated as the earliest Late Start date of all driving resource assignments. Once the Late Start date of theactivity is calculated from the driving assignments and relationships, all non-driving resources are scheduled on orafter this date using its assignment duration. This means the Late Finish date of the non-driving assignments canfall later than the Late Finish date of the activity to which they are assigned.

The finish dates of the non-driving resource assignments can fall later than the latest calculated Early Finish date ofthe project, which is driven by the activity dates.

If no driving resources exist on the activity, the activity dates are used as the calculated dates for the non-drivingresources.

Q. Activi ty Percent Complete

You can calculate percent complete according to activity duration, activity units, or according to a physical percent complete thatyou enter manually for each activity.

1. Physical Percent Complete

This is independent of activities, resources and durations.

In this case, Activity % Complete = Physical % Complete

2. Duration percent Complete

This is linked to activities duration only.

critical activities, first. activities, first.


26/51


In this case, Activity % Complete = Duration % Complete = (Original Duration Remaining Duration) / Original Duration.

3. Units Percent Complete

This is linked to the resource unit.

In this case, Activity % Complete = Units % Complete = (Actual Labor Units + Actual Non labor Units) (Actual Labor Units +Actual Non labor Units +Remaining Labor Units + Remaining Non labor Units).

R. (Non)Labor Units/(Non)Labor Cost/Material Cost

1. Budgeted

The expected number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on yourcurrent display. You can type a new budgeted value.

2. Actual

The actual number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity has used, depending on yourcurrent display. If the selected activity has started, type a new actual value for units. You can enter actual cost on an activitythat has not yet started.

3. Remaining

The remaining number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on yourcurrent display. If the selected activity is in progress, type a new remaining value.

4. At Complete

An estimate of the labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost at the completion of the selected activity (At CompleteUnits(or Cost) = Actual Units(or Cost) + Remaining Units(or Cost)). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new AtComplete estimate.

S. Establishing budgetsYou can create budget estimates for each EPS node project, or WBS level, and then refine them as needed.

Use the Budget Log tab on the Projects window to enter the original budget the total amount you require for the EPS node orproject.

The Budget Change Log helps you keep track of budget changes as they occur. The Current Budget (original budget plusapproved budget changes) and Proposed Budget fields (original budget plus approved and pending budget amounts) incorporatethese changes so you have up-to-date and accurate budget information for each project or EPS node.

You can record monthly spending of budgeted funds, track the current and undistributed variance amounts, and roll up themonthly spending plan of each project to any level of the EPS.

If your projects use funding to support budgets, you can also set up a dictionary containing any nonprofit, government-allocated,or other funding sources for easy assignment to projects or EPS nodes.


27/51


1. Budget

a. Current Budget; Original budget plus approved budgets.

b. Unallocated Budget; Current budget minus distributed current budget.c. Distributed Current Budget; Sum of current budget values.

2. Variance

a. Current Variance; Current budget minus the total spending plan.

3. Spending Plan

a. Total Spending Plan; Sum of the monthly spending plan.b. Undistributed Current Variance; Total spending plan minus the total spending plan tally.c. Total Spending Plan Tally; Sum of the monthly spending tally.

4. Benefit Plan

a. Total Benefit Plan; Sum of the monthly benefit plan.b. Total Benefit Plan Tally; Sum of the monthly benefit plan tally.

T. Earned Value

Earned Value is a technique for measuring project performance according to both project cost and schedule. This techniquecompares the budgeted cost of the work to the actual cost. While earned value analyses are typically performed for WBSelements, you can also perform an earned value analysis for activities and groups of activities.

In order to perform an earned value analysis, you must specify two calculation techniques. These techniques apply to activitiesthat are currently in progress. The first technique is used to calculate an activity's percent complete. The second technique is usedto calculate an activity's Estimate To Complete (ETC). A set of options is provided for both of these techniques, and you can setthese options for each WBS element.

The fundamental earned value parameters used to calculate an activity's Estimate to Complete are: Earned Value Cost Budget atCompletion; Planned Value Cost; and, Actual Cost You can derive an activity's Estimate to Complete and other earned valueindexes from these parameters.

If you are the administrator for your organization, you can specify default earned value techniques for WBS elements.

1. Earned Value Cost

Earned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is actually completed as of the project datadate. Computed as Earned Value Cost = Budget at Completion * Performance % Complete. The method for computing theperformance percent complete depends on the Earned Value technique selected for the activity's WBS.

a. Budget At Completion

Budget At Completion is the budgeted total cost through activity completion. Computed as Budget At Completion =Budgeted Labor Cost + Budgeted Non labor Cost + Material Cost + Budgeted Expense Cost. It is the same as the BLTotal Cost.

b. Planned Value Cost

Planned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is scheduled to be completed as of theproject data date, according to the baseline. Computed as Planned Value Cost = Individual resource Budget At


28/51


Completion * (Data Date of current project - Baseline Assignment Start Date) / (Baseline Assignment Finish Date -Baseline Assignment Start Date). The Planned Value Cost of an activity is the sum of the Planned Value Cost of eachindividual resource assignment on the activity. If an activity has a resource or role assignment with manually-defined

future period bucket values, Planned Value Cost is calculated using the manual assignment values.

If an activity has no resources, its Planned Value Cost is calculated as the Budget At Completion * Schedule %Complete [(Data date - Baseline Start) / (Planned Finish - Baseline Start)]. The Schedule % Complete specifies howmuch of the activity's original duration has been completed so far.

c. Actual Cost

Actual Cost is the actual total cost incurred on the activity as of the project data date. Computed as Actual Cost = ActualLabor Cost + Actual Non labor Cost + Actual Material Cost + Actual Expense Cost. Actual Cost is the same as the

Actual Total Cost.

U.

Estimate to Complete

The estimated cost to complete the activity. Computed as either the remaining total cost for the activity (Remaining Total Cost), oras PF * (Budget at Completion - Earned Value Cost), depending on the earned-value technique selected for the activity's WBS.

V. Planned Value Cost

Planned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is scheduled to be completed as of the project datadate, according to the baseline. Computed as Planned Value Cost = Individual resource Budget At Completion * (Data Date ofcurrent project - Baseline Assignment Start Date) / (Baseline Assignment Finish Date - Baseline Assignment Start Date). ThePlanned Value Cost of an activity is the sum of the Planned Value Cost of each individual resource assignment on the activity. Ifan activity has a resource or role assignment with manually-defined future period bucket values, Planned Value Cost is calculatedusing the manual assignment values.

If an activity has no resources, its Planned Value Cost is calculated as the Budget At Completion * Schedule % Complete [(Datadate - Baseline Start) / (Planned Finish - Baseline Start)]. The Schedule % Complete specifies how much of the activity's originalduration has been completed so far.

W. Expenses

Expenses are non resource costs associated with a project and assigned to a project's activities. They are typically one-timeexpenditures for non reusable items. Examples of expenses include materials, facilities, travel, overhead, and training.

You can categorize expenses, indicate a unit of measure for expenses, and specify whether an expense accrues at the start orend of an activity or uniformly over its duration. Each expense has a budgeted cost, actual cost, and estimated remaining cost.

Expenses are not the same as resources. Resources generally extend across multiple activities and/or multiple projects.Examples of resources are personnel and equipment. Unlike resources, expenses are project-specific. The Project Managementmodule does not include expenses when leveling resources. Resource curves are not supported for expenses.

X. Resource curves

Resource/cost distribution curves enable you to specify how you want resource units or costs spread over the duration of anactivity. Resource units and costs are distributed evenly during an activity unless you specify nonlinear distribution using curves.

You can assign a resource distribution curve to any resource or role assignment on activities with a duration type of FixedDuration and Units/Time or Fixed Duration & Units. Assign the appropriate curve to a resource or role assignment by selecting a

curve in the Curve column in the Resource Assignments window. You can also assign a resource curve in the Resources tab inthe Activity Details.


29/51


If timesheet data exists for the actual, curves are ignored for the actual and are spread using the timesheet data. Activities withtimesheet data continue to spread the remaining units using the curve.

In order to use curves to calculate the Actual Units/Cost and EV Units/Costs, the new project setting that uses duration percentcomplete to calculate actual should be marked.

Tip

Using pre-defined or custom resource curves, you can define 21 points on the curve to spread units or costs over the duration ofan activity. While this is suitable for most activities, some of your activities may require a more granular resource distribution. Forexample, for long duration activities with varying levels of effort, a resource curve may not fully reflect when work is planned to beperformed on the activity. To accurately capture future period resource distribution for these activities, you can manually enterfuture period budgeted and remaining unit assignment values in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet of the Activities and Resource

Assignments windows. For more information, refer to Future Period Bucket Planning.

Notes

Resource curves do not support expenses. The Accrual Type will continue to spread the expenses. Resource lag is taken into consideration. The curve should begin on the "lagged start date." Resource curves are reflected in the Resource Usage Profile and Resource Usage Spreadsheet.

Y. Future period bucket planning

When you specify an activity's total budgeted units, the budgeted units for an assignment to that activity are spread evenly acrossthe duration of the activity, in the timescale increment you choose. For example, a four-week activity with 80 budgeted units isspread as follows, assuming a weekly timescale:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 420h 20h 20h 20h

However, your projects may contain activities for which you know work will be performed sporadically and at varying levels ofeffort. For these activities, you can do either of the following to more accurately capture when you plan for work to be performedon an activity:

assign a resource curve to the resource/role assignment manually enter the assignment's budgeted units or remaining units in future period buckets (time periods)

While assigning a resource curve to the resource/role assignment will yield more accurate results than spreading units evenlyacross the duration of an activity, the work you plan to perform per period on an activity may not be fully reflected by the curve. Asa result, performance against the project plan cannot be accurately measured.

To achieve the most precise resource/role distribution plan, you can manually enter the budgeted resource/role allocation perassignment in the timescale unit you choose (days, weeks, months, quarters, years, or financial periods). For example, assumean activity has an original duration of 28 days and budgeted units of 80 hours. For this activity, you know that the actual work willnot be spread evenly across the duration of the activity; rather, the budgeted units will be spread as follows:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

10h 30h 15h 25h

By manually entering the planned resource/role distribution in future period assignment buckets, you can create an accuratebaseline plan to measure against current project progress. As the current project schedule progresses and you apply actual, youcan track how the project is performing against plan by comparing the projects budgeted future periods to the current projects

actual.


30/51


If work on an activity is not proceeding according to plan, you can manually update the remaining units for an assignment's futureperiods, enabling you to measure the remaining work for an assignment without changing the original plan. Alternatively, if youchoose to re-estimate future work based on changes to the project schedule, you can edit an assignment's future period budgeted

units while the activity is in progress; if many assignments require re-estimation, you can establish a new baseline plan based onyour changes.

Tips

You can compare the planned future period resource distribution to actual units and costs in the Resource UsageProfile, Resource Usage Spreadsheet, Activity Usage Profile, Activity Usage Spreadsheet, time-distributed reports, andthe Tracking window. If you plan your project work in defined financial periods, after you store period performance, youcan compare the resource distribution you planned to the project's past period actual.

Activity costs, including earned value and planned value, are calculated using the planned future period resourcedistribution you define for activity assignments.

Note

You must have the 'Edit Future Periods' project privilege to manually enter future period data.

Z. Store Period Performance

Using the Store Period Performance feature, you can track actual units and costs to date each time the schedule is updated. Forexample, if you increase the actual this period by 50, the Project Management module increases the Actual to Date by the sameamount. At the end of each financial period, reset the Actual This Period values of all activities and assignments to zero bychoosing Tools, Store Period Performance. Resetting the Actual This Period values does not affect Actual to Date values; rather,it prepares you to begin tracking new use for the current period.

Storing period performance records actual for the selected financial period along with earned value and planned value, so you can

track previous periods and compare current and future trends. If past period data changes after you store period performance, youcan edit the data in financial period columns of the Activity Table, Resource Assignments window, and the Resources tab of

Activity Details.

Your projects may be scheduled to update every two weeks, monthly, or even quarterly. To track actual costs and progressrecorded, update your schedule at the times established in the Financial Periods dictionary, then store period performance at theend of the update period and before the start of the next schedule update.

AA. Secure code

A global or EPS-level activity code that is accessible only to certain users. If an EPS-level or global activity code is marked as asecure code in the Activity Code Definitions dialog box, the user will need the appropriate access rights to view, edit, delete and

assign this code and its values.

BB. Thresholds

A project management technique in which you specify a threshold parameter and a lower and/or upper threshold value againstwhich project data can be evaluated to identify issues that you want to track.

An issue is automatically generated when a threshold parameter is equal to or less than the lower threshold value, or equal to ormore than the upper threshold value.

For example, you may set a threshold using the Total Float parameter. If the lower threshold value is 1d and the upper thresholdvalue is 10d, an issue is generated for any activities that have a total float less than or equal to 1d or more than or equal to 10d.You can assign a person to be responsible for issues generated by the threshold. You can also specify threshold tracking layoutsand assign priority levels to thresholds.


31/51


Use thresholds as a project management technique. You can create a threshold by selecting a parameter, such as start datevariance; setting lower and upper values for the threshold; and applying the threshold to a specific work breakdown structure(WBS) element, or area, of your project plan.

When you define a threshold for a WBS element, you can specify the level of detail by which you want to monitor the WBSelement. You can monitor the threshold at the activity level, and you can monitor the threshold at the WBS level. If you monitor athreshold at the activity level, issues are generated for each activity that violates the threshold. If you monitor a threshold at theWBS level, each activity contained in the specified WBS element is tested, and then all issues are summarized to the WBSelement, rather than each activity.

After you define a threshold, you can monitor it to identify any issues associated with it. For example, you may set a thresholdusing the Total Float parameter. If the lower threshold value is 1d and the upper threshold value is 10d, an issue is generated forany activities that have a total float less than or equal to 1d or more than or equal to 10d. You can assign a person to beresponsible for issues generated by the threshold. You can also specify threshold tracking layouts and assign priority levels tothresholds. A threshold's tracking layout assignment identifies the tracking layout that best displays the threshold problem area.

1. Threshold parameter definitions

A threshold parameter is a type of "test" that the Project Management module applies to activities or work breakdownstructure (WBS) elements in a project to identify potential issues. You can specify a threshold parameter and a lower and/orupper threshold value against which project data can be evaluated to identify issues that you want to track.

An issue is automatically generated when a threshold parameter is equal to or less than the lower threshold value, or equalto or greater than the upper threshold value. The following list defines the available threshold parameters:

a. Accounting Variance

An Accounting Variance threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the Accounting

Variance (the difference between the activity's budgeted cost according to the schedule and the actual cost ofperforming the activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Accounting Variance is calculated as Accounting Variance = Planned Value Cost - Actual Cost.

A negative value indicates that actual costs have exceeded the scheduled costs. A positive value indicates that actualcosts have not reached the scheduled costs.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as actual costs are greater than scheduled costs.

b. Cost % of Budget (%)

Cost % of Budget threshold value is expressed as a percentage. An issue is generated if the ratio of the activity's actualcost to its budgeted cost (actual cost / budgeted cost * 100) falls beyond the threshold values.

Actual cost is the same as Total Actual Cost, and original cost is the same as Budget at Completion (BAC).

The Cost % of Budget will reach 100 percent when the actual cost reaches the budgeted cost. The Cost % of Budgetmay be greater than 100 percent.

c. Cost Performance Index (CPI) (ratio)

A Cost Performance Index (CPI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the CPI falls beyondthe threshold values.

The Cost Performance Index is calculated as CPI = Earned Value Cost / Actual Cost . A value less than 1 indicates thatactual costs have exceeded the value of work performed.


32/51


If the lower threshold value is 1, an issue is generated whenever the actual costs exceed the value of the workperformed.

d. Cost Variance (CV)

A Cost Variance (CV) threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the CV (the differencebetween the activity's earned value and the actual cost of performing the activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Cost Variance is calculated as CV = Earned Value Cost - Actual Cost. A negative value indicates that actual costs haveexceeded the value of work performed, which may be considered a cost overrun.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as actual cost of the work is greater than the value of thework. A larger negative value for the threshold indicates that a certain amount of cost overrun may be tolerated beforean issue is generated.

e. Cost Variance Index (CVI) (ratio)

A Cost Variance Index (CVI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the CVI (the ratio of thecost variance to the earned value of work performed) falls beyond the threshold values.

The Cost Variance Index is calculated as CVI = Cost Variance (CV) / Earned Value Cost.

A value less than 0 indicates that actual costs have exceeded the value of work performed.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated whenever the actual costs exceed the value of the workperformed.

f. Duration % of Origina

55614585 project managment application of primavera p6

Documents