Project Management Foundations

Transcription

1 Using Oracle Primavera P6 for Project Management Foundations Course ecpm102 for P6 Power Client Release 8 Course Companion Book

2 For additional copies please contact us: CPM Solutions Ltd. Suite #200, 4170 Still Creek Drive Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5C 6C6 P F All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written prior permission of the creator. P6 elearning e102 R8 Version 1.0 CPM Solutions, Ltd. provides industry with Project Management and Asset Management products, services and training. Visit our website for more information: Page 2

3 Table of Contents Introduction to Oracle Primavera P Lesson 1 Navigating in Primavera P Login to Primavera P6 Professional Windows Client... 7 Navigating Primavera P The Projects Screen... 7 Opening a Project... 7 The Activities Screen... 7 Closing a Project... 8 Lesson Review... 8 Notes... 8 Lesson 2 Creating a Project... 9 Enterprise Project Structure (EPS)... 9 Creating a Project... 9 The Projects Screen The Notebook Tab The General Tab The Dates Tab Lesson Review Notes Lesson 3 Creating a Work Breakdown Structure Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Creating a WBS Lesson Review Notes Lesson 4 Adding Activities Activities Activity Types Adding an Activity Lesson Review Notes Lesson 5 Creating Relationships Relationships Relationship Types Creating a Relationship Page 3

4 Lesson Review Notes Lesson 6 Creating and Assigning Calendars Calendars Activity Usage Spreadsheet Changing a Calendar Creating a New Calendar Changing Worktime Types Assigning a Calendar Lesson Review Notes Lesson 7 Scheduling a Project What is Scheduling? The Critical Path The Data Date The Forward and Backward Pass Total Float Open Ends Loops Scheduling the Project The Schedule Log Lesson Review Notes Lesson 8 Formatting Layouts in P Columns Details Tabs Group and Sort Saving a Layout Lesson Review Notes Lesson 9 Assigning Constraints Assigning Activity Constraints Assigning Project Constraints Names and Definitions of Constraints Lesson Review Notes Page 4

5 Lesson 10 Assigning Resources and Costs Resources Assigning a Resource Adding a Resource The Details Tab The Units & Prices Tab Expenses The Summary Tab Lesson Review Notes Lesson 11 Analyzing and Optimizing the Project Plan Backing-Up the Project Plan Analyzing a Project Plan Resource Usage Profile Analyzing Cost Lesson Review Notes Lesson 12 Creating a Baseline Project Baselines Creating a Project Baseline Lesson Review Notes Lesson 13 Updating Statuses in P Updating Actuals Lesson Review Notes Lesson 14 Reporting Project Performance Bar Labels Printing a Layout Creating a Report Lesson Review Notes Page 5

6 Introduction to Oracle Primavera P6 Primavera P6 EPPM: Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM). Pre-bundled product suite that includes EPPM versions of P6 Windows client, P6 Web Access, P6 Team Member, P6 Progress Reporter, P6 Integration API, and P6 EPPM Web Services. P6 Web Access and P6 Windows Client access the same central project database (MS SQL Server or Oracle Express Database). Application administration through P6 Web Access only. Enterprise-wide project and resource management, portfolio management and analysis, customizable dashboards, and document linking. Primavera P6 Professional Project Management (P6 PPM): 2 versions of P6 PPM it can be licensed separately or bundled with P6 EPPM. Known as P6 Windows Client, or optional client, or power client or the always connected Windows client. Enterprise-wide project and resource management. Optimized for very large projects. Optional module when installing P6 Professional for EPPM. Among P6 EPPM s capabilities: Enterprise-wide project management, resource management and portfolio analysis. Personalized role-based dashboards provide quick visual indicators of the health and status metrics of projects and programs and assist in determining which projects need help to get back on track. Extensive project reporting, including industry-standard templates and a customization wizard. Scorecards that contain project scores, schedule performance, cost performance, earned value metrics, milestone dates, and WBS summaries. Capacity analysis and resource planning to anticipate resource usage requirements in future projects. Page 6

7 Lesson 1 Navigating in Primavera P6 Login to Primavera P6 Professional Windows Client A Login Name and Password will be provided to you by your system administrator. Use these to login to Primavera P6. 1. Double-click the Primavera P6 icon on your desktop or find it using the Start menu on your computer. 2. Enter your Login Name and Password into the correct fields. 3. Click OK. Navigating Primavera P6 Title Bar The Title Bar has the Primavera logo and name and indicates any projects that are open. Menu Bar The Main bar provides you with drop-downs to numerous functions in Primavera P6. Toolbar The toolbar icons give you quick access to functions such as filters and changing your layout. Directory Bar Use this bar to navigate the application. Each button will take you to a different screen where you can see and edit data about your organization or project. The Projects Screen The Projects Screen gives you a high-level view of your organization s projects. Primavera uses a central database rather than files to store information about your organization and all your projects. On this screen, you can see all the projects in your database along with a high-level Gantt chart for each. Opening a Project 1. Click on the File menu. 2. Click Open 3. Select a project. 4. Click Open. The Activities Screen The Activities Screen lets you manage your project s work and activity information. The Activities Screen and the Projects screen look very similar. They both have the Navigation, Directory, Title, and Tool Bars. These do not change between screens. A big difference between these screens: the Project Table, located on the Projects screen which lists the organization s projects, and the Activity Table, located on the Activities screen which lists a project s activities. Page 7

8 On each of the tables, you can organize your layout to view certain columns to display project data. Once you open the Activities page, the Command Bar becomes accessible. The Command Bar gives you quick access to functions to edit and configure activities. For example, you can quickly add activities or resources. Closing a Project 1. Click on the File menu. 2. Click Close All. 3. Click Yes. Lesson Review Login to Primavera P6 using a Login Name and Password given to you by your system administrator. The Projects Screen gives you a high-level view of your organization s projects. The Activities Screen dives into an opened project to give you a detailed view of activities and their details. Notes Page 8

9 Lesson 2 Creating a Project Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) Projects are organized in the Enterprise Project Structure (EPS). The EPS is a hierarchy made of roots and nodes in parent-child relationships, identifying the structure of your organization. Projects always represent the lowest level of the hierarchy in the EPS. Creating a Project 1. Click the Add button on the Directory Bar. When you add a new project, the Create a New Project Wizard comes up. This stepby-step wizard walks you through the process of configuring your new project. In the Select EPS screen, decide where to put your new project in the Enterprise Project Structure of your organization. 2. Click on the Browse button. 3. Select the EPS level. 4. Click the Select button. 5. Click Next. Your project must have a unique Project ID and Project Name. 6. Click on the Project ID field. 7. Type the Project ID in the field. 8. Press Enter. 9. Click on the Project Name field. 10. Type the Project Name in the field. 11. Press Enter. 12. Click Next. When you first create a project, you must set a Project Planned Start date. You can also set a Must Finish By date, which is the project s target deadline. The Must Finish By date is optional. 5. Click on the Project Planned Start date browse button. 6. Click on the date your project will start on. 7. Click Select. 8. Click Next. Page 9

10 Identify the Responsible Manager for your project. The Responsible Manager is the individual in charge of the work being done. This is usually a project manager or highlevel manager that oversees the work being completed. 9. Click the browse button ( ) to pick a Responsible Manager. 10. Select the Responsible Manager. 11. Click Select. 12. Click Next. Now you ll have to specify the default Assignment Rate Type. Resources can have multiple hourly rates assigned to them for different types of work. For example, a laborer might be paid $30/hr for industrial work and $40/hr for commercial work. On this screen, you will pick the default rate type to use when you assign resources to activities. Of course you can change individual rates later, but the rate you choose here will be assigned by default. 13. Select the Rate Type from the drop-down list. 14. Click Next. You have created a new project in P6! 15. Click Finish. The project you created will be located under the EPS node you selected while creating the project. The Projects Screen Project Table The Project Table displays project information in a spreadsheet format. Information included can be the Project ID, Project Name, Start and Finish dates and much more. This is where the information you entered in the Project Wizard will be displayed. Gantt Chart The Gantt Chart is a graphical display of your project. You can view individual Gantt bars that represent projects as well as summary bards that are inclusive as the roots of the EPS. The Gantt Chart will also be displayed in the Activities screen of the project, but will display the Work Breakdown Structure and activities of the project. Project Details The Project Details are used to define project information, settings and defaults. The information that you applied in the Project Wizard can be found here. Once you begin scheduling your project, you ll find the project Finish Date here. You can also assign constraints here such as the Must Finish By date. The Activities screen also has detail windows for activity and WBS information. Page 10

11 Highlight an activity in the Projects Table to view and edit information about that project in the Project Details tab. Each tab lets you configure different information about the project. The Notebook Tab The Notebook Tab allows you to add notes about your project. 1. Click the Add button. The Assign Notebook Topics dialog box gives you a list of possible topics for notebooks. 2. Click on a Notebook Topic. 3. Click the Assign button. 4. Close the dialog box. 5. Click Modify to edit the Notebook Topic. 6. Type the notebook information in the dialog box. 7. Click OK. Notes stay with your project and can be viewed by other P6 users as well. Notebooks are a powerful tool for sharing and documenting information about your project. The General Tab In the General Tab, you can see some of the information you entered into the Wizard, such as Project ID and Name. You can also edit additional information about your project. Status The Project Status indicates the current activity of the project. There are four alternative choices: 1. Planned indicates the project is being analyzed before establishing a permanent plan. 2. Active indicates the project is currently being worked on. 3. Inactive indicates the project is completed or on hold. 4. What-if indicates the project is being used as a test scenario. Check Out Status Checked Out By Date Checked Out Project Leveling Priority The Check Out Status indicates whether the project is checked in or checked-out by a particular person. This status lets you know if the project is being worked on or not. The Checked Out By field indicates who has checked out the project and is working on it currently. The Date Checked Out lets you know when the individual started working on the project. The Project Leveling Priority is a user-defined rank of the project against all other projects based on its importance to the organization. Page 11

12 The Dates Tab The Dates Tab is where you can view and edit high-level start and finish dates for your project. You can see the Planned Start date we entered in the Wizard is also displayed in this tab. Often projects must finish by a specific target date. You can optionally enter this date in the Must Finish By date field. The Finish Date is a non-editable field that indicates the finish date when the project was last scheduled. This date cannot be changed and is set by Primavera. 1. Click on the Must Finish By browse button. 2. Select the date you would like the project to finish by. 3. Click Select. Now when you schedule your project plan, you can identify whether or not the project will be finished on time. Lesson Review Notes You can create a project with the New Project Wizard. Once the project is created, use the Projects Window to view high-level information for projects you can access. Use Project Details tabs in the Projects window to define default settings and properties for the selected project. Page 12

13 Lesson 3 Creating a Work Breakdown Structure Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Developing a Work Breakdown Structure helps partition work in manageable groups to execute your project. As the levels of the WBS become more detailed, the scope, complexity, and cost of each level becomes smaller, until you reach activities that are defined, quantified, and measured. As a result, you can then plan, budget, schedule, and control your project. Creating a WBS To create a project s WBS, navigate to the WBS window. 1. On the Directory bar, click on the WBS icon. In the WBS window, you can create, edit, or delete a project s WBS elements. 2. Click the Add button on the top of the Command bar to create a WBS element. A sub-element, or child, WBS will automatically be added. A project s WBS is a hierarchy that helps us organize the project s work. You must assign a unique code and name to your WBS elements. 3. Click on the WBS code field to enable the typing feature. 4. Type the WBS code. 5. Press enter. 6. Click on the WBS name field. 7. Type the WBS name. 8. Press enter. Add as many WBS elements as you would like to structure your project using these same steps. As you add child elements, Primavera will use the code from parent element to indicate the WBS structure. To change the structure of the WBS, use the indentation keys on Command bar to move the element up, down, right or left. Remember: Your WBS is not a long to-do list of project activities; it is the framework for your project to follow to completion. Page 13

14 Lesson Review Notes The Work Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical arrangement of the geographical and functional areas, units, systems and processes of a project. The highest level of the WBS is the project and the lowest level consists of the individual activities required for execution of the work. Create the WBS in the Work Breakdown Structure window. Use the indentation keys to form various levels in the WBS. Page 14

15 Lesson 4 Adding Activities Activities Activities are the tasks that need to be done to complete a work package, or WBS. They are the lowest level of the WBS hierarchy. Activity Types Here is a list of activity types you can find in Primavera P6: Start Milestone Finish Milestone Task Dependent Resource Dependent WBS Summary Level of Effort Use a Start Milestone to mark the beginning of a major stage in the project. A Start Milestone activity does not have duration because it is not a work task. Milestones are special activities that are used to help you track your project s progress. Use a Finish Milestone to mark the end of the major stage in the project. A Finish Milestone activity does not have duration because it is not a work task. Like a Start Milestone, Finish Milestones help to track project progress. Use Task Dependent activity type for a standard and customizable activity. Resources assigned to the activity will be scheduled to work according to the activity s calendar. Use a Resource Dependent activity type when you have many resources assigned to the same activity who can work independently. Resources assigned to this type of activity are scheduled to work according to the resources calendars rather than the activity s calendar. The activity s duration is dependent on the availability of resources to work on the activity and increase or decrease accordingly. Use a WBS Summary activity to summarize and group activities together. The WBS Summary activity comprises a group of activities that share a common WBS level. A WBS Summary activity can help you summarize information about the activities it groups together such as dates, durations, and more. Use a Level of Effort for activities that are on-going throughout a phase or the entire project. For example, you could use Level of Effort activity type for on-going weekly administrative work, or daily meetings that occur until the end of the project. Level of Effort activities have the ability to expand or shrink in duration automatically as the project or phase duration changes. Adding an Activity 1. Click the Add icon on the Command bar. 2. Click on the activity name field. 3. Type the activity name. 4. Press enter. Page 15

16 5. Change the activity type if necessary. The default activity type is Task Dependent. When you begin a project or new WBS, it is always best practice to set the first activity as a Start Milestone. A Start Milestone is 0 days duration. A WBS Summary activity is used to summarize the WBS element it is comprised of all the activities within the WBS level. When calculated, the WBS dates are based on the earliest start date of the activities in the group and the latest finish date of these activities. You can edit Activity IDs as long as they are still unique to the activity. Lesson Review Activities are tasks set out to complete a project or work phase. The Task Dependent activity type is the default for new activities. The calendar assigned to the activity is used for scheduling the work. A Resource Dependent activity uses the calendar assigned to the activity resources to schedule the work. The duration of a WBS Summary activity is calculated based on the earliest start date of the activities and the latest finish dates of the activities in the WBS package. The Level of Effort activity summarizes a logical group based on the predecessor and successor activities. Notes Page 16

17 Lesson 5 Creating Relationships Relationships Creating relationships between your activities ties your project together to flow in a certain order to completion. Relationship Types Here are descriptions of the relationship types available in Primavera P6: Finish-to-Start A Finish-to-Start relationship types indicates that when the predecessor activity (Activity A) finishes, the successor activity (Activity B) can begin. Finish-to-Finish The Finish-to-Finish relationship type indicates that when the predecessor activity (Activity A) finishes, the successor activity (Activity B) can finish as well. Start-to-Finish The Start-to-Finish relationship type indicates that when the predecessor activity (Activity A) starts, the successor activity (Activity B) can finish. Start-to-Start The Start-to-Start relationship type indicates that when the predecessor activity (Activity A) starts, the successor activity (Activity B) can start. Creating a Relationship The Activity Network view is another way to graphically view your project. In the left pane you see your project s WBS and in the right pane you see a network view of the project s activities grouped by WBS. Each yellow box represents an activity. These boxes will soon be linked with lines to show relationships between activities. You can view your project as a timeline between activities in the Activity Network view. 1. Click on the Activity Network icon on the Toolbar. In a regular Finish-to-Start relationship between two task dependent activities, the predecessor activity will be completed at the end of the day of the finish date and the successor activity will begin in the morning of the following day. For example, in this case B1000 is a Start Milestone activity with 0 days duration. Activity B1010 will begin once B1000 is marked complete. You ll need to be in the Relationships tab. 2. Click on the Relationships tab. In the Relationships tab there are two windows to assign activities. On the left is the Predecessor pane and on the right is the Successors pane. The Predecessors pane shows all the activities that are scheduled to be completed before the selected activity. Page 17

18 The Successors pane shows all the activities that are scheduled to be completed after the selected activity. It is best practice to begin assigning activities from the start of the project until the end in a logical flow. Therefore, we will begin in the Successors pane. 3. Click Assign in the Successors pane. 4. Select the activity you would like to assign as a successor. 5. Click Assign. The Assign Successors or Assign Predecessor dialog box will stay open to allow you to create multiple relationships at a time to a single activity. When you are finished assigning activities, close the dialog box. 6. Click close. In the Activity Network, you can visually see how the relationships are linked together by the arrows pointing from predecessor to successor activities. 7. Click on the Gantt Chart icon on the toolbar. Ensure that the Relationship Lines icon is enabled on the toolbar so the Gantt Chart visually displays lines connecting activities. Don t forget to create relationships between all activities (from WBS to WBS) so that your project is connected the whole way through. Ie, Connect Finish Milestones of one WBS to a Start Milestone of the next in a Finish-to-Start relationship type. Lesson Review There are four types of relationship types: Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finishto-Finish and Start-to-Finish. The default relationship type is Finish-to-Start. You can create relationships in the Activity Network via a graphical display, or in the Relationships tab in the Activity Details. Notes Page 18

19 Lesson 6 Creating and Assigning Calendars Calendars Calendars define the workdays and non-workdays for scheduling activities and resources. Calendars can be used to schedule activities for activity-based scheduling or to schedule resources for resource-based scheduling. Primavera s calendars allow you to specify available work hours for each day, week, month or year. By using calendars, for example, you can define what time work starts in the morning, or what days of the year are company holidays. Primavera lets you create calendars for activities and resources. Some project management software packages will only allow you to specify a single calendar for your entire project, allowing little flexibility. However, P6 allows you to specify a calendar for each activity. This very flexible approach lets you set different work hours for different activities in your project. For example, engineering activities might use a standard 8 hr x 5 day workweek calendar, while pouring a foundation may use a 10 hr x 7 day workweek calendar to allow for weekend work. Calendars can be created and assigned to each activity to control when the activity will be scheduled for work. An unlimited number of calendars can be created. The Activity Type determines whether the activity calendar or resource calendar is used during scheduling. Activity Usage Spreadsheet To open the Activity Usage Spreadsheet, follow these steps: 1. Select the Layout bar. 2. Select Show on Top. 3. Select Activity Usage Spreadsheet The Activity Usage Spreadsheet (or AUS for short) displays the number of labor hours or units used during a week depending on the calendar and resources assigned. The AUS can be configured in many ways. Here, the AUS is displaying the total number of remaining labor units scheduled to be worked on the activities per week. These values correspond with the resources allocated to the activities. For example, Dick Foster, who is scheduled to work on activity B1010, is working 8 hours per day x 5 days a week for 10 days of duration totaling to 40 hours per week, or 80 budgeted remaining labor units. Blank entries mean no labor resources have been allocated to the activity. The Activity Usage Spreadsheet will be helpful when analyzing calendars. Page 19

20 Changing a Calendar You can change a calendar using two methods: Click on the calendar assigned in the Calendars column in the Activity Table. Go to the General tab and change the assigned calendar. To change an assigned calendar: 1. Click on the calendar browse button for a specific activity in either the Calendars column or in the General tab. 2. Select the desired calendar to be assigned. 3. Click Assign. In order for the change to take the full effect in the project, you need to run the scheduler. 4. Click on the Schedule icon on the toolbar. 5. Click Schedule. Creating a New Calendar 1. Click on the Enterprise drop-down menu. 2. Select Calendars from the menu list. The Calendars dialog box will open. Calendars are split into different categories: Global, Resource, or Project. Global Calendar Contains calendars that can be used by all projects in the database; available for all resources and activities in the database. Resource Calendar Contains separate calendars for each resource. Project Calendar Contains a separate pool of calendars for each project; available for the current project only. 3. Click Add. Now, you can highlight an already existing calendar to be copied as your new calendar. Then you can customize the calendar to your needs. 4. Highlight a calendar from the list. 5. Click Select. 6. Enter a name for your new calendar. 7. Press enter. Now you can customize the new calendar. 8. Click Modify. Page 20

21 The screen that opens will allow you to edit the days in the calendar. Light gray dates = standard workdays Dark gray dates = non-workdays White dates = exceptions to the standard workweek If you select a day in the calendar, Primavera will tell you how many work hours are specified for that day. You can edit the hours using the up/down arrows in the work hours/day box. When working with calendars, you can work in two modes: Total work hours/day allows you to work only with the total number of work hours/day. Detailed work hours/day allows you to customize the total number of work hours/day as well as what those hours are. 9. Select Detailed work hours/day. When you select Detailed work hours/day, a new display shows up under the title Work hours. The Work hours display represents a 24-hour clock. Shown in two columns, the hours of the clock are listed on the left in 30 minute increments. The left-hand column represents the first 30 minutes of an hour, the right-hand column represents the last 30 minutes of an hour. Designated work times are shown in light gray. 10. Click on the half-hour increments available to adjust the work time for the workdays. 11. Click OK. Changing Worktime Types Here are descriptions of the different types of worktimes: Standard Nonwork Exception Worktime matches the hours set up in the Calendar Weekly hours dialog box. Define which days of the week are workdays. Defined the number of work hours in a workday. All 24 hours are nonwork time. Does not match the work/nonwork set up in the workweek dialog box. To change a specific worktime for a single day: 1. Click on the day you would like to adjust. 2. Select Work or Nonwork. 3. Click OK. Page 21

22 To change a specific worktime for a day in each calendar week: 1. Click on Workweek. The calendar in the previous dialog box lets you work with individuals days or blocks of days at a time. If you want to make a change to the working times of every Monday, for example, in your calendar then the Calendar Weekly Hours dialog box will do just that. Here you can easily make changes to every weekday in your calendar. 2. Click on the specific day in the Day of the Week column. 3. Click to adjust the day as Work or Nonwork using the buttons on the left. 4. Change the hours in the Work hours column using 30 minute increments. 5. Click OK. The day that you just adjusted will be reflected in the calendar each week. 6. Click OK to close the calendar. 7. Click Close to close the Calendars dialog box. Assigning a Calendar 1. Highlight an activity. 2. Click on the General tab. 3. Click on the Browse button next to the Activity Calendar field. 4. Select the calendar you would like to assign. 5. Click select. Notice that the values in the Activity Usage Spreadsheet have changed for the week. 6. Click on the schedule icon on the toolbar. 7. Click schedule. Lesson Review Notes Create calendars to define the number of available work hours in each calendar day, as well as specify holidays and nonwork time. You can specify a calendar at the global, project, or resource level. The calendar type determines whether a calendar can be used by projects, activities and/or resources. An activity s type determines whether the activity uses the calendar of the assigned resource(s) or its activity calendar. Page 22

23 Lesson 7 Scheduling a Project What is Scheduling? The purpose of scheduling is to create a time-phased project plan that follows a workflow based on the relationships you created between activities. The information and structure you created when making this project, from the basic details to creating a WBS and the activities with durations and relationships, which determines how long the project will take. CPM Scheduling is a scheduling technique that uses this information to develop the length of a project and to identify the activities critical to project completion. The Critical Path The Critical Path is the longest path of activities in the network. The duration of the activities on the critical path determines the duration of the overall project. A delay to any of these critical activities will delay the project finish date. By identifying the critical path and the float values, resources can be allocated more appropriately to minimize the risk of project delay. The Data Date The Data Date is the date that is utilized as the starting point for schedule calculations. During the Planning phase the Data Date should match the project Planned Start Date. Once the project is being updated, your data date will move to your current date. The Forward and Backward Pass The CPM Scheduling method uses Activity Durations and Relationships to calculate the Earliest and Latest Dates that activities can be started and finished. The Forward Pass calculates the early dates for the activities. The Backward Pass calculates the late dates for the activities. The difference between the early dates and the late dates determines the amount of time that an activity can slip (Total Float) without delaying the project. The Forward Pass calculates the activity s Early Dates (ie, the early start and early finish) The Early Dates are the earliest times an activity can start and finish once its predecessors have been completed. Activities without predecessors are scheduled to start on the data date. Early Finish = Early Start + Duration 1 EF = ES + Dur - 1 Page 23

24 The Backward Pass calculates the activities Late Dates (ie, late start and late finish). The Late Dates are the latest times an activity can start and finish without having an impact on the end date of the project. Calculations begin at the end of the network with activities that are without successors and proceed through each predecessor path. Late Start = Late Finish Duration + 1 LS = LF Dur + 1 Total Float Total Float is the time period by which an activity can be delayed with affecting the end date of the project. Activities with zero total float are critical. Total Float = Late Date Early Dates TF = LD ED Open Ends Open Ends are activities without a predecessor or successor. If there is no predecessor, the activity uses the Early Start date as the data date. If there is no successor, the activity uses the Late Finish date as the project finish date. Open-ended activities can portray an unrealistic amount of positive total float. Open Ends may indicate a data entry error when defining relationships. These relationships need to be corrected and the project re-scheduled. Loops Loops indicate circular logic between activities. P6 will not complete the forward pass until the loop is corrected. A dialog box will be displayed in P6 to list the activities in the loop so you can fix the problems. Scheduling the Project Before the project is scheduled, all of the activities will begin on the same Project Planned Start date you specified when you initially created the project. When you Page 24

25 schedule a project, the scheduler looks at all of the activities, relationships and the Project s Planned Start date and then assigns Start and Finish dates to each activity. 1. Click on the Schedule icon on the toolbar. The Schedule dialog box will appear. The Current Data Date will be the same as the Project Planned Start date. From this point on, the Data Date will be the date from which you will schedule the project s work. Since we are scheduling the project for the first time, leave the Data Date at the Project Planned Start date. Once you begin to update the project, you will move the Current Data Date forward to the updated date. 2. Click Schedule. When the project is scheduled, the Gantt chart will move the activity bars in a timeline format based on the durations and relationships assigned. 3. Click on the Relationship Lines. This will help you visualize the relationships between activities to see what is coming up next. The Schedule Log 1. Click the Schedule icon on the toolbar. 2. Click View Log. The Schedule Log is generated every time you schedule your project with updated information. It contains a lot of useful information for analysis or troubleshooting. The Schedule Log contains information such as: Schedule/Leveling Settings Statistics o # of Projects o # of Activities o # of Activities Not Started o # of Activities In Progress o # of Activities Completed o # of Relationships o # of Activities with Constraints Errors Warnings o Activities without Predecessors o Activities without Successors o Out-of-sequence Activities Page 25

26 o Milestone Activities with invalid relationships o Finish milestone and predecessors have different calendars Scheduling/Leveling Results o # Projects Scheduled/Leveled o # Activities Scheduled/Leveled o # Relationships with other project o Data Date o Earliest Early Start Date o Latest Early Finish Date Exceptions o Critical Activities o Activities with unsatisfied constraints o Activities with unsatisfied relationships o Activities with external dates 3. Click the Close button. Lesson Review The Critical Path is the longest path of activities in the network. A delay to any activity on the critical path will delay the overall project finish date. Early Dates, Late Dates, and Floats are calculated in CPM scheduling. After scheduling, results are recorded in a Schedule Log. Notes Page 26

27 Lesson 8 Formatting Layouts in P6 The Layout Options bar indicates which layout is currently opened. To change your layout, click on the Layout Options bar to manage filters, columns and more. Columns 1. Click on the Layout Options bar. 2. Click on the Columns menu item. You have brought up the Columns window. The left side of the window displays columns you can add to your layout which are grouped by category. The right side of the window displays the columns already in your layout and shown onscreen. 3. Expand the sections and select column a column you would like to have in your layout. 4. Move the select column using the Right Arrow button. 5. Move the column up and down the Selected Options list using the Up and Down Arrows. This gives you the ability to customize where your column is displayed in the Activity Table. 6. When you re finished, click OK. You can see the new column where you placed it on the screen. Details Tabs 1. Click on the View menu. 2. Select Show on Bottom. 3. Select Details. The bottom half of your screen is called the Activity Details view. When you highlight an activity in the Activity Table, you can see detailed information about the activity in the Details view. You can edit information about the activity either in the Table or in the Details view. Group and Sort 1. Click on the Layout Options bar. 2. Select Group and Sort. Group and Sort is a powerful tool to help you organize your activities in a meaningful way. 3. Click on the Group By drop-down list. 4. Select an item on the list. Page 27

28 5. Click OK. The Activity Table should display the Group and Sort settings you selected. Saving a Layout 1. Click on the Layout Options bar. 2. Click Layout. 3. Click Save As. This dialog box lets you name your new layout so you can pull it up at any time. 4. Type the new name in the Layout Name field. You can make layouts available to only yourself ( Current User ), All Users, Another User, or a Project. 5. Click Save. Now that you have saved your layout you can bring it up when you want that particular look on your Activity Table. Lesson Review View activity data in the Activities window and customize the top and bottom layouts. Use layouts to easily view data specific to your needs. You can customize layouts by selecting columns and by specifying top/bottom layouts. You can group data to customize layouts or reports. Use filters to customize the layout to display activity that satisfy a filter criteria. Notes Page 28

29 Lesson 9 Assigning Constraints Constraints are imposed date restrictions placed on the dates of your project. Two types are available in Primavera P6: 1. Activity Constraints: You can restrict either the start, finish or both dates of an activity. 2. Project Constraints: You can assign a Must Finish By date for the completion of your project. Constraints are an essential tool to help your project reflect the real world. In any project management software, the automated scheduler assigned highly ideal dates to activities. In reality, often we have to tweak an activity s dates because of real world limitations. For example, you may have to tweak the scheduler s ideal dates for a roofing activity because the materials will not be onsite until a few days later. The scheduler does not know this information and the dates the scheduler assigned are simply not realistic. Assigning Activity Constraints 1. Select an activity. 2. Click on the Primary field to expand the drop-down list. There are many constraints to choose from in the drop-down list. 3. Select a Constraint type. 4. Click on the Date browse button. 5. Click on the constraint date. 6. Click Select. In order for your project to reflect the constraint, you will have to schedule the project. Then you will see a change to the activity s start date, finish date and the Gantt Chart. 7. Click the Schedule icon on the toolbar. 8. Click Schedule. Once the project has been scheduled with the constraint, the Gantt Chart will reflect these changes. Assigning Project Constraints Apply a Project Constraint will affect the Total Float of your project. Total Float can be an indicator of whether your project will finish on time or not. 1. Click on the Projects button. Page 29

30 A Must Finish By ate is a special constraint placed on the project s end date. Think of it as a target completion date for the project. Be aware that setting a Must Finish By date does NOT force the project to end on the date specified. But, by setting a Must Finish by target date you can use Total Float to indicate how close you are to finishing by your target date. 2. Click the Browse button to set a Must Finish by date. 3. Select a date. 4. Click Select. You ll have to navigate to the Activities screen to reschedule this Must Finish By date into the project. 5. Click on the Activities button on the Directory Bar. 6. Click on the Schedule icon. 7. Click Schedule. The project constraint affected the Total Float of the project. This can be viewed in your WBS Summary Activity. In the Status tab, you can review the Total Float of the project. Names and Definitions of Constraints Must Finish By Start On or After Finish On or Before Start On Start On or Before Finish On Finish On or After As Late as Possible Mandatory Start and Finish Used when an overall project deadline must be met. Forces all activities in the project to finish by the date and time specified. Affects the total float of the entire project. Sets the earliest start date for an activity. This will delay the start dates of successors. No effect if the activity is already scheduled to start after the constraint date. Used to set intermediate completion dates in the project. Affects the late dates of the predecessor. Does not affect the early dates. Forces the activity to start on the constraint date. Forces the activity to start on or later than the constraint date. Forces the activity finish on the constraint date. Forces the activity to finish on or earlier than the constraint date. Delay the activities as late as possible without delaying its successors. Forces early and late dates to be equal to the constraint dates. Page 30

31 Lesson Review Assign constraints to activities and projects to reflect real world limitations. A maximum of two constraints can be assigned to an activity. Notes Page 31

32 Lesson 10 Assigning Resources and Costs Resources Resources are essentially the personnel and equipment that perform work on activities in your project. Materials, such as piping or insulation, would be examples of resources. Thus, a resource comes in three variations in P6: 1. Labour (personnel) 2. Non-Labour (equipment) 3. Material. Assigning a Resource 1. Click on the Resources tab. The Resources tab will show you details about resources assigned to the highlight activity. 2. Highlight the activity you would like to assign a resource to. 3. Click Add Resource. Right now the Current Project s Resources are being shown. It is possible to show all of the resources available to you by changing this setting. 4. Click on the Display bar. 5. In the Filter By heading, select All Active Resources. Now you can view all of the projects resource. 6. Select a resource you would like to assign to the activity. 7. Click Assign. The Assign Resources dialog box will remain open so you can add multiple resources at once. 8. Click close when you are finished. Adding a Resource 1. Click on the Resources button on the Directory bar. The Resources Dictionary allows you to view, edit, and manage your enterprise resource pool. The resources shown here can be assigned to any project in your Page 32

33 database. Part of the power of using Primavera to manage your enterprise s projects is this centralized resource pool where you can share resources across projects. Using other tools in Primavera, you can manage and analyze how your resources are being used across the company. 2. Highlight the level where you would like to place your resource. 3. Click the Add icon on the Command bar. A new resource is now available for you to configure. The first item to enter is a unique Resource ID. 4. Click on the Resource ID field and type the new ID. 5. Press Enter. 6. Click on the Resource Name field and type the new name. The Details Tab Resource Type Select what type of resource you are creating: Labour: o Measured in units of time. o Generally re-used between activities/projects. o Recorded in terms of price/units for example, $65/hr. Non-Labour (tools, equipment, logistics, etc ) o Measured in units of time. o Recorded in terms of price/unit for example, $465/hr. Materials o Measured in units other than time for example, $4.50/meter. Profile The Profile section adds extra information: Calendar: o Assign the calendar used to identify resource availability. o You can also create a Personal Calendar for that specific resource. Default Units/Time: o Indicates the units/time that will be applied when the resource is assigned to an activity. Auto Compute Actuals: o Mark to automatically calculate the resource s actual quantity of work according to the project plan. Calculate costs from units: o Mark to calculate the cost of an activity based on Page 33

34 Currency and Overtime the assigned units. Select the type of currency and overtime paid: Currency: Indicates the currency associated with the resource s costs. Overtime Allowed: Mark to indicate if the resource can enter overtime hours in time sheets. Overtime Fact: Indicates the value by which the resources standards price should be multiplied to determine the resource s overtime price. The Units & Prices Tab Shift Calendar Primavera lets you optionally define and assign a Shift Calendar to a resource. Shift Calendars are used to divide a 24 hour day into configurable work shifts, such as afternoons or evenings. After you define a shift calendar, you can then assign your resource to work a specific shift. Assigning a specific work shift to a resource can be useful if you are planning work that will be performed on a 24-hour basis and the work will be scheduled in shifts. Effective Date The Effective Date is used to keep a history of your resource s Hourly Rates and Max Units/Time. Remember, a resource will likely be assigned to many projects over time. Keeping a history is important if you keep older projects in your database. For example, this resource may have been assigned to an older, completed project in your database at a specified Hourly Rate. Primavera will then maintain that historical rate information with the resource, allowing you to do historical analysis. Max Units/Time The Max Units/Time field represents the number of units available during each work period. This field can be used to indicate the number of resources available in your pool with the same name. Max Units/Time is also used for resource leveling. Price/Unit The Price/Unit allows you to set the price per unit or the general price of the specific resource. Expenses Expenses are non-resource costs associated with an activity. A few examples include: training, travel costs, or costs to move equipment to a work site. Primavera provides you with the ability to track these costs along with their associated activities. 1. Click on the Expense tab. 2. Click Add. Page 34

35 3. Type in a name in the Expense Item field. 4. Click on the Expense Category field. 5. Select an Expense Category field from the open dialog box. 6. Click Assign. 7. Enter a dollar amount in the Budgeted Cost field. The Summary Tab The Summary Tab was designed to show you a summary of all the costs of the highlighted activity. This includes labour, non-labour, material costs, and expenses. Lesson Review A resource is someone, or something, used to complete an activity. Resources are divided into three cateogries: Labour (people); Non-Labour (equipment, tools); and Material (measured in units other than time). Notes Page 35

36 Lesson 11 Analyzing and Optimizing the Project Plan Creating activities, adding resources and entering expenses is just the beginning of managing projects. The next step is to analyze these three primary elements of the project (schedule, resource and cost) to optimize the plan and meet stakeholder requirements. Backing-Up the Project Plan Back-up the project plan regularly to protect against data loss. 1. In the Projects screen, highlight the project you would like to back-up. 2. Click Copy on the Command bar. The Copy Project Options dialog box will pop-up. This gives you the opportunity to copy only some data while not copying others. This is particularly useful when you want to create a similar project from an existing one without some of the data. Mark and unmark checkboxes in the following screens to dictate what will be copied and what will not. 3. Click OK to move forward. When you re finished, you can see that the project will be displayed as a copy of the project in the EPS. Another way to back-up a project plan is to export it as an XER file which is then stored outside the project management database. 1. Click on the File menu. 2. Click Export. You can save the project in multiple formats and for multiple versions. 3. Select the appropriate format. 4. Click Next. Next, you can decide which type of data to export: project, resource only or role only. 5. Choose from the available types of data to export. 6. Click Next. Only open projects can be exported. If you have more than one project open but would only like to export one, unmark the checkboxes under the Export column. 7. Click Next. 8. Select a location in your computer to save the project. Page 36

37 9. Click Finish. Analyzing a Project Plan Analyzing a project plan can help to determine if the project objectives and stakeholder requirements are being met. This analysis should consider schedule, resources and costs. First, begin by comparing the Must Finish By date (a constraint that dictates when the project should be finished) to the Actual Finish Date determined by CPM scheduling in Primavera P6. If the project is late, you ll need to determine which activities are on the critical path and how you can adjust these activities to finish on time. You can shorten a project schedule by: Reducing duration estimates, o Break down longer activities to gain efficiency, o Assign additional resources to reduce activity duration, Modify relationships to overlap activities and shorten overall duration, Assign activities to a longer workweek. 1. Go to the Activities page. 2. Select an activity that is on the critical path. Choose an activity that is on the critical path that has an original duration that may have been overestimated. By shortening the duration of an activity on the critical path, the overall duration of the project will shorten as well. 3. Go to the Status tab. 4. Click on the Original Duration field. 5. Shorten the duration by the necessary number of days. Now that you have changed the duration of the activity, you ll need to reschedule the project. 6. Click the scheduler icon on the toolbar. 7. Click Schedule. In the Activity Table, you can see that the Total Float of the project is 0. This means the project will be completed right on time and stay within the Must Finish By constraint. Resource Usage Profile The Resource Usage Profile to determine the allocation of resources or roles compared to availability. Page 37