BRIEF Here is a detailed Barchart schedule as shown below, which are grouped by Phase for one project. As we know, P3 can easily summarize them into the groups (See Figure 2). However, it would not be that same story to turn these stacked bars into one continuous and colorful bar as shown on Figure 3. Here is a way to do that: Activity ID Activity Descriptio Orig Dur Rem Dur % Early Start Early ID Description Dur Dur Start Design Selection 00500010 Develop Design Scope for 10 0 100 19SEP97A 02OCT97A Develop Design Scope for 0050002 Site Selection 1 0 100 02OCT97A 02OCT97A Site Selection 00500011 Approve Design Scope 5 0 100 03OCT97A 09OCT97A Approve Design 00500012 Prepare Design RFQ 3 0 100 03OCT97A 07OCT97A Prepare Design RFQ 00500013 Design RFQ Bid Period 10 0 100 08OCT97A 21OCT97A Design RFQ Bid Period 00500014 Interview for Design 5 0 100 22OCT97A 28OCT97A Interview for 00500015 RFQ Evaluation & 10 10 0 29OCT97A 13NOV97 RFQ Evaluation & 00500016 RFQ Approval/ Notice of Award 2 2 0 14NOV97 17NOV97 RFQ Approval/ Notice of 00500017 Negotiate/ Execute Design 10 10 0 18NOV97 01DEC97 Negotiate/ Execute Design 00500018 Prepare & Issue Notice to 1 1 0 01DEC97 01DEC97 Prepare & Issue Notice to Design 0050012 Programming / Schematic Design 30 30 0 02DEC97 12JAN98 Programming / Schematic Design 0050013 A/E Design Development 30 30 0 13JAN98 23FEB98 A/E Design Development 0050014 A/E Contract Documents 20 74 23 24FEB98 05JUN98 A/E Contract Documents 0050016 Constructability Review (80%) 15 15 0 07APR98 27APR98 Constructability Review Bid 0050051 Bid Preparation 22 22 0 07MAY98 05JUN98 Bid Preparation 0050049 Advertisement 14 14 0 19MAY98 05JUN98 Advertisement 0050052 Bid Period 22 22 0 08JUN98 07JUL98 Bid Period 0050053 Bid Review & Award 21 21 0 07JUL98 04AUG98 Bid Review & Award Construction 0050045 Foundation 20 20 0 05AUG98 01SEP98 Foundatio 0050055 Mech./Elect./Plumbing 50 50 0 05AUG98 13OCT98 Mech./Elect./Plumbin 0050050 Structural Work 30 30 0 19AUG98 29SEP98 Structural Work 0050060 Architectural 30 30 0 30SEP98 10NOV98 Architectural Figure 1 Activity ID Activity Descriptio Orig Dur Rem Dur Early Start Early ID Description Dur Dur Start + Design Selection 52 22 19SEP97A 01DEC97 + Design 134 134 02DEC97 05JUN98 + Bid 64 64 07MAY98 04AUG98 + Construction 70 70 05AUG98 10NOV98 Figure 2 Activity ID Activity Descriptio Orig Dur Rem Dur Early Start Early ID Description Dur Dur Start + ABC Tech Center 298 268 19SEP97A 10NOV98 Figure 3 Page 1 of 5
SOULTION 1. Add the following Custom Data Items as shown on Figure 4 2. Create and run Global Changes to replace the above Custom Data dates with the Early Start and Dates for each phase. Create a Global Change File GL-01- Replace Design Selection Dates as shown on Figure 5 and run it. If PHAS EQ E Then SS EQ ES Else SS EQ S2 EQ EF S2 EQ Create GL-02 - Replace Design Dates and enter the following formula and run it: If PHAS EQ G Then DS EQ ES Else DS EQ DF EQ EF DF EQ Create GL-03 - Replace Bid Dates and enter the following formula and run it: If PHAS EQ I Then BS EQ ES Else BS EQ BF EQ EF BF EQ Create GL-04 - Replace Construction Dates and enter the following formula and run it. If PHAS EQ K Then CS EQ ES Else CS EQ CF EQ EF CF EQ (Note that E, G, I, and K are Code values for Code PHAS ) Figure 4 Page 2 of 5
Figure 5 3. Format Bars Go to Bars Format Dialog Window and add (Define) these four bars as shown on Figure 6. Make sure to Uncheck Early Bar under Visible, Check Early Bar under Key and Position these four bars on Pos 2. Once bars are added, Click Modify to modify Bar definition as shown on Figure 7 for each Bar. For Design Selection Bar Define ES (Early Start) as Start Point S2 (Desn Sel ) as End Pont For Design Bar Define DS (Desn Start) as Start Point DF (Desn ) as End Pont For Bid Bar Define BS (Bid Start) as Start Point BF (Bid ) as End Pont For Construction Bar Define CS (Const Start) as Start Point EF (Early ) as End Pont Also, define Bar Color for each bar as any color you want Page 3 of 5
Figure 6 4. After finish formatting Bars, Summarize or Organize All bands by Project (one Level above Phase). Then you will see all stacked bars being bridged as on continuous bar with different color for each phase. Page 4 of 5
Figure 7 Final Words: However, due to the limitation of Adding Custom Data Item (8, maximum) you can only bridge four bars together maximum. Bridged color bars do not look clear in B&W copy. If you need to print out them in B&W, use End Point Manager to enhance the presentation. It there is an overlap between bars, the previous one will automatically top over the succeeding one. This presentation is especially useful for the Program Manager, who normally mange a project from inception, design selection, design, bid/award, and construction. Page 5 of 5