An S-Curve is one of the well-known and most used reports on the Projects which becomes like a road map of Project execution. Despite the popularity, there are still Planners that do not know how to develop it and Project managers that have no idea on how to read/analyse it correctly but merely accept it as long as it has an S shape! Here are some of the practices used to develop an S-Curve: Based on the project’s (package or phase) milestones.Based...
Schedule update and progress report (as accurate as possible) is one of the key responsibilities of the Project Control & planning team. To some individuals, the progress reports mean nothing and for them it is either the project is not completed (0%) or Completed (100%). On the contrary, to many, the schedule update and progress provide much more info/insight than a number only about the project. Also, the data could be used on many types of analysis that would be...
Discussions around progress reports and weight values never cease to exist. On almost every occasion, there will be another aspect (rightly or wrongly) to argue about. The argument becomes tense especially in EPC Projects around the weight values. Some of these arguments could as follows: If we complete Engineering (10%) and Procurement (40%) only, how can the overall project be 50% whilst construction is zero?What is the basis of calculations? Money, time, quantity, milestone, etc.? Whichever you chose, another one will...
Preparation of progress reports and schedule update is one of the routine works of the project planners. The accuracy of the reports and updates could be the tipping point for success or failure of the project. Due to same reason, most of the planners have a good knowledge of the types of progress measurement and weight values (W.V). However, there is always a thin fine line without which the system is bound to fail. 1-...
Sometimes during discussions on Weight Value, most people immediately jump to the conclusion that Man-Hours, Cost, etc. must be used. On some Projects, man-hours could be applicable whilst on others Cost. However, for other projects, it could be another factor. It is clear that one factor would not be applicable to all projects. The project’s scope of work, the purpose of PMS, interface with other project control components, etc. must be considered during the weight value calculations. In the following example,...
We measure Engineering Progress in man-hour!We measure Construction progress in man-hour!Man-hour is more accurate in calculating progress!We don’t care about the cost because we don’t measure cost!The cost is more accurate for procurement! 1- These are some of the statements that we came across when PMS gets discussed on Projects and many professionals get excited and try to coerce others to accept what they say. But how true are these statements? To discuss the matter in detail, let’s consider the following...
Most often, when discussions are held regarding weight value and basis for calculations, man-hours and cost comes to the project control professional’s minds. Also, we know on some Projects; Duration of the activities gets used due to lack of info or incompetency of the practitioners. But it seems, there is another way as well which is very weird and seems popular on some Projects. This practise is done in 2 ways: The planner copies the schedule into an Excel file. He/she assumes...
Revisions and reworks of drawings are unavoidable as part of the Engineering. As a result, the progress measurement and reporting have to be able to manage the reworks and revisions. On most instances, the planner uses the 2 practices below:1- Does not change the progress of the drawing until the rework progress catches up!2- Changes the progress as per the rework progress On the 1st one, the progress does not fluctuate but stays flat. As a result, the Engineering team would...
Reference to our post about Weight value and Earned value, there were comments as regards using the mixture of M-H and cost for Engineering, Procurement and Construction phases. Man-Hour could be used in some project. But, almost in all the EPC Projects, weight value calculation is not a straight forward process and using the mixture of Cost and Man-Hours is an INCORRECT practice. For example, on the attached table, the weight value of Engineering and Construction are based on M-H. The...
Most of the requests that we receive to review a project’s Planning system are initiated by the Project Managers. This is after a realization that what gets produced as Progress Reports, is not reflecting the Project’s reality. To review, we require Schedules (BL and updated) and Progress Reports. On most of those Projects, the Planner had used Duration in one shape or another to produce an S-Curve!What is the meaning of an S-Curve Based on Duration? It means the Distribution...