Using Primavera Project Planner Ver 3.1 Courseware

Using Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1 Courseware

Version 1.0, 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, mimeographing, recording, taping or in information storage and retrieval systems without the permission of the author or the publisher. Primavera Project Planner is a trademark of Primavera Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are for their relative owners

Courseware Purpose & Objectives This courseware is for new and novice users of Primavera Project Planner (P3) Ver. 3.1. It covers the beginners and intermediate levels. The courseware demonstrates in a very simple step-by-step procedure the building up of project while the Planning phase (before the actual start of the project) listing all the data needed to complete the plan. The last module discusses the Monitoring phase, which takes place after the actual start of the project, and all of its data, and calculation. At the completion of this course, the trainee will be able to: Differentiate between the projects phases Create a new project Create Activity Codes dictionary, and link them to activities Input activity list Input logical Relationships Run Schedule command and understand the results Input activity calendars Create Resource/Cost Account dictionaries, and assign resources and costs to activities Formatting P3, and creating Layouts Printing Layouts Creating Targets Updating projects

Table of Contents

Module 1 Introduction to Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1 What is Primavera Project Planner?.. 1-3 How to Start P3?....... 1-5 Opening a Project in P3..... 1-6 P3 Bar Chart Screen.. 1-8 P3 PERT Screen 1-9 Method of Working... 1-10 Creating a New Project.. 1-10 Workshop 1... 1-12 Module Review. 1-13 Module Review Answers.. 1-14

Module 2 Classification Using Activity Codes and IDs The Importance of Classification.. 2-3 Before You Start 2-3 Activity Code Command... 2-5 Activity ID tab in Activity Code... 2-7 Set the Order for Codes and IDs... 2-9 Validate Against Dictionary and Refresh.. 2-10 Printing Activity Code Dictionary 2-11 Transferring Activity Code Dictionary. 2-13 Notes.. 2-14 Workshop 2... 2-15 Module Review. 2-17 Module Review Answers.. 2-18

Module 3 Inputting Basic Activity Data What is Activity?................................................................................................................................... 3-3 Activity ID. 3-4 Activity Description.. 3-4 Activity Original Duration (OD)... 3-5 Activity Type. 3-6 Before You Start 3-8 Adding Activities.. 3-9 Deleting Activities. 3-10 Editing Activities... 3-10 Copying Activities. 3-12 Linking Activities with Codes... 3-13 Workshop 3... 3-14 Module Review. 3-17 Module Review Answers.. 3-18

Module 4 Inputting Logic Relationships What is Logic Relationship?.................................................................................................................. 4-3 Predecessor and Successor. 4-4 Types of Relationships... 4-5 Relationships with Lag... 4-7 Examples of Relationships with Lag.. 4-8 Inputting Relationships Using Bar Chart View: Step 1. 4-9 Inputting Relationships Using Bar Chart View: Step 2. 4-10 Inputting Relationships Using Bar Chart View: Step 3. 4-13 Inputting Relationships Using PERT View: Step 1, 2, and 3 4-14 Editing Relationships. 4-17 Tracing Logic in PERT View. 4-19 Link and Unlink Activities. 4-19 Autolink Activities. 4-20 Workshop 4 4-21 Module Review.. 4-23 Module Review Answers... 4-24

Module 5 First Schedule Run Introduction 5-3 Automatic Schedule vs. Manual Schedule. 5-3 The Schedule Passes... 5-6 Total Float.. 5-8 Free Float 5-9 Other Data Checked for While Scheduling 5-9 Schedule Command 5-11 Workshop 5 5-14 The View after Schedule 5-15 Schedule Report. 5-16 Notes... 5-19 Workshop 6 5-20 Module Review.. 5-21 Module Review Answers... 5-22

Module 6 Inputting Activity Calendar Introduction... 6-3 Global Calendar. 6-4 Individual Calendar... 6-7 Assigning Individual Calendar to an Activity... 6-10 Imposing a Finish Date on the Project.. 6-10 Other Ways to Define Holidays 6-12 Printing Calendars. 6-13 Transferring Activity Calendar. 6-16 Notes.. 6-18 Workshop 7... 6-19 Module Review. 6-21 Module Review Answers.. 6-22

Module 7 Resources and Cost Assignment Introduction... 7-3 How to Create Resource Dictionary?.................................................................................................... 7-4 How to Create Cost Account Dictionary?............................................................................................. 7-7 Workshop 8... 7-11 Assigning Resources and Cost to Activities.. 7-12 Workshop 9... 7-17 Resource and Cost Profile (Histograms)... 7-18 Resource and Cost Tabular Reports.. 7-23 Notes.. 7-28 Workshop 10. 7-29 Module Review. 7-31 Module Review Answers.. 7-32

Module 8 Layout and Formatting Options What is Layout in P3?............................................................................................................................ 8-3 Formatting Columns... 8-5 Workshop 11.. 8-7 Formatting Selected Bars... 8-8 Workshop 12.. 8-10 Global Bar Formatting... 8-11 Workshop 13.. 8-16 Module Review. 8-17 Module Review Answers.. 8-18

Module 9 More Formatting Options Formatting Options... 9-3 Timescale Formatting 9-4 Sight Lines Formatting.. 9-6 Screen Colors Formatting.. 9-8 Fonts Formatting... 9-9 Dates Formatting... 9-10 Organizing. 9-11 How P3 Calculates the Dates If Totals are Displayed?......................................................................... 9-13 Reorganize Now 9-13 Summarize. 9-14 Filters. 9-16 Selecting Using Filters.. 9-19 Workshop 14. 9-20 Module Review. 9-23 Module Review Answers.. 9-24

Module 10 Printing Layouts Introduction........ 10-3 Printer Setup... 10-3 Page Setup.. 10-6 Print Preview.. 10-11 Print Command.. 10-13 Workshop 15.. 10-15 Module Review. 10-17 Module Review Answers.. 10-18

Module 11 Project Updating Before the Actual Start of the Project 11-3 Workshop 16.. 11-4 Actual Work Started What Should I Do?............................................................................................... 11-5 Updating Using Progress Spotlight 11-9 Earned Value.. 11-10 Workshop 17.. 11-13 Making Backup of Your Project 11-15 Restoring Your Project... 11-16 Creating Updating Layouts 11-17 Creating Tabular Reports... 11-18 Workshop 18.. 11-25 Module Review. 11-27 Module Review Answers.. 11-28

Preface Primavera Project Planner (P3) is a tool for Planners, Project

Managers, and any person needs to plan-control a project

This courseware is perfect for new and novice users of P3. It is a very handy tool for teachers in colleges and universities whom they are teaching P3

This courseware will not teach the reader Project (Construction) Management. It is a pre-requisite to know the science behind PM or CM by at least reading a book, or taking a course

This courseware can be used as instructor-led courseware, or teach-your-self courseware:

As for the first option, the estimated time would be 3 days, 8 hours a day

As for the second option, the reader can take it up to his/her convenience

There are 18 workshops, which will complete a full (small) project starting from creating the project, up until the updating process. Solving all workshops will lead to:

Simulate a real life project from beginning to end, hence putting the reader in the practical mode

Organize the information in a very logical order Not overlooking any of the basic and necessary commands and

functions in P3

This courseware will cover the basic and intermediate levels of knowledge in P3

This courseware is covering P3 Ver. 3.1

1-1

Module 1:

Introduction to Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1 This module contains: What is Primavera Project Planner (P3)? How to deal with P3 file commands? P3 screens Method of working How to create a new project

Using Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1

1-2

Module 1: Introduction to Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1

1-3

What is Primavera Project Planner?

Primavera Project Planner is the flagship product of Primavera Systems, Inc. the leader in the management software since 1982

Primavera Project Planner is abbreviated P3 P3 is specialized in managing all types of projects: small, medium,

and large

Big projects through the world were planned and controlled using P3

P3 is used in almost all countries of the world Mainly there are two stages in Project Management to manage any

project:

Planning stage Monitoring stage

In Planning stage, which takes place before the practical start of the project, the management team will plan for the following factors:

Time Resources Cost

To mention few things takes place in Planning stage: Calculating activity duration based on work demanded,

productivity, and efficiency of the different resources

Understanding the logic sequence of the project Assigning Resources and Costs to activity, hence, view the

Resource/Cost histograms

Generating a Procurement plan Anticipating problems may take place in all parts of the project


1-4

Planning team will use:

Previous management experiences Previous practical experiences of similar projects Historical data collected actually from the field

The plan generated should be practical and doable, and not ideal, and impossible to be accomplished

In the Monitoring stage, the management team will: Specify the type of data to be collected from the field Decide on which forms should be used in collecting data (you

can use international pre-defined forms, or customize your own)

Collect actual data from the field, in daily basis The data collected should cover the three main areas planned for,

namely; Time, Resources, and Cost

P3 has the sufficient functions to help the user plan for the time, resources, and cost, and then later monitor them

P3 has enormous pre-made reports to aid the user producing all the necessary information about the project in either phase of the project

Also, P3 has the ability to customize layouts with tables and graphics (controlling colors, fonts, etc.) and produce very handsome and colorful reports


1-5

How to start P3?

You have two ways to start P3:

If there is a shortcut in the desktop simply double-click it From Windows taskbar, click Start / Programs / Primavera /

Primavera Project Planner

P3 will start with no projects open, like the following:


1-6

Opening a project in P3

From the toolbar click Open tool, or from menus select File/Open The following dialogue box will appear:

Specify the Drive you want to open the project from Specify the Folders In the Projects table your project should be displayed in the list,

click on it (dont double-click unless you are sure that this project is the desired one)


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If you want to make sure that the selected project, is your desired project, simply click Overview button, and the following dialogue box will be displayed:

In this dialogue box you can see almost all the needed information including: Project title, Company name, Planning unit, Project Start date, and Data date, Activity count, Early Finish of the project

If this is the file, click Open, otherwise click Cancel, and select another file

P3 has two Displays to work with (as illustrated in the next two pages):

Bar Chart view PERT view

Note You can open 4 different projects simultaneously in P3


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P3 Bar Chart Screen

Title Bar Menu Bar Toolbar

Status Bar Bar AreaActivity Table


1-9

P3 PERT Screen


1-10

Method of Working

P3 is using Critical Path Method (CPM) in calculating the dates and floats of the activities

P3 is using Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) in presenting the network

P3 will calculate the schedule reference to the Data Date (DD), which is defined as Time Now:

If you are in the Planning phase DD is the Start Date of the Project

If you are in Monitoring phase, it will be the date of the day you will run the Schedule command in

Creating a New project

From the toolbar click New button, or from menus select File/New The following dialogue box will appear:


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Input the Project name (should be always 4 characters) Input Number/Version, if you want to signify the trial number Input the Project title, and Company name Input the Planning unit (You have four choices, Hour, Day, Week,

and Month). Accordingly, the Activities will be measured using the selected planning unit

Input Workdays/week, which is the number of working days per a given week

Input Week starts on, you have the choice of starting the week from any day you would like

Input the Project start date Input when the Project must finish by date. This piece of

information is optional, hence we prefer, if you leave it empty, and we will later input it

Once you are done, click Add, a new empty project will be opening


1-12

Creating New Project

Workshop 1 Our workshops are built around a medium project issued by Technology

University. The project is to construct two new buildings, and to renovate an existing one. Technology University wants to build up a new building, which will be devoted for Classrooms (it will be a concrete structure), another building is a Gymnasium with high modern standards (it will be steel structure), and finally wants to renovate the existing lab building. 1. Create a new folder holding your name (this is a non-professional way

to name a folder, but we will use it for its easiness)

2. Start P3

3. Create a new file and save it in your folder

4. Input the following data:

a. Project Name: SCIE

b. Number/Version: 1.0

c. Project Title: Science College Expansion Project

d. Company Name: Technology University

e. Planning Unit: Day

f. Work days/Week: 5

g. Week Starts On: Monday

h. Project Starts: 27 JUN 2005

5. Leave the rest of data as is, and click Add


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Module Review

1. P3 means:

a. Primavera software version 3

b. Primavera software goes through 3 stages of work

c. Primavera Project Planner

d. All of the above

2. Project Management goes through two main stages: _____________ and ____________

3. P3 can deal with:

a. 1 file at a time

b. 2 files at a time

c. 3 files at a time

d. 4 files at a time

4. You input actual data in the Planning stage:

a. True

b. False

5. DD definition is:

a. Start Date

b. Time Now

c. Data Date

d. B & C

6. CPM means ______________________________________________________________.


1-14

Module Review Answers 1. c

2. Planning and Monitoring

3. d

4. b

5. d

6. Critical Path Method

2-1

Module 2:

Classification Using Activity Codes and IDs This module contains: The importance of Classification in projects The difference between Activity Codes and Activity IDs Steps to create Activity Code Dictionary Printing and Sharing Activity Code Dictionary


2-2

Module 2: Classification Using Activity Codes and IDs

2-3

The Importance of Classification

Activities are the main component of a project Mid-sized projects may reach 1000 to 4000 activities Dealing with such big number of Activities needs from the user to

classify the activities to achieve all/any of the following:

Organize and group the activities according to common code which will lead to produce good looking Layouts (will be discussed later)

Produce complex reports fast and accurate Answer urgent questions (e.g. in meetings) using simple steps

Classification of Activities can be done using: Activity Codes (Code or ID) WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

We will discuss in this courseware the Activity Codes Before You Start

Before you start inputting data to P3, go through the following steps: Draw diagram (or diagrams, depends on your case) to show the

types of classifications and their expected values, like the diagram below:

Internal Finishing External Finishing Construction

Phase


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Then type a code for each classification and its values:

From the diagram above, we can see the following: The classification (we will call it Activity Code) is Phase, and its

abbreviation is PHAS

The expected values for this Activity Code are: Construction CN, Internal Finishing IF, and External Finishin EF

The number of characters for each value is 2 Repeat the same steps for other classifications

Internal FinishingIF

External FinishingEF

ConstructionCN

PhasePHAS


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Activity Code Command

From menus select Data/Activity Codes, the following dialogue box will appear:

In the Activity Code tab you will find actvitiy codes defined in your project (these are the default activity codes, and they will be copied to any new project automatically) so the first step will be to delete the existing codes

Input the Activity Codes taking into consideration the following: The Name of the code shouldnt exceed 4 characters The Length, which is the number of characters for the values of

this code (i.e. in our previous example it was 2). Sum of all lenghts shouldnt exceed 64 characters

The Description, which is a brief description of the code


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You will get something like the dialogue box shown below:

Now input the values for each Activity Code, like below:

Repeat the same steps for other Activity Codes


2-7

Activity ID tab in Activity Code

In the Activity Code dialogue box there is a tab titled Activity ID:

What is the significance of Activity ID in P3? To answer this question, we have to know that each and every activity in P3 should have an Activity ID (which is the Activity Name), which may be anything you wish, like:

AA1, AA2, AA3, etc. 123, 124, 125, etc. AAA, AAB, AAC, etc.

But as you can see the above IDs dont reflect any meaning or any type of information

P3 suggests to utilize the Activity ID part to do two things: Name our activities intelligently Calssify our activities just like we did in Activity Codes

You can have up to four classifications as Activity ID Click on the Activity ID tab, and do as you did in the Activity Code

tab:

The Name of the ID shouldnt exceed 4 characters The Length, which is the number of characters for the values of

this ID. The sum of all lenghts shouldnt exceed 10 characters

The Description, which is a brief description of the ID


2-8

You will get something like the below:


2-9

Set the Order for Codes and IDs

One of most important reasons we use Activity Codes, and Activity IDs is to organize and group activities, like in the picture below:

In Order field you will specify which group will apear first If you didnt interfere in the order, P3 will order them alphabetically Check the below dialogue box:


2-10

Validate Against Dictionary and Refresh

If the planner while linking Activity Codes (or Activity ID) to an activity input a value that doesnt exist in the dictionary, how P3 will react?

It depends on your project settings. There are two methods: Automatic method Manual method

Automatic method

From menus select Data/Activity Codes In the bottom portion of dialogue box, there is a checkbox says:

When new code values occurs in project, validate against dictionary

Click this checkbox on From now on, whenever the user input any value that doesnt exist in

the dictionary, P3 will add this value

User should later input the the description, and order Manual method From menus select Data/Activity Codes

Click off the checkbox says: When new code values occurs in project, validate against dictionary

From now on, whenever the user input any value that doesnt exist in the dictionary, P3 will not add this value to the dictionary, but rather will wait for the user to do that manaully

To do that manually, click Refresh button


2-11

Printing Activity Code Dictionary

In order to include the classifiaction hierarchy with your project papers, so other out-siders would understand the coding structure of your project, you can print a report and save it

Click the Print button, P3 will give you the following warning message:

Click OK, the following dialgoue box will appear:

A report will be produced, just like the one on the next page


2-12

This is a sample of a report:


2-13

Transferring Activity Code Dictionary

You can transfer Activity Code Dictionary between projects Go to the new project you want to transfer to From menus select Data/Activity Codes

Click the Transfer button, the following warning message will appear:

Click OK. The following dialogue box will appear:

Specify the Driver and Folder which the desired project you want to copy from resides in, then at the top portion of the dialogue box specify the project. Now click Transfer

The dictionary will be copied to your project


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Notes


2-15

Creating And Inputting Activity Codes and IDs

Workshop 2 1. Open SCIE project

2. Delete the existing Activity Codes

3. Using the following diagram, create Activity Code PHAS and its values in the Activity Code tab (Use numbers for Order):

4. Using the following diagram, create Activity Code RESP and its values in the Activity Code tab:

Tom HunterTH (2)

Liza MorrottoLM (3)

Michael MannMM (1)

ResponsibilityRESP

Internal Finishing IF (3)

External Finishing EF (2)

ConstructionCN (1)

Phase PHAS

Handing Over HO (4)


2-16

5. Using the following diagram, create Activity ID BLDG and its values in

the Activity ID tab:

6. Produce a print out of your dictionary

GymGM (3)

LabLB (2)

ClassroomsCR (1)

BuildingBLDG


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Module Review

1. We need Activity Codes to:

a. Classify our activities

b. Organize and Group our activities

c. Produce Layouts

d. All of the above

2. The Name of Activity Code should not exceed _____________ characters

3. One of the following statements are true about Activity Code Order

a. Affect the activities grouping

b. Affect whether this code is useable or not

c. Differentiate between Activity Code and Activity ID

d. Specify the maximum length of code value

4. The number of values for any Activity Code or ID is limited by 10

a. True

b. False

5. The only difference between Activity Code and Activity ID is:

a. There is no difference

b. Activity ID coding will appear as part of the Activity ID

c. Activity code will appear as part of the Activity ID

d. Both will appear as part of the Activity ID

6. If you transfer an Activity Code Dictionary from project to another project, the transferred Dictionary will _________.the existing one.


2-18

Module Review Answers 1. d

2. 4

3. a

4. b

5. b

6. Overwrite

3-1

Module 3:

Inputting Basic Activity Data This module contains: What is activity? The basic activity data needed to input an activity Preparation before you input an activity Adding/Deleting/Editing Activities Copying activities Linking activities with Activity Codes


3-2

Module 3: Inputting Basic Activity Data

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What is Activity?

Activity is the basic component of any project We can define activity as any work you want to accomplish Work is a very loose word, each one of us can look at it from

different angle

For instance, one will consider Constructing First Floor Slab as a single activity

Another will consider: Formwork for First Floor Slab as an activity Re-baring for First Floor Slab as an activity Concrete Placement for First Floor Slab as an activity

It is a common knowledge that if two planners were given the same project, the activity list will be very different

This will highlight the fact that Activity List writing is not exact science

We can input lots of information pieces for an activity, but initially we need only four:

Activity ID Activity Description Activity Original Duration (abbreviated as OD) Activity Type


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Activity ID

Activity ID is the Activity Name It is the only compulsory piece of information P3 asks for, other data

either can be left empty, or there is a default value for it

In Module 2, we selected the Building to be our Activity ID, with expected values Classrooms CR, Gym GM, and Lab LB

Now, each activity ID in our project will start with either CR, GM, or LB, example would be CR100, GM205, and LB303

The numbers after the two characters would be sequential number, which would be left to the user

Activity ID could be as long as 10 characters (spaces are allowed and counted)

Activity Description

This piece of information is devoted for the user to write a short description about the activity

You can leave it empty if you wish (P3 will not generate any error messages)

You can type up to 48 characters (including spaces)


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Activity Original Duration (OD)

Activity Original Duration can be either input by the user, or calculated by P3

It depends on the type of resources which will be assigned to it: If the resources were Non-Driving, the user will assign the

duration

If the resources were Driving, P3 will calculate the duration In this courseware, we will tackle only the first type of activities,

hence we need to calculate the OD manually then input the value to P3

Some guidelines to help calculating OD would be: Prepare for each activity a worksheet (this can be a piece of paper

or MS Excel sheet)

List the resources which will work on the activity List the amount of work in which each resource can accomplish Specify the productivity, and estimated count of each resource to

be assigned

With the above information available the user can produce correct OD which is based on real calculation


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Activity Type

In P3, there are 9 types of activities Each one would suit a certain case The default type is Task activity In this courseware, we will discuss only five of them, they are:

Task activity Start Milestone activity (SM) Finish Milestone activity (FM) Start Flag activity (SF) Finish Flag activity (FF)

Task Activity The default type of activities Task activity is any activity has a duration, the start and finish of it

will be calculated according to the activity base calendar

Duration should be input by the user if no resources or Non-Driving resources were assigned to the activity. In case of Driving Resources P3 will calculate the duration

Start and Finish Milestone

Zero-Duration activities Start Milestone used to signify the beginning of an activity or group

of related activities. Finish Milestone used to signify the ending of an activity or group of related activities

Start Milestone considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activities related to it directly cant start before it, but rather with it, or after it

Finish Milestone considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activities related to it directly cant finish after it, but rather with it, or before it

Start Milestone should be updated, and will have Actual Start Finish Milestone should be updated, and will have Actual Finish


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Start and Finish

Flag Zero-Duration activities Start Flag used to signify the beginning of an activity or group of

activities. Finish Flag used to signify the ending of an activity or group of activities

Start Flag considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activities related to it directly cant start before it, but rather with it, or after it

Finish Flag considered to be a Constraint, as all of the activities related to it directly cant finish after it, but with it, or before it

Start Flag, and Finish Flag are always Successors to other Activities and never considered as Predecessors to other Activities. Accordingly, SF will accept neither Start-To-Finish, nor Finish-To-Finish relationships. In addition, FF will accept neither Finish-To-Start, nor Start-To-Start relationships.

Start Flag, and Finish Flag will not be updated by the user, but P3 will update them according to the activities linked to them

Example of Milestones

Activity A StartMilestone Activity C

Activity D

Activity B

Activity E

Activity F

FinishMilestone


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Example of Flags

Before You Start

Before you start inputting basic activity data, from menus select Tools/Options/Activity Inserting, the following dialogue box will appear:

You have three choices to select from: To Automatically number activities without showing the

Actvitiy Form

To Automatically number activities and showing the Actvitiy Form

To show the Activity Form only Using the Activity Form only will give you more control over the

process of inputting activities. Consequently, do the following:

Click off Automatically number activities Click on Use activity form when inserting an activity

Activity A Activity C

Activity D

Activity B

Activity E

Activity F

Start Flag

Finish Flag


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Adding Activities

From the Edit Bar, click the button with plus sign The Activity Form will appear automatically:

You will find the cursor blinking in the ID part, type in the Activity ID, then press Tab key, or click the next field (dont press Enter, as this means that you are done with inputting)

Next field is Activity Description, type in the activity description, press Tab key

The cursor will go directly to the OD field, input the estimated origianl duration of your activity

Specify the Activity Type, you have two choices: If your activity is Task, click OK, or press Enter If your activity is SM, FM, SF, or FF, right-click on the Type

field, the following menu will appear:

Select the desired activity type Click OK, or press Enter, the Activity Form will disappear To add another activity click below the last activity in the activity

table, or click plus sign again


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Deleting Activities

Select the activity (or activities) to be deleted From Edit bar, click minus sign, or from menus click Edit/Delete The following dialogue box will appear:

If you are sure of what you are doing click Yes, the activity will be deleted

If not click No, the deleting process will stop Editing Activities

There are two methods to edit the activity data: Editing all types of data Editing single data

Editing all activity data

Double-Click on any activity, the Activity Form will appear, then you can edit whatever data you would like

The same can happen if you select from menus Edit/Edit Activity Editing single

activity data Select the cell which contains the data you want to edit (the cell

selector is a bold frame appears around the cell required), just like the below example:

The contents of the cell will appear in the Edit bar Click the Edit bar, or press F2 to edit the contents


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Note Other ways to show the Activity Form permenantly are:

From menus select View/Activity Form Press F7

From toolbar click Activity Form icon These 3 ways are ON/OFF functions, which means they will show

or hide the Activity Form

Using the baove methods of editing activites is applicable to all types of data except two types:

All the data calculated by P3 (like ES, EF, LS, LF, TF, etc.) which we will discuss later

Activity ID, unless you opened your project as Exclusive (which is a checkbox in the Open dialogue box)


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Copying Activities

Copying activities means copying the whole data of single activity or activities

Copying can be done from a project to the same project, or across projects

Select the desired activity (or activities) From menues select Edit/Copy, Ctrl+C, or right-click and select

Copy

Go to the desired place (the same project, or open another project) From menus select Edit/Paste, Ctrl+V, or right-click and select Paste In order for P3 to make sure that no duplication of the same activity

ID will take place, the following dilaogue box will appear:

You can select one of the four choices available: Rename duplicates only Rename all Prefix or suffix Auto-increment


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Rename

duplicates only P3 will select the coming activities with maching IDs only to be

renamed, the rest will be pasted without any change

Rename All P3 will show all activities to be renamed Prefix or suffix It is a fast way to rename activities, by suggesting a character (or

characters) to appear to the left of the coming activities IDs (this is prefix) or appear to the right of the coming activities IDs (this is suffix)

Auto-increment It is another fast way to rename activities, by suggesting a base name (for instance GM100) and then an increment number (for instance 10) this will allow P3 to rename all the coming activites easily

Also you can make sure that the coming activities are the desired ones, by clicking Contents buttom which will display the names of the coming activities

Linking Activities with Codes

In Module 2 we created Activity Code Dictionary In this Module we will link each activity with the proper code value The lower left part Activity Form contains the Activity Codes

defined and its value

Right-click on the desired code, a list of the available values will be displayed, select the desired value

Do the same for the other codes


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Inputting Basic Activity Data


2. Input the activities from next pages

3. Taking into consideration the following notes:

a. Read the whole list first, and identify the similarity between the IDs, and description of different activities

b. Utilize Activity Copying utility, which will minimize the time of data input. Also, utilize of renaming of activities


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N

o. Activity

ID Activity Description Type

Dur

atio

n

Phas

e

Res

p

1 CR050 Site Preparation & Mobilization for Classrooms Task 18 CN MM2 CR100 Start of Classrooms Construction SM 0 CN MM3 CR105 Excavation for Classrooms Task 25 CN MM4 CR110 Concrete Works for Foundation for Classrooms Task 28 CN MM5 CR115 Filling and Compacting Soil for Classrooms Task 15 CN MM6 CR120 Start of Concrete Skeleton for Classrooms SF 0 CN MM7 CR125 Beams/Columns/Slabs for 1st Floor (Classroom) Task 38 CN MM8 CR130 Beams/Columns/Slabs for 2nd Floor (Classroom) Task 38 CN MM9 CR135 Beams/Columns/Slabs for 3rd Floor (Classroom) Task 38 CN MM10 CR140 Finish of Concrete Skeleton for Classrooms FF 0 CN MM11 CR200 External Stone Fixing for Classrooms Task 65 EF LM 12 CR205 Waxing External Stones for Classrooms Task 12 EF LM 13 CR300 Preliminary Plumbing, Elec. & HVAC for Classrooms Task 16 IF TH 14 CR305 Internal Finishing for Classrooms Task 38 IF TH 15 CR310 Final Plumbing, Elec. & HVAC for Classrooms Task 22 IF TH 16 CR315 Paining of Classrooms Task 44 IF TH 17 CR400 Finish of Classrooms Construction FM 0 HO MM18 CR500 Handing Over Classroom Building Task 5 HO MM19 GM050 Site Preparation & Mobilization for Gym Task 12 CN MM20 GM100 Start of Gym Construction SM 0 CN MM21 GM105 Excavation for Gym Task 25 CN MM22 GM110 Concrete Works for Foundation for Gym Task 28 CN MM23 GM115 Filling and Compacting Soil for Gym Task 15 CN MM24 GM120 Steel Skeleton for Gym Task 36 CN MM25 GM200 Precast-Concrete Cladding for Gym Task 35 EF LM 26 GM205 Cleaning and Waxing Concrete Cladding for Gym Task 12 EF LM 27 GM300 Install Plumbing, Elec., and HVAC for Gym Task 40 IF TH 28 GM305 Special Wooden Floor Fixing for Gym Task 27 IF TH 29 GM310 Fixing Seats in Gym Task 24 IF TH 30 GM400 Finish of Gym Construction FM 0 HO MM31 GM500 Handing Over Gym Building Task 5 HO MM32 LB100 Start of renovation of Lab SM 0 IF MM33 LB105 Stripping the existing Lab Task 18 IF LM 34 LB110 Preliminary Plumbing, Elec. & HVAC for Lab Task 26 IF TH


3-16

35 LB115 Install Base Cabinets Task 18 IF LM 36 LB120 Install Fume Hood Task 12 IF LM 37 LB125 Install Wall Cabinets Task 29 IF LM 38 LB130 Install Chemical Sink Task 15 IF LM 39 LB135 Final Plumbing, Elec. & HVAC for Lab Task 32 IF TH 40 LB140 Lay PVC tiles over Lab Floor Task 38 IF TH 41 LB200 Finish of renovation of Lab FM 0 HO MM42 LB500 Handing Over Lab Building Task 5 HO MM


3-17

Module Review

1. How many activity types available in P3:

a. 8

b. 9

c. 7

d. 5

2. ____________ should not have a successor

3. One of the following is considered an intelligent Activity ID:

a. 123, 124, 125

b. A125, A126, A127

c. CR105, GM110, LB200

d. All of the above

4. I can edit the Activity ID of a certain activity

a. True

b. False

5. P3 will not permit to have two activities with the same ID in the same project

a. True

b. False

6. Using _________________, or ______________________ I can edit the all types of data for certain activity


3-18

Module Review Answers 1. b

2. Flags

3. c

4. a

5. a

6. Double-click, or Edit/Edit Activity

4-1

Module 4:

Inputting Logic Relationships This module contains: What is logic relationship? Predecessor and Successor Types of relationship Inputting relationships using Bar Chart view Inputting relationships using PERT view Editing relationships Tracing relationships Link and unlink activities Using Autolink function


4-2

Module 4: Inputting Logic Relationships

4-3

What is Logic Relationship?

In Module 1 it was mentioned that P3 uses PDM (Precedence Diagramming Method) in representing the network

There are mainly two methods to represent a network: Activity-On-Arrow Activity-On-Node

Activity-On-Arrow

Also known ADM (Arrow Diagramming Method) The old method of representing the network To go from event A to event B, you will do certain thing:

Almost none of the software in the current market is offering this method for representing the network

Activity-On-Node Also known as PDM The activities are at the two nodes of a logic relationship Logic relationship is a link which ties two activities in a sequence

manner, for instance:

The name Logic indicates that the relationship is not compulsory but rather it represents how the planner is viewing the sequence of the project, hence any delay in start or end, is acceptable

A B CExcavation Foundation

Excavation Foundation Filling


4-4

Predecessor and Successor

Based on the above each activity will have: Predecessor (or Predecessors) Successor (or Successors)

Predecessor Is any activity takes place in time before a given activity There could be more than one predecessor for a given activity

Successor Is any activity takes place in time after a given activity There could be more than one successor for a given activity

One of the common practices is to prepare a table called either the Successor table or Predecessor table, depends on the way you want to take it:

If you want to start with the first activity and go all the way to the right, you should produce a Successor table

If you want to start with the last activity and go all the way to the left, you should produce a Predecessor table

A successor table may look something like the following: Activity Successor

CR050 CR100, GM050, LB100 CR100 CR105 CR105 CR110


4-5

Types of Relationships

P3 supports four types of relationships: Finish-To-Start (known as FS) Start-To-Start (known as SS) Finish-To-Finish (known as FF) Start-To-Finish (known as SF)

Note When we say Start, that means the start of a working day When we say Finish, that means the finish of working day

Finish-To-Start The most commonly used relationship, and the default relationship in P3

When A finishes B starts the next day:

Start-To-Start One of two relationships which allows parallel activities When A starts B starts at the same day:

Note In the above case A is considered to be a Predecessor of B although A and B starts at the same day

AOD=7

BOD=10

S=1 F=7 S=8 F=17

BOD=10

S=5 F=14

AOD=7

S=5 F=11


4-6

Finish-To-Finish The second relationship which allows parallel activities

When A finishes B finishes at the same day:

Note In the above case A is considered to be a Predecessor of B although A and B finishes at the same day

Start-To-Finish This relationship is seldom used by planners It can be used effectively with flags If you want to link a start of an activity with a Finish Flag you can

use Start-To-Finish relationship

When A starts B finishes

BOD=10

F=14

AOD=7

F=14

A

B


4-7

Relationships with Lag

Normally the following applies to relationship: In FS relationship if the predecessor finishes in day 5 (for

instance) the successor will start at day 6

In SS relationship if the predecessor starts at day 5, the successor will start at day 5

In FF relationship if the predecessor finishes at day 11, the successor will finish at day 11

The above shows that relationships dictate immediate start or finish for the successor. If you dont want immediate start or finish for the relationship, you have to use the Lag time

Lag time is the number of time-periods (days in our case) which you delay the successor from its predecessor. Lag time can be positive, or negative, check the following examples in the next page:


4-8

Examples of Relationship with Lag

A BFS 7

Finish-To-Start with +ve Lag

A

B

FF 4

Finish-To-Finish with +ve Lag

A

B

Finish-To-Start with -ve Lag

FS -3

A

BSS 6

Start-To-Start with +ve Lag


4-9

Inputting Relationships Using Bar Chart View: Step 1

Draw your network on paper first: The biggest mistake a planner can do is to start inputting

relationships without preparing it on paper first

The management team should have more than one meeting discussing the logic of the network

Drawing the network and the logic sequence is not an easy job, it needs:

Huge field experience Team work and discussion (even sometimes needs Brain

Storming)

Deciding which is more important to the planner (it differs from owner point-of-view, to contractor point-of-view) the completion time, or the expenditure of money and resources. Hence creating more serial fashion relationships, or parallel (or overlapping) fashion relationships


4-10


Prepare the layout so you can easily see the relationship lines. This involves three steps to do:

Make sure that the relationship lines is shown Increase the Row Height Learn how to Find Activities

Show Relationship lines

The relationships can be either displayed, or hidden To make sure, do the following:

From menus choose View, the following menu will appear:

If you see (3) beside Relationships, you will know that the relationship lines will be displayed, if not, do one of the following:

From menus select View/Relationships Press F3

From toolbar, click Relationship Lines tool


4-11

Increase Row

Height Increasing Row Height is to spread the activities vertically so you

can view the relationship lines better, see the following examples:

Without Increasing the row height:

With Increasing the row height:

Select one of the activities From menus select Format/Row Height, the following dialogue

box will appear:

Do the following steps: Turn off the check box Automatic Size Set the Row height in points value to the desired number Click on All Activities under Apply to part Click OK


4-12

Find activity This function is very important, as sometimes you need to locate an

activity to start defining its successor(s)

Do one of the following: From menus select Edit/Find Activity Press Ctrl+F

From toolbar, click Find Activity tool Using any of the above the following dialogue box will appear:

Type in the Activity ID, select All activities, then click Find


4-13


You can input the relationships using: Activity Form Graphically

Using Activity Form

Select (or Find) the activity you want to define either successor(s), or predecessor(s) for

Press F7

Click either Pred, or Succ buttons The following dialogue box will appear

Click (+) sign, type in the predecessor (or successor) ID Specify the Rel (which is the relationship). The default is FS If there is any Lag, specify it You can define more than one predecessor, or successor

Select one of the predecessors, or successors, and click Jump, to go to it. Then continue defining relationships

This what you may get:


4-14

Using

Graphically method

Specify the end (Start, or Finish) you want to start with for a certain activity

Get closer to it, up until the cursor change to Relationship cursor Now click and hold. The relationship line will appear Go to the other desired end, and drop the relationship line

The relationship line will be created Inputting Relationships Using PERT View: Step 1, 2, and 3

All the notes we highlighted in the Bar Chart for Step 1, applies to PERT

From menus select View/PERT The following view will appear:


4-15

Each activity is represented by a box, the left part of the box is the

start, and the right part is the finish

As you can see the boxes are very close to each other To spread the boxes horizontally and vertically, you can increase the

spacing

From menus select Format/Organize, the following dialogue box will appear, select the Spacing tab:

Change to the new value for the spacing horizontally, and vertically


4-16

The result may look something like the following:

The relationship lines are by default shown But still we need to find activities, like we did in the Bar chart view To input relationships, use one of the two methods mentioned in Bar

chart view (namely; using the Activity Form, or the Graphical method)


4-17

Editing Relationships

For both Bar chart view, and PERT view, the editing methods are the same

Available editing methods are: Using Activity Form Graphical method

Using Activity Form

Find the activity you want to edit the relationship for Press F7 The Activity Form will appear

Click both Pred, or Succ buttons This what you will see:

You can add new relationship, edit an existing one, or delete a relationships according to your need

Once you are done, close the two forms, on the Activity Form click OK. Now find another activity to edit its relationships


4-18

Graphical

method It is better to do it in the PERT view, as the relationship lines appear

clearer in this view

Go to PERT view Find the desired relationship to be edited Click the relationship line, the following dialogue box will appear:

The dialogue box will show the following information: The current Predecessor (un-editable) The current Successor (un-editable) The relationship type The Lag

Change either the relationship type, or the lag

Or you can delete the relationship by clicking the Delete button


4-19

Tracing Logic in PERT View

One of the greatest methods to check your logic Go to PERT view Select an activity From menus View/Trace Logic The screen will be cut into two halves. The lower half will show the

current activity, its predecessor(s), and its successor(s):

Check your work, then select another activity from the upper half, or from the lower half

Link and Unlink Activities

This should be done only Bar chart view If you have a series of activities and all of them are connected with

FS relationship, you can link them fast and smoothly using Link activity function, do the following steps:

Select the desired activities From menus select Edit/Link Activities The activities will be linked with FS relationship

You can unlink activities if they were linked with FS relationships: Select the desired activities From menus select Edit/Unlink Activities The activities will be unlinked


4-20

Autolink Activities

This facility is an automatic method of linking activities as you input them

From menus select Insert/Autolink Select an activity (this is a very important step) which will be the

predecessor of the coming activities

Start adding activities Whenever you are done, an FS relationship will be added to the new

activity

To stop this facility, from menus select Insert/Autolink again


4-21

Inputting Logic Relationship


2. Choose whether you want to input the relationships using Bar chart view, or PERT view

3. Accordingly, setup the activities in a way to help you do your job better

4. Input the relationships as indicated in the next page, taking into consideration the following points:

a. The graphical is more convenient if you are dealing with PERT view

b. If there are lots of activities connected with FS relationship, utilize Link, and Unlink

c. After you are done, make sure to use Trace Logic function, to check the network accuracy


4-22

CR

050

OD

=18

CR

100

CR

105

OD

=25

CR

110

OD

=28

CR

115

OD

=15

CR

125

OD

=38

CR

120

SS

CR

135

OD

=38

CR

130

OD

=38

CR

200

OD

=65

CR

140

FF

CR

205

OD

=12

CR

300

OD

=16

SS14

CR

305

OD

=38

CR

310

OD

=22

CR

315

OD

=44

CR

400

CR

500

OD

=5

GM

050

OD

=12

GM

100

GM

105

OD

=25

GM

110

OD

=28

GM

115

OD

=15

GM

120

OD

=36

GM

200

OD

=35

GM

205

OD

=12

GM

300

OD

=40

SS14

GM

305

OD

=27

GM

310

OD

=24

GM

400

GM

500

OD

=5

LB10

0LB

105

OD

=18

LB11

0O

D=2

6LB

115

OD

=18

LB12

0O

D=1

2LB

125

OD

=29

LB13

0O

D=1

5LB

135

OD

=32

LB14

0O

D=3

8LB

200

LB50

0O

D=5


4-23

Module Review

1. Almost all of the management software in the world are using

a. PDM

b. ADM

c. Both PDM and ADM

d. None of the above

2. _______ is the default relationship type

3. I can link activities as I add them up using Autolink function

a. True

b. False

4. Which is true about Trace Logic:

a. Used only in PERT view

b. You should select an activity first

c. To trace the predecessor(s) and the successor(s) of a selected activity

d. All of the above

5. In PERT there is no need to make sure that relationship lines are shown or hidden, as they are always shown

a. True

b. False

6. From menus select _____________________ to spread the activity boxes horizontally and vertically in PERT view


4-24

Module Review Answers 1. a

2. FS

3. a

4. d

5. a

6. Format/Organize

5-1

Module 5:

First Schedule Run This module contains: Automatic vs. Manual Scheduling Schedule Passes Total and Free Float The Schedule command The view after Scheduling Schedule report


5-2

Module 5: First Schedule Run

5-3

Introduction

Schedule is to calculate the start and finish dates for each activity, hence will produce the finish date of the project

Normally in Planning phase, the planner will perform scheduling several times, and the first one should be after finishing inputting activities and relationships

The purpose of the first run, is to get the initial dates, so it can be used in the coming meetings

Also, the initial dates may be submitted to Procurement department so they will have some sort of deadlines they can include in their RFQ to be issued

Automatic Schedule vs. Manual Schedule

In P3 there are two types of scheduling: Automatic Manual

Automatic Schedule

From menus select Tools/Schedule, the following dialogue box will appear:


5-4

Click the Options button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Under Automatic scheduling and leveling, make sure that Schedule automatically is selected, then click OK

If you turn the automatic schedule on, that means, P3 will always recalculate the dates if any new data and/or editing took place in your project

This method will not produce any schedule reports, which will deprive the user from knowing and documenting the changes happened on the dates through out the development of the plan

We dont recommend this method


5-5

Manual Schedule Under Automatic scheduling and leveling, make sure that

Schedule automatically is NOT selected, instead select Off, then click OK

This method means you have to issue the command of Tools / Schedule each and every time your perform any changes on your project which will affect the start and finish dates

It will produce a scheduling report (will be shown later in this Module) which contains great information to the planner, also, it is considered a documenting tool to show the development of the plan

It is highly recommended


5-6

The Schedule Passes

When the user issue the Schedule command, P3 will perform two passes:

Forward Pass, which will start from the first activity with no predecessor, all the way to the last activity with no successor

Backward Pass, which will start from the last activity with no successor, all the way to the first activity with no predecessor

Forward Pass To calcualte the Early Start (ES), and the Early Finish (EF), which we call them Early dates

Early dates are the earliest dates an activity can start and finish after the finish of its predecessor(s)

P3 will first locate the first activity with no predecessor. It could be more than one activity

The ES of the first activity is the start date of the project (which you input when you created the project)

To calcualte the EF, P3 will use the following EF=ES+Dur-1 Why the -1? Comparing to the text books in management, this

formula is different. The formula used there is EF=ES+Dur. The answer to that question is; text books starts at day 0, which is not practical. Yet in P3 we start at day 1, and hence we have to deduct 1 from the duration

See the following example: OD=4 EF=4ES=1

Activity A

OD=16 EF=24ES=9

Activity C

OD=8 EF=8ES=1

Activity B


5-7

Note Activity C, waited for all of its predecessors to finish, hence started

at day 9

The calculated finish date of this small project derived from the EF of the last activity, which is 24 days

Backward Pass To calcualte the Late Start (LS), and the Late Finish (LF), which we call them Late dates

Late dates are the latest dates an activity can start and finish without delaying the calculated finish date of the project

P3 will locate the last activity with no successor. It could be more than one activity

The LF of the last activity is the calcualted EF which was produced in the Forward Pass

To calcualte the LS, P3 will use the following LS=LF-Dur+1 As we deduct 1 in the Forward Pass, we have to add 1 in the

Backward Pass, so we can finish with day 1

See the following example:

OD=4 EF=4

LS=5 LF=8

ES=1

Activity A

OD=16 EF=24

LS=9 LF=24

ES=9

Activity C

OD=8 EF=8

LS=1 LF=8

ES=1

Activity B

Note LF of activity A, and B is the day before LS of activity C, hence the LF is day 8


5-8

Total Float

As a result of the Forward Pass, and Backward Pass, four dates will be produced (namely; ES, EF, LS, and LF)

In view of that, P3 will calculate the Total Float (TF) Total Float is the number of days you can delay the start of an

activity without starting at ES, but without delaying the whole project

TF = LF EF Accordingly the Backward Pass will be:

OD=4 EF=4

LS=5 TF=4 LF=8

ES=1

Activity A

OD=16 EF=24

LS=9 TF=0 LF=24

ES=9

Activity C

OD=8 EF=8

LS=1 TF=0 LF=8

ES=1

Activity B

If there is no Imposed Finish Date (dicussed in the next Module), or any type of Constraint the lowest TF for any activity would be 0 (zero)

We call the activities with TF = 0 Critical activities We call the activities with TF > 0 Non-Critical activities We call the path that links the Critical activities; the Critical Path Critical Path is the longest path in the netwrok A given network may have more than one Critical Path We call the above method of calculation, the Critical Path Method

(CPM)


5-9

Free Float

P3 also will calculate the Free Float (FF) Free Float is the number of days you can delay the start of an

activity without starting at ES, but without delaying the successor

TF = ES of the successor - EF of the activity - 1 FF can be equal to TF, and can be different

Other Data Checked for While Scheduling

As you can see from the previous discussion, when the user issues the Schedule command, P3 will calculate six types of data, which they are:

Two Early Dates (ES, EF) Two Late Dates (LS, LF) Two Floats (TF, FF)

Other data checked for, while scheduling are: Circular Loops Constraints Activities Open Ends Activities Out-of-Sequence Activities

Circular Loop The Circular Loop is the relationships that starts at an activity and return back to the same activity

If P3 detect any loop, it will stop the Schedule calcualtion and produce a report stating the relationships which led to the loop

A B C


5-10

Here is an example of the Circular Loop:

Constraints Activities

P3 will identify any activity with constraints imposed on it, and report it in the Schedule report

The four types of activities SM, FM, SF, FF, are all considered Constraints, hence they will be reported in the Schedule report

Open Ends Activities

P3 will assume that each activity will have at least one predecessor, and one successor

Any activity with no predecessor, or with no successor, is considered an open end

Planners as they are creating their network will cosider the recommendation that network should start with one activity, and finish with one activity (although, neither networking methods, nor P3 will object if the network started with 100 activities, and finished with 100 activities)

If the Planners abide to the above rule, they will have a prior knowledge that two activities will be mentioned in the report as Open Ends. So, if more than these were mentioned, planners will know that they overlooked a relationship

Out-of-Sequence Activities

If an activity started the actual work before the finish of its predecessor, this activity is considered to be out-of-sequence

This is evident when the actual work starts and not while Planning phase


5-11

Schedule Command

From menus select Tools/Schedule

Or from toolbar, click Schedule button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Specify Data Date, as mentioned in Module 1, Data Date definition is Time Now:

In the Planning phase the Data Date is always the first day of the project as defined when the project was created

Once you start inputting actual data, Data Date will be the day of which you performed the schedule in

If you want to include in you report: Constraint listing, click this checkbox on Open Ends listing, click this checkbox on Out-of-Sequence activities listing, click this checkbox on

Click Schedule Now button, the following dialogue box will appear:


5-12

Make sure that View on screen is selected, then click OK P3 will start performing the calculation P3 will then produce the Schedule report The Schedule Report is a very valuable tool for planners, as it will

help in the following points:

It contains valuable information about the project and the network

It will work as a tool in the hand of the planner to docuemt how the project evoleved through the Planning phase

The following is an example of a Schedule report:


5-13

Note If you press F9 the following dialogue box will appear:

This is identical to the command above except it will not produce the report


5-14

Calculate the Schedule


2. Using Tools/Schedule calculate the schedule using the default Data Date, making sure that all the checkboxes are on. Click Schedule Now

3. From the Schedule report answer the following questions:

a. How many activities in your project? ______________ (42)

b. How many critical activities do you have in your project? ______________ (15)

c. How many relationships are there in your project? ______________(43) (Hint: the number 43 is excluding the two relationships of the two Flags)

d. How many Flags defined in your project?____________ (2)

e. When the project will finish? _______________(12OCT06)


5-15

The View after Schedule

We recommend, that immediately you close your project and re-open it again, so the sorting will take place

You will see two groups of activities: Red Activities, which means Critical activities Green Activities, which means Non-Critical activities

Activities will be sorted according to their ES, and then TF, therefore the list of activities will be different


5-16

Schedule Report

P3 is equipped with lots of pre-defined tabular reports, One of these is the Schedule Report

From menus select Tools/Tabular Reports/Schedule, the following dialogue box will appear:

Click the Add button, the following dialogue box will appear:

Each Schedule report will have an ID, starting with the letters SR, then a sequential number (which is given by P3), click Add, to accept the number. The dialogue box in the next page will be displayed


5-17

Type in the Title of the report (highly recommended), so you can utilize it

In Content tab, and under Include the following data, the following applies:

Leave Activity Code line there. This line shows the basic activity data

You can add to this basic data other information like Predecessor, Successor, and lots of other types

In Content tab, and under Show these codes on activity code line, you can specify up to five different codes for each activity


5-18

Click the Format tab, you will see the following:

Set the Sort by criteria Select the information to be displayed

Once you are done, click Run button, accordingly the report will be produced, hence you can print it, or save it


5-19

Notes


5-20

Schedule Report


2. Produce Schedule report using the following points

a. Title: First Schedule Report

b. In Content tab, and under Activity code line, add Predecessor activity, and Successor activity, make sure to put Skip Lines to 1 for all three of the entries

c. In Format tab, make sure that activities are sorted according to ES, and then TF using Ascending fashion

d. Dont include in the report Calendar, and Activity Codes

3. Click Run to produce the report

4. Save it under the name Sched01.out


5-21

Module Review

1. In Schedule, P3 calculates:

a. 6 types of data

b. 5 types of data

c. 2 types of data

d. 4 types of data

2. __________ is the other type of floats after Total Float

3. Total Float is calculated after the Forward Pass

a. True

b. False

4. ES+Duration-1 is the formula to calculate

a. Late Start

b. Late Finish

c. Early Start

d. Early Finish

5. The calculated finish date of the project is

a. Late Finish of the last activity

b. Early Finish of the last activity

c. Late or Early they are equal

d. Imposed Finish Date by the user

6. The activity with _________ color is considered critical activities, but with _______ color they will be non-critical


5-22


2. FF

3. b

4. d

5. b

6. Red, Green

6-1

Module 6:

Inputting Activity Calendar This module contains: What is global calendar What is individual calendar Assigning calendars to activities Imposing a Finish date on the project Defining Holidays Printing calendars Transferring calendars

Primavera Project Planner Ver. 3.1 Level 1

6-2

Module 6: Inputting Activity Calendar

6-3

Introduction

When we created the project, P3 asked two questions: Workdays/Week Weeks starts on

Let us assume that you answered the first question with 5, and the second question with Monday

Accordingly P3 will create an individual calendar, and its ID is 1, which contains that the working days of the week are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the two weekends are Saturday and Sunday

All of the 42 activities we input in our workshop were assigned Calendar 1, hence the Finish date of the project (i.e. 12OCT06) was calculated also based on Calendar 1

However, not all activities will work the same working days. Also, Calendar 1, does not contain any holidays

Activity calendar means calendar attached to an activity, affecting the Schedule calculation of this activity

Schedule will not calculate an ES (for instance) in a day that considered as holiday or weekend in the calendar of an activity

So sometimes one of the techniques to decrease the total duration of projects is to assign the critical activities to calendars with more working days per week


6-4

Global Calendar

P3 has a unique calendar called Global calendar This calendar contains information which will affect the whole

project and the other individual calendars

Global Calendar cant be assigned to activities From menus select Data/Calendars, the following dialogue box

will appear:


6-5

From the upper list, click on Global Calendar

Click the Standard button, the following dialogue box will appear:

You can change the following data: In which day the week will start When the calendar will start (always P3 will assume that calendar

will start a year before the starting date of the project)

When the project will start When is the Data Date Imposed Finish Date (will be discussed later in this Module) If a holiday occurs in a weekend, how should P3 treats it. It is

either by turining this rule off, and hence you do it manually. Or turning this rule on, and let P3 handles it, by making the nearest workday as a holiday


6-6

Click the Holidays button, the following dialogue box will appear:

The holidays will be defined here will affect all individual calendars, for that reason, we call it Global Holidays

In the table titled Nonworkperiods, specify the holidays. The following rules apply:

If you have one day holiday, define it in the Start field If you have multiple uninterrupted holiday, define the Start field

and the Finish field

If this holiday occurs at the same period every year, make this holiday Repeating

If you have an interrupted holiday, simply specify the whole holiday in the Nonworkperiods table, then specify the working days within the holiday in the Exceptions table


6-7

Individual Calendar

P3 has up to 31 individual calendars These calendars will be assigned to activities Individual calendar contains information which will affect only the

activities attached to it

Select an individual calendar, then click Standard button, the following dialogue box will appear:

In this dialogue box you can do two things: Type in a title for the calendar (highly recommended) Set the working days per week

All the things discussed in Holidays of the Global calendar applies on the individual calendars Contrary to Global Calendar holidays, the defined holidays in

individual calendar will affect the activities attached to it only and not all activities


6-8

How to create

New Individual Calendar

From menus select Data/Calendars, the following dialogue box will appear:

Click Add button, the following dialogue box will appear:

P3 will give it a new ID, which you can change it Type in the desired title, and click OK


6-9

You can see that a new calendar is shown in the list Make sure it is selected, and click Standards, you will see the

following dialogue box:

As you can see from above, when you create a new individual calendar, all of the days will be considered workdays

Click off the desired weekends, and click OK How to delete an existing calendar

From menus select Data/Calendars Select the desired calendar

Click Delete button, the following warning message will appear:

If you are sure of what you are doing click Yes, if not click No to stop the precess of deletion


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Assigning Individual Calendar to an Activity

Either double-click on the desired activity, or select the activity and press F7

The Activity Form will appear:

Right Click on Cal field, a list of the available individual calendars will be shown, select the desired calendar, and click OK

Imposing a Finish Date on the Project

In Global calendar at the Standard dialogue box, we saw that we can impose a finish date on the project

Most likely this will be the contractual finish date of the project We need to input it in our project, so we can compare the calculated

finish to the imposed finish

It will replace the LF of the last activity:

OD=4 EF=4

LS=3 TF=2 LF=6

ES=1

Activity A

OD=16 EF=24

LS=7 TF=-2 LF=22

ES=9

Activity C

OD=8 EF=8

LS=-1 TF=-2 LF=6

ES=1

Activity B


6-11

The difference between the Imposed finish date and Calculated

finish date may be:

Zero, if they are equal (rare cases) Negative, if the Calculated > Imposed (most likely) Positive, if the Calculated < Imposed (rare cases)

As you can see in the above example, the TF of the critical path equals to -2, and that is because Calculated > Imposed

The negative TF tells us how many days we need to compress our critical path to meet the contractual finish date of the project

By default negative TF, LS, or LF is not acceptable We will accept it right now for the sake of completing the rest of

data (like resources and costs), and after we are done, we can sit and try to find a solution to compress our critical path

So dont try to find a definition, or explanation, of negative TF, LS, or LF


6-12

Other ways to define Holidays

The method mentioned above to define holidays is the most practical method, but there are other methods

All of the methods applies to the Global holidays, and Individual holidays as well

Double-Clicking Choose a single day, and double click it It will become hatched indicating it became a holiday If you are inside the Global calendar, you will see the letter G at the

top left of the day:

If you double-click it again, you will turn a holiday to a workday Using Nonwork

button Select multiple days (consecutive by clicking and dragging, or non-

consecutive by using Ctrl key and clicking)

Click Nonwork button, the selected days will become holidays


6-13

Also, if you double-click the heading of a day, just like below:

Then you click Nonwork button, this day in the current month will become a holiday

At any moment select a holiday, and click Work button, you will turn it into workday Printing Calendars

Unfortunately, you cant preview calendars before printing them This command will print all your calendars You have two modes:

Summary printout Detailed printout

Summary printout

It will produce a table contains: At the horizontal; list of the calendars At the vertical; list of days starting from the start of the project At the core of the table the holidays


6-14

Example of Surramry printout:

Detailed printout It will print a wall-like calendar, indicating the holidays in each month, starting from the start date of the project


6-15

Example of Deatiled printout:


6-16

From the Calendars dialogue box, click Print, the following dialogue box will appear:

Select the desired Style, whether Summary, or Details Select the time Span, and click OK

Transferring Activity Calendars

You can transfer Activity Calendars between projects Go to the new project you want to transfer to From menus select Data/Calendars

Click the Transfer button, the following dialogue box will appear:


6-17

Transfer

Individual calendar

If you want to copy an individual calendar to another calendar within the same project

Specify the source calendar and the target calendar, then click Transfer

Transfer All calendars

Click All calendars choice, the dialogue box will change to:

Specify the Driver and Folder which the desired project you want to copy from resides in, then specify the project. Now click Transfer

The calendars will be copied to your project


6-18

Notes:


6-19

Inputting Activity Calendars


2. In Global calendar, define the following holidays:

Start End Repeating 17JAN05 21FEB05 17MAR 7 15MAY05 30MAY05 04JUL 7 05SEP05 10OCT05 31OCT 7 02NOV05 11NOV 7 24NOV05 24DEC05 08JAN06 16JAN06 20FEB06 21MAY06 29MAY06 04SEP06 09OCT06 23NOV06

3. Input the following Exceptions:

Start End Repeating

29DEC05 30DEC05


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4. From the Global calendar, impose a Finish date of 15AUG06

5. Type in a new title for Calendar 1 Five Days Cal

6. Define the following holidays only for Calendar 1:

Start End Repeating

08MAY06 14JUN 7 24OCT 7

7. Create a new individual calendar, which will be assigned ID=2, and give

it the following title Six Days Cal, and set the weekend to be only Sunday

8. Assign Calendar 2 to all activates starting with CR (all the Classroom activities) (Hint: Select the first activity which is CR050, press F7, change the calendar, then click Next button on the Activity Form, if the activity starts with CR, change the calendar, if not click Next again, and so on)

9. Run the Schedule command (without changing the DD) to see the effect of the changes you made, reading the report, answer the following questions:

a. What is the Imposed Finish Date of the Project? (15AUG06)

b. What is the Latest Calculated Early Finish of the Project? ____________ (25AUG06)

10. Close the Scheduling report, without saving

11. Select one of the critical activities, double-click on it, and check the value of TF? ___________ (-9)


6-21

Module Review

1. You can exchange Calendars between Projects in P3

a. True

b. False

2. __________ cant be assigned to activities

3. Imposed finish date will replace:

a. ES of the first activity

b. EF of the first activity

c. LF of the first activity

d. LF of the last activity

4. I can preview the calendar printout before printing:

a. True

b. False

5. Negative values of LS, LF, or TF are:

a. Not acceptable, and should be solved before the end of the Planning phase

b. Acceptable

c. If you saw a negative TF, change the value to 0

d. There is no way on earth the value of LS, LF, or TF will be negative

6. I can set the Imposed finish date using Global Calendar, clicking the ____________ button


6-22


2. Global Calendar

3. d

4. b

5. a

6. Standard

7-1

Module 7:

Resources and Cost Assignment This module contains: How to create Resource dictionary? How to create Cost Account dictionary? Assigning resources and cost to activity Viewing resources and cost profiles Producing tabular resources and cost reports


7-2

Module 7: Resources and Cost Assignment

7-3

Introduction

Resources and cost assignment goes into two main steps: Creating the Resource Dictionary, and Cost Account Dictionary

(or transferring them from other projects)

Assignment of resources Most likely you have to create the Resource Dictionary and Cost

Account Dictionary once, and then you can transfer them from project to another

For resources, the first step is to create a list of the resources available to complete any project taking into consideration the following:

Resource name Resource unit of measure Resource description Resource availability (Normal and Maximum) Resource unit cost

For cost accounts, create a hierarchy showing the relationship between the different cost accounts, taking into consideration the following:

Cost account number Cost account description Cost Category


7-4

How to Create Resource Dictionary?

As a first step prepare your work on a paper, listing all the resources available showing the following information:

The Resource name (code for the resource up to 8 characters, spaces are allowed)

Unit of measure (P3 doesnt have any predefined unit of measure), for instance you can type m, sq.m, cu.m, ton, mh (man-hour), md (man-day), etc, up to four characters

Resource description (up to 40 characters) Resource limits, which states the number of units of this resource

available for the current project in Normal times, and the maximum number of units, which can be provided. If this resource limits change with time record the date of change

Resource Price/Unit, which states the cost of the unit. If this price/unit change with time record the date of change (P3 will not check for consistency, for instance you typed the unit of a certain resource is md, then you input the cost of mh)

Once you are done with this list, now, go to the menus selecting Data/Resources, the following dialogue box will appear:

Module 7: Resources and Cost Assignment

7-5

It is preferable to do the inputting as follows:

Input the resource name, the unit, and the description for all of the resources

Then select the first resource, and specify the limits and price for it, now select the second one and so on

To print the Resource Dictionary, cl

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