Primavera P6

PROJECT MONITORING DEPARTMENT

Contents
Project Management Life Cycle
Introduction to Primavera P6

Data, Navigating and Layouts

Advantages of Tool

Activity Network / Gantt Chart

Understanding Activity Attributes
Activity Relationships
Activity Constraints
Critical Path Method
Structuring Projects using P6

Projects are one time assignments. Unlike

general business activities, these assignments
have a fixed time schedule.
Examples of Projects:
Design and development of a software
application
Construction of Residential / Commercial
complexes

What is Project Management ?

Project Management is the application of
skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to
meet the needs and expectations of
stakeholders for a project.

The purpose of project management is

prediction and prevention, NOT recognition
and reaction

Why Project Management ?

In todays fast paced world, resource and time are
scarce and business processes becoming more
and more complex by each day. Hence enterprises
world over are resorting to project management
as an efficient approach in using scarce resources
and time to achieve business goals-which may not
be possible with general management approach.
Rectification of process errors, shortfall due to
errors in quality systems, delays in product
delivery etc., is possible only by Project
Management Approach.

Project Management Life Cycle

Planning
Establish Project Objective
Define the Work
Determine the Time
Delineate Project Organization / Team
Establish Resource Requirement / Availability
Establish a Cost Baseline
Evaluate, Optimize and Freeze Baseline Plan

Control
Track Work Progress and Actual Cost
Compare Progress and Cost to Baseline
Use Baseline to Guide Your Decision
Update and Modify Project Model with Realistic Data
Communicate Project Goals
Evaluate Performance
Forecast, Analyze and Recommend Action

INTRODUCTION TO PRIMAVERA P6
Primavera is a comprehensive, multi-project planning
and control software, built on Oracle and Microsoft SQL
Server
databases
for
enterprise-wide
project
management scalability.

The Project Management module enables your

organization to store and manage its projects in a
central location. The module supports work breakdown
structures (WBS), organizational breakdown structures
(OBS), user-defined fields and codes, critical-pathmethod (CPM) scheduling and resource leveling.

INTRODUCTION TO PRIMAVERA P6
The Project Management module provides:
Enterprise project structure (EPS)
Centralized resource management
Integrated risk management
Issue tracking
Management by threshold
Tracking feature
Work products and documents
Report wizard

Layout, Navigation & Toolbars

Advantages of using primavera in comparison to

other conventional planning tools
Centralized Project Repository : With all projects are in a
centralized database, the robust security module protects project
data and offers flexibility when determining who can access each
project.

Enterprise Project Structure & Codes : A configurable

Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) helps forms the hierarchical
structure of the projects based on your organizational needs.
Extensible Project Codes help capture different attributes of
projects, such as the region where the project is being executed or
the type of project

Advantages of using primavera in comparison to

other conventional planning tools
Cross-project Analysis and Reporting : Quickly and easily
create cross-project dependencies and see how projects impact
one another. Built-in analysis shows whether resources are overor under-allocated across projects.

Float Path Analysis : Float Path Analysis identifies all critical

paths within a project to help avoid potential delays before they
occur and to help visualize an activity's importance to overall
project plan.

Advantages of using primavera in comparison to

other conventional planning tools
Cross-Project Dependencies : Cross-project dependencies
helps to monitor overall critical path of the program and reduces
the risk of multiple parties working together.

Resource Assignments : When project resource needs have

been determined, they can easily be assigned to the schedule
activities. P6 tracks labor, material, equipment and expense needs
for activities and WBS nodes.

Advantages of using primavera in comparison to

other conventional planning tools
ERP or Accounting Integration : The P6 architecture allows

for integration with ERP or Accounting Systems so that schedule

and cost information can be shared.

Baseline Management : Store unlimited versions of the

schedule, resources and cost assignments to compare how the

project is progressing vs. the original plan vs. the last update
cycle, vs. 6 months ago, etc.

Projects Reports : Select from 150+ predefined reports and

unlimited custom reports.

Primavera P6
Planning, Monitoring and Forecasting tool

Inputs

Primavera Project
Planner
Scheduling

-WBS/Activity Codes
Critical Path
-OBS
Resource Plan
-Activities
-Relationships
-Calendars and constraints
-Resources
-Cost Accounts/Cost centers
-Monitoring data

Outputs
-Progress (planned vs. actual)
-Schedule
-Critical Path
-Consolidated Resource Plan
-Forecast

Basic Terminologies
Activity
Activities represent work to be done in order to complete a
project

OD (Original Duration)
The estimated time required to complete an activity is
called OD.

RD (Remaining Duration)
The amount of time left to complete an activity after it has
started is known as RD (Remaining Duration).

Basic Terminologies
Predecessor
The activity that effects start or finish dates of
other activities (successor activities).

Predecessor

Successor

Basic Terminologies
Successor
The activity for which start or finish dates are
dependent on other activities (predecessor
activities).
Predecessor

Successor

Basic Terminologies
Relationships (Activity Links)
Any sort of connection between two activities.
Four types of relationships:

SS (Start to Start)
FS (Finish to Start)
FF (Finish to Finish)
SF (Start to Finish)

Lag
Lag staggers or delays the relationship of one activity (predecessor)
to another (successor).

Basic Terminologies
SS Relationship between activities in which the start of a successor
activity depends on the start of its predecessor

A
Predecessor
Start-to-start

B
Successor

A
Predecessor

Start-to-start with lag

Lag

B
Successor

Basic Terminologies
FS Relationship in which the start of successor activity
depends on the completion of its predecessor activity

Finish-to-start

A
Predecessor
B
Successor

Finish-to-start with lag

A
Predecessor
Lag

B
Successor

Basic Terminologies
FF Relationship in which the finish of successor activity
depends on the finish of its predecessor activity
Finish-to-Finish

A
Predecessor
B
Successor

Finish-to-Finish with lag

A
Predecessor
Lag
B
Successor

Basic Terminologies
SF Relationship in which the finish of successor activity
depends on the start of its predecessor activity
Start-to-Finish

A
Predecessor
B
Successor

Start-to-Finish with lag

Predecessor
Lag
B
Successor

Basic Terminologies
ES (Early Start) and EF (Early Finish) dates
Earliest possible date by which an activity can start or finish

LS (Late Start) and LF (Late Finish) dates

Latest possible date by which an activity can start or finish

AS (Actual Start) and AF (Actual Finish) dates

The dates on which an activity actually starts or finishes

Basic Terminologies
TF (Total Float)
Positive Total float indicates allowable duration of delay
without affecting project finish date.
Negative or zero Total Float indicates timely completion of
the activity is critical for timely completion of the project.
Such activities are called Critical Activities

FF (Free Float)
Free float indicates allowable duration of delay in start
without affecting the start of successor activity
Such activities are called Non-critical Activities

Basic Terminologies
Constraints
Constraints are ground realities that over-rule the logical start and
finish time of an activity.
For example, a certain piece of equipment will be received on,
say, 25th of March. That equipments erection activity cannot be
started before 26th of March irrespective of the fact that the
foundation will be ready by 15th of March.
So we will simply put a constraint to this activity that it cannot
start before 26th of March. Similarly concreting work cannot be
easily done in winter months in regions where temperature goes
below freezing during winter.

Basic Terminologies
Various types of constraints can be used but most commonly used in
P6 are as follows:

Start On
Start On or Before
Start On or After
Finish On
Finish On or Before
Finish On or After
Mandatory Start/Finish
As Late As Possible

Basic Terminologies
Critical Activity
An activity that has potential of delaying a project is called a critical
activity. Such activities possess total float equal to zero or even less.
Critical Path
Chain of critical activities that has potential of delaying a project is
called Critical Path. It is the longest Path.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
A network analysis technique used to predict project duration, by
analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least
amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of float).

Basic Terminologies
Critical Path
A
Predecessor
ES = 1

EF = 10

FS Lag=0

OD = 10

Successor
B

FS Lag = 0

ES=15

OD=6

EF=20

Predecessor

ES=1

OD=14

EF=14

Activity B and C are on critical path because :

1. These are forming the longest chain (14 days + 6 days = 20 days)
2. Any delay in any of the activity on critical path will cause a delay of
the whole project

Basic Terminologies
Scheduling (CPM)
The process of calculating start and end dates of
the activities. This process is carried out in two passes.

Forward Pass
The process of calculating early start and finish dates of
each activity starting from the project start date.

Backward Pass
The process of calculating late finish and start dates of
each activity starting from the project finish date.

Basic Terminologies
Man-Hours
It is yardstick for measurement of effort. For example, 4 Man-hour
will mean any of the following:

1 man working for 4 hours

2 men working for 2 hours
4 men working for 1 hour

Standard Man-hours
Estimated effort per unit required to perform a job in terms of manhours.

Basic Terminologies
Earned Man-hours
It is amount of work executed in terms of standard man-hours.

Project / Budgeted Man-hours

Total number of man-hours required to execute a project.

Actual Man-hours
It is the man-hours actually utilized to execute work.

Basic Terminologies
Original (Base) Plan
A plan showing all activities as foreseen at start of the project.

Latest Forecast Plan

Revised/Updated Plan showing expected dates for balance activities at
certain point in time during project life span.

Efficiency
It is the ratio of earned man-hours to actual man-hours.

Productivity
It is number of work units produced per man-hour spent.

Basic Terminologies
Cost Center
A Cost Center is the lowest identifiable/measurable activity to which
costs incurred can be booked.

Resource:
Anything that is required to perform an activity is
called a resource.

Resources can be Manpower, Equipment and Materials.

Basic Terminologies
Activity Network Diagram
The Activity Network displays your project as a diagram of activities
and relationships according to the work breakdown structure (WBS).

A red border around an activity box indicates a critical

activity.

A line connecting activity boxes indicates an activity relationship.

ACTIVITY NETWORK DIAGRAM

Basic Terminologies
Gantt Chart (also known as Bar Chart)
A graphical display of the open project's schedule information or the
order in which activities occur over the course of the project.
The Gantt Chart shows each activity's duration, using the timescale
specified, as a horizontal bar.
A line connecting activity bars indicates a relationship.

Data Date
The point in time that separates actual (Historical) data from future
(Scheduled) data.

GANTT CHART

Understanding Activity Types

Task Dependent

The activity is scheduled according to activitys calendar, not the resource calendars. For
example, an activity to cure concrete

Resource Dependent

The assigned resource availability determines the start and finish of the activity. For
example, an inspection activity that depends on availability of an Inspector.

Start / Finish Milestones

Activity marks the beginning or end of a major stage in the project.

Understanding Activity Types

Level of Effort
An activity that is ongoing, such as clerical work, change management, or

project management tasks and its duration depends on its predecessor and/or
successor activities.
For example, site cleanup could be considered a level of effort activity.

WBS Summary
It represents a group of activities that share a common WBS level based on
WBS Codes & enables roll-ups of dates for the activity group.

Understanding Duration Types

Fixed duration and units/time or fixed duration and units
The activitys duration does not change, regardless of the number of resources assigned
while updating. Usually used with task-dependent activities.
Remaining Units (resource) = Units/Time x Remaining Duration (activity)
Units/Time = Remaining Units / Remaining Duration

Fixed units/time
Units/time or rate of the resource remains constant, even if the activitys
duration or work effort changes. Usually used with resource dependent
activities. For example, you have an engineer who can only work 4
hours/day.

Understanding Duration Types

Fixed units
In this case, budget (units or cost) is a limiting factor; i.e., the work
effort required to complete the activity does not change, even if the
activitys duration or the resource rate changes. Typically used with
resource dependent activities. Increasing resources can decrease the
activity duration.

Understanding Percent Complete Types

Duration Type
Progress is reported based on original and remaining duration.
[(Original Duration - Remaining Duration) / (Original Duration)] x 100

Units Type
Progress is reported according to the accomplished & remaining work effort (units). The
percent complete is calculated from the actual and remaining units

Physical Type
Activity progress is most accurately described by personal judgment. In this case, you
manually enter the percent complete for the activity.

Structuring Projects
1. Setting-up and define EPS (Enterprise
Project Structure).

(EPS)
Enterprise Project Structure

2. Add a project to the EPS hierarchy.

3. Defining OBS (Organizational breakdown
structure)

Projects

4. Defining WBS (Work breakdown structure)

/ Activity Codes.
5. Defining Resources.

(WBS)
Work Breakdown Structure

6. Create Calendar for Activities & Resources.

7. Add Activities.
Activities

8. Input activity details.

9. Schedule project.
10. Updating progress after project starts.
11. Preview / Print reports (Default / Custom
made reports).

(OBS)
Organisational Breakdown
Structures

Enterprise Project Structure (EPS)

Enterprise Project Structure

(EPS)

The EPS is a hierarchy

used to organize
projects, and to
associate organizational
level security with that
of project structure.

The EPS consists of

roots and nodes. ALL
projects must reside
within an EPS node.

Adding project to EPS hierarchy.

We can organize unlimited number of Projects in EPS in groups.

Organizational Breakdown Structure

(OBS)
Organizational Breakdown
Structure (OBS)

The OBS is a hierarchical

arrangement of an
organizations
management structure.

The OBS is defined at a

global level and works
with the EPS to control
user access to project
information.

Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

Represents a project organization structure that matches with
WBS.

Facilitates better control through mini projects within large

and complicated projects.

Defines responsibility for each level of WBS.

Organization Breakdown Structure

Typical for DESCON
PROJECT/SITE MANAGER

AREA I/C #1

AREA I/C #2

AREA I/C #n

Engr. Civil
(area #1)

Engr. Civil
(area #2)

Engr. Civil
(area #n)

Engr. Piping
(area #1)

Engr. Piping
(area #2)

Engr. Piping
(area #n)

Engr. Eqpt.
(area #1)

Engr. Eqpt.
(area #2)

Engr. Eqpt.
(area #n)

Const. Mngr.
CIVIL

Const. Mngr.
Meh.

Const. Mngr.
Elec.

Example of WBS Structures

Project

WBS (Work Breakdown

Structure)

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

Civil Works

Buildings

Roads & Drains

Ware House

Equipment Fdns

Foundation

Superstructure

Finishing Works

Admin Building

Mech. Works

Tanks

Piping

Fire Water Tank

Diesel Tank

Work Breakdown Structure

Breaking down a long and complex project into work packages of
smaller duration and complexity.

A properly planned WBS delivers the following benefits

The project can be planned systematically
Resources can be effectively scheduled
Work teams can be assigned responsibilities
Costs and budget elements can be compared

Work Breakdown Structure

Typical for DESCON

1. Project
1.1 Construction
1.1.1 Discipline
1.1.1.1 Zone/Area
1.1.1.1.1 Cost Center/Activity

Work Breakdown Structure

Typical for DESCON
Project

Discipline A

Discipline B

Area X

Area Y
Area Z

Activities P

Discipline C

Integrating WBS With OBS

WBS

OBS

Project

Project/Site Manager

Construction

Construction Manager

Discipline

Discipline In-Charge

Zone/area

Discipline Engineer

Cost center

Discipline Supervisor

Understanding Data Structures Connections

Defining Resources
Resources include the personnel and equipment that perform work on
activities across all projects. Resources are generally reused between
activities and/or projects.

Creating Calendars
Create and assign calendars to each
resource and each activity. These
calendars define the available workhours in each calendar day. We can
also specify national holidays, your
organization's
holidays,
projectspecific
work/non-workdays,
and
resource vacation days. Calendar
assignments are used for activity
scheduling, tracking, and resource
leveling.

Adding activities

WBS
Task / Activity
Activity Detail form

List of common Inputs / Information to be given

to an activity

Activity ID, Name & Type of activity.

Start, Finish Dates (Early, Late).
Steps of an Activity (Breakdown the activity to smaller units).
Relationship between activities (Predecessor, Successor).
Resource Assignment (Labour, Non-Labour & Material)
Activity Calendar.
Constraints.
Status of activity (Actual start & finish dates, % of progress).
Expenses.
Any other comments, notes etc.

LEVELS OF PLAN

LEVEL - 1 PLAN
Sequence of major phases e.g., E, P, C inter-phase, or Civil, Mechanical &
Electrical sequences.

LEVEL-1 PLAN

LEVELS OF PLAN
LEVEL 2 PLAN
Breaks major phases into geographic distribution
(Zone/Area) and/or disciplines e.g., Piping,
Structure, Foundation, etc.

LEVEL-2 PLAN

LEVELS OF PLAN
LEVEL - 3 PLAN
Breaks all discipline activities into Cost Centers

LEVEL-3 PLAN

LEVELS OF PLAN
LEVEL - 4 PLAN
Further breaks down work into smaller
activities e.g., material withdrawals from
stores, layout, tacking, welding, Q.C checks, etc.

LEVEL-4 PLAN

Resource Allocation & Leveling

Resources required may include

Manpower
Tools & Plants
Direct materials
Consumables
Special jigs & fixtures

Resource estimation is carried out by

Proposal Department using WinBid

Resource Allocation & Leveling

Resource requirement should be a smooth curve i.e; gradual
increase till it reaches its peak, maintains peak for required period
and then gradually decreases till project is complete.

Resource Leveling is done in P6.

Master Schedule from Primavera

Resource Usage Profile

Scheduling Project
Project schedule can be calculated one of two ways: when we choose the Scheduling
command or each time we make a change that affects schedule dates.

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

Updating Progress
To update the progress of the individual activity, the following inputs are to be given in the activity detail form.
1. Start Date (If activity is started)
2. Finish Date (If activity is completed)
3. % of duration completed (if activity is in progress)
4. Remaining duration to complete the activity

Reports
Numerous reports are available in the system.
Few useful reports are:
Activity Status Report
Two Week Look-ahead
Resource and Role Assignments
Resource Loading Summary
Activity Relationships

Thank You