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Tips on using this forum..

(1) Explain your problem, don't simply post "This isn't working". What were you doing when you faced the problem? What have you tried to resolve - did you look for a solution using "Search" ? Has it happened just once or several times?

(2) It's also good to get feedback when a solution is found, return to the original post to explain how it was resolved so that more people can also use the results.

MS Project or P6

8 replies [Last post]
Thu, 2008-09-04 15:06
Marc De Vall
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Hi People
Please excuse my lack of knowledge in advance,i spent 28 yrs in construction,manual worker and 2 years in the railway sector,starting as trackman working up to assisstant possession planner,which i really enjoyed,so much so that i want to be a ’qualified’ planner? im doing a self funded project management course,but i am also self funding either ms project or p6 course,as a beginner which would you recommend?and would i be restricted in work availability with ms?thank you,marc
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Replies

Wed, 2008-09-17 07:52
#1
Vladimir Liberzon
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Groups: Accreditation Editors, Board of Advisors, Civil Engineering, GPCCAR Editors, Petro-Chem / Oil & Gas, Regional Representatives, Spider Project Team, TURNAROUND & SHUTDOWN (T/A & S/D)
Hi Paul,
I agree with your proposal. Russian Railways selected Spider Project because it includes Line of Balance project presentation. Other considerations worked too but this one was mostly appreciated.
Tilos or other softwares that support what we call Linear Diagrams are most helpful in linear projects.
Besty Regards,
Vladimir
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Mon, 2008-09-15 10:36
#2
Marc De Vall
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Thanks guys for your comments and advice
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Mon, 2008-09-15 10:05
#3
Mal Leadbetter
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Joined: 22 Aug 2001
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Groups: TILOS
Marc

In my experience at Network Rail. Primavera P3 was the predominate tool of use. This was latterly superceded by P5 I think. You need to contact someone in the projects groups and talk to them to find out what they are now using.

MS Project was used by some of the smaller contractors and by the Track / Signalling Renewals teams and they could plan track possession activities to minutes and hours which was not possible in P3

Regards

Mal
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Mon, 2008-09-15 07:23
#4
Paul Harris
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If you are serious about railway planning you should consider something like Tilos from Asta.

Paul E Harris
Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
Planning and Scheduling Training Manual & Book Publishers, Consulting and Training
www.eh.com.au
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Wed, 2008-09-10 02:51
#5
Marc De Vall
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Many thanks for your comments
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Tue, 2008-09-09 15:05
#6
L.E.N. Lewis
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I wouldn’t put much stock in that survey ... it’s not clear what happens when four people from one company respond -- is that 1 vote? or 4?

As for which software you should learn, I’d go to a local Project Management interest group or chapter meeting and ask people there -- they will have knowledge of local "tastes" and can guide you about local industry norms, too.

Given that MS Project outsells (according to some data I’ve been shown) all other products combined, I’d consider learning that package first. Go to Amazon, find some MS Project books and you can be almost certain that they will come with a trial version of the software (good for 60 days).

At the end of the day, it’s not going to matter a whole heck-of-a-lot about which software package ... that’s just a tool. It’s going to matter more about the man who is using the tool (do not put a saw in my hands!).
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Fri, 2008-09-05 03:58
#7
Marc De Vall
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Many thanks darren
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Fri, 2008-09-05 01:49
#8
Darren Kosa
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Hi Marc,

With your experience, (Construction / Railway) I’d look at scheduling tools by Asta (Powerproject / Teamplan) or Primavera. Although MS Project is widely used, it will probably be a bit lightweight for those industry sectors.

Take a look at the Planning Engineers Organisation website, they’ve currently got a survey running at the moment which may be of interest to you.

Software Survey

Regards,

Darren
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