(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.
Hi there folks,
This is my first ever post so go easy on me. I am relatively new to Planning and to Primavera (as far as experience goes, 2 years in the planning world is not long at all and I have a lot to learn) however I am very keen to learn as much as I can.
I am the only planner within my department so have a query which I have no one I can bounce questions off of and this is my main reason for joining this site, to hopefully get someone support. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, cut to the chase...I have a list of tasks (say numbered 1-10) and I have three headings that these tasks fall into (Pre Order, During Order, Post Delivery). Then I have a task which comes under the main assembly titled Delivery Period (say 150 days). I know the start and finish dates of my "Delivery Period" and I know that task 1 (comes under headings - Pre Order) is done before the kit can be ordered, as soon as the kit is ordered we enter into our "Delivery Period". As soon as the order has been made and delivery period begins, tasks 2-5 (comes under "during order" heading) can be done (within that 150 day window). The tasks can start at any point (and are linked up correctly with predecessors/sucessors) however they MUST finish before the "delivery period" ends. Once Delivery period ends and the kit is delivered, tasks 6-7 (comes under "Post Delivery" heading) can be completed. I have currently linked up task 2 and "delivery period" on a SS relationship (as they can both start at the same time) however how do I effectively convey in my plan that the tasks should be completed as soon as possible but as long as they are completed before delivery? I want to be able to show that if delivery is pulled in or extended, what affect this would have on the tasks to be completed (2-5).
Would I be better, rather than creating a task for delivery period of 150 days, creating two milestones? A start milestone of when the kit was ordered and a finish milestone of when the kit was delivered and link them up that way? If so, then I would still not be sure how to convey that tasks 2-5 should happen as soon as possible after the start milestone and be completed before the finish milestone (and show how much float I have).
Phew...I really hope I have explained this well enough for someone to understand what I am trying to do...any help would be appreciated.
Many thanks
:)
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Hi folks,
Thank you very much for your responses, they help me a lot! I am impressed you managed to follow my question to be honest because on reading it back I was even confusing myself! :)
Gary, the tasks which I am talking about here are engineering tasks required in order to produce a piece of topside equipment for a subsea Projects. So tasks 1 was to create a Functional Spec, which is required before the kit can be ordered. Once the order has been made and we know our vendor we would go onto tasks 2-5 which is all the engineering in the middle, like Technical Specs, Drawings, Calculations etc etc. These must be completed before delivery is made. Once delivery is made and the kit is in the yard, we would then go on to do tasks 6-7 which is like building and testing and sometimes some other tasks like manuals and test reports which come after testing.
Thanks again folks, have a nice weekend :)
Loren
If Delivery Period represents a Summary Bar similar to MSP that can be driven by predecessors [in this case Activity 1] and drive successors [Activities 6 & 7] to any member of the group [Activities 2, 3, 4, & 5] being summarized/grouped then in most software you mimic the summary bar that can behave in this manner through two milestones as you proposed.
The following is what I understood but instead of forcing the duration of the summary bar be driven by a long duration activity I used a hammock code DP1, duration of DP2 was kept below DP1 but if you increase DP1 by 20 days [its float] duration it will be driving.
We usually manage our jobs using two schedules; a schedule with some buffers and a shorter duration schedule without any buffer that we target in the hope of meeting contract duration. For the buffered schedule we would use DP2 with a buffered duration, say 150 days for this example and for the tight schedule without buffer we would use DP1 and delete DP2 [your fixed duration delivery period activity].
It seems to me you understand it well and are looking for an easier way, something that behaves like MSP Summary Bar. I do not believe P6 nor Spider Project support this activity type, also known as a Topic Activity in Primavera SureTrak. The problem with this activity type is that predecessor/successor logic is not disclosed as it have been implemented by the software developers including MSP.
Loren,
I would keep your delivery period activity, and use the following relationships for these other tasks:
Pre-Order:
Give the final task in the chain a successor of "order kit" using FS with zero lag .
Your message doesn't indicate what the predecessor should be, but hopefully you can work that out
During Order:
Give the first task in the chain a predecessor of "order kit" again using FS(0)
Give the last task in the chain a FF(0) sucessor of "delivery period"
Post Delivery:
Give the first task in the chain a FS(0) predecessor of "delivery"
Your message doesn't indicate what the sucessor should be, but hopefully you can work that out
Once you've done this, take a copy of your programme and have a play with updating based on progress being earlier or later than planned to confirm it is giving you the answers you expect.
Just out of curiosity: what are the tasks we are talking about here?
Cheers,
G
Email: PPadmin@planningplanet.com
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