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.
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 This was latterly superceded by P5 I think.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
I wouldnt put much stock in that survey ... its not clear what happens when four people from one company respond -- is that 1 vote? or 4?
As for which software you should learn, Id 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 Ive been shown) all other products combined, Id 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, its not going to matter a whole heck-of-a-lot about which software package ... thats just a tool. Its going to matter more about the man who is using the tool (do not put a saw in my hands!).
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.
Spider Project is most functional and powerful professional project management software.
The first SP version was launched in 1993 and since then it has been constantly improved. Today is used in 34 countries though most Spider Project customers are in Russia. Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
The unique features of Spider Project include Quantity Based Scheduling, Conditional Scheduling, Skill Scheduling, Optimal Resource, Cost and Material Leveling, Resource Critical Path Calculation, Cash and Material Flows Calculation and Management, Trend Analysis, Advanced Risk Simulation and Analysis, Calculation of Success Probability Trends, Calculation and Management of required Project Time and Cost Buffers, Application of Corporate Norms, Management of many Parallel Budgets, Multiple WBS and many others.
Spider Project was and is used for management of many large scale programs in Russia, including $51bln construction program for 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparation.
The application areas where Spider Project is successfully used include Aerospace, Banking, Construction, Defense, Energy, Engineering, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Metallurgy, Mining, Oil & Gas, Railways, Retail, Shipbuilding, Software Development, Telecommunications, Utilities, etc.
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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
Thanks guys for your comments and advice
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
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
Many thanks for your comments
I wouldnt put much stock in that survey ... its not clear what happens when four people from one company respond -- is that 1 vote? or 4?
As for which software you should learn, Id 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 Ive been shown) all other products combined, Id 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, its not going to matter a whole heck-of-a-lot about which software package ... thats just a tool. Its going to matter more about the man who is using the tool (do not put a saw in my hands!).
Many thanks darren
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