I know, but theoretically MS Project can do it. My attempt to test it with the really large project failed. I tried to use copy and paste function, but after several iterations that took more and more time I came to the point when in the morning I found that the subproject is still not included and no information about what is going on is available. In any case the speed of work became too low to be practical.
I did not try large projects in PS8. I am interested in your experience in this field. It is interesting to discuss the practical aspects of managing large scale projects. But I think that it should be done in some other Forum Category.
Member for
22 years 9 months
Member for22 years9 months
Submitted by Alexandre Faul… on Tue, 2004-09-21 04:13
MS Project CANNOT handle unlimited number of activities; it says so, but the file size is so huge when you reach several hundreds of lines that you will need unlimited memory size too.
Should you want a simple, cheap, economical piece of software, have a look at PS8 at www.sciforma.com
Alexandre
Member for
24 years 9 months
Member for24 years9 months
Submitted by Vladimir Liberzon on Tue, 2004-09-21 01:48
PRIMAVERA CONTRACTOR UNIT COST PER ACTIVITY IS NOT COMPETITIVE WITH SURETRAK. THE UNIT COST PER ACTIVITY IS OVER 13 TIMES THAT OF SURETRAK
With the Primavera Contractor limitation on activities not even free I would use Cotractor as the possibility of falling short with regard to number of activities is enormous.
Member for
22 years 7 months
Member for22 years7 months
Submitted by Dayanidhi Dhandapany on Fri, 2004-09-17 09:45
Critical Path Analysis is not enough for simulating construction. Activity duration shall be cakculated basing on production rates, shifts should be simulated if necessary, material supplies shall be taken into consideration, resources are always limited. The software that produce Critical Path analysis may be useless if this software is not able to simulate the real life situation.
Maybe your project has unlimited resources, all of them work in one shift, activity durations are known and do not depend on resources that are used, all project materials are available and there are no financial constraints, uncertainties are absent. In this case you are lucky and I will also recommend you to use any CPM software including MS Project.
Member for
22 years 7 months
Member for22 years7 months
Submitted by Dayanidhi Dhandapany on Wed, 2004-09-15 12:48
Primavera have delivered a new product named PRIMAVERA CONTRACTOR. Functions is quite similiar to P3e/c but with limitation to no. of activities and others. Standalone version available only and the cost is quite competitive with SureTrak
Member for
21 years 8 months
Member for21 years8 months
Submitted by Rafael Davila on Sat, 2004-09-11 13:05
Definitively PRIMAVERA SURETRAK would be my choice for a first time user, as long as you have no need to schedule more than 10,000 activities per job. Can be network installed but it is not true multi-user.
I believe Primavera Contractor might be a good choice for those very few (very, very few, if any) in real need for enterprise features, but in no way it is for the average construction contractor. So be careful, a wrong selection might end in disappointment.
Please understand that Multistory Building Construction is a very repetitive process, traditional scheduling software might prove tedious. 50 activities, repeating on ea (7ea) floor might yield a 350 activities schedule.
Sometimes an electronic spreadsheet will do it, your schedule might easily be presented in a single page spreadsheet. Along with the progress payment curve overlay on it.
JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE
Member for
22 years 9 months
Member for22 years9 months
Submitted by Alexandre Faul… on Fri, 2004-09-10 14:45
this means you should have ONE critical path only, as the phases start one after the other.
200 activities and the phases titles make something around 250 lines, most workable with MS-Project.
If you like something easy to use, not too rigid, close to Excel as far as interface is a concern, stick with MSP.
You definitely should have a look at Sciforma PS8 (www.sciforma.com) as it is easier to use than MS-Project because much more logical and not expensive at all; but I understand that this software is not widely used in the UK, since it is nbr 2 after MSP in France.
How long is your project? How much structured is it? Will you have one or many sequences of activities/tasks?
For a short, simple project, MS-Project is well able to manage the critical path; as soon as you have multiple critical paths in ONE single planning, move to Sciforma Project Scheduler or Primavera P3, or whatever you want, but move away from MSP.
Member for
22 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Vladimir, you are perfectly right; we have gone far away from the original subject of this thread
Member for
24 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
I know, but theoretically MS Project can do it. My attempt to test it with the really large project failed. I tried to use copy and paste function, but after several iterations that took more and more time I came to the point when in the morning I found that the subproject is still not included and no information about what is going on is available. In any case the speed of work became too low to be practical.
I did not try large projects in PS8. I am interested in your experience in this field. It is interesting to discuss the practical aspects of managing large scale projects. But I think that it should be done in some other Forum Category.
Member for
22 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Unfortunately, not.
MS Project CANNOT handle unlimited number of activities; it says so, but the file size is so huge when you reach several hundreds of lines that you will need unlimited memory size too.
Should you want a simple, cheap, economical piece of software, have a look at PS8 at www.sciforma.com
Alexandre
Member for
24 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
P3e, MS Project, Open Plan, Spider Project can handle unlimited number of activities. So the cost per activity is zero.
If your projects are small it does not matter.
Member for
21 years 8 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
BEWARE
COST RATIO TO SURETRAK (PER ACTIVITY)
activities..... Cost.......Cost/activity... Cost Ratio
Contractor .......750.............$500.....0.67......13.40
Suretrak.......10,000............$500.....0.05........1.00
P3.................100,000........$3,000......0.03.......0.60
PRIMAVERA CONTRACTOR UNIT COST PER ACTIVITY IS NOT COMPETITIVE WITH SURETRAK. THE UNIT COST PER ACTIVITY IS OVER 13 TIMES THAT OF SURETRAK
With the Primavera Contractor limitation on activities not even free I would use Cotractor as the possibility of falling short with regard to number of activities is enormous.
Member for
22 years 7 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Click thisLinkfor a related discussion in another forum.
Member for
24 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Critical Path Analysis is not enough for simulating construction. Activity duration shall be cakculated basing on production rates, shifts should be simulated if necessary, material supplies shall be taken into consideration, resources are always limited. The software that produce Critical Path analysis may be useless if this software is not able to simulate the real life situation.
Maybe your project has unlimited resources, all of them work in one shift, activity durations are known and do not depend on resources that are used, all project materials are available and there are no financial constraints, uncertainties are absent. In this case you are lucky and I will also recommend you to use any CPM software including MS Project.
Member for
22 years 7 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Dear Tony,
If you are a user of MS Project, you can stick with MSP i.e. more than sufficient for your present project size to do critical path analysis.
Regards
Daya
Member for
23 years 8 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Primavera have delivered a new product named PRIMAVERA CONTRACTOR. Functions is quite similiar to P3e/c but with limitation to no. of activities and others. Standalone version available only and the cost is quite competitive with SureTrak
Member for
21 years 8 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Definitively PRIMAVERA SURETRAK would be my choice for a first time user, as long as you have no need to schedule more than 10,000 activities per job. Can be network installed but it is not true multi-user.
I believe Primavera Contractor might be a good choice for those very few (very, very few, if any) in real need for enterprise features, but in no way it is for the average construction contractor. So be careful, a wrong selection might end in disappointment.
Please understand that Multistory Building Construction is a very repetitive process, traditional scheduling software might prove tedious. 50 activities, repeating on ea (7ea) floor might yield a 350 activities schedule.
Sometimes an electronic spreadsheet will do it, your schedule might easily be presented in a single page spreadsheet. Along with the progress payment curve overlay on it.
JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE
Member for
22 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
OK,
this means you should have ONE critical path only, as the phases start one after the other.
200 activities and the phases titles make something around 250 lines, most workable with MS-Project.
If you like something easy to use, not too rigid, close to Excel as far as interface is a concern, stick with MSP.
You definitely should have a look at Sciforma PS8 (www.sciforma.com) as it is easier to use than MS-Project because much more logical and not expensive at all; but I understand that this software is not widely used in the UK, since it is nbr 2 after MSP in France.
All the best
Member for
22 years 5 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Its a Government Project:
Refurbishment of 7 story Tower Block approximately 50 weeks in Duration.
With it being a government project they have asked for a Critical Path on the schedule.
The schedule is about 200 tasks in total, and is split into 4 phases, each phase cannot start until the other is finished as the site is live.
Member for
22 years 9 monthsRE: MS Project & Critical Path
Hello,
How long is your project? How much structured is it? Will you have one or many sequences of activities/tasks?
For a short, simple project, MS-Project is well able to manage the critical path; as soon as you have multiple critical paths in ONE single planning, move to Sciforma Project Scheduler or Primavera P3, or whatever you want, but move away from MSP.
All the best