A New Approach to Manage Project' Schedule

Any project initiative to deliver a facility contain elements (trades) Engineer/Contractor integrate them to end to your facility, those trades are materials need to be identified, specified, procured to be allocated in your premise (plot) which facility is there.

EPC Approach

Each trade need EPC Engineering, Procurement & Construction, EP the Engineering works and Procurement not required construction site to be ready unless you need to deliver the trade to your site or nearby, all you need your Engineer/ Contractor staff to be assigned on office or remote work environment.

A tool of material matrix is enough and sufficient to manage the EP of your proposed trades, no need to interact the relationship network between them, it must be execute them parallel which mean independent process, just link to staff mobilization task onsite or remotely from home ether their house or office, which you already mitigate the impact of any potential delay due to unreadiness of your construction site or further a virus lockdown scenario as happened on 2020 by #COVID19

During C the Construction phase of those trades, here an interaction between trades need to be studied well to avoid mess site coordination and each trade have predecessor and successor trades to allow proper technicality Installation/ Erection/ Casting/ Allocation of those trades which mean dependent process, their relationship network will create a set of risky activities (convergence tasks) which a certain path(s) can't be progressively elaborated or achieved until this convergence task completed.

Procedure Mindset - The What

Now how you will create a robust schedule tool consider the above EPC approach, prior to utilize schedule program software consider below topics:

Create three major tasks for each trade EPC

• Engineering Works of x Trade, this task description contain all submittal/approval of Pre_Qualification/Material/Spec-Compliance/ Shop drawings/ Mockup/ Calculation Sheets any type of paper works prior to subcontract/procure x Trade.
• Procurement Works of x Trade, this task description contain the SLA/ LPO/ Sub Agreement with Supplier/ Vendor/ Subcontractor to Manufacture/ Supply the x Trade material to deliver it or commence to deliver it to construction site.
• Construction Works of x Trade, this task description contain how the Contractor or their subcontractor Install/ Erect/ Allocate/ Pour/ Assemble the x Trade in tis location and order in construction site.

Provisional Sum Criteria Impact

This approach is applicable for all the trades listed in Contract Document i.e. BOQ or/and Defined/ known Provisional Sum Trade(s), Undefined Provisional Sum trade(s) seem that Contractor haven't sufficient data to programing, planning or pricing preliminaries.

Procedure Methodology - The Know-How

Upon brain storming with your key team staff (PM/RE, Architect, MEP, CMs & Supervisors), you need a Guru Planner/ Scheduler and skilled (DC) Document Controller(s) to generate the below tools allow you to be Core/ Essential/ key Personnel able to mange and deliver your Project To Facility:

Material Matrix

• Simple table in any spreadsheet, list all Trades with identification ID by MasterFromat? divisions.
• Establish a certain duration of 60 or 75 Calendar days up to your management decision to achieve all its Engineering works.
• Classified a checklist of Engineering Works categories Yes/No require from Pre -Qualified, Short vendor list, Material Sample/ Mockup, Specs Compliance to Preparing Shop drawings, Calculation Sheet and Method of Statement.
• Key Client Staff review requirement if any
• Breakdown Procurement key events from LPO/ SLA or SubAgreement with Supply-Chain, add columns for named Supplier/Vendor/Manufacture/SubContractor and its measurement unit/ general Quantity.
• Identify urgency of the material to be long lead or other potential unknown risks.

This Material Matrix will be the Master Tool in the begin phase of Site Construction to communicate it with your key stakeholders and generate related KPIs to your dashboard slide.

Submittal Logs

• Breakdown the E of EPC for all your trades with planned dates linked with our overall estimated Engineering duration for your project
• Then normal procedure by your DC to track and upload regular updates with numerical KPIs
• Ensure to have separate tap for correspondences between Client/ Engineer/ Contractor (in/out) letters.

Risk/Issue Log

• Prior to establish you schedule in program software Oracle P6 or MSP, Create the potential risks register and;
• Issue (if you failed to identify risk and converted to current status) to be escalate the Issue otherwise it will be;
• A problem if not reporting it and escalate to senior Management as specified in your Contract Conditions if your form is;
• FIDIC red book 1999 at Clause 1.3 {Communications}, Clause 3.2 {Delegation by the Engineer} and Clause 4.3 {Contractor Representative}

uniWBS? Cube

• Select the right three directions/faces of your Schedule layout with the proper filter system from uniWBS? Cube
• Level- Facility uniWBS? by creating it in schedule program software in WBS field, ensure to select the suitable one for your project type (Construction or Fit-out)
• Level- EPC Resources, create a set of dummy non labors resources to reflect the assigned activities for Engineering, Procurement or Construction.
• Level- Project Uniquely, by studying and understanding your project's Business Needs and Objectives/ Deliverables create your own categories in User Fields

Schedule Layout

• Congratulation by implemented predeceased tools described above you able to generate an unique schedule database for your project in timeless with effortless
• Activity level the work-package lowest level in your schedule, ensure your have only one task for Engineering works of x Trade
• Considering its estimated duration include all effort required from Engineer/ Contractor staff.
• Minimum of two actions (bing-Pong) embedded in hiding description of Engineering work Submittal/ Approval
• Procurement x Trade only one task its duration include subcontract to delivery note of all/partial material to site.
• Construction Task(s) up to your project unique attributes but ensure each task duration not exceed than two period of updates (mean if you update it weekly duration < 14 days)
• Construction related tasks to be scripted by S.M.A.R.T manner
• Never link trades in construction phase to just close the network, you have to care with its physical consideration (Hard/ Soft logic)
• I suggest FS relationships for hard logic between the trades and SS/FF with lag duration (notified and agreed by Engineer with regularly update it) for soft logic between the trades as might be the site situation and current challenges bush PM/CMs to resequenced the planned order activities.

Quality of Procedure - The Compliance

• Generate schedule with criteria of "Retained Logic" as FIDIC 1999 Red Book Clause 8.3 last para mentioned that Engineer to provide notice to Contractor if the planned logic not match actual progress, Contractor to revised the programme by;
• Change the sequence of relationship(s) of soft logic in the update schedule by record those changes in log subject to Engineer approval.
• Avoid to treat your schedule as submittal log sheet by inserting embedded tasks of tasks should be in your submittal log to just increased the numbers of your activities!
• Ensure to assigned dummy EPC resources with activities fixed unit/time rates and with duration type (not physical)
• Control the weight for measure the progress based on level of effort by ensure Engineering dummy non-labour resource is 20% unit/time from its duration units, 15% for Procurement, 100% for Construction and 5% for T&C

The Procedure I/O

By reviewing the inputs from your project contract documents available to you to get the benefit of this procedure you will get an awesome outputs to super manage your project and cover 8/9 areas of project PM all except HSE area as in image aside to be thePMPer? character of your organization.

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