|
Project Schedule Key Benefits
Project Assistant's Project
Schedule is a master schedule for the commercial construction industry.
The Project Schedule has the majority of the tasks in a standard commercial
construction project all ready coordinated in it. The Project Schedule
is used with our Weekly Schedule and our
Daily Schedule. Our Project Schedule requires Microsoft
Project, Primavera Sure Track or Primavera Project Planner (P3) to operate.
Companies can spend less time producing a schedule by starting with our
Project Schedule as a template. The complexity of a project's ever
changing details makes maintaining control of the project's scheduled
completion date a difficult task. However,
Our Project Assistant software will help a construction company take control
of their project schedule completion date and their on site general condition
expenses.
Computerized Project Schedule
An important tool
companies can use to gain control of their project's completion date is
computerized scheduling. Some
General Contractors have not implemented any form of computerized scheduling
and are still using a legal pad and a pencil to draw a bar chart showing how
they plan on meeting the project's contract completion date. This type of schedule is very hard to update with actual
progress to see if the project is on schedule.
At some point in the project, someone will realize that the project
will not finish on time and have to allocate unplanned expenses to the project
to try and meet the contract completion date. Computerized
scheduling uses the coordination of each specific detail of the project to
build a project schedule. By
teaching the computerized schedule that one task needs to be completed prior
to another one starting, the computerized schedule will calculate a start and
finish date for each of the tasks in the schedule.
This identifies a project game plan.
This overall game plan is also known as The Big Picture.
The computerized schedule is updated with actual progress on the
current tasks. These updates and
the details in The Big Picture, automatically make adjustments to all tasks in
a project, and make accurate projections on upcoming tasks in a project.
You can manage a large amount of coordination information for each task
in a project. By keeping track of
a project's Big Picture, the schedule becomes an invaluable resource for
managing and tracking project's schedule. By implementing the use
of computerized scheduling, contractors can manage the coordination of and
update the complex details involved in a construction project.
Start with
a Template Schedule
Inputting the detailed tasks
coordination for a detailed project schedule is a time consuming process.
To minimize the time spent creating a computerized schedule, a company
should develop a template schedule that has the basic tasks all ready
coordinated in it. You can start each project with this schedule, and reduce
the amount of time needed to create the project schedule.
This way you are no having to recreate the wheel every time.
Project Assistant's Project Schedule is a template schedule with the
basic tasks all ready coordinated in it.
We are offering our Project schedule as a free download to any one
interested in using it. Click on
the following link to download this schedule,
Free
Download Project Schedule
.
Build an
Accurate Schedule
A
key factor in utilizing the benefits of computerized scheduling is to allocate
time to proactively manage the schedule to obtain an accurate scheduled finish
date. Some companies are not
committed to spending the time necessary to build a detailed and accurate
schedule. These types of
schedules include tasks that are too general for it to become accurate
enough to count on the scheduled completion date not changing.
The time spent planning and calculating the specific details of the
project and including them in the schedule will have a tremendous return on
this investment.
By doing a detailed plan review and breaking down the project into a list
of detailed tasks and calculating the relationships between these tasks a
company is able to identify a more accurate project schedule.
Building an accurate and detailed schedule will reduce the potential
for unplanned tasks that delay the finish date and cause added expenses.
Identifying an accurate overall game plan and communicating it to every one
involved, is essential in keeping a project schedule on track.
It helps take away the Subcontractors excuses for not accomplishing a
task on time. An accurate project schedule will help a construction
company take control of their on site general condition expenses, and their
project's margin. They should be
committed to spending the time necessary to building an accurate project
schedule.
Project
Superintendent involved in scheduling procedures
In some companies the Project Manager builds the project schedule, yet the
Project Superintendent coordinates the daily activities on the project.
Most times there isn't a link between the Project Manager's project
schedule and the coordinated activities of the Project Superintendent.
Thus, the project schedule doesn't give a real picture of where the
project is heading. The project
schedule is used more as a historical reference instead of a planning tool to
be used by the Project Superintendent.
By getting the Project Superintendent involved in the development of the
project schedule, Project Assistant's Project Schedule helps develop a project
schedule that represents how the project will be built in the field.
A Project Superintendent has to accurately coordinate the daily
activities of a project. By using
computerized scheduling to accomplish this coordination, a Project
Superintendent will accurately identify The Big Picture of the project.
The more accurate the Big Picture is in the beginning, the less changes
to be made along the way. Remember,
your goal is to have your original project schedule be as close to actual
construction as possible. When
your project schedule reaches this point, you will be able to identify a more
accurate completion date for your project.
The computerized project schedule gives the Project Superintendent the
tools necessary to keep track of the details in The Big Picture and keep the
project schedule on track.
Critical
Path
Computerized scheduling helps identify the critical path of a project.
The critical path of a project is any task in a project whose delay
will delay the finish date of the project.
If the tasks in a project are coordinated accurately, an accurate
critical path will be established. An
accurate critical path is the key to being able to have control of a project's
schedule. A construction company has to have control of the critical
path, in order to have control of the project's duration, and complete a
project successfully. In order
for a construction company to have control of a project's critical tasks, he
has to prioritize the critical tasks over the remaining of the tasks.
By prioritizing the critical path a construction company will make sure
that he has control of his project's finish date.
The Project Assistant's Project Schedule helps a construction company
identify an accurate critical path for the project.
A project's budget is greatly
affected by the project's duration.
On site job costs are increased for every day a project is behind
schedule. Controlling the
duration of a project will help control the project's on site job costs.
The Project Assistant's Project Schedule helps establish a detailed
accurate project schedule and coordinate a project successfully and helps a
construction company control a project's on site job costs.
Time Saver Technologies LLC can provide consultation, training,
software and services that will guide you in the successful implementation
of a schedule management program. Contact us for details.
| 
