22/08/2015

ResourceProgressCurvesinPrimaveraP6(PrintFriendlyView)

ResourceProgressCurvesinPrimaveraP6

Writtenby:2/5/201312:22:00AM

ThisdocumentdiscussesthefeaturesofP6thatcurrentlylinktheactualandforecastresource
curve,whiletouchingonsomeofthecurrentshortfallsinmanagingresourcesinP6.Indepth
coverageofeachfeaturedescribedhereinisbeyondthescopeofthisdocument.

Displayingacontiguousresourcecurvelinkingtheactualcurvewiththeremainingcurvehas
oftenseemednotpossibleinP6,duetomostP6teachingoccurringonlyontheResource
UsageProfile(wherethisisnotpossible).ThisabilityisavailableinP6usingtheActivity
UsageProfileortheTrackingfeature.
NotethatBaselineoptionsarenotavailableintheResourceUsageProfile,onlybudgeted
values.Budgetedvaluesessentiallydonotworkonceyouhaveprogressinyourschedule.
Question:WhatisthedifferencebetweenBudgetedvs.Baseline?TheyareNOTthesame.

SampleResourceUsageProfile
TheRemainingUnitscurvestartsatzero(0).Plannerswouldliketheactualcurveto
linkwiththeremainingcurve(likeitdidinP3).
TheBudgetedUnitsarespreadovertheactivitybythePlannedStartandPlanned
Finishdatesoftheactivity,whichwillchangewhenthedatadatemoves(for
activitiesnotstarted).
Note:TherearenoBaselineUnitsorBaselineCurvesavailableintheResource
UsageProfile.

ActivityUsageProfile

UsetheActivityUsageProfileinP6toviewcostorunitvaluesovertimeaccordingtothe
selectedtimescale.TheActivityUsageProfiledisplaysresourceallocationsforallactivities
orforselectactivities.
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Thisprofilecandisplayresourcelabor,unitsandcostswithperiodicverticalbarsaswellasa
varietyofcumulativecurves(early,late,baseline,earnedvalue(EV))forperiodsbasedon
theselectedtimescale.

Thereareavarietyofcustomizationoptionsavailable.PleasereadtheP6Helpforadditional
informationorrefertoyourcompanyP6TrainingManuals.

SampleActivityUsageProfile

Steps
1.SelectView>ShowonBottom>ActivityUsageProfile(onthetoolbar)

2.Periodicamountsaredisplayedontheleftaxis,cumulativeamountsontherightaxis(They
arenotcustomizable)
3.Displaythetimescaleinweeksforbestresults,unlessyourdatadateisthecalendarmonth
end
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4.CustomizeyourheadersandfootersinPrintPreview

Tocustomizetheactivityusageprofileoptions:

SelectDisplay(orrightclickinthegraph)>

ActivityUsageProfileOptions:

Stepstocreateanactualcurvelinkedtoaremainingunitscurve:
Resourceloadtheschedule.
Createandassignaprojectbaseline(allowsuseofthevariousEarnedValue(EV)unit
options)
Inordertogettheresultdesired,youwillneedtoensureyouselecttherightcumulative
curves.

TheResourceUnitsgraphabovewascreatedusingthefollowingoptions(ForLaborUnits):
BaselineBar
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ActualBar
ActualCumulativeCurve
RemainingEarlyBar
PlannedValueLaborUnits
EstimateatCompletionLaborUnits

TheRemainingEarlyCurvebeginsatthedatadatestartingat0h(whichwasnotthecaseinP3).To
getalinkedcurve,eitherusetheEstimateatCompletionLaborUnitscurveorcombinethiscurve
withtheActualcurvetoclearlydifferentiatebetweenhistoricalvs.forecastvalues.

Oneoptionistoshowjustthecurves,withouttheperiodicbars(i.e.justshowthecurves).

Note:Ifyouremovethebars,someperiodicvaluesontheleftofthegraphwillstillshow,butignore
them(2,4,5,6,8hetc.).Usethecumulativevaluesontherightsideofthegraph.

GeneralP6Settings(ActivityandProject,useDefaultWBSEarnedValueSettings)
DurationType=FixedDuration&Units
PercentCompleteType=Units%Complete
Resources=Driving
CalculationsTabSettingsintheProjectsWindowbelow:

TabularEarnedValueinformationintheActivitiesTable:

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Note:Theabovecolumnshavebeenrenamedinthislayout.

TrackingFeature:
Summaryinformationallononepage
ProvidesresourceanalysisattheProjectorWBSlevel

Tips:
AvoidusingBudgetedValuesorCurvesonceyouhaveprogressintheschedule.
Ifyoudonthaveabaseline,youwillbedependentonplanneddates(whichslide).
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ResourceActuals

TomoreaccuratelycaptureresourceactualsbyperiodrequiresusingtheFinancialPeriodsfeaturein
P6,otherwisetheoverallactualcurvewillbeincorrectasitsspreadovertheactivitylifetime.

InthecompanyP6Production&Stagingdatabases,thefinancialperiodsaresetuptomatchthe
companymonthlyfiscalperiodcutoffs.DuetoP6Limitations,thereisnoabilitytohavemultiple
variationsoffinancialperiodsinthecurrentversion(P68.2).Thenumberofperiodsislimitedand
cannotoverlap.

Thecumulativeindividualactualresourcecurveforeachresourceisadjustedeverytimethedatadate
ismoveduntiltheresourceiscomplete.Theactualresourcecurveisspreadbasedontheresource
curveassigned,justliketheforecastcurveisspread.Thecumulativecurveisasumoftheparts.

Theactualunitsarenotstored,bydefault,byanyperiod,butdistributedbasedontheresourcecurve
assigned(fromtheresourcestartdatethroughthedatadatetotheresourcefinishdate.

Thismeanstheactualperiodicamountswillbeadjustedoverthelifetimeoftheactivityduration,as
newactuals(earned)arerecordedforaresourceassignment.Thiswillaffectthehistoricalresource
curves,astheyarearollupofalltheactivitiesresourceassignments,distributedbythepercentages
allocatedtotheassignedresourcecurve.

InSummary,donotrelyontheaccuracyofthehistoricalprogressdatashowninP6.Inorderto
achievemoreaccuratehistoricaldata,storetheperiodicunitsinthefinancialperiodsfeatureinP6.
Theforecastbarsandcurvesareaccurate,butonlythehistoricalbaselineorPVcurveisaccurate,not
theactualcurve.

Resourceassignment(historical)withnocurve(linearbydefault)

ActivityUsageProfilewithalinearcurve

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RelatedSearch
byWanderBurst

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Construction
Engineering
CivilEngineering

SameResourceassignmentwithcurveadded
Notethesignificantadjustmentoftheactualunitshistogramandcurve

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ProjectManagement

SameActivityUsageProfilewithabellshapedcurve(samedataasabove)

ConstructionProjects
CostEngineering

WhilethegraphicsinP6arelimited,particularlywithcustomizationcapabilities,theydosavetime
versuscustomizinggraphsinexcel.

Itisimportant,priortoproceedingdownaP6resourcemanagementpath,toensurethateach
ProjectsunderstandingoftheabilitiesofP6arecorrect,priortoovercommittingandunderdelivering.
Itisoftenseenthatplannersandprojectsembarkonacomplexpath,withouttestingifthe
softwarewillsupporttherequirements.

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