Schedule quality – detailed analysis of the main metrics webinar Tuesday 27 June 2017 presented by Franco Pittoni organised by APM Planning, Monitoring and Control SIG

1. Schedule Quality
Detailed analysis of the main metrics
Franco Pittoni
Director FP Opera
BIM & Project Controls
franco.pittoni@fpopera.com
https://www.thepif.org/
07812737559
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2. Introduction to the webinar
 Why is Schedule Quality important?
 Continuation of Schedule Quality presentation
 Intended for a different audience
 Only some “metrics” will be analysed
 Lack of universal agreement on measurement methods
 Focus on essential metrics
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3. Webinar frame
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CPM
(Critical Path Method)
Deterministic
Critical Chain
Last Planner
Risk Analysis
Rolling wave
Planning

4. Schedule Quality definition
A definition of a Schedule Quality could be:
 It provides all the main elements of information
required to manage a project
 The information must be reliable and traceable
 All the elements of information must be promptly
available
 Data must be structured according to the audience
that is going to utilize it

5. SQ Metrics Sets
 The Acumen Fuse “Schedule Quality” index
 The DCMA 14 Point assessment
 NASA Health Check
 GAO (Government Accountability Office) Guide
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6. SQ Metrics Sets – cont’d
 NASA Health Check:
 Schedule Status
 Task and Milestone Count
 Integrity Indicators
 Constraints
 Total constraints
 Start no Earlier Than
 Start No Later than
 Finish No Earlier Than
 Finish No Later Than
 Must Start On
 Must Finish On
 As Late As Possible
 Deadlines
 Mandatory Start
 Mandatory finish
 Additional Schedule Information 6

7. Confusion and desperation!
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8. Selected metrics sets
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DCMA 14 Point Assessment Acumen Fuse
1. Logic 1. Missing Logic
2. Leads 2. Logic Density™
3. Lags 3. Critical
4. Relationship Types 4. Hard Constraints
5. Hard Constraints 5. Negative Float
6. High Float 6. Insufficient Detail™
7. Negative Float 7. Number of Lags
8. High Duration 8. Number of Leads
9. Invalid Dates 9. Merge Hotspot
10. Resources
11. Missed Tasks
12. Critical Path Test
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI)
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI)

9. Something in common!
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DCMA 14 Point Assessment Acumen Fuse
1. Logic 1. Missing Logic
2. Leads 2. Logic Density™
3. Lags 3. Critical
4. Relationship Types 4. Hard Constraints
5. Hard Constraints 5. Negative Float
6. High Float 6. Insufficient Detail™
7. Negative Float 7. Number of Lags
8. High Duration 8. Number of Leads
9. Invalid Dates 9. Merge Hotspot
10. Resources
11. Missed Tasks
12. Critical Path Test
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI)
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI)

10. Only 6 metrics….much better!
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DCMA 14 Point Assessment Acumen Fuse
1. Logic 1. Missing Logic
2. Leads 4. Hard Constraints
3. Lags 5. Negative Float
5. Hard Constraints 6. Insufficient Detail™
7. Negative Float 7. Number of Lags
8. High Duration 8. Number of Leads

11. Similar ….not identical
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12. Main differences
 Applicability
– Fuse metrics apply to ALL activities
– DCMA 14PA metrics apply to TOTAL activities
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In progress & not started
tasks
Completed tasks

13. Main differences – cont’d
 Thresholds
 Example: number of Leads (aka negative Lags)
– Fuse suggests that some improvements may be required up to 50% of
all activities are linked with Leads.
– DCMA 14PA does not accept any lead.
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14. Main Differences – cont’d
 Example: high duration – insufficient detail
– Fuse : < 5% of activities with duration longer that 10% of the Project
duration.
– DCMA: < 5% of activities with duration longer that 2 months.
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15. Main Differences – cont’d
Example: 4 year duration – 600 activities
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Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Fuse
5% of 600 = 30 activities
Duration > 4.8 months (10% of 4 years)
DCMA:
5% of 600 = 30 activities (assuming that work has not started)
Duration > 2 months
The Fuse threshold is 2.4 times the DCMA one!

16. The essential elements of a Schedule
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 Activities (all types)
 Dependencies (FS-SS-FF-SF)
 Lags and Leads
 Constraints
 Calendars
 Resources

17. Dependencies
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 This metric addresses two aspects:
 Their existence (Open Ends, Open Start or Finish)
Fuse & DCMA threshold: Open Ends < 5%
 Types in use (FS-SS-FF-SF)
Fuse & DCMA threshold: FS >90%

18. Logically correct schedule (no open ends)
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19. Apparently incorrect schedule
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Project B
Project A
Project C

20. Open Start
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FF + 10 days
10 days
FF + 10 days
10 days
Data Date

21. Open Finish
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SS + 10 days
10 days
Project Finish
SS + 10 days
10 days

22. Dependencies types (FS-SS-FF-SF)
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 Still a widely debated topic
 Closely related to the use of Lags and Leads
 Many combinations of Activities Types,
Dependencies Type and Lags-Leads exist

23. Dependencies types (FS-SS-FF-SF)
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Dependency
type
Activity type Positive Lag
Negative Lag
(Lead)
FS Normal X X
Start Milestone X X
Finish Milestone X X
Level of Effort X X
SS Normal X X
Start Milestone X X
Finish Milestone X X
Level of Effort X X
FF Normal X X
Start Milestone X X
Finish Milestone X X
Level of Effort X X
SF Normal X X
Start Milestone X X
Finish Milestone X X
Level of Effort X X

24. Some examples of improper use of
dependencies and Lags-Leads
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Lag
Sometime used to delay the
Start of the successor
Sometime used to indicate hidden
activities (concrete curing)
Result of continuous increase of
the Lead value beyond the
predecessor’s duration value
Lag
Lead

25. Constraints
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Mrs. CPM Mr. Constraint
Mr. C. attempts to prevent the schedule from being
logic-driven.

26. Hard Constraints
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Mandatory
Finish

27. Soft Constraints
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Finish On

28. Constraints – main differences
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 Terminology
 Hard
 Soft
 How they work?
 Is the Total Float affected?
 Are the dates affected?

29. Constraints – terminology
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Fuse SQ index
Hard-Soft type
H Mandatory Finish
H Mandatory Start
H Must Finish on
H Must Start On
H Start And Finish
S As Late As Possible
S Finish On
S Finish On or After
S Start On or After
S Start On or Before
Original DCMA documentation
Hard-Soft type
H Finish-No-Later Than (FNLT)]
H Must-Finish-On (MFO)
H Must-Start-On (MSO)
H Start-No-Later-Than (SNLT)
S As-Soon-As-Possible (ASAP)
S Finish-No-Earlier-Than (FNET)
S Start-No-Earlier-Than (SNET)
P6
Hard-Soft type
H Mandatory Finish
H Mandatory Start
S As Late As Possible
S Finish On
S Finish On or After
S Finish On or Before
S Start On
S Start On or After
S Start On or Before
Theresa May = Share My Tea

30. A real example (P6 sample Project)
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31. Impact of 1 broken relationship
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Item Original
Schedule
Modified
Schedule
Difference
(value and %)
Overall duration 517 days 422 days 95 days – 18%
Number of relationships:
• Original Schedule 93
• Modified Schedule 92
• Difference : 1 / 93 = 1.08%
Would anybody like to be the PM of a Project that adopts the
modified schedule as a baseline?

32. Acumen Fuse vs DCMA 14PA scores
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 Acumen Fuse Index
 DCMA 14PA

33. A real example (from the real world)
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 The Fuse and DCMA PA scores:
 Substantial difference in value of the two scoring systems (70% vs 23%)
 Obvious systematic use of Lags (289 activities – 511 Lags)
 Obvious systematic use of Relationships types different from FS
 ……..
 Substantial amount of work required to improve this schedule
 The risk of executing the works using this version of the schedule is high.
An expert assessment is required.

34. What is really important?
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35. Conclusions
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 Many metrics identify what is missing or what exist
 What exists is not necessarily correct
 The 80-20 rule may lead to very dangerous conclusions
 Other elements, not included in tools, are responsible
for SQ

36. Conclusions – cont’d
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 Universally recognised SQ measurement methodology not
in place
 Each organisation should establish non-negotiable rules
and limits
 A high quality schedule is still a necessary tool, which
supports management decisions
 High SQ = experienced Planner + smart tools

37. Final recommendations
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 Please contribute to the success of the Projects and
Programmes you are involved in!
 Do not hide what you know is not correct
 Sooner or later your work will be respected
 You will certainly have more fun!

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Franco Pittoni
franco.pittoni@fpopera.com
07812737559