Advanced Scheduling for Large, Complex Industrial Projects

© Project Value Delivery 2023
An group company
Advanced Scheduling for Large,
Complex Industrial Projects
In collaboration with
June 2023

01 Introduction: What’s the purpose of a project schedule?
02 Why you shouldn't put everything in one schedule
03 Convergence planning in a nutshell
04 Why most project schedules don't make sense
05 Conclusion
Content

3 © Project Value Delivery 2023
Project Value Delivery: Our background and experience
• Large, complex projects across industries
• Global coverage and interventions
• Offices in Singapore and France
• Active since 2011
• Since 2023 part of the group

1. Introduction: What’s the
purpose of a project schedule?

5 © Project Value Delivery 2023 5
HOW
Are you
taking
decisions?!

Is this the way you are flying?

Schedule Management: Real stuff we heard!
7
(Project Director, 600MUSD+ project)
“I haven’t looked at the project schedule for 6
months. I don’t understand it anyway.”
“We can’t show what’s
really happening in the
schedule, because then
the Client (alt. my boss)
would know it!”
“The plan is made to
please but does not show
our real forecast.”

Schedule Management Objectives
Foundation: Produce a reliable model of the
situation
(actual + forecast based on all known
information)
Communication tool within the project
Decision-making
and priority focus Remain as an
efficient
process
(resource vs
impact)

Schedule Management
Sound analysis of situation
Action
oriented
Timely
Efficient
Get participation from all
project team
Embedded
in
decision-
making
Straight forward
process
Adapted
to the
project
phase

2. Why you shouldn't put
everything in one
schedule for large
projects

Project Schedule Objectives
• Eisenhower:
“In preparing for battle, I have
always found that plans are useless
but planning is indispensable”
• Having a sound baseline and
remain agile and flexible

On a large
complex project,
unexpected
things will
happen!
12

- PM2 Training © Equans / ProjectValue Delivery, 2023

Project Planning Detail Level
14
Project Planning Detail
Too little detail
will not allow
to grasp
the project drivers
Too much detail
drowns the team
and removes agility
Effectiveness
Optimal
Schedule
Detail
Range

MORE
DETAIL
MORE
FOCUS
Detailed Construction
Schedule
Integrated Master
Schedule
1,500 – 2,000 activities
Recommended Hierarchy for Simple Project
Schedules

Convergence
Plan
MORE
DETAIL
MORE
FOCUS
Deliverables
Register
Procurement
Plan
Suppliers and
Subcontractors
Schedules
Detailed
Construction
Schedule
Integrated Master
Schedule
Recommended Hierarchy for Medium to Large
Project Schedules
Commissioning
and Startup
Schedule

Convergence
Plan
MORE
DETAIL
MORE
FOCUS
E P
Integrated Master
Schedule
Recommended Hierarchy for Large, Complex
Project Schedules - Owner
Contractor A
Master Schedule
Contractor B
Master Schedule
Contractor C
Master Schedule
C I C E P C I C E P C I C
E P C C
Owner’s
scope

Choose the Right Scale for the Right Purpose!

Project Control Traps
•Too much detail!
•Not enough time for analysis

Scheduling is for Decision Making
• The Integrated Project Schedule (Master Schedule) is an essential tool for
Decision-Making
• It needs to be updated at least monthly and reflect accurately the reality
of the project to lead to sound decisions
• The Integrated Project Schedule needs to be:
• Integrated (E-P-C-C-I)
• Balanced between disciplines
• Show appropriate views for decision-makers
• By package/deliverable for Project Managers
• By discipline for Department Managers

Schedule Hierarchy Consistency
• Consistency between the different schedules must
be maintained
• Role of the project scheduling team (lead
planner)
• Different possible organizations:
o Schedules only produced by the planning team
o Field Engineers/ Construction & Operations Managers
can produce detailed schedule on MS Project and
weekly coordination meeting with the scheduling
team
21

First approach: Realistic durations, no buffer
Second approach: Challenging durations, buffer
BUFFER
Impact of Different Float Management Philosophies on
Automated Schedule Updates
22
Integrated Master Schedule
(generally)
(debated)
Detailed Schedules
(generally)

3. Convergence Planning
in a Nutshell

Convergence Planning – The Toyota Approach
2.5 yr
6 months buffer
J-2 years
Supplier late by 1 week on a
key deliverable
Production line &
suppliers are ready
Start of production:
• on time
• at expected cost
• at expected quality

 
New Vehicle Project
Visit of Toyota
president
 Crisis mode
 A team of engineers sent from Japan
to rectify

Real-life Examples

Exploiting Scheduling Information: Advanced Tools
for Project Management
High level dashboard based on the evolution of float of key deliverables to the
convergence points – uses the historical data from schedule updates!
WARNING: Requires schedule to reflect latest information
Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4
Module 5 Module 6 Module 7 Module 8

4. Why most project
schedules don’t make
any sense

Why Worry About the Quality of the Schedule?
If the plan is wrong, you will
get lost!
Google maps sends hundreds of cars in the mud

Overview of Observations: A small selection of horrors
Technically Weak
Schedules
• No identifiable critical path,
too many start-start and
finish-finish links, even some
finish-to-start links!
• Inconsistent resource levels
• Heterogeneous level of detail
between phases
• Juxtaposition of discipline
schedules, no link between
disciplines

How to Check the Quality of the Schedule?
On the PDF print out:
 Critical path
 Total margin
 Reference planning vs.
updating/forecasting
 Balance between
disciplines
On the source file:
 Heuristic criteria, e.g.
ratio links/tasks
 Coding
 DCMA schedule check
criteria

Schedule Printout: What needs to be included
Total Float Column Visible Critical Path
Baseline indication
Constraint
On the PDF print out

Checks on the Schedule Source File
• Heuristics on level of linkage:
# Links between 1.5 and 2.2x the number of
activities
On the source file

DCMA Schedule Check
(US Defense Contract Management Agency)
Ref: document DCMA-EA PAM 200.1, oct 2012
Check Description Target
Logic Check if there are any missing links in the schedule <5%
Negative lags Check if there are negative lags (or Lead Time) that can cause many problems in the
schedule logic and can be confusing
<1%
Lags Check that the use of lags is limited <5%
Relationships Check that the Finish-Start relationship is the most used >90%
Hard constraints Check that the use of hard constraints is limited as they can break the logic of the
schedule
<5%
Total float Check that the number of activities with too much float (greater than 44 days) is
limited
<5%
Negative float Check that the use of negative float is avoided <1%
Long durations Check that the number of activities with long durations (greater than two months) is
limited
<5%
Invalid dates Check that there are no actual dates beyond the current date and no forecast dates
before the current date
<1%
Resources Check that activities are loaded with resources (optional) <1%
Activity slippage Check the number of activities that have finished on time compared to the baseline <5%
Critical path integrity Check that any delay introduced in the critical path is properly echoed on the end
date
N/A
Critical Path Length Index
(CPLI)
Check the realism of a schedule through comparing the project total float with the
critical path length (formula :
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓+𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
)
>0.95
Baseline Execution Index (BEI) Check how well the project is performing against its baseline (formula:
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
)
>0.95
On the source file

Checking the Realism of the Schedule... other topics
Testing the estimates
• 3 aspects to check for resource
estimation
‒ Level of available resource
‒ Resource density (congestion)
‒ Resource
mobilization/demobilization
• For international projects, it is
essential to understand the main
holiday periods in all locations and
not to expect significant progress
during these periods.
‒ Summer holidays (Western countries)
‒ Christmas (Christian countries)
‒ Chinese New Year (China, South East
Asia)
‒ Ramadan (Muslim countries)
‒ Monsoon season for outdoor work
‒ World Cup, Carnival in South America
‒ Etc.

Checking the Realism of the Schedule - Resources

5. Conclusion

What is the objective of risk management?
Remember: Schedule is for
Decision-Making

More detail and
analytics is not
necessarily good.
Don't drown in detail!
Get some perspective!

Resources: White Papers from Our Website
• Project Value Delivery’s 20 Golden Rules for Project Scheduling
[WP 2015-13]
• How to Relate Schedule Hierarchy Levels and Work Breakdown
Structure [WP2015-15]
• How to Produce and Update a Convergence Plan [WP2015-17]
• 3 Steps and 7 Principles for Proper Forecast of Integrated Project
Schedules [WP2016-04]
• How to Use Float Monitoring Techniques [WP2016-06]
Full access to our 100+ White Papers on project
management and project control by registering on
our website www.projectvaluedelivery.com

Conclusion
• The project schedule is the essential tool for
piloting the project
• A large majority of industrial projects use
unsuitable schedules: size, frequency of
update, technical quality... No wonder they run
out of control
‒ Often without the Project Manager noticing!
• Support our initiative for good quality,
manageable and understandable schedules,
which allow to manage projects even when
surprises inevitably happen!

Advanced Scheduling for Large, Complex Industrial Projects

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