GETTING STARTED WITH PRIMAVERA P6 - CONCEPT AND NEED OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONCEPT AND NEED OF PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

In simple terms, project management is the process of achieving set goals within the specified time, budget, and other resources. It helps to get maximum out of the available resources like manpower, money, materials, facilities, information, and many more. This process helps management or teams in an organization to plan, execute, and complete tasks on specific date or time and within a limited budget.

Following are three stages or phases of project management:

1. Planning
2. Controlling
3. Managing

PLANNING PROJECTS

Project planning is a part of project management related to the use of schedules, such as Gantt charts, that help to plan and manage projects in the project environment. While planning a project, first the scope of the project is defined by the duration of various tasks
necessary to complete the work. These tasks are listed and grouped in Work Breakdown Structure. The duration of tasks is often estimated through an average of optimistic, normal, and pessimistic cases.

Second, the resources necessary for the given project can be estimated and the costs of activities can be calculated according to the resources assigned to those activities to get the total project cost. The project is then optimized to achieve the balance between the resource usage and project duration to comply with the objectives. This phase of project planning is followed by project schedule, and project management plan.

Purpose of Planning

The purpose of project planning is to achieve project objectives and to predict which activities and resources are critical for timely completion of the project. Therefore, planning helps in making strategies to attain the desired goals and thus ensuring that the
project will be delivered on time and within the budget.
Planning helps in identifying the total scope of project and the resources to perform the work. It helps to optimize the resources according to the project needs. It also helps to identify the risks, plan to minimize them, and then set priorities of the project according to the risk. It also helps to provide a baseline plan based on which the progress of the project is measured.

Planning Cycle

When constructing a building, one of the first steps is to lay foundation. Similarly, before building-up projects using the Project Management module, one has to start from the foundation to be laid in the construction of Enterprise Project Structure.

The below figure shows the flowchart of project planning.

The following steps are the detailed description of project planning using the Primavera P6 module.

• Establish Goals:

 The first step of the planning process is to identify and establish goals.The next step is to get the detailed information of goals including the reasons for the selection and the anticipated outcomes of the projects.

• Established Goals to be achieved by Organization:

 The Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) represents the hierarchical arrangement of the company management to  fulfill the established needs. The OBS should be structured in such a way that each task in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) must be assigned to a person or committee. The OBS displays organizational relationships between the employees of an organization and according to that helps in assigning work resources in a project to the employees.

Each goal should have tasks or projects associated with its achievement. To achieve the goals, most useful and important structure for a project is the WBS. The WBS is continuation to the EPS for an individual projects in an organization. WBS can be
identified as breaking down complex projects into simpler, manageable, and interrelated tasks. A good work breakdown structure encourages a systematic planning process that
covers all the key elements in a project and simplifies the project into manageable units. A WBS is used as a road map for planning, monitoring, and managing all the elements of a
project such as scope of work, cost and time estimation, resource allocation and scheduling, productivity and many a more.

• Identifying Resources:

EPS is the hierarchical arrangements of the projects. It helps in
managing multiple projects from higher to individual level and thereby facilitates the performance of specific tasks in an organization.

• Prioritize Goals and Tasks:

Prioritizing goals and tasks process is to arrange goals or
tasks in terms of their importance. The most important tasks will be theoretically and practically approached and completed first.

• Goals Assigned to Resources:

Each goal has some financial and human resource
requirements associated with it. To achieve the goals, certain resources are required to be assigned. In Primavera P6, Resources Breakdown Structure (RBS) is an hierarchical structure of resources which are needed to accomplish the objectives of project. It is logical and useful classification of resources that can be used to optimize resource utilization.

• Create Assignments and Baselines:

As the projects are prioritized, it is required to establish baselines for completing associated tasks and assign resources to complete them. This portion of the management planning process should consider the abilities of the staff members and the time necessary to complete the assignments.

• Tracking the Project’s Progress:

A management planning process includes a strategy for evaluating the progress toward goal completion throughout an established time period. To evaluate the progress of a project, you need to keep a track of it.

CONTROLLING PROJECTS

Project control processes are performed to observe the project execution so that problems can be timely identified and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the
execution of the project. Project control includes measuring the ongoing project activities, monitoring the project variables such as cost, effort, scope and identifying the corrective actions to address risks and issues.

MANAGING PROJECTS

Project management is done by the Project Manager responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Project management includes development of the project plan, managing project stakeholders, managing communication, managing project team,
managing project risk, managing project schedule, managing project budget, managing project conflicts, and managing project delivery. Project Management depends upon the industry type, size, maturity, and culture of the company.

GETTING STARTED WITH PRIMAVERA P6

INTRODUCTION TO PRIMAVERA P6

Primavera P6 is a high end project management software which provides enterprise -wide solution. It helps in reducing costs, delivering the project on the projected time by streamlining, and coordinating with the management level changes. This software optimizes the overall resources so that the project runs efficiently no matter how big the size of the project is. It is designed to manage a large number of projects at a time to fulfill

the project management requirements in an organization.

By using Primavera P6, one can simultaneously plan major project strategies and control the minute details to finish the project. The resources will be used effectively and
productively.

In this chapter, you will be introduced to Primavera P6. Also, you will learn to navigate in this software and to customize and save screen layouts. With the completion of this chapter, you will be able to comfortably navigate through the Oracle Primavera P6 
and to customize the interface to suit your project needs.

BASIC FEATURES OF PRIMAVERA P6

Primavera P6 features a wide range of project management methodologies. These methodologies are briefly discussed below.

• Centralized Project Repository
Primavera P6 offers flexibility for determining who will access a project from all projects in a centralized database.

• Enterprise Project Structure & Codes
Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) helps to create a hierarchical structure for the projects based on the requirements of an organization.

• Cross Project Analysis and Reporting
You can easily and quickly create cross-project dependencies and can determine how projects affect one another. You can also determine whether the resources are under or over allocated across projects.

• CPM Scheduling
Primavera P6 provides Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling using the activities and relationships between activities and calendars to maintain a project schedule. It identifies
the critical activities that affect the completion of the project.

• Float Path Analysis
Float Path Analysis identifies all the critical paths within a project to avoid potential delays. It also helps in visualizing the activity’s importance.

• Cross Project Dependencies
It helps in monitoring the overall critical path of activities and minimizes the risk of multiple parties working together.

• Resource Allocation
Primavera P6 tracks labor, material, equipment, and expenses needed for the activities.

• ERP or Accounting Integration
Primavera allows integration with ERP or accounting system so that the schedule and cost information can be shared.

• Resource Leveling
It helps to ensure that sufficient resources are available to perform the activities in the project plan.

• Baseline Management
Unlimited versions of the schedules, resources, and costs can be stored to compare how the project progresses with reference to the original plan.

• Project Reports
In the Primavera P6, you can generate predefined and customized reports for a project.

WHAT IS SUPER ELEVATION ?

SUPER ELEVATION:
 

When a vehicle travels in a circular path or curved path, it is subjected to an outward force which makes a vehicle to overturn and skid due to Centrifugal Force. To overcome this force and for safe travel of  a vehicle, the outer edge of the road is raised above the inner edge.This is known as Super elevation or Banking of road.

Super Elevation / Banking of road reduces the effect of centrifugal force on the running wheels. If the super elevation is not provided, the entire centripetal force is produced by the friction between the vehicle's tires and the roadway, thus the results in reducing the speed of the vehicle.

ADVANTAGES: 

• Super elevation is provided to achieve the higher speed of the vehicles.It increases the stability of the fast moving vehicles when they pass through a horizontal curve, and it also decreases the stresses on the foundation.
• In the absence of super elevation on the road along curves, potholes are likely to occur at the outer edge of the road.
• The Indian road congress (IRC) has prescribed the max value of super elevation as 1 in 15.

Super Elevation Formula:

                         Super Elevation = e + f = V² / 127R

• e = Rate of Super elevation in %
• f = Lateral friction factor = 0.15
• V = Velocity of vehicle in m/s
• R = Radius of circular curve in meters.  

 

HONEYCOMBS IN CONCRETE-CAUSES AND REMEDIES

Fig.1

Honeycombs are hollow spaces and cavities or voids which will happen when the concrete cannot reach the Full mass. The fig.1 shows us the honeycomb which is present outside the column. 

Below are some reasons for honeycombs in concrete,

• Improper vibration to concrete (Fig.1)
• Use of hardened concrete (i.e.,) the concrete which is going to attain its setting time.
• Less cover to the reinforcement (Fig.2)
• In places like junction of beam-column-beam because, these area contains more number of reinforcement and hence it has less cover to the rods.

Honeycombs are formed generally due to the improper vibration to concrete but, in some cases, these honeycombs wont be visible for that we have to use Ultrasonic testing,etc. 

Fig.2

Invisible cavities can be seen in Concrete Slab. These invisible cavities can be found on curing because, it causes leakage in slab. If it is not found earlier it may lead to corrosion of main reinforcement and hence causes the slab to failure.

The normal honeycombs on outer region should be strictly broken with a hammer until we get a Hard Surface and the portion should be concreted with grouting chemical to old surface but, in most of the cases normal cement slurry is used with mortar.

If proper cover to the reinforcement is provided most of this problem will be prevented. The Site Engineer should take more care towards clear cover to the reinforcement and in Junction, the beam rods should be placed in column with more clear cover to the reinforcement.

For Column=25 m

  For Beam   =25 mm

 For Slab     =12 mm

If clear cover at junction portion is unavailable, it should be bent to some extent and should be placed with proper clear cover. On concreting, the outer side of the shuttering at the junction portion can be tapped to minimize the formation of honeycombs and the concrete mix with addition of water can be increased slightly.  

For Invisible cavities, it should be broken and cleaned out and then it should be filled with waterproofing concrete.

STEEL COLUMN FORMWORK Vs PLYWOOD COLUMN FORMWORK

fig.1 Plywood Column Formwork

Many of you may seen in Small buildings, the usage of Steel Column box for casting column is more compared to Plywood. The reason behind this one is the cost difference between them. But, the absolute quality and look is always better when using Plywood box.

  fig.2 Steel Column Formwork   

In most of the small buildings, the contractors always go for steel formwork because to save few bucks but in the same sense that the steel column box will not give the desired results as expected. However, it is then covered in plastering. In some worst cases, this type of work leads to increase in thickness of plastering. Below figures shows us the effect of Steel Column Box

fig.3(a)

In fig.3(a), the top portion of column shows the deviation in actual placement of beam, this is due to the bend in the Steel Column box. To prevent such things, the Site Engineer should take more responsibility and there should be proper selection of formwork material. These types of errors should be taken more care. Each and every Steel Column Formwork should be properly checked for Right Angle at site, if it is not it must be replaced with good ones. 

In Other hand, after Unboxing of column we can also see the undulation in the surface of the column, these undulations shows the real quality difference between both the formworks. These type of errors wont happen in Plywood Column Formwork that's why we should always prefer Plywood Formwork. In High rise and Big Buildings, we wont able to see the use of Steel formwork for column why because, the cost of Plywood wont make much difference there.  

WHY YOU SHOULD GO WITH ORACLE PRIMAVERA P6 ? - 10 ADVANTAGES OF PRIMAVERA P6

PRIMAVERA P6:

The word Primavera is now sound everywhere in the field of Project management. Primavera provides project and product management for the construction , IT , manufacturing , oil and gas industries. It makes the large and complex projects into easy manageable ones by efficiently planning, managing and reviewing of the project. 

Primavera was launched by Primavera Systems Inc in 1983 and it was acquired by Oracle corporation in 2008. 

WHY YOU SHOULD GO WITH PRIMAVERA P6 ?

1.PRIMAVERA P6 REDUCES RISK

When your schedule has inconsistencies, errors, or overrun issues, project expenses will grow. this could mean cutting more vital aspects of the project to compensate for the excess costs.Using Primavera P6 helps identify and mitigate risks in the course of planning, managing, and completing a project.

2.EASY TO USE SOFTWARE

Primavera P6 offers many complex analyses and processes; however, accessing and managing the schedule remains simple. Simply input your information, and wait for the software to determine if any problems exists. For example, worker shifts may be uncovered, have too many employees, or additional raw materials may  be needed. P6 may be used throughout an entire project, even large, multi-tier projects.

3.OPTIMIZED RESOURCES

Primavera P6 allows all involved in a project to carefully monitor resource availability and adjust such resources to meet project demands. Furthermore, the software can help identify areas where resource costs may be reduced by analyzing resource trends and costs.

4.ENHANCED VISIBILITY

Visibility and Compliance with political and environmental regulations are among the top priorities for the project managers and business executives. Since Oracle Primavera P6 allows all data to be entered, tracked, and analyzed in one location, you can ensure your project does not pose any possible violations.

5.FORECASTING OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES

As a project evolves, the project may require additional resources, activities,and tasks to meet stakeholder demands. Within Oracle Primavera P6, project managers can create forecasts, activities, and other project needs.

6.TRACKING FEATURES

The tracking features of Primavera P6 allow users to rapidly generate reports, ensure all projects are completed as requested and maintain baseline adherence.

7.ENHANCED COMMUNICATION

Some project may span large geographical areas, require hundreds of workers, and involve many different parties. Primavera P6 enables executive-level staff to communicate with other workers, project managers, and planners easily. Furthermore, notes can be made to the schedule in the software to ensure all users see the message.

8.IMPROVED COLLABORATION

Since communication is enhanced throughout a project, it's easy to see how improved collaboration. This is especially important when projects span large areas. For example, projects in the energy production industries may require collaboration between many different parties.

9.GIVES EMPLOYEES RESPONSIBILITY IN SCHEDULE CREATION

Primavera P6 makes the scheduling and planning easier by allowing users access to the schedule. Additionally, you may allow workers to create their schedules within the software from their location. Workers may also make schedule requests within the software, turn in timesheets, and perform other scheduling functions.

10.BREAKDOWN COMPLEX PROJECTS

The size of a project can be overwhelming. Oracle P6 allows project managers to break large projects into smaller, achievable projects, tasks, and activities.

Oracle Primavera P6 popularity is rapidly growing for its ability to plan, manage,and control all facets of a project. Once you have obtained Primavera training, you may able to gain access to better career opportunities. Ultimately Primavera P6 is like a door to make a successful future. 

 Download the software here:

HOW TO CALCULATE CONCRETE VOLUME?

In this post, we are going to discuss "How to calculate concrete volume and it's ingredients?"

How to Calculate Concrete Volume?

If it is a volume, then we know there must be 3 dimensions, Length, Height, Width or Breadth.

For Slab, If we need to calculate the concrete volume,

<sup>Volume = Length x Breadth x Width / Thickness = 5 x 3 x 0.125 = 3.75 cu.m

For Beam,  If we need to calculate the concrete volume,</sup>

<sup>Volume = Length x Breadth x Width = 5 x 0.6 x 0.3 = 0.9 cu.m

For Column, If we need to calculate the concrete volume,</sup>

 <sup>Rectangular Column, Volume = Height x Breadth x Width = 5 x 0.6 x 0.3 = 0.9 cu.m

Circular Column , Volume = 𝛑r˄2h = 3.14 x (0.15)˄2 x 5 = 0.35 cu.m

CONCRETE INGREDIENTS CALCULATION:

For cement, sand and coarse aggregate.

This is a volumetric calculation.

Assuming we need 2 cu.m of concrete for M20 mix,(Mix ratio, M20 = 1:1.5:3)

Total part of the concrete = 1 + 1.5 + 3 = 5.5 parts

Therefore, Cement Quantity = (Cement Part / Concrete Parts) x Concrete Volume

= (1 / 5.5) x Concrete Volume = (1 / 5.5) x 2 = 0.3636 cu.m

Density of Cement = 1440 kg / cu.m = 0.3636 x 1440 = 523 kg = 10.5 approx.bags

Sand Quantity = (Sand Part / Concrete Parts) x Concrete Volume = (1 / 5.5) x 2 = 0.5454 cu.m

Coarse Aggregate = (Coarse aggregate part / Concrete parts) x Concrete Volume = (3 / 5.5) x 2 = 1.09 cu.m

WATER CEMENT RATIO:

According to IS 10262 (2009), Assuming Water-Cement Ratio for the concrete as 0.45

Required amount of water = W/C ratio x Cement volume 

Therefore, Water = 0.45 x 0.3636 = 0.16362 cu.m

[Unit Weight of Water = 1000 liters/cu.m] 

Required amount of water = 0.16362 x 1000 = 163.32 liters

Therefore,we need 10.5 bags of cement , 0.5454 cu.m of sand , 1.09 cu.m of coarse aggregates and 163.62 liters of water.</sup>