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Pro d uc t Pro file s

P3

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Its a construction project the size of Los

Angeles: a rail system that will eventually

move people from the San Fernando

Valley down to Los Angeles International

Airport, from Long Beach to Pasadena andEast L.A. Seventy-nine miles of track, 72

stations, and $8.4 billion worth of

construction. And all of it scheduled and

managed with Primaveras Primavera

Project Planner (P3).

P3 handles projects of this size with

ease, says Jeff Christiansen, Deputy

Executive Officer for ProgramManagement with Los Angeles Countys

Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

The MTA uses P3 to manage contracts,

schedule the construction of multiple

segments of rail line, analyze cash flow,

and analyze contractors schedules and

submittals. Its our one and only in-house

schedule management tool, he goes on

to say.

The L.A. Metro project clearly needs a tool

with P3s breadth of capabilities. The

project involves simultaneous construction

in different parts of the county. A recently

completed section (the Red line) runs

The MTA has schedules for each segment

of the L.A. Metro project, for each may

involve 40 to 60 contracts with a total

value in excess of $500 million. Between

the 40 to 60 contracts per segment, aproject manager will be concerned about

the orchestration of hundreds of major

activities. And these activities are not

slight: the project schedulers are working

at a macro level, overseeing $170 million

tunneling activities and $50 million station

construction activities. In all, the MTA is

using P3 to track thousands of major

activities, each taking place along a critical

path that stretches out over the course of

P3 is very easy to use, says Christiansen,

and its wide application in the

construction industry makes it very easy

for us to find people who know how to use

the product. That helps when Im hiring

people, which I have to do quitefrequently. Almost everybody that I

interview has had extensive P3 experience,

so we dont have to worry about training

people to use the system.

P3 on the Blue LineWe use P3 to manage more than 50

contracts on the Blue line alone, says

Steven LeDuff, MTAs Senior ScheduleAdministrator on the Pasadena Blue Line

project. Our schedule covers everything

from the construction along the right-of-

way and installation of the rail, all the way

through purchase of the catenary system,

our train control systems, telephones, and

ticket machineseverything. We have a

standard project schedule that covers all

these contracts at a high level of detailitshows major construction and major

procurementand then we have multiple

interfaces and milestones between the

contracts. When one contract ends, we can

let the next contractor in to do the follow-

on work. Thats how we track the critical

path through the five years that it takes to

complete these projects.

In our database for all 53 contracts on the

Blue line, continues LeDuff, we have

approximately 800 activities. Thats at the

summary level. At the contractors level, a

contract may have 1,000 activities,

sometimes 3,000 to 4,000 activities. One

Two Bala Plaza Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 USA

(610) 667-8600 FAX: (610) 667-7894 Intern et: sales @prima vera.com

Els inore House 77 Fulham Palace Road London England, W6 8JA Uni ted Kingdom

(44) 181-748 7300 FAX: (44) 181-748 2846

P R O J E C T P R O F I L E S

Ke e p ing the LAMe tro on TrackPrimaveras P3 maintains the scheduleon $8.4 billion of budgeted projects

P3 is very easy to use,and its wide applicationin the construction

industry makes it veryeasy for us to find

people who know howto use the product.

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until the end of the job, and then everybody

sat down and tried to figure out who had

impacted whom in order to settle the extra

moneys involved. Now, because the

software is so fast, we try to analyze delays

on a monthly basis.

With the rainy seasons in California, we

allow for one to four days of rain each

month, and the contractors have to factor

this into their original schedules. Once

weve exceeded thatsay, if we get seven

days of rain in a monththen were able to

go in and look at the schedule that the

contractor submits at the end of the monthand say, Yes, youve exceeded your

allotment, we owe you three days. Well

then move the completion date out three

days. That might be a year from now, but

the contractor knows that hes picked up

three days on his contract and he doesnt

have to worry about accelerating his work

or working out of sequence to make up for

that time. With P3 were able to get thatinstant turn-around each month, and that

enables us to respond to the contractor

much faster.

M ont h ly U pd at es f rom t he F ie l dBecause each of the contracts is so

substantial in itself, the MTA requires each

of its contractors to use a schedule-based

project management system that is capableof sharing data with P3. Many of our

contractors are also using P3, notes

Christiansen. We dont require that, but

most of our contractors have chosen to use

it on their own. Its a great comfort to know

that were all pretty standardized on the

Primavera product. It makes reporting,

transferring files, and generating data much

more efficient for us.

The amount of information that moves

from the contractors scheduling system is

not slight, either. Steven LeDuff explains

that the MTAs scheduling specification,

section 1310, requires the contractors to

your own delay. And the only way you

can do this is with a scheduling system

like P3.

M ana g i ng Invo i ce s and C as h

Flow with P3Once contractors have been awarded

contracts, they are required to identify the

pay items associated with each activity in

the schedule. For instance, they will

indicate that a concrete wall will take three

weeks to construct and will cost $20,000.

They then pass this information along to

the project managers at MTA, who factor

the costs into the schedules in P3.

We use P3 to help with all our invoices,

MTAs Christiansen explains. Weve

cost-loaded all our schedules, so thecontractors only get paid when the activity

is completed, and they only get paid for the

value of that activity as it appears in the

system.

Were also using the Windows version of

per yearand they want to know how long

it will take to finish the job.

So well go into P3 and start rescheduling

activities. We revise the job based on the

cash we have available. The Windowsversion of P3 enables us to do this right on

the screen. We used to have to do this on a

spreadsheet, and it would take us forever to

go in and re-status all these activities to

perform a what-if analysis. With P3, I can

go on the screen, click on an activity, drag

it across the screen, let go of it, and its

rescheduled. That is phenomenal. I already

have dollar values loaded on the activities,so I just move activities and their logic to

the right until my cash flow comes within

the allowable limits. Automatically we get

a new what-if duration for the project

that way.

Ke e p i ng t he LA M e t ro o n t heRight Trac k

Well be continuing to work on the railprogram for quite a while, says

Christiansen. There are large sections of

the community that need rapid rail transit.

However, rail construction is so expensive

that we cant go everywhere at once. So

well continue building the program in

segments.

We need some alternatives in LosAngeles, Christiansen goes on to say.

The population continues to grow, the

freeways are becoming more congested,

and the travel times are becoming longer

and longer.

Fortunately, the MTA is well on the way to

constructing this much-needed alternative

transportation system for the county of LosAngeles, and P3 will play no small part in

the delivery of that system. When budgets

change or the weather impacts the critical

path of major construction projects, P3

enables the MTA to adjust quickly and

effectively. When the contractors submit

We used to have to dothis on a spreadsheet,and it would take usforever to go in and

re-status all theseactivities to performa what-if analysis.With P3, I can go onthe screen, click on anactivity, drag it acrossthe screen, let go of it,

and its rescheduled.

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At an y given time , Che eta h

Software Systems Inc . may be und er

contrac t to develop cus to m ized p oint

of sale and service-delivery software

app l ica t ions for as m any as 18 or 19

of the Fortune 100 firm s. The

Cali fornia-base d com pan y has m ade

a n am e for i tself throu gh credit-card

verification system s, soph isticate d

vehic le rou t ing a nd schedu l ing

sys tem s, and cus tom er service

system s. For a b ig software de velop er,

han dl ing the un ique ne eds o f 18 or 19

prom inent c lients s im ultaneo usly

isnt all that im press ive. But Cheet ahSoftware System s isnt e xactly a b ig

com pan y. The fi rm has som e 15

programm ers on s ta ff, and every

projec t they und er take involves s om e

ki d f t i t i t t

Support ing Complex Project

M anage m e nt R equ i re m e nts

We sh are ou r hum an

resources am ong th e d i fferent

pro jects, sa ys Joh n Darroll, Chee tah

Software p roject ma na ger, so ou r

pro jec t m anageme nt requ irement s

are p ret ty co m ple x. Yet Prim avera s

P3 provide s p recisely the kind of

sup port that Chee tah requi res.

Darroll has de veloped a m aster

project sched ule that coo rdinates al l

the p hase s of each discrete

developm ent effort . Each custo m er

project is ma naged a s a sub projectwithin the m aste r project . In ea ch of

the su bprojects there are des ign,

test ing and d ebu gging phas es, as

well as q ua lity ass uran ce,

i l i d i i

on the d esign of one project during

one hour and debugging another fo r

the rem ainde r of the da y. Moreover,

while the fund am ental designs of

Cheetah Software prod ucts rem ainesse nt ially the sa me , each

ap plication is tai lored a nd

custo m ized for the client pu rcha sing

it . As a con seq ue nce, even

subpro jec t s t ha t appear t o b e

runn ing in p arallel can s ee m like very

different projects.

From a pro jec t managem ent

stan dp oint, this level of custo m ization

ma kes each sub project unique.

The re m ay be 500 discrete tasks in

the m aste r project schedu le, Darroll

explains , bu t each su bp roject ha s

unique requi rem ents and cons t raints

be caus e of individual client nee ds .

Tha ts no t som eth ing you can

man age on paper o r on a

blackbo ard. The re are s imply too

m an y cons traints. Prim avera has

cons tructed P3 in su ch a way tha t itwil l m ap th e reso urces we have

against the ta sks we h ave to perform,

all the while ta king into accou nt th e

const raints impo sed b y the

d th j t it lf

Two Bala Plaza Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 USA

(610) 667-8600 FAX: (610) 667-7894 Intern et: sale s@prima vera.com


P3 for Windows Streamlines the Managementof Multiple Development Projects

Managing Morewith Le ss a t Che e tah

Software Syste m s

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A Sche du le t o M ee t

Ea c h N e e d

At the be ginn ing of ea ch

week Darroll distribu tes a n up da ted

sche du le to each o f Cheeta hsemployees. I created different

layouts for present ing the schedu ling

da ta to differen t p eo ple, Darroll

explains. Mana gem en t gets i ts own

layou t. The y don t wan t to kno w all

the differen t activity IDs tha t we us e,

so I prepare a repo rt for them thatsho ws how were using the res ou rces

by project . Project lead ers, on th e

other han d, need a format that he lps

them ma nage al l the individua ls

working o n th eir project. The

individua l resou rces each get on e

that sho ws just what sho uld be

do ne . Darrolls sch ed ules t ell ea ch

individual the expecte d du ration of a

task, the p ercentage of the task that

has bee n comp le t ed as o f t he

be ginn ing of the wee k, an d the

projected start and finish dates for

an y new ta sks. Add ition ally, Darroll

leaves blank column s that the

individuals us e to record actu al start

and finish t imes.

At the e nd of the week,

Darroll collects the sche du les from

the engineers and p roject mana gers.All of them kno w how m uch t ime is

allocate d for their port ion of the

work, when i ts su pp os ed to start an d

when its e xpecte d t o en d. The y fill in

h d h l l d

P3 H e l ps M anage

the U nexpe c ted

Projects and sub projects

would be far eas ier to m ana ge if there

were no external interruptions, bu trarely is this the case . While Che eta h

Software d evelope rs are bu sy

custo m izing their prod uct for new

custom ers, they also service reque sts

from the ir existing custo m ers. Whe n

priority se rvice calls arrive, on e o r

mo re of Chee tahs en ginee rs ma y

have to stop working on a sche duled

project and devote their t ime and

en ergy int o th e se rvice call. As a

resu lt, the y m ay not get a ll the ir

schedu led work comp leted by the e nd

of the wee k. More over, if the ir portion

of a project gets he ld up, that m ay in

turn ripple th rough th e o verall

sub project developm ent effort .But P3 helps keep Chee tah s

de velop m en t efforts go ing, week after

week. Service ca lls th at were n ot

imm ed iately de alt with (or that

i l d)

is able to he lp keep the com pan ys

developme nt and s upp ort efforts

on track.

Managing Be yond

Microso ft Proje ct

Cheetah Software h ad tried

to u se Microso ft Project at an e arly

stage, bu t discovered that i t didnt

allow Darroll to m an age a ll of

Cheetah s p rojects in a coordinated

m an ne r. Microso ft Project did n otenab le us to schedule our hum an

resou rces across m ultiple projects,

Darroll explain s. Its goo d for

m ana ging low- to m edium -level

activities , bu t Project did not h ave the

flexibility to m an age th e sa m e

resou rces a cross mu ltiple projects,

an d th ats ou r biggest criteria. Our

business an d the detai ls of our

projects are changing on an almo st

da ily ba sis. For m e to try to sche du le

all ou r resources u sing Project was as

effective a s m e trying to do it on a

bla ckboa rd. Its fine for s imp le

pro jects, Darroll says, bu t we

need ed a tool that would cont rol all

ou r projects.

P3 ha s th e flexibility and the

po wer to ad just mu ltiple su bp rojects

and to take into account the changesand permutat ions a ssociated with

m ultiple custo m er con straints and

de m an ds . Which is precisely why

Prim averas P3 m akes it po ssible for

Cheetah to su cceed with a sm all staff

We couldnt managewithout P3.Its just toocomplex when the samepeople are working onall the different projects.

You need a way tomanage all the projectsand resources together.

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The client was a medical device manufacturer, part ofa Fortune 100 company with a strong track record forproduct excellence, but the new product it was devel-oping was unlike any it had developed in the past. Thefirm was doubling the functionality of its devices, but in

doing so was significantly increasing the number andcomplexity of its development processesall in theface of severe resource constraints and downsizing.Further complicating the management of the project,the firm was modifying its procedures to comply withISO manufacturing practices and working to meet new

US and European regulations on a wide range offrontswhich meant additional documentation, testing,re-engineering, and verification at numerous stages ofdevelopment. Soon, the firms tried-and-trueMacProject Pro-based project control system wassimply unequal to the task.

The system was completely overloaded, says Rober tWest, whose Tampa, Florida-based consulting com-


Robert West Consulting: ManagingComplexity with P3 and Monte CarloPrimaveras project control tools help clients manage complex development efforts with ahigh probability of success

pany was brought in to resuscitate the project controlsystem. The schedule had grown to include 3,500activities in more than 150 linked subprojects, but link-ing two activities across subprojects could take as longas 10 minutes. Youd click on the one, then the other,

and wait. Updating and revising the schedule took solong that the project was changing faster than it couldbe analyzed and controlled.

In fact, West goes on to explain, the MacProject Pro-based system was so suspect by the time that Westsfirm arrived on the scene, that company executives

had no clear idea when the project would be com-pleted. The system was providing a projected projectend date, but no one in the company had enough con-fidence in the system to have any confidence in theinformation it was providing.

It would take Primaveras Primavera Project Planner(P3) and Primaveras Monte Carlo to change that.

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Two Ba la Plaza Bala Cynwyd, PA 19 00 4-15 86 US A

(610 ) 667 -86 00 FAX: (610 ) 667 -78 94 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.co m

E lis o r e H o u s e 7 7 Fu lh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n ite d K in g d o m , W6 8 JA

(44) 18 1-74 8-73 00 FAX: (44 ) 181 -748 -284 6 Inte rne t: intlsale @prima ve ra.co m

http://www.primavera.com

How t he w or ld say s project m anagem ent

PERT, no matter how big it is, you will get a numberfrom zero to 100, indicating the percentage of time thatthat activity is going to be thegating item to the enddate. With Monte Carlo you can focus in from day one

on the activities that are going to cause you trouble.

The Bottom Line: Making it Possible to Make GoodBusiness Decisions

Within the client organization, the response to theproject management system that West has built on

Primaveras P3 and Monte Carlo has been overwhelm-ingly positive. Throughout the company, West says,its been very well receivedespecially by the down-stream groups, like Operations, who typically haveprojects thrown over the wall to them by people whosay Okay, now produce it. Theyre thrilled with thelevel of scheduling and the level of information theyregetting out of the system. It helps them plan their jobs.

And the value of the system is not just apparent to theindividuals doing the day to day development of thisnew set of products. Company executives are now in aposition to make strategic decisions based upon data

that simply was not available until the P3 and MonteCarlo system was put into place.

Top management has expressed their extreme satis-faction with what weve put in place, says West. Theyare very satisfied that they have gotten a level of con-trol that theyve never had in the past. Initially there

was some grousing among people who didnt want toleave the Apple platform, but the quality of the datacoming out of P3 has really silenced the critics. Thedata is there. They are able to look at projections andmake business decisions based on where they are andwhat they see downstream. Theyre able to identify

their trouble areas months before they happen. Andusing the Monte Carlo software theyre able to knowwhat chance they have of making those dates in thefirst place.

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Think about large public works projects and youll think

of the Army Corps of Engineers. Not only is the Corpsfamous for their dams and earthworks, theyre theconstruction backbone of the Army. In the Kansas Citydistrict alone, the Corps of Engineers has overseen theconstruction of military base railroad heads, hospitalfacilities, barracks, base residential housing, and a

host of smaller projects. Were running about $130million worth of work out of this office, says Harold G.Chart, an Office Engineer at the Fort Riley ResidentOffice, Fort Riley, Kansas. And thats just right now. Itvaries dependent upon funds appropriations.

We use Primaveras Primavera Project Planner

(P3) for Windows to monitor contractors constructionschedules, Chart explains. We have a requirementthat contractors submit an electronic version of theschedule, and it has to be in a format that conforms toCorps of Engineers standards, and here that basicallymeans P3. If the contractor doesnt use P3, Chart

goes on to say, they are obligated to provide theirschedules in a format that Chart can import into P3 foranalysis. P3 has given us the software to convert


P3 at the Army Corps of EngineersMonitoring the progress of more than 130 million worth of projects in theKansas City district.

many different formats, Chart notes. In this office, we

can convert schedules from Microsoft, PlanTrack, justabout anything. I havent run across a format that Icouldnt open with P3, and Ive been using it since1987.

Chart goes on to explain that each contractor providesan initial schedule which the Corps can analyze.Thereafter, on a monthly basis, the contractor providesan updated version of the schedule. That way, saysChart, we can monitor his progress. We can look atimpact for government activities. We can look at theeffect of changes and claims. Actually, says Chart,with all the reporting attributes in P3, we can look at

almost anything we want to.

Ensuring that the Services are Well-Served

The Kansas City District of the Army Corps of Engi-neers ensures that construction projects undertakenfor the government stay on track and on budget.

Charts group supports not only the Armys First Infan-try Division, which is based out of Fort Riley, But also

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supports the Air Force at McConnell Air Force Base, inWichita, Kansas.

For the services, Charts group has managed the

schedule for a wide range of projects. Weve donebarracks construction, a health care facility, and re-cently we completed a multi-purpose activity and wel-fare building called Emerald City at McConnell AFB.Weve done transient officers quarters, some reservebuildings. Were doing a crash and fire rescue buildingright now. All those buildings have schedules. Chart

goes on to say that most project schedules are nolonger than two years in duration.

We also do housing, Chart adds. Were replacingbase housing. At Fort Riley weve got two housing

jobs, currently, which is around $25 million worth ofwork. Its two different jobsbut the same contractor.Theyre demolishing old base residential housing andbuilding new housing in its place. That will take a yearto a year and a half. One job involves 232 units, theother is 155 units.

We also handle civil works projects from this office,

Chart goes on to say. Theres Tuttle Creek Dam,Milford Dam, Perry Lake Dam, Kanopolis Lake Dam.Some civil works jobs require scheduling, too.

Managing Claims and the Critical Path

In the course of managing many projects of long dura-tion, there are always claims and counterclaims. Chart

says that P3 enables his group to analyze the claimsand make sure that the claims are valid.

We do a lot of claims analysis with P3, says Chart.We look at the period of time before there was achange or a claimusually the monthly update be-fore and then we look at the period after. Then we

look to see what effect its had on the network and tryto figure out where the critical path flows and whetherit had anything to do with the claim.

Chart cites weather as an example. Our specificationsrequire that adverse weather must be considered inthe schedule. If a contractor is late getting his submit-tals into us, the weather hasnt effected him at all. Itcould be pouring down rain, but if hes not ready to dothe work because he doesnt have his submittals ap-proved or his materials arent here, were probably notgoing to give him any time.

In that sense, Chart continues, youre analyzing hisschedule to determine where the critical path is andwhats really driving the train.

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Easier Management of Complex Project

Schedules

None of Charts projects are slight and none are un-

complicated. There is a seven-story hospital underrenovation at Fort Riley, which must remain functionalas a hospital all the while the renovations are under-way. That requires a lot of scheduling and a lot of

coordination, says Chart. Typically, the kind of con-tractors bidding this kind of work are used to doinghospitals. Theyre used to working with us, or the VA, orthe Air Force, and they know their business.

Still, such complex projects require sophisticated man-agement tools. And for Harold Chart, P3 remains thetool of choice.


(610) 66 7-860 0 FAX: (610 ) 667 -78 94 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.co m

E lis o re H o u s e 7 7 Fu lh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n ite d K in g d o m , W6 8 JA

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With the retail component scheduled to open in the lastquarter of 1997 and the international-class concerthalls first performance targeted for January 1998, LesBrowns team of six planners still has a lot of work

Two Ba la P laza Ba la Cynwyd, PA 19 00 4-1586 USA

(610 ) 667 -86 00 FAX: (610 ) 667 -78 94 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.com

E lis o r e H o u s e 7 7 Fu lh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n ite d K in g d o m , W6 8 JA




ahead. As future project phases begin, Les team looksfor- ward to using P3 and SureTrak together as a Con-centric Project Management solution that wont havethem running around in circles!


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The Federal Correctional Complex in Allenwood, PA,was not built according to the old rules. Indeed, the$173 million project was the first of its kind: it was thelargest project ever undertaken by the Federal prisonsystem and it involved the concurrent construction ofthree distinct correctional facilitiesa minimum, amedium, and a maximum security unitin three adja-cent villages on a 600-acre parcel of land. In all, thecomplex involved the installation of more than 60 build-ings, a million-gallon elevated water tank, an off-site

waste treatment facility, and a network of highly so-phisticated internal, external, and perimeter securitysystems. Three general contractors, more than adozen specialists, and one Project Manager were in-volvedand, at the center of it all, PrimaverasPrimavera Project Planner (P3).


Constructing Correctional Institutions theCorrect Waywith Primavera Project

PlannerP3 enables Gilbert/Commonwealth to Deliver On Time, Within Budget, and Without Claims

Staying on Top of Progress

Managing the entire project was Gilbert/Common-wealth of Reading, PA, and the man in charge of theschedule was Scott Daelhousen. Not only wasDaelhousens P3 network coordinating more than20,000 activities, which would take place over thecourse of three years, but it was also cost loadedandDaelhousen was authorizing payment for the contrac-tors based upon the progress recorded in P3.

To monitor that progress, Daelhousen relied on a staffof eighteen inspectors. Each week, the inspectorswould take copies of the 60-day look-ahead report andgo out and do an assessment to determine what per-centage of the work had been completed for eachlisted item. Daelhousen and an assistant would then

update the status of activities in P3, and with the up-

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loading and looked at the changes that would occurbased on the contractors manpower loading, and weleveled it, looked at it, put the changes in it, and dem-onstrated that the manpower loading considerations

were not substantially affected by the condition.

Could he have done that without the power of a toollike P3? Absolutely not, says Daelhousen. Theresno way. Manually you couldnt keep track of somethinglike that, even if you were trying to keep up on somekind of spreadsheet system. You wouldnt be able to

develop that kind of confidence. You wouldnt have theability to manipulate the data to see what would hap-pen.


(610 ) 667 -86 00 FAX: (61 0) 66 7-78 94 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.co m

E lis o r e H o u s e 7 7 F ulh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n ite d K in g d o m , W6 8 JA

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How t he w orld say s project m anagem ent

The Bottom Line

For a complex project that was breaking new ground inmultiple dimensions, the Federal Correctional Complex

in Allenwood went in with no substantial hitches, anaccomplishment that reflects well not only onDaelhousen, but also on Primaveras P3. It was avery, very successful operation, says Daelhousen. Wecompleted the project on time and within budget, andwe had no claims on the job.


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Mainframes used to make sense for scheduling out-ages and on-line maintenance activities at PECOEnergys Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. After all,a refueling outage schedule for each of the two 1100Megawatt nuclear reactors involves the coordination of

more than 10,000 activities and 35,000 relationships.The dependencies are complicated, as are the indi-vidual activities themselves. Such a project requiresthe support of more than 3,000 technicians, workinground the clock, for several weeks. Yes, a mainframeused to make sense until Primaveras P3 for Win-dows became available.

Then, as PECOs Peach Bottom station soon foundout, a PC running P3 would do an even better job.

And it would save money. Lots of money.


Re-Engineering the Planning Process at PECONuclears Peach Bottom StationP3 Increases Efficiency and Reduces Costs for PECO Energys Peach Bottom AtomicPower Station

Developing a Sophisticated Schedule

Interactively

PECO Energys Peach Bottom Station was the firstnuclear site to schedule refueling outages and on-line

maintenance with P3, explains Lee Harrison, the man-ager of Peach Bottoms Scheduling group in OutageManagement. Prior to the implementation of P3 theyhad relied on PREMIS, a mainframe-based schedulingpackage. But PREMIS, while powerful, did not lenditself to an efficiently engineered planning process. An

outage planner, sitting on the fourth floor of the build-ing adjacent to the reactors themselves, would fill out aPREMIS input sheet, specifying activity code data,relationships, or dates. Then, the planner would comedown two floors and put the PREMIS input sheet into adrop box, from which it would make its way to one ofthe PREMIS programmers in Harrisons central sched-

uling group.

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ill h i t th i d t t F i t i l b fit f PECO E B bli f l

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will have an impact on their departments. For instance,the users in the chemistry group will look at the

schedule to see if any surveillance tests are planned.The users in the radiation protection group look to seeif the activities coming up on the schedule have beenreviewed for their radiation work permits.

Tangible Benefits

Peach Bottom is contributing power to the power pool

that supplies the whole Northeast corridor, so a lot offamilies and a lot of businesses depend upon the effi-cient production of power from the system. The plantsdual-unit capability factor an industry measure ofplant output is above 93% these days. Its evenhigh on the units that that had outages that year, saysHarrison, now that the outages are under 30 days.

By saving in excess of $28,000 per month on main-frame charges, P3 has provided a very tangible finan-

cial benefit for PECO Energy. By enabling fewer peopleto accomplish more work, more efficiently, it hasgained even greater financial benefits for the company.But Harrison points out that the benefits are not just to

the bottom line of the company.The most significant Big Picture benefit that Ive seenis that it puts people in control of the quality of theirown work, Harrison explains. With P3, an OutagePlanner can be as good as he can be without havingsoftware, or a process thats less than efficient, in his

way. Work Week Managers can really own their workweeks, because everything they need to make well-planned, well-executed, well-scheduled work weeks isunder their control, now. The old process got in the wayof people being their best.

Aside from the reduction in manpower and the reduc-

tion in mainframe costs, that, I think, is our most signifi-cant gain.


(610) 66 7-860 0 FAX: (610 ) 667 -78 94 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.co m

E lis o re H o u s e 7 7 Fu lh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n it e d Kin g d o m , W6 8 JA




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Williamson reports that the users at PECO also like P3 the Core of an Accessible Integrated

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Williamson reports that the users at PECO also likeP3s graphical interface and the fact that they can getinformation from the system immediately. No fussingwith input sheets or batch jobs. Theres a lot more

instant gratification when using P3.Williamson also notes that since PECO beganoutsourcing its mainframe computing, P3 for Windowshas saved the utility money. Mainframe charges tendto get pretty expensive, says Williamson, and you canrack up some pretty extensive CPU time with a main-

frame-based scheduling package. So one of the gainswith P3 has been a cost-savings.

P3 - the Core of an Accessible Integrated

Project Management System

P3 has shown PECO that it can be instrumental in

getting more and more end users involved in the plan-ning and scheduling process, that the need for a groupof mainframe-oriented scheduling gurus has dimin-ished. Schedules that work, that enable the plant tooperate effectively and efficiently, are now well withinreach of a wider group of users relying on PC-basedtools.

P3 for Windows has met our objectives, saysWilliamson. The fact that a lot of users without astrong scheduling background can do their own inputsand see the results of their changesand the degreeto which they like itwell, thats been good to see.

Two Bala P laza Ba la Cynwyd, PA 19 004 -158 6 USA

(610) 66 7-860 0 FAX: (610) 66 7-789 4 Inte rne t: Sa le s@prima ve ra.co m

E lis o re H o u s e 7 7 Fu lh a m P la c e R o a d Lo n d o n U n it e d Kin g d o m , W6 8 JA

(44) 18 1-74 8-730 0 FAX: (44) 18 1-74 8-284 6 Inte rne t: intlsale @prima ve ra.co mhttp://www.primavera.com



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What do department stores and travel agencies havein common with the Post Office? In the United King-dom, theyre competing with one another for your busi-ness. Since the government lifted the restrictions onthe services it can offer, the retail arm of the Post Of-

fice, known as Post Office Counters, Ltd. (POCL), hasbeen expanding and diversifying to compete moreeffectively with the other business on the High Street.For POCL, that has meant the addition of new Bureaude Change facilities, national lottery ticket vendingoperations, enhanced operations for selling travel in-surance and collecting telephone and utility bill pay-

mentshundreds of enhancements and new services,all of which must be made available in as many as19,500 POCL outlets across the UK.

Key to managing this expansion across so many sepa-rate facilities is Primaveras Primavera Project Planner

(P3).

Improving Efficiency at the UK Post OfficeCounters Ltd.Primaveras P3 helps make 19,500 Post Office outlets more competitive

Improving Efficiency with P3

P3 helps POCLs London-based Project ManagementServices (PMS) division implement the organizationsnew programs. PMS works closely with the managers

responsible for each new development, providing arange of services, from consulting to preparing de-tailed, computer-based plans for the many tasks ineach project. A team of 25 planners, based in Londonand Chesterfield, works full-time on project manage-ment activities, meeting regularly with the project man-agers, whom they see as their clients, to discuss and

update plans.

Were trying to improve the efficiency of change at thePost Office, says Doug Warwick, Project Support Man-ager for the PMS division. Efficiency is fundamental toPOCLs efforts for that will enable the organization tocompete effectively for the customers business. Notonly does POCL have to provide a better service than

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must-have features says Doug Warwick. They just The portability of the laptop systems enables planners

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dont have the capability to handle major projects likeours, where we can have literally thousands of activi-ties and resources to manage.

The planners at POCL finally settled on Primaveras P3after Primaveras distributors, Milestone, arranged atrial that would enable PMS planners to compare thethree PC-based packages upon which they had settledas final contenders. Two planners were assigned totest each package with the same 750-activity network,

assessing a broad range of features including perfor-mance, ease-of-use, and supplier support. Althougheach of the finalists had strengths, the end-result wasa decision in favor of Primaveras P3.

Users particularly liked the interface, says Warwick,and the quality of the graphics was excellent, an im-

portant benefit when working with our internal POCLclients.

Scheduling on the Go

PMS is running P3 on 486- and Pentium-basedCompaq laptop systems, complete with docking sta-

tions and 17 monitors that the planners can use whentheyre not on the road. The project data resides on aserver on Novell-based network, and ISDN WAN con-nections between PMS London and Chesterfield sitesprovide planners with high-speed connections to thedata.

to take the project plans with them when they visitPOCLs project managers, whom they view as theirclients. The planners can modify the plans as they are

sitting at the meetings, which brings to the process anelement of real-time planning that was never presentwhen they were using mainframe Artemis. The plan-ners used to have to return to the office, make thechanges at a terminal, wait for a report, and bring thechanged schedule backa process that often took atleast a day. Now, says Warwick, the speed with which

they can make the changes, and the ease with whichwe can modify plans, is tremendous.

Multi-user access to the project data, which Artemisdid not allow, has also helped us, Warwick goes on tosay, particularly in times of stress when weve had toproduce something very quickly. We can put severalpeople on the task of entering data and we can get itdone in a few hourswhereas it would have taken oneperson at least a full day to do it before. And then wecan take it right back to our customer and say, Here itis. Weve managed to do thisis this the sort of thingyou want? The customers are always impressed by

that.

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