Delivered at PMI SCoP's 9th Annual Scheduling Conference, this presentation discusses the results from a recently conducted research project showing the correlation between the quality of a plan and overall project success, as well as a means of assessing schedule quality and forecasting accuracy using metric analysis.

1. //
Does Better Scheduling Drive Execution Success?
Dr. Dan Patterson PMP// CEO Acumen
May 9 2012
//

2. // Acumen Realistic Scheduling
Proven Project Analytics // S1 The Base
// S2 Critiqued
◦ Project Management Software // S3 Risk-Adjusted
◦ Oracle Primavera partner // S4 Optimized
◦ Insight into challenges & use of // S5 Team-Aligned
analytics to overcome them
Product Offerings
◦ Core Concepts:
1. Project success requires a sound plan Acumen Fuse®
2. Forecast accuracy requires risk Risk Workshops
consideration
Software Training
May 10, 2012 // 2

3. // Presentation Overview
A Case Study
S1//S5 Schedule Maturity Model
Developing sound schedules
Schedule Index™
Baseline Compliance™
Acumen Fuse analysis
Case Study/software demo
Questions & Answers
May 10, 2012 // 3

4. // Schedule Maturity Framework
Acumen S1//S5
6
• Schedule
Basis
S1
• Owner/contractor
schedule
5
• Cri/qued
Schedule
S2
• Ensure
structural
integrity
4
Chance
of
Sucess
• Risk-­‐Adjusted
Schedule
3
S3
• Account
for
risk/uncertainty
2
• Op/mized
Target
Scenarios
S4
• Schedule
accelera>on
1
• Team
Validated
Scenario
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
S5
• Buy-­‐in
on
op>miza>on
Maturity
Level
Measure quality through the Fuse Schedule Index™
May 10, 2012 // 4

5. // Schedule Quality Measurement
Metric Analysis
◦ Legacy
◦ duration, constraints, excessive lags,
negative float
◦ Industry Standards
◦ DCMA 14 Point Assessment
◦ NDIA GASP/ GAO
◦ Acumen Metrics
◦ Logic Density™
◦ Insufficient Detail™
May 10, 2012 // 5

6. // Acumen Schedule Metrics
Advanced Project Insight
Finish
Insufficient
Logic
Logic
Compliance™
Detail™
Density™
Hotspot™
• Accurate
• Ac>vity
V
• Measure
of
• Timely
start?
measure
of
project
dura>on
complexity/
performance
completeness
Milestone
Broad
Risk
Float
Ra>o™
Redundancy
Ra>o™
Range
• Degree
of
Index™
• Detail
V
• Check
for
flexibility
per
• Non-­‐needed
repor>ng
erroneous
risk
day
of
work
logic
input
//

7. // Logic Density™
Planning Consistency
◦ Determine Logic Hotspots™ in schedule
◦ Indication of sufficient logic
◦ Excellent means of trending detail level
More
defini>on
needed
May 10, 2012
// 7

8. // Advanced Logic Analysis
Sound Basis of Schedule
◦ Use of FS, FF, SS, FS links
◦ Lags & Leads
◦ Lags hide schedule detail redundant
◦ Leads cause reverse dates A
◦ Circular logic between projects
◦ Out-of-Sequence updates B
◦ Open ends/missing logic C
◦ Open start/finish (hidden open ends)
◦ Logic Density
◦ Logic Hotspot
◦ Redundancy Index
//

9. // Measuring Schedule Quality
Fuse Schedule Index™
May 10, 2012 // 9

10. // Baseline Compliance Index™
Examines
how
many
ac>vi>es
fell
within
the
expected
repor>ng
period
//

11. // Baseline Compliance™
Performance Analysis
◦ More than date comparison
◦ Measures period-compliance
◦ Included in Fuse® library
100%
50%
0%
May 10, 2012 // 11

12. // Acumen Fuse Platform
Enterprise Project Analysis
Metric
Analyzer
◦ Fuse: analytics platform
Logic
◦ Improves schedule quality Analyzer
◦ Insight into performance Forensic
Analyzer
◦ Fuse 360: goal-based acceleration Schedule
Cleanser
◦ Schedule Acceleration
Schedule
◦ Decision-support Accelerator
// May 10, 2012

13. // Metric Analysis
Slice & Dice
Benefit:
" Pinpoint shortcomings
" Project characteristics
" Slice and dice
Schedule
Cost
Performance
Characteris>cs
Earned
Value
Risk
• Logic
• Overrun
• Status
• Level
of
detail
• CPI/SPI
• Exposure
• Float
• Capacity
• Completed
• Constrained
• Trending
• Hot
spots
• Dura>on
• Burn
rates
• Delayed
• Riding
Data
• Earned
• Hidden
paths
Date
schedule
// May 10, 2012

14. // Metrics to fit: Criteria, Thresholds
Fuse Metric Editor
//

15. // Fuse Schedule Cleanser™
Actionable Insight
//

16. // Project Forensics
Insight into Schedule Cleanse
// May 10, 2012

17. // Claims Analysis
Insight into project variances
◦ Advanced forensics
◦ Fuse gives meaning to the
impact of changes
◦ Pinpoints changes to critical/
driving path
◦ Every single project attribute
can be checked
◦ Calendar definition changes
// May 10, 2012

18. Case Study
// Acumen Fuse® Software Demonstration
//

19. // Case Study
Owner/contractor Alignment
• Houston-based oil/gas owner
• Objective:
• More on-time completion for projects over $250MM
• Encourage more mature contractor schedules
• Overcome “brain drain” in scheduling
• How achieved:
• Mandated contractor Fuse Schedule Index of 75+
• Gave contractor opportunity to self-assess
//

20. // Quality Planning Truly Drives Success
100%
Probability of On-Time Completion
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Fuse Schedule Index™
May 10, 2012 // 20

21. // Q&A
//

22. More information:
White papers: www.projectacumen.com
Software Trial: www.projectacumen.com/trial
// Twitter: @projectacumen
Email: info@projectacumen.com
//