Accumulating and Calculating Progress Data
The Schedule Manager includes the capability to capture detailed activity progress data for a project, including earned progress. You can add optional additional data elements to the Activity Attribute form to support this detailed progress data, or the user can use the default progress accumulation that is part of the Schedule Manager.
Earned progress is a key component to calculating earned value. Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management technique for measuring project progress in an objective manner, and combines the measurement of scope, schedule, and cost in a single integrated system. Earned Value analysis (performed in the Cost Manager in Unifier) allows project managers and project stake holders to determine whether project is on schedule and on budget. Based on the outcome of the earned value analysis, the project manager can decide if corrective action is needed to ensure that the project can be completed within defined constraints. Examples of corrective actions are changing the scope of work, extending the schedule, or adding or reassigning resources.
One of the key components of this technique or tool is to capture progress of a project. This progress is usually provided by a general contractor or the person who is in charge of the project. These progress entries are analyzed to determine the state of the project, or the earned progress. In Unifier, earned progress is captured in the context of activity progress, and the link between the Cost Manager and the activities in the Schedule Manager is provided through the CBS codes assigned to each activity. The CBS codes are assigned to activities in the CBS Codes tab of the activity's Properties window.
In Unifier, the earned progress calculation is optional. Not all users of the Schedule Manager will want to accumulate and calculate earned progress. In that case, you do not have to add the earned progress data elements (Earned Progress and Earned Amount) to the Activity Attribute form.
To prepare progress accumulation and calculation, including earned progress data elements if needed:
The uDesigner user must: | The Unifier Administrator must: |
|---|---|
Add certain data elements to the Activity Attribute form to prepare the activity for progress accumulation | Import the updated Activity Attribute form that contains the optional additional data elements |
The Resource Assignment Attribute form (described in the next section) can also contribute to the earned progress calculation.
Last Published Monday, June 3, 2024