Project Management Best Practices in EPC Project Scheduling INGENIERIA QUIMICA sed your replies tothe I questions Tsted below to, the. following aatiess mugamezaltiones "You Ingenierfa Quimica is collecting do not need to reply to all of them, the opinion of project managers only wo chose where you havea cleat and project planners with the opinion. purpose of finding the “best practices” and heping to bridge the The final conclusions will be sent present gap between reality and for comments to all participants and expectations, published in Ingenierfs Quimica, Ifyou haveexperience in planning Together with the guestions, EPC (Engineering, Procurement we are summarising the replies and Construction) projects, please received up to know. IN Question Opinion supported by the majority 1 What isthe host The schedule has tobe in line wit he engineering, ay to insure that iocurement and constuction execution ple ‘the schedule reflects During the initial project stages, these plans are not the project ——_suelly nwrting, therefore the project scheduler as to. “strategies and met withthe project manager, he constuction manager execution plans? and other projet members to review projet scope, Q ) contractual milestones and obfgations cl execution plons, potential problema 2. How many and what The mast equant practice in age EP projets type of scbedule—_istousetbe fl nels: levols exists? : Provides novral piject vw and sone main ecviles ene + contractual obligato According to the Construction Industry Institute “a good project schedule can save up to the 20% of the total project cost”; but ‘most project managers see the sehedule as a source of constant headaches rather than an opportunity for project success. ‘Level 2. Intermediate Level not recommended) Intermediate level between T and 3} prepared sometimes ‘during proposal preparation ar preliminary projec: sages. It's later repleced by erhodule 3 © Ingenleria Quimica wunwalcion.es2 Question How many and what type Of schedule levels exists? How to extract Level 4 summaries from Level 3 ‘detal schedules? ‘Should Level 3 be as detailed as possible? What lovel of ‘Should main deliverables be shown on the schedule? Pe cs ‘Opinion supported by the majority Level 2. Project Network Network with one or more thousend actives, depending on project complexity, supported ty a ‘ial path scheduling tool, such as MS Projector Primavere, used ta calulete dates snd floats, ‘tig the Bass Schedule Level a. Breakdown Documents ‘Some Lovel 3 activities may be futher brokan down, For instance, the Level may have one activity called “Issue instrument Process Data Sheets”, This single Level 8 activity may be broken down nto a List of lnstrument Process Data Sheets with a date for each of them. Level ‘4 documents ae produced by other project groups for instence te Process Department, and ‘ot bythe Scheduling Department. List of Initial Activities The preparation of e Level 3 schedule in large EPC project may take soverel months tis 9 ‘sommon practi to propare a preliminary ist of activites for this interim perio, Standard scheduling softvare packages can eutomaticaly produce Levelt summary bars. from Lovel 3 deal schedules, but these bas are generally very long (several months) snd prove useless for projet ontrol. There ave no tools avallable to automaticaly produce ecceptable Level 1 fxgcutive cummaris from Loval 2 or Laval 3 Notworks. ‘Very often, Level 1s produced before Level 3, in order to establish the quidelins end set the main iilestones that wil help to produce the detail schedule Ieisa Frequent mistake that may lead fo an unmanageable programme. ‘significant activity dates. Include contractual milestones interfaces: a) between departments, bi nith construction, c) with partes fae d) wih subcontractors. Discipline groups should not be unnacessarly constraim with excossively detailed pans ‘They ngod a certain room to optimise the use of thee resources For this reason, i is better to ‘eave detall breakdowns forthe Level 4 cocuments contralieg by each cecpline (within the general date limits imposed by the Level 3 schedule}. Stick tothe Paeto's 2080 rule, which applied to project scheduling may read as follows: "80% of {etal proest performance is duet only 820% of the total number of projeet activites. ‘Tho remaising 0% of activities has very ttle Impact on overall performance". Concontrate in the fist 20%. Authors lke Peter Drucker, the best known management thinker of ai times and Joseph _Juran the father of Toel Quality, recommend o forges about the remeining 20%. hig very dificult to mato sonable predictions about construction activitios, tobe performed ‘years later, fom tho inal project stages. Therefore the level of construction detail in the inal sched has to be necessarily low, Nevertheless, the averllproaram hes to include al orstudton gelivies which are linked to Engineering and Procufemient by Pracedence Relations. ‘They ate needed calculace ite dates ard to have the ful project pcre, ‘ory significant delverabes, such ac P&iDs, Pot Plan, Process Date Sts etc. shouldbe shown ‘nthe schedule, specially if they re a condition to stat other activites. But they should ret be Fisted one by one. If necessary they can be listed, with their forecast dats, in “lower level" schedule suppor tool, such asthe drewing Iss ‘important requisitions should be indvidualy shown, but the rest shouldbe lat ta de Requisivon Register. ‘Achoma 08 FsUsCeleNT Ls (7eme ye) VL N Question pinion supported by the maority 7 Document Isues Many iewings ar sued corel ime long he eo he poet wh ferent eision tdardeaons The chet sould not ryt retect all tos fret aun berase they ada roting a na es einen a Th at arrest ony eva ‘blows ones Approved for Desian (AFD. “Aomroved for Cooucton (AFC) 8 How to determine Most durations have obo based on previous experienc, Tae as an example he duration of ‘Activity Durations? Equipment Foundation Design”. The duration will depend onthe humbar of menhhours requires ‘0 camplote the activity but alsa on the numberof persons avetebl to doit, and especialy the avalablty of nformaton. Sinoe the schasuler Fas no wey 0 predic these aos the only (acti soutien st rev on revou eporeneo biel re conan ees 2 Aggressive or conservative? Early Dates, Late Dates : datos? ‘An aggressive schedule may help fo obtain commitments from the sto the organisation and reduce the risk of lte completion, but tthe same tme it my be eeato nnacessary frustrations and, sta ith the eet. 10. What are the most “The on eee aus of alr aes frequent reasons for The schedules usvally propsted before the project execution plan ie ea, and therefore i¢can schedule failure? net be expected to reflec prot realy. ‘Sorte schedulers put the emphasis on "cetal” rete than solid nenwork logic. This generally leads ‘ip éconfusing programme dificult to update Thre isa tendeney to be everoptmisic. Specally ‘hen calculating durations and predicting te impact of every dey dficu Look of Clint or Contracoc committment withthe schedile. eis not unusUal to ind that the proect team is ost fon the scheile, But Ris nota “cause” of {chotuo flute, is “eonsequence fhe allure. 11. What is the best way “The mos egy mentioned re: to overcome schedule y fallures? "_Poject team mestiogs to sary seope and etrategy before prosucng the netwok. such ae bi evluetion, cent approvals, eb, wth rejects (1 ect poten delays for a Please send your replies to the just the number on the Jeft hand uations ‘ond Of long Ssaniyasonthneony © iewenigmedaltenss Teale tem ny ve WE 1Q woo neta RE sha, hc acta ctan B ‘Achema 06