Are you processing updates to your schedule manually and think that is the best option? I recently assisted a team with a project where, in order to complete the project schedule updates in an acceptable timeframe, their company decided to hire additional people just for the updates. I understand the time constraint they were under, but for follow-up projects, there are more efficient, less costly options available that also keep your updates less prone to data entry errors. One example is TAPS Mobile. 

TAPS Mobile allows update processing from your mobile device. That may not sound like a high-impact item, but keep in mind, every time data has to be handled, it is a labor spend (time and dollars). There is also the introduction of another data touch point where a data entry error may occur. You can streamline the update process by submitting updates directly from a mobile device. Instead of filling out a report and then inputting those updates into the project manually, consider completing your status checks, inputting the information into your mobile device, and clicking save to send the update(s) directly to P6. This streamlined update process can provide additional time to analyze the schedule updates. Proper schedule analysis is an important step and can get severely crunched if the entry of schedule updates is not streamlined but instead a labor-intensive, time-consuming process.

Often we need to compare and analyze multiple scenarios for our projects. Using P6-Reporter (previously EP-datawarehouse), we can store a snapshot of each scenario. These snapshots can be compared directly using P6-Reporter. The user can compare assignments as well as costs. Let’s have a look at an example of rig assignment scenario comparisons. Utilizing P6 scheduling functionality, build the scenarios in P6. Once the scenarios are created, create snapshots of the scenarios in P6-Reporter.

Taking snapshots can be an automated process, but you can create them manually as well. Creating a snapshot manually is easy to accomplish.



Complete the required updates in your P6 schedule and then create a snapshot.

To create the snapshot, go to the projects tab in P6 and set the 'P6R - Snapshot - Period' (previously 'EP-dw – Snapshot – Period’) and the 'P6R - Snapshot - Run' (previously ‘EP-dw – Snapshot – Run’) fields.

Easy access to up-to-date, easy-to-digest reporting is available by including Power BI reports on your projects. Keep the process convenient and streamlined to allow your team to focus their efforts on the project while simply digesting the dashboard reports. P6-Reporter (previously EP-datawarehouse) brings with it a set of standard reports. That does not mean the users are confined to that specific set of reports. As additional reports are added to P6-Reporter, you will have access to all the new reports as well. You and your team can also add to the P6-Reporter report collection by creating additional reports yourselves. These options put you and your team in a position to not only fill all reporting requirements on your project but to streamline your reporting and improve project communication.

In this blog, we will look at couple of examples in Tableau and Power BI. These dashboards are not an all-inclusive list but meant as food for thought.   

This blog is a deep dive into what can be accomplished with codes using P6-Scrubber prior to importing an XER/XML file. Frequently, when importing a schedule from an outside source into our existing database, there are codes we want to either delete, rename or, in the case of activity codes, rolldown to the project level. P6-Scrubber is able to handle all of these cases.

In P6-Reporter, the Portfolio Summary Self-Serve Dashboard provides easy access to portfolio level information. In the screen shot below, the user has summary information for all the projects in the portfolio displayed. Across the top of the dashboard are easy-to-use filters allowing the user to filter for exactly the information they need to focus on if the entire portfolio is not their current focus requirement. The report date indicates the snapshot information being displayed, and the user can filter for other snapshots if required. Previous snapshots remain available for display. Keep in mind, the snapshot process can be automated or manual.

Although TAPS was originally developed to assist with the large number of updates that need to be processed into a turnaround schedule for every update, do not limit your imagination! TAPS can be used to process updates to schedules other than just turnaround schedules. Consider where this tool can assist in addition to updates on turnaround schedules. Keep in mind that TAPS is also available on mobile devices.

Below is just one of a large number of scenarios for how TAPS can be used.

We all have had it happen in P6. Somehow, a project or global data goes missing or gets changed and we need to restore data from a backup. Usually, this means contacting the IT department and having them restore, at the very least, a previous version of the project or even the entire database. Our IT departments are busy, and often, P6 is not the only software they are supporting. Sometimes, this means we need to wait to get our data rolled back to a previous backup copy, which may not be convenient. In some cases, a full backup may need to be restored instead of just the one project we need which causes extra work to get the changes made to all those other unaffected projects.

P6-Loader now has the functionality to automatically create XML and/or P6-Loader XLXS format backups of projects and global data and provide a means in which to self-serve restoring data from a given time. The backups can be set to run daily, weekly or monthly and can easily be accessed and downloaded through P6-Loader.

In P6-Reporter, the Resource Allocation Dashboard provides a portfolio level resource roll up. View over allocated hours (top left), all portfolio projects the selected resource is assigned to (bottom left), the portfolio resource profile (top right), and the portfolio projects and activity assignments in those projects via a Gantt view (bottom right).

When receiving an XER or XML from an outside party, we more than likely want to remove or alter their data so it is easily identifiable when we import it to our own databases. This cleansing of data makes it much easier to keep our own data pure in our own P6 database, while still getting the information needed from an outside source.

We may receive a file with codes, UDFs, Resources, Resource shifts and curves that we either do not want to import at all, or, perhaps, we want to prefix them so we can identify where they came from after they are imported. Global calendars also pose a problem. When global calendars are imported with an XER or XML file, those calendars overwrite the definition of a calendar with the same name in your existing database, which could alter dates on your existing projects. When those projects are rescheduled, the new calendar definition is used to calculate the dates. We also may not want the new imported calendars polluting our group of organizational global calendars. Ideally, we want to keep the global calendar in the imported project and move it to a project calendar so the integrity of the project dates is not altered by removing the calendar.

P6-Scrubber gives us a quick and easy way to handle data that we merely want to remove, prefix or roll down called the Simple Scrub. Simple Scrub is a “one stop shop” for handling all these data items. It is contained all in one window, so you can quickly define what you want to do with each data element.

Do you get Microsoft Project (MSP) XMLs that need to be imported to your P6 environment but you want to control the data being imported? This cleansing of data makes it much easier to keep your own data pure in your own P6 database, while still getting the information needed from the MSP XML.

MSP data imported as an XML file contains the following that you may want to control:

• Activity Codes and Dictionary
• Activity User Defined Fields
• Resources
• Resource Codes and Dictionary
• Calendars

P6-Scrubber gives you a quick and easy way to handle this data. You can import the MSP XML into the tool to look at what the XML contains and create definitions to save and use over and over again. Let's look at each piece of data and see what can be done with MSP XML data prior to import.

When your team uses TAPS to complete updates in your turnaround schedule, you have access to TAPS information that is not OOTB in P6. Complete the updates and then from P6 you can display the TAPS update information in a report or layout. Although that route is workable, there is an easier way.

Recently, I worked with a client who is combining several business units (BUs) into one database on the Oracle Cloud. Several of the BUs were already working in Primavera P6 which made importing those projects the best solution for these groups; however, we had one BU who was working in MS Project. They were using predefined project templates based on the OPM lifecycle set forth by their organization in P6 to create the existing projects, so importing the MS XMLs would not work properly to get their projects into P6.

When you update your schedule, do you run your many reports out of P6? Or do you use another strategy? You can create layouts and reports that clearly indicate the activities requiring specific equipment, comparison to previous updates, and much more right out of P6. By providing your team with self-serve dashboards, those same reports can be included in Emerald’s P6-Reporter dashboards, giving your team access to all their required reports, automatically updated from current snapshots in a very easy to use format. Our self-serve dashboards give your team quick access to easy to digest report information so your team is all on the same page.

Updating schedules is a crucial part of any successful business, but that doesn't mean it isn't a frustrating task. Manually entering data can be exhausting and mind-numbing, not to mention costly and just very time-consuming all-around. When Suncor Energy approached Emerald Associates, desperate for some kind of alternative to the dreaded task of updating schedules, we were happy to help.

For Suncor, manually updating schedules was just not working. It was too slow and not nearly accurate enough to suit their needs. That's where TAPS came in.