Developing a Piping Tie-In Schedule from Excel Estimates Using the P6-Loader
How A 'P6 Level 4 Schedule Reloader' Was Born
When working with a client who engaged Emerald to assist with developing a detailed schedule for piping tie-ins on a major SAGD oil sands expansion project, we found that the old way of building field installation work package( FIWP) templates or fragnets (for those P3 users) and copying them in P6 was just not effective. We had built resource loaded templates in P6 and started replicating them by hand by ISO and FIWP. We had to develop the typical sequences, overlay the manpower loading, and coordinate for limited camp space through resource loading as well as handle shop limitations and deliveries from Ontario and the US.
As if that was not hard enough, things started changing. The owner was changing scope and milestone handover priorities while our client was refining task lists and resource capacity. It got really frustrating when we were receiving daily spreadsheets with revised Engineering Work Package (EWP), Field Installation Work Package lists and changing handover packages. Our deadline was tight and our client needed the schedule in order to get owner sign-off and access to the construction site, so we were under a lot of pressure with so many moving parts on this one. We could not finish the schedule development and run resource levelling to get a clean critical path.
So, we decided to take a deep breath and refocus our efforts in a more productive way. We stopped the string of P6 changes we were making with global changes, search and replace and fill-downs, and took a step back and built an incredible ‘Level 4 Reloader’ in Excel. This ‘Level 4 Reloader’ read from the excel estimate sheets with the list of EWPs, FIWPs, ISO’s, pipe sizes, pipe material types, plant and area locations, trades etc to recreate the whole project. The effort spent building the lookups and macros paid off for everyone. We were able to rebuild their level 4 schedule in P6 using the P6-Loader for the pre-contract/bid agreement, the signed contract baseline, and the first change order scope in a matter of hours instead of the “rework churn” that we were getting into with new estimates and new handover packages coming at us daily.
About the Author
Nicole Jardin, P.Eng. - CEO
Nicole’s drive for success came at a young age growing up in a family of eight competitive swimmers. As treasurer and president of her high school, one could also say that leadership skills came naturally. Her love of teaching and helping others also developed early as swim instructor and lifeguard while she was studying Building Engineering at Concordia University in Montréal. After graduation, Nicole worked for 6 years in a forensic investigative role on project dispute avoidance and claims resolution cases for Revay and Associates and High-Point Rendel. Nicole learned early on in her career just how critical strong project management was to ensure project and corporate success.
To learn more about Nicole please refer to her executive profile.
