The latest version of Primavera P6 has been released, and despite many questions, we can confirm that Oracle has indeed jumped from P6 version 8.4 to 15.1. The reasoning behind the big jump is a new naming convention linking the version with the year of the release. As funny as it sounds, the ultimate plan behind the big jump is to actually try and avoid confusion. Aligning the version numbers to the year of their release is supposed to simplify things when it comes to integrating different Primavera products together.

With Primavera P6 EPPM 15.1 the new usability features are the biggest change and include:

• Resource bucket planning
• Import and export baselines for projects in XML format
• Cut, copy, and paste multiple projects
• Improved Gateway integration settings
• Improved Unifier integration capabilities
• Team Member task detail preferences
• Timesheets capabilities in P6 Mobile
• Separate modules for P6 Professional and Visualizer

We are happy to see the progress done on the P6 to Unifier integration. Users who manage their projects in P6 and their cost in Unifier can now track their cost and schedules more accurately. For more details on the new features, Oracle has published a What's New in P6 EPPM Release 15.1 PDF document. Please visit our blog to learn more about what's new in P6 EPPM 15.1 and the new release of Unifier 15.1.

TAPS is a barcode-based progressing system designed by Emerald for updating schedules in Primavera P6 for the Shutdown/Turnaround/Outage industries. It is one of Emerald’s most popular solutions due to its ability to reduce schedule updating/statusing time by over 75%. With TAPS, instead of manually finding an activity and updating the start, finish and percent complete, two fast scans with a barcode scanner can find and update a P6 activity within seconds. Cancelling work can also be done through the scanning process, saving huge amounts of time.

Innovative features of this release include new updating options that give users the ability to update P6 activities with all the percent complete types available in Primavera P6. In the previous version, Duration Percent Complete or Remaining Duration were the only updating options. Now, due to client request, Physical Percent Complete and Units Percent Complete have been added as scanning options in version 8.

TAPS has always allowed users to calculate Earned Value (EV) at the resource assignment level using Duration Percent Complete but with version 8 Physical Percent Complete can also be used to calculate resource assignment Earned Value. As a result, planning and scheduling teams are able to report EV, CPI and SPI by trade without splitting activities in P6.

The added progressing flexibility along with the ability to calculate and report Earned Value at the resource assignment level makes this new version of TAPS a strategic Primavera enhancement for all Primavera Shutdown/Turnaround/Outage users. With the new functionality of our barcode scanning technology we are excited to see TAPS expand beyond its traditional use in schedule updating for turnarounds, shutdowns and outages and move towards streamlining schedule updating for capital projects as well.

For more information about TAPS please visit our product page.

Released in February 2015, this update of Primavera Risk Analysis has extended its support to Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1. This update is well received as it resolves a variety of known bugs associated with the use of Primavera Risk Analysis and the above mentioned versions of Windows. The issues resolved are listed below. The extensive list with additional information can be viewed on the Oracle website. (Please note that login may be required).

1. PCF P80 COST DIFFERENT FROM DISTRIBUTION GRAPH WITH INSUFFICIENT ITERATIONS.
2. RUSSIAN CHARACTERS DISPLAYED INCORRECTLY IN PROJECT SELECTION SCREEN FOR EPS
3. CRASH WHEN ATTEMPTING TO DISPLAY PROBABILISTIC CASH FLOW INCLUDING NEGATIVE COST
4. LINK BETWEEN TASK & RISK NOT CREATED DURING IMPORT IF TASK ID USES LOWER CASE
5. EXPORT .MPP ERROR "MICROSOFT PROJECT ONLY SUPPORTS ONE LINK BETWEEN TWO TASKS"
6. "SHOW CUSTOM DATA..." HAS A DATA/FIELD LIMIT THAT DOES NOT ALLOW EDITING
7. DECIMAL CAN INITIALLY BE ENTERED AS QUANTITATIVE PROBABILITY
8. ERROR "FAILED TO OPEN DOCUMENT" WHEN OPENING PLAN
9. RISK SCORING REPORT KEY IS INCORRECT
10. UNDO RESOURCE ASSIGNMENT CHANGE DOES NOT RESET BUDGET VALUES
11. RUNTIME ERROR WHEN OPENING PRA PLAN DIRECTLY
12. USING THE @DATE FUNCTION IN A CALCULATED COLUMN RETURNS 'ERROR'.
13. NEGATIVE LAGS ARE IMPORTED INCORRECTLY FROM MSP WITH QUARTER HOUR PLANNING UNIT.
14. .PLNX EXPORT IMPORT DOES NOT RETAIN NON-WORKING CALENDER, PLANNING UNIT =HOUR
15. WHEN ASSIGNING BETAPERT DISTRIBUTION TO RESOURCE, TAKES UNIFORM SHAPE
16. SCHEDULE CHECK AND SRR DO NOT LOAD ON COMPUTER WITH RUSSIAN REGIONAL SETTINGS
17. THE P6 IMPORT OPTION TO USE SETTINGS FOR ALL USERS DOESN'T WORK
18. DURATION DISTRIBUTION FIGURES FROM P6 NOT CALCULATED AGAINST TIME PERIODS
19. EXCEPTIONS ADDED TO WEATHER CALENDAR
20. CANNOT EDIT RISK SENSITIVITY IN TORNADO
21. CHANGING TASK NAME DOES NOT REFRESH CORRELATED TASK EXISTENCES

For more information on Primavera Risk Analysis and Emerald's Risk Management services please visit our product page.

Emerald Associates Expands Their Oracle Primavera Portfolio Management Solutions to Asia Pacific

Emerald Associates, experts in Oracle Primavera project management solutions for over two decades, announces its expansion from North America into the Asia Pacific region with the opening of an office in Brisbane, Australia.

Brisbane, Australia (PR Newswire) January 30, 2015 -- With 20 years of Oracle Primavera project solutions experience and an extensive proprietary software product line of Primavera enhancement tools, Emerald Associates brings unrivalled turnkey project management expertise to the Asia Pacific market.

“With an increase in demand for Emerald’s innovative toolkit and turnkey offerings coming from the APAC region in the last few years, and almost 60% of the world’s capital and infrastructure spending to come from the region by 2025, demand is expected to continue” says Tyler Staton, Solutions Manager – Asia Pacific.

Emerald Associates Announces the New Release of an Innovative Primavera Contract Management Uploading Tool

Emerald Associates Inc., experts in Oracle Primavera software implementations for over two decades, announces the new release of the PCM-Loader 3.0, an uploading tool that simplifies and streamlines the Primavera Contract Management (PCM) user experience. The PCM-Loader provides secure, web-based access to extract, modify, update and even create PCM documents in minutes using Microsoft Excel template forms.