WED43 - Change Management and Project Controls

Change is inevitable throughout the construction process, but change must be controlled to ensure the project remains in control. Changes may cause various impacts, such as interruption of work flow, rework, delays and added costs. All of these impacts may generate claims and result in disputes. Managing change is essential for a successful project.
Topics Covered:

• Impact of Changes on the Project
• Tools and Techniques to Control Changes
• Types of Project Changes
• Managing the Project Change
• Contract Administration of Changes
• Schedule Management of Changes
• Prosecuting Requests for Extensions of Time due to Changes
• Negotiation and Resolution of Changes

WED44 - Trimble Schedule Planner Hospital Case Study

You can’t estimate the project without understanding the schedule. The same holds true on a BIM-based project: you need good 5D to do 4D! True 4D BIM is comprised of 4 components: quantities by location, flowline scheduling, on-site production control, and 4D simulations. 4D BIM is turbo charged CPM designed for continuous resource usage, leveraging calculated durations based on quantities per location, and harmonizing workflow at the rate at which crews can complete each location.
This presentation will showcase 4 California hospital projects who implemented 4D BIM: Kaiser Permanente Phase 2: Hospital Tower in Oakland, Kaiser Permanente Phase 2: Specialty Medical Office Building in Oakland, St. Jude’s Northwest Tower in Fullerton and Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. We examine the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and the project results.

WED45 - Planning Planet Guild of Project Controls Town Hall

Come to this session to discuss the current status of the International Guild of Project Controls, preview the two completed Standards of Practice, Planning & Scheduling and Forensic Analysis, and participate in developing the Cost Management Standard of Practice.
Moderated by Chris Carson.

WED46 - Making Sense of Schedule Risk Analysis

The paper will start with a brief discussion of the nature of uncertainty and how we measure it, the validity of subjective estimates, and why schedule uncertainty is different and more complex than cost uncertainty. This will include an explanation of the phenomenon of merge bias.
It will go on to explain how Monte Carlo simulation works and why it is the only valid way to deal with schedule uncertainty. Reference will be made specifically to uncertainty relating to task durations, resource costs, and project calendars.
The main part of the paper will deal with how to determine the input data, including correlations, and how to interpret the results, including estimated frequency function, cumulative frequency function, and percentile points.
The paper will conclude with a discussion of sensitivity analysis, its value, and the difficulty of doing it properly.
Presented by Tony Welsh.

WED47 - How to cost load a schedule for USACE's QCS/RMS (Understanding the SDEF File)

Cost loading a schedule for USACE’s QCS/RMS is often a source of much misunderstanding and frustration on the part of the project team and scheduler. An understanding of the reasons and requirements for cost loading a schedule to support QCS/RMS is of great help. Simply put; understanding the data and structure of the SDEF File is the first step; understanding the reason for cost loading the schedule is the second reason to understand the SDEF File. The bottom line is; if you want to be paid for the work performed then you need to cost load your schedule, that is, your schedule becomes the Schedule of Values (SOV) forming the basis of your monthly progress payments. This session will, provide a basic understanding of the requirements for cost loading a schedule and an understanding of the data in the SDEF File that will allow you to get paid.
Presented by David Long

WED48 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Two 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from DR McNatty, a Oracle Primavera Partner, for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Thursday, 8:00 AM to 9:15 AM -- 75 minute session -- main auditorium

THU00 - Keynote Session - 4D as Demonstrative Evidence

Help kick off our litigation track with Ben D. Nolan III, PE, PSP

Thursday, 9:45 AM to 11:00 AM -- 75 minute session

THU11 - Introduction By Steve Lesser and The Future of Forensic Schedule Analysis by John Livengood

Steve is this year's Chair of the ABA Forum for Construction. John is co-lead author of the AACE RP-29

Sophisticated construction management skills have radically changed the way projects are managed and delivered. CPM scheduling’s step-child known as Forensic Schedule Analysis (FSA) is now driven by four separate factors: 1) The GOOD – the advancement of schedule delay methodological and analytical tools; 2) The HARD – the ability to evaluate the explosion of information; 3) The BAD – the inability of the legal system to provide guidance on CPM scheduling issues; and 4) The SCARY – the incorporation of claims resolution into the practice of construction management. Developments in all these areas require a whole new paradigm for the FSA expert.

THU12 - Hulett on Risk

Integrated Cost-Schedule Risk Analysis Using the Risk Driver Method
Many cost estimates assume that the project schedule is engraved in stone. Estimates of project cost may be unbiased but still, they do not represent the best estimate of total cost until project schedule risk is considered. This presentation, first, discusses the rationale for conducting a project risk analysis and for integrating the analyses of cost and schedule risk in one exercise. Second, the Risk Driver method for analyzing project cost and schedule risk is proposed and demonstrated using a new Monte Carlo simulation and analysis package, Polaris. Third, in this analysis the impact on cost risk of uncertainty in schedule that impacts the cost of time-dependent and LOE-type resources is considered in an integrated analysis. The result is a better estimate of cost risk and identifying the main risks to cost, some of which are usually those thought of as being schedule risks. Without integrating cost and schedule the impact of schedule on cost is likely to be missed or underestimated.
This presentation discusses how cost and schedule are integrated so that the cost of time-dependent resources including LOE is affected by time and burn rate. Also risks affect the total cost of equipment/material cost uncertainty for time-independent resources. Hence, in the analysis cost is impacted by risk in both traditional cost risk elements and schedule risk elements. Risks are prioritized and used in risk mitigation.
Presentation by David Hulett, Ph.D., Hulett & Associates, LLC and Eric Druker, Booz Allen Hamilton

THU13 - Oracle Primavera Unifier - the next generation for Contract Management

Oracle Primavera Unifier is a best of breed tool for managing and tracking costs throughout the lifecycle of the built environment, from design and planning, through to construction and then operations and maintenance. In this session, attendees will be given an introduction to the capabilities of Unifier both in the cloud and in the data center.
The topics covered will include an introduction to the base configuration Cost and Project Delivery processes, cost sheets, stage gates, cash flow, reporting and how to configure the individual processes to capture the data your business needs. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how Primavera Unifier can be used as part of the Primavera suite of products to help manage and control projects.
The session will be presented by DRMcNatty.

THU14 - BIM Track - Bentley on BIM

Presented by Patrick Morton

THU15 - Cost & Risk Track - Humphreys on EVM

THU16 - The Ten Worst Scheduling Techniques Used Today

The authors will show the ten worst techniques used by schedulers today that contribute to project failure, examining them in detail using Lessons Learned from both a project management and a claims perspective. These issues range from widely used approaches today to others that are more rarely used and the session will provide suggestions for dealing with each of the techniques. With a combined experience of more than 70 years, the authors will teach as well as entertain.
The authors of this paper, Chris Carson & Glen Palmer, are widely experienced in planning and scheduling as well as all dispute resolution analyses and have testified as experts.

THU17 - Delay Principles Based on Completion Risk

Where the approach to scheduling a project is deterministic, the critical path is deemed to be certain. Conventional delay principles flowing from this assumption include: 1) a delay off the critical path within total float does not impact completion, and 2) a delay on the critical path equates to a day-per-day delay in completion. When the scheduling approach considerscompletion risk, the assumption underlying conventional delay principles is no longer valid. Instead, likelihood of impact is front and center, as any delay on or off the deterministic critical path may impact the probability of completing on time. This paper presents novel delay principles based on completion risk in a schedule that is risk assessed initially and periodically.
Presented by Timothy Mather of PMA Netpoint.

THU18 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Two 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from DR McNatty, a Oracle Primavera Partner, for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Thursday, 11:10 AM to 12:25 PM -- 75 minute session

THU21 - O'Brien-Plotnick Delay Analysis v. RP-29

AACE RP-29 discusses a number of methods for delay analysis that are common in the industry. One of the comments of the RP is that these methods may need to be combined depending upon the situation. CPM in Construction Management, by O'Brien and Plotnick, suggests one method as preferred to minimize subjectivity of experts and hopefully allow both experts to reach a similar solution. This session will try to reconcile these two approaches - perhaps they are the same.
Presented by Fred Plotnick and Kenji Hoshino

THU22 - Integrated Cost/Schedule Risk Analysis Using Polaris

This presentation discusses how uncertainty and Risk Register events used as Risk Drivers drive schedule risk analysis. A cost estimate is integrated using POLARIS so that cost risk is affected by both traditional cost risk elements (e.g., uncertain material costs or labor rates) and schedule risk elements (e.g., design, fabrication or testing that may take longer and thus cost more). This approach is the same approach that has been used successfully on construction and oil and gas projects and on NASA projects.
Presentation by David Hulett, Ph.D., Hulett & Associates, LLC and Eric Druker, Booz Allen Hamilton

THU23 - Use of Trimble Prolog for DCRs

THU24 - BIM Art: How 4D scheduling creates a virtual masterpiece

The Art of BIM is created by pulling together vast amounts of information and communicating it in a clear and meaningful way. As each layer of information, extension of the project team, and phase of the process is added, the picture becomes more detailed. When overlaid with the CPM schedule, the details become a masterful work of art represented by spectacular project.

• How do we start the 4D process?
• How is this BIM art created?
• What is the schedulers role in BIM?
• How does the BIM scheduler interface with the rest of the project?

THU25 - The Evolution of EVM – after 50 years, have we really come that far?

It’s hard to believe that the genesis of Earned Value Management began as early as 1960 – but it did. And what’s even more shocking is that some of the pain points that were present back then, largely around understanding and implementing an earned value management system, have gone unchanged.
In order to meet many of our needs for management control, technology has evolved to save the day and provide a pathway to success within a single system. Yet even though software and related systems have given us all the tools we need to succeed, companies are still failing to capitalize upon the power of EVM. Where is the breakdown from data capture to proper delivery - is it the system or the user? After 50 years, why are so many still confused?
Alerts are common place and expected to tell us when the tow truck to assist us during a break down is in en-route, or when our checking account hits a balance below our threshold, or even when a friends online game score hits a high mark. Yet, somehow these smaller, lower risk events are more sophisticated and current then the communication and accuracy of our billion dollar plus Capex projects.
In this session, Ron Babich will address the reasons why so many EVM initiatives fail, what specifically is to blame and how to make it work. Ron will discuss newly proven best practices and the big time shifts in thinking that have to occur in order to succeed with EVM – and accordingly, ROI.

THU26 - Designing an Effective Project Controls Team

All projects aren't created equal. A one-size-fits-all project controls team won’t meet the needs of all projects. The right balance of people, processes, and technology are key to controlling projects. Today, significant focus is placed on implementing the tools and technology and less emphasis on developing the right team. How do you design a project controls team to optimize the success of a project? This presentation illustrates a framework to design a project controls team based on project criteria and required level of project control. You will be able to modify this framework for your organization in order to address important variations.
Presented by Barry Meyers and Stephanie Thatcher of Orcas Project Controls

THU27 - Principles of Schedule Contingency Management

The establishment and management of schedule contingency has been discussed and debated numerous times by project management professionals. There are a wide range of opinions regarding whether and how to properly implement and manage schedule contingency. The AACE International Planning and Scheduling Committee have developed a recommended practice to outline the guidelines for Schedule Contingency. This AACE Recommended Practice provides guidelines for the proper use of schedule contingency when the project allows its use. After the schedule risk analysis and duration reviews have been completed there are several acceptable methods for establishing contingency time in the project schedule. Some practitioners advocate spreading schedule contingency equally across the project; some say that it should be concentrated on the project’s critical activities or along the critical path; others say to focus on those activities that are most vulnerable as risk-critical work, while still others suggest that schedule contingency is merely a pot of time that can be used or “drawn down” at any point in the project. These schedule contingency management methods will be discussed and compared along with their relationship to the establishment and use of the project’s cost contingency. The principles, guidelines and suggested requirements for establishing and managing schedule contingency as part of the overall project risk management process will be presented.
Presented by Ted Douglas.

THU28 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Two 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from a Oracle Primavera Partner for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Thursday, 12:45 AM to 1:45 PM -- 60 minute session

THU60 - Plenary Luncheon Theatre - Disney Magic by Disney Imagineering

Thursday, 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM -- 75 minute session

THU31 - Preserving, Making, Rebutting, and Winning Delay Claims

This session will discuss the contractual obstacles to making a delay claim (no damage for delay, etc.) and how to overcome them both before contract and after; how to make a claim without waiving it; how to document a claim and track costs; the importance of working with a credible scheduling expert early on in the process; and presenting delay claims at mediation, arbitration, or trial.
Presented by Wally Zimolong, Esquire, of www.zimolonglaw.com.

THU32 - Predicting the Unpredictable - a CM’s point of view

Explaining why & how Schedule Risk

Analysis helps mitigate the impact of unpredicted threats to your project schedule.

Unpredictable events and time constraints are the primary source of schedule risk – the more they occur, the greater the risk to the successful outcome of a project. It is inevitable that there will be schedule and cost threats throughout the life of the project due to these risks – but it should not be inevitable that they impact the schedule or budget.
This talk will demonstrate, through case studies, the benefits of following specific steps to proactively manage schedule risk and dramatically increase the chances of a timely, cost‐efficient project completion. This process is called Schedule Risk Analysis (SRA).
In short, SRA is a statistical analysis of a project’s schedule generated by software simulation. From project assessment and team interviews, the computer runs 1,000 scenarios statistically selecting combinations of Best, Likely, and Worst Case schedule durations. The results yield percentages for completing the project on time, identifying which activities statistically have the greatest impact on the schedule. We’re left with early identification of risks specific to that project, which enables proactive management and mitigation of potential schedule impacts.
Why should you conduct a Schedule Risk Analysis, when you already have a great critical path schedule? Because we can, and should, plan for the unpredictable events and time constraints that could interrupt our plan. Implementation of an SRA procedure is the most effective step towards proactive management of schedule risk – this talk will demonstrate why and how this is achieved.
Colin Thrift is a Chief Scheduler at Gilbane with 33 years of construction & program management, scheduling and planning experience. He has vast experience in numerous market sectors, including sewage treatment, aviation, healthcare, large school programs, higher education, commercial, sporting facilities, and pharmaceuticals. Colin also has 8 years of international construction experience. Colin was recently the recipient of the prestigious Gilbane Innovator of the Year Award for his national development of schedule risk analysis.

THU33 -  Primavera Contract Management Lives!

PCM has been around for almost 30 years and is still widely used on many projects. There’s uncertainty about the impact of Unifier on PCM. Oracle says Unifier is the future of their Contract and Document Management offering, but have committed to support PCM for the near future. PCM licenses are “perpetual”, you can continue to it for as long as you need to. There’s lots of third party support for PCM to help keep it running.
This presentation discusses what you can do to extend the life of PCM deployments and when to consider moving to Unifier.
Presented by DRMcNatty

THU34 - Synchro Scheduling Tips & Tricks

THU35 - Cash Flow Curve Considerations

Primavera doesn’t really do a practical cash flow curve. The early curve approximates cash flow, but not actually in a usable manner. The answer is to export period data to Excel, and then format an appropriate graph. But then how can the data be structured so that it is useful for all the team members, including Finance? We’ll look at some facets of the problem, and present a solution that responds to the multi-level concerns.
Presented by Jim Simons, PMP PSP EVP

THU36 - Recreating the Half Step in P6

Have you ever faced the challenge of reviewing a monthly schedule update that includes both progress updates and non-progress revisions? To effectively evaluate potential schedule impacts, a schedule reviewer needs to separate the progress updates from the non-progress revisions. This is what a Half Step Schedule does. AACE’s Recommend Practice 29R-03 already recognizes the Half Step schedule as an effective analysis technique.
Primavera P6™ software contains several features that can assist in the review and analysis of project schedules. It can even help you create Half Step schedules using the Update Baseline utility. In this presentation, noted P6 experts will explore the Update Baseline feature, the myriad of options available, and how it can be used to review and analyze project schedules
Presented by Ron Winter and Hannah Schumacher

THU37 - Comparative Resource Scheduling Using Various Software Packages

Resource Allocation is an important areafor construction management. Two problems of resource allocation of concern are resource levelling and resource scheduling. The normal convention for, resource scheduling problem is solved using either heuristics or optimization techniques. Where heuristic methods are used, resource scheduling is always treated as a subsequent problem to critical path analysis.
Presentation describes resource scheduling problems handled using heuristics, where logic dependence and resource availability limits are considered after the scheduling process; for Resource Constrained and Time Constrained models Constant resource demand of activities is assumed, tasks once started continue if project is constrained by time so cannot be interrupted. When resource limits are reached and task has Total Float it can be split to avoid overloading the resource. Splitting has consequences, so control of splitting is demonstrated.
Presented by Raphael M Dua MACS PCP, General Manager Micro Planning International Asia Pacific Pty Ltd.

THU38 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Two 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from DR McNatty, a Oracle Primavera Partner, for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Thursday, 3:35 PM to 4:50 PM -- 75 minute session

THU41 - Litigation Track - Trends in Construction Claims & Disputes

Claims and disputes are a constant in the construction industry, regardless of whether the industry is doing well or poorly. The number of claims seems to have risen during the recent recession despite the downturn (or perhaps as a result of the downturn) in the industry. This paper, based on research conducted by the Navigant Construction Forum™, overviews some relatively recent trends related to construction claims and disputes in the areas of concurrent delay, suspensions of work, time extensions, notice and claim filing requirements, calculation of home office overhead, proof of differing site conditions and risk transfer in the design/build environment under Federal government contracts. Through this insight, it is believed that owners, design professionals, construction managers, contractors and subcontractors can devise ways to avoid such issues going forward thus making projects more successful, and more profitable, for all stakeholders.
Presented by James G. Zack, Jr. of Navigant Consulting

THU42 - Identifying True Cost and Schedule Risk Drivers with Acumen Risk™

In a traditional risk analysis setting, the focus often falls on using complex statistical calculations in order to understand the overall impact of project risk. Deltek Acumen Risk™ has never been one for tradition.
Dive into the more intuitive alternative of Deltek Acumen Risk™ in this presentation of cost and schedule risk analysis best practices. Discover how risk events and team evaluations of scope uncertainty are considered during analysis to provide a more accurate look at completion forecasts. Plus, explore unique features of the method, like the ability to identify the true drivers of both cost and schedule risk, and learn how the newest additions in Acumen Risk 5.0, like the Schedule Realism Adviser™, make risk analysis with Acumen Risk even simpler.
Presented by Dr. Dan Patterson, Vice President of Product Strategy, Deltek

THU43 - Best Practices for Implementing Unifier

In this session, attendees will learn the best practices that Faithful+Gould has developed from over 8 years of implementing Primavera Unifier for clients, in the cloud and in the data center. Faithful+Gould is an international Project Management firm for whom Primavera Unifier is our preferred solution for electronic project management.
The topics covered will include linking schedules to cost management elements to enable better cash flow forecasting, getting the level of complexity of processes 'right', adapting the project management system to the project and the benefits of transparency in project management enabled through Primavera Unifier.
The session will be presented by Richard Tregaskes who has spent his career helping clients improve their businesses through the appropriate use of technology, from a consultant, through the leader of design teams split across multiple continents.

THU44 - Program Planning in Large Engineering Projects: Challenges, Methodical Approach and Technological Support

In the dynamic daily routine of complex and distributed engineering projects, organizations face many communication challenges. Enable sustainable decisions on all hierarchical levels and increase planning maturity. This presentation will help you to close the gap between program and projects to ensure a reliable, accurate and consistent flow of information within multi-level structures and improve the odds of our success.
Presented by Campana & Schott's Director for US Operations, Larry Mead, has over 15 years of experience in the US and internationally in Europe, managing, implementing and developing enterprise project management solutions. Larry Mead holds a Master´s in International Business, is a PMP, and owns Microsoft MCP and MCITS certifications.

THU45 - Avoid Surprises with Detailed Cost and Time Models

As projects move forward, schedulers naturally shift their attention to the remaining work required to bring everything to successful completion. To help illuminate the path forward, contractors and EPCMs often put significant effort into capturing and analyzing earned value performance metrics. However, project managers may miss key insight if they also fail to utilize detailed cost and time estimates to re-forecast their schedules. In this session, learn how continually leveraging detailed bottom-up estimate calculations can help you improve project forecasts and avoid unwelcome scheduling surprises.
Presented by John Garay of Hard Dollar.

THU46 - Project Controls for the Maryland Transit Administration's $4B Light Rail Program

This presentation will provide a detailed description of MTA Transit Development and Delivery program which includes the Baltimore Red Line Project and the Purple Line Projects which are light rail projects to be constructed in downtown Baltimore and in the heavily populated Washington DC Metro area. We will discuss challenges faced when determining the project control needs and the development of processes and software to meet the needs of the project.
Presented by VANCE TSIAMIS, PE, PSP, CCM of RK&K.

THU47 - Leading the Way with Parkland Hospital

The largest public construction project in America is Dallas County’s $1.3B New Parkland Hospital and Campus. The project is redefining public health care with a LEED Silver facility that will provide more patient-centered care in a second to none healing environment.
The magnitude of the program and the transparency required challenged the Parkland owner to manage this program differently. Technology and collaboration were highly leveraged with an integrated suite of program control tools, extensive use of BIM, pre-fabrication and a collocated program delivery team. Come hear how Parkland’s innovative approach is keeping the program on-schedule and on-budget as it nears completion in mid-2014.
Presented by Shelly Sipes, PMP of Critigen

THU48 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Two 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from a Oracle Primavera Partner for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Friday, 8:00 AM to 9:45 AM -- 105 minute session

FRI01 - Keynote Session - Mock Trial 2014

Judge Marshall's court is again in session for this year's Mock Trial presentation. So top off your cup of coffee, be seated, and enjoy the show! Judge Marshall will teach the LAW. Two attorneys, renown for international and domestic construction litigation, will be providing examples of trial techniques, setting traps for unwary experts. And two experts will be providing examples of bad and good behavior, as well as providing the facts of the case to Judge Marshall and the jury (you!).

FRI12 - Special Training Session - Oracle P6 Admin Tips & Tricks

FRI13 - You have chosen to Integrate, What’s next?

To remain competitive in today’s economy companies are facing the need to do more with less. That is no different in the use of software applications as they do not operate in isolation. As companies attempt to integrate their systems it is increasingly apparent integration projects are most successful with highly visible business objectives. This session is going to be an overview of the integration processes, the tools available to facilitate the integration of disparate applications and focus on the what is needed to integrate financial, scheduling, and project controls application.
Presented by Randy Nolan of of Morpheus Technology Group

FRI14 - Using Cultural Change to Introduce EVM through Micro Planner X-Pert

Major construction companies are used to adopting new management and construction methodologies for years as a way of successfully gaining new projects and maintaining their market share.
Maximising margins in the current economic environment and increasingly changing market place requires superior productivity and knowledge of how the company’s projects are performing.
Improving productivity and knowledge is:-

• Identifying what are current practices
• Identifying changes through better performance measurement, analysis and reporting
• Applying systematic approach changing existing operating and business processes
• Understanding the existing culture in the organisation and developing appropriate methodologies to change it

FRI15 - Introduction to ourPlan – The Cloud-based Last Planner Application

ourPlan develops collaborative project management applications for the construction industry. We built the first visual planning application designed to be used by Last Planners™ to track commitments, identify roadblocks and coordinate weekly work plans. This session will give you an overview of ourPlan and some basic Last Planner concepts. It will also cover common questions about how CPM Master schedules can be linked to Production Planning tools like ourPlan.
Presented by Tom Feliz.

FRI16 - How Effective Project Planning & Implementation Impacts an Operating Company’s Market Value

In today’s capital project delivery world, organizations strive to be recognized as top performers.The return on investments continues to receive increasing scrutiny, focus, and importance.
Many industries continue to make the same mistake. In a broad view, they fail to make the “engagement of owner's expertise” anything more than a semi-cursory. As a consequence, many owners waste minimally 15 cents out of every capital dollar spent.
We will see how NetPoint is uniquely suited to productively engage the critical expertise in the decision-making process earlier, better, and more productively to improve capital effectiveness overall.
Presented by W. Christopher (Chris) Luther, P.E., President of Camargo Associates, LLC

FRI17 - Getting Ready for BI Publisher – Reporting Requirements and Using Oracle BI Publisher

In this session, attendees will learn basic report creation with Oracle’s advanced reporting solution, BI Publisher. Faithful+Gould is an international Project Management firm for whom Primavera Unifier is our preferred solution for electronic project management. The topic brings a project management perspective to determining KPI’s, requirements gathering and documentation, reporting types, discerning data relevance and creating a basic report template to aid in reporting transparency for project management enabled through Primavera Unifier.
The session will be presented by Diana Kennedy who has spent her career helping clients improve their business processes through the appropriate use of technology. Diana brings over eight years of working with Oracle Primavera Unifier and 20 years of construction and facilities management.

FRI18 - Oracle Primavera One-on-One Clinic

Four 30 minute sessions to clinic with a representative from a Oracle Primavera Partner for One-on-One assistance.
Sign up when you register or at the conference. Click here to register.

Friday, 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM -- 75 minute session

FRI31 - Litigation Track Concluding Panel

Choosing an Expert War Stories - the Good, Bad & Ugly
Presented by Jones Day

FRI32 - Dick Faris Oracle Primavera Town Hall

User Wish List and Q&A on the road map for Oracle and Primavera product lines

FRI33 - Proper and Effective Uses of Recovery Schedules on Construction Projects

When a construction schedule shows delay or there is otherwise a delay in construction progress the common response by a project owner or someone acting on the owner’s behalf is to demand a “recovery schedule” to make up delay within the remaining contract time to achieve an on time completion. This seminar will explore the appropriate prerequisites that are necessary before an owner or someone acting on behalf of the owner can demand a “recovery schedule” along with an evaluation of the various techniques or solutions that may be employed in creating the recovery schedule as well as their likelihood of success. Among the topics and best practices covered are:

• What steps should be taken to minimize a request for a recovery schedule.
• When an owner should request a recovery schedule and how should a contractor respond to a request for a recovery schedule.
• How to approach acceleration and schedule development, including additional resource requirements, cost and resource leveling and developing “what if” scenarios.
• What to include in a recovery schedule.
• What to do after a recovery schedule is submitted.
• Who pays for any acceleration costs required to implement a recovery schedule.

FRI34 - Breaking the Barrier - CPM and Lean

Lean Scheduling, Phase Pulls, Production Plans, Flow Line Scheduling and CPM on the surface go together like oil and water. A few years ago Lean was simply a concept but it’s become a way of doing business, projects are won and lost based on how Lean a company is, contractors expect it and owners demand it. This session will focus on breaking through the perceived barriers between CPM and Lean Scheduling focusing on several case studies relating to successful strategies and standards implemented by Turner Construction Company in the Ohio Region.
Presentation by Adam Baker and Mark Broughton of Turner Construction

FRI35 - Advanced Scheduling Concepts with Spider Project Software

Software can land an aircraft. Why can’t it plan a project?
Why do we accept the inefficiencies of feeding decisions to a computer? We take project variables into a meeting, determine the “best” current solution, and pass that decision to a scheduler who, in turn, spends significant time entering this information into the schedule. This is backwards! If a computer can land a 450 ton aircraft full of human life with zero human intervention, then surely it can re-sequence a few thousand activities and resources.
Archibald highlights the perceived complexity of such a feat and then explains the brilliant simplicity of the solution. This session focuses on the tangible ways in which computers are advancing capabilities in project scheduling and displays some powerful software that does a good job of turning variables into decisions by way of heuristic algorithms.

FRI36 - ASTA Customer Project Showcase

The beginning of this presentation will focus on a few capabilities that sets this product apart from many scheduling options that are available today. In a matter of a few minutes you will begin to realize that Asta has many of the capabilities you wish you had in your current scheduling tool. This part will be presented by Project Integration an Asta Partner with 21 years of Oracle Primavera experience and then “hold on” as we turn this over to Bill Jack Daniel, Scheduling Manager at Saunders Construction for an impressive story of what they have accomplished in a short period of time.
Scheduling is one of the most important aspects of any construction project. Time is money, time is risk and time can be a reward. Accurate and intuitive scheduling can make or break a project. In this session you will hear from Denver-based Saunders Construction and their integration of Asta Powerproject for all their planning and schedule needs. Scheduling Manager, Bill Jack Daniel will discuss the implementation of a new platform into the organization, innovation, and training as well as highlight a few features and tools. Asta Powerproject is a class-leading project, portfolio and resource management solution used successfully throughout the world on projects of all size and by all industry sectors.

FRI37 - Profit-Time Trade-off of Construction Projects Under Extreme Weather

Maximizing the profitability and minimizing the duration of construction projects in extreme weather regions is a challenging objective that is essential for project success. An optimization model is presented herein for the time-profit trade-off analysis of construction projects under extreme weather conditions. The model generates optimal/near optimal schedules that maximize profit and minimize the duration of construction projects in extreme weather regions. The computations in the model are organized into: (1) a scheduling module that develops practical schedules for construction projects, (2) a profit module that computes project costs (direct, indirect, and total) and project profit, and (3) a multi-objective module that determines optimal/near optimal trade-offs between project duration and profit. One example is used to show the impact of extreme weather on construction time and profit. Another example is used to show the model’s ability to generate optimal trade-offs between the time and profit of construction projects under extreme weather conditions.
Presented by Saleh A. Mubarak, Ph.D., Head, Dept. of Civil & Architectural Engineering, and Ahmed Senouci1, both of College of Engineering, Qatar University