Primavera P6 Professional

Type in Primavera P6

In Primavera P6, when we assign resource to activity there is a equation:

Original Duration x Units/Time = Total Units

(          10 days        x 8 hours/day = 80 hours         )

Now when you change duration, which element will be changed: Units/Time or Total Units?

That’s when Activity Duration Type come in to play.

The above equation must always be true.

The Duration Type rule determines which field has the most importance (value will be fixed). Below is a
matrix that identifies which fields are recalculated based on the Duration type.

 If the duration is fixed, P6 will never recalculate the duration.

 If the duration is not fixed, P6 will always recalculate the duration.

Let’s do some exercise to understand it.

Fill in the columns in the table below so that the equation remains true.
Duration Type: Fixed Units/Time

Duration Type: Fixed Units

Duration Type: Fixed Duration & Units

Duration Type: Fixed Duration and Units/Time

What is the difference between Activity type:
Task Dependent and Resource Dependent in
Primavera P6

In Primavera P6, there are 2 popular activity type: Task Dependent and Resource Dependent.

So what is the difference?

By choosing Task Dependent or Resource Dependent, P6 will choose what calendar it will use for the
activity:
 Choose Task Dependent: P6 use Activity calendar for the activity

 Choose Resource Dependent: P6 use Resource calendar for the activity

Then it will affect the Original Duration and Finish Date of the activity.

We have Activity A with attribute as below:

 Working duration is 10 days

 Activity Calendar is 7 days / week

 This activity is assigned resource R who work 5 days / week

Now if we choose Task Dependent, P6 will use Activity Calendar. Then activity duration will be 10 days.
Activity Finish Date is 24-Mar-18
If we choose Resource Dependent, P6 will use Resource Calendar. Then activity duration will be 14 days.
Activity Finish Date is 28-Mar-18

The process of calculation to have 14 days is as below:

When we assign resource to activity, it copy the value 10 days from activity duration to resource duration.
Then it base on 5 days workweek to calculate Resource Finish Date.
Then it will mirror Resource Finish Date to Activity Finish Date. Then it base on 7 days workweek to
calculate Activity Duration.

What is Expected Finish Date in Primavera P6

used for?
In Primavera P6, when you schedule the project and see the Activity Original duration change, it’s probably
because of Expected Finish date.

So what is Expected Finish Date and how do we use it?

The Expected Finish date acts as a constraint if the Scheduling Option “Use Expected Finish Dates” is
switched on.
Use the Expected Finish constraint when you know when an activity will end, but do not know the duration.
When this constraint is applied, every time the project is scheduled and the Data Date is moved forward, the
program will recalculate the new remaining duration based on the Expected Finish constraint.

For example we have a simple project as below picture. Because Activity B Finish date is a very important
milestone and can not be changed. So we will set Expected Finish date for Activity B on 08-Jun:
We update progress for project. Activity A finish later than planned. However Activity B Finish date is not
delayed. It is still 08-Jun, and its duration reduce to 3 days:

It like we “lock” the Activity B Finish date on 08-Jun.

Another purpose of Expected Finish date is for updating activity progress:

We can use Expected Finish dates for updating progress for long-lead items with big duration. It can take
several months to fabricate and deliver specialized equipment, which means the task will span several update
periods. So rather than have to manually adjust the Remaining Duration during every update, Expected Finish
dates basically automate this process for us.

What is the difference between Total Float and

Free Float in Primavera P6

In Primavera P6 we have 2 important value: Total Float and Free Float.

So what is the difference?

Total Float: is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the Project Finish Date.

Free Float: is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying its Successor Activity Finish
Date.

Let’s look at this example:

The Total Float value of Activity A, B, C, D, E, I is 0 day. Meaning that if they’re delayed, the Project Finish
Date will be delayed.

The Total Float value of Activity F, G, H is 5 days. Meaning that they can be delayed 5 days without making
the Project Finish Date delay.

The Free Float value of Activity A is 0 day. Meaning that if it was delayed, the Successor Activity Finish
Date (Activity B, F) will be delayed.
The Free Float value of Activity H is 5 days. Meaning that it can be delayed 5 days without making the
Successor Activity Finish Date (Activity I) delay.

If Total Float value of an activity is 0, definitely the Free Float value of it is 0.

Meaning that the activity is critical to Project Finish Date and to its successor.

If Free Float value of an activity is 0, it’s not sure that the Total Float value of it is 0.
 Meaning that the activity is critical to its successor, but it may not be critical to Project
Finish Date.

How does Primavera P6 summarize data in

the Summary / Grouping Band

We may wonder How does P6 calculates and displays summary information for costs, quantities, user defined
fields, dates, durations, float, progress…

I will explain it in this article.

These calculations and display summaries are based on the currently visible activities. Activities removed
from the layout by filters are not included in the calculations and summaries.
Costs and quantities:
P6 totals cost and quantity data items, such as budgeted cost and budgeted quantity, by adding the values for
each activity in the summary.
Dates: 
If you display early dates, P6 shows the earliest early (or actual) start and the latest early (or actual) finish
dates. The same rules apply for late dates and baseline early and late dates.
User Defined Fields: 
P6 summarizes user fields according to type. For example, items representing start dates show the earliest
start date, and items for finish dates show the latest finish dates. A numeric user field is totaled for the
summarized activities. A text-based custom user field never summarized.

Durations: 
P6 summarizes original and remaining duration values. For activities with no progress, the original and
remaining durations are the number of work periods between the earliest start and latest finish dates and the
earliest remaining start and latest remaining finish dates respectively. If the summary activity has an actual
start date, P6 calculates the original duration from the actual start date to the latest finish date. In this case, P6
calculates remaining duration from the earliest remaining early start date to the latest remaining early finish
date.
If the summary activity is 100 percent complete, P6 calculates the original duration as the difference between
the actual start and the actual finish dates; the remaining duration is zero.
For version 7.0 and later:

 In a single project, if all activities under a particular grouping are using the same calendar, the
summary band will calculate duration based on that calendar.
 In a single project, if activities under a particular grouping are using a different calendar, the summary
band will calculate duration based on the Project Default Calendar, set under Enterprise, Projects,
Defaults tab.

 In multiple projects, if activities under a particular grouping are using different calendars, and the
projects have a different Project Default Calendar, the summary band will calculate duration based on the
Global Default Calendar (same as 6.2.1 and earlier).
For versions 6.2.1 and earlier:

 Summary duration is calculated as the time between the earliest Start date of the included activities to
the latest Finish date of the included activities according to the Global default calendar.  When multiple
activities are included in a band, the summary duration is rarely equal to the longest activity duration
 unless all the activities occur simultaneously and the activity calendar assignments are all set to the Global
default calendar.
If you display actual duration, the data is calculated as follows:

 Data Date – Earliest Actual Start (for activities with no actual finish date)

 Latest Actual Finish – Earliest Actual Start (all activities in the summary must have an actual finish
date)
Float: 
You can base total float of the summarized data on the start dates, finish dates, or most critical dates. Set this
option in the Compute Total Float As field on the Advanced Scheduling Options dialog box.  If you base float
on start dates, total float is the difference between the earliest late start and the earliest early start dates.  For
finish dates, P6 uses the latest late finish and the latest early finish dates to calculate total float. The most
critical float is the lowest total float encountered in the detailed activities from each summary group.

P6 defines total float based on the default global calendar in P6 6.2.1 and earlier versions.

Progress (% Complete):

Duration % Complete =   x 100

Activity Percent (%) Completes: These do not roll up to summary level bands

How Early and Late date are calculated in

Start to Start relationship in Primavera P6

In Finish to Start relationship, Primavera calculate Early and Late date base on 2 process

 Forward Pass (to calculate Early Start and Early Finish)

 Backward Pass (to calculate Late Start and Late Finish)
In Backward Pass, the Late Start of successor (Activity C) will be the base to calculate Late Finish of
predecessor (Activity A and B)

How about in Start to Start relationship.

In follow picture, the relationship between Activity B and Activity C is Start to Start.

There is no activity standing behind activity B.

So how can P6 calculate Late Finish for activity B.

In Start to Start relationship Primavera will do it in reverse direction. It will calculate Late Start first, then
Late Finish = Late Start + Duration.

First Late Start of B = Late Start of C = 25/Sep

Then Late Finish of B = Late Start of B + Duration of B = 25/Sep +5 = 29/Sep

Bonus :
In Finish to Finish relationship, the finish dates will be calculated first.

 In the forward pass, EF = predecessor’s EF

 In the backward pass, LF = successor’s LF

Then, the start dates get calculated from finish dates.
How to define Resource Productivity in
Primavera P6 and create schedule

When create a schedule, we can based on Resource Productivity to estimate duration.

For example:

 We have a team which can cast 10 m3 of concrete per day (This is Productivity)

 We have an Foundation which take 100 m3 concrete.

 Duration of Foundation activity will be  100 / 10 = 10 days

Now we will do it in Primavera.

Supposed that we have a schedule like below picture:

First we need to change Duration type of all activity to “Fixed Units/Time”

Go to menu Enterprise -> Resources.

Create new Resource like below picture:

We will define Productivity for Concrete resource.

Select Concrete resource. Go to Detail tab -> Default Units/Time. Enter value: 10

Go to menu Project -> Activities.

Assign Concrete resource to activities.

We will change the Budget Units to 100 (This foundation need 100 m3)

We can see activity duration will change to 10 days.

We will do in similar way for other activities.

Now you know how to define Productivity and create schedule from it.
BONUS:
If you have more than one resource assigned to activity, the finish date of activity will be the latest finish date
of all resource.

I will add 1 more resource : Backfill

And adjust the Budget Unit to 1000

The Finish date of Backfill is 20-Dec-16, later than finish date of Concrete (10-Dec-16). So the activity will
finish on 20-Dec-16

And one more thing.

The Start date of Backfill can not be same as Start date of Concrete. So we will add a Lag value for Backfill.

Enter 12 days in Original Lag column.

Backfill will start on 13-Dec-16.

Now we have a more realistic schedule.

How does Primavera P6 calculate Planned
Value Cost for Activities without linear
distribution (using Resource Curves or
Manual plan) in Earned Value Management

When we use Earned Value Management technique, we focus on:

 Planned Value Cost (PV) = Budget At Completion * Schedule % Complete

 Earned Value Cost (EV) = Budget At Completion * Performance % Complete (usually equal to
Activity % Complete)

 Schedule Variance (SV) = EV – PV

 SV > 0 : project is good, ahead of schedule

So Planned Value Cost play a very important role here.

By default when we assign resource to activity, the unit is distributed equally (linear). Then calculation of
Planned Value is as above.

However in reality, we always adjust unit for each month/week differently.

Then How ‘Planned Value’ is calculated for Activities without linear distribution, by using Resource Curves
or Manual distribution?

I will explain it in this article.

We have an simple project:

The resource assignment use Back Loaded curve:

The resource curves are divided into 5% sections. Each section has a ‘Curve %’ value, so that you can specify
how much actual work is to be performed in each ‘5%’ increment of the linear duration.

Shown below is an example of the default ‘Back Loaded’ curve. As you can see, between 0 and 5% of the
activity duration, only 3.5% of the work is scheduled to be performed, but between 50 and 55% of the
duration, 6.5% of the work is scheduled to be performed.
The activity is 10 day duration. Now let say we are at 5th day.

The calculation for “Schedule % Complete with Curve” is total all of the interval work % values.

Schedule % Complete with Curve = 3.5 + 3.5 + … + 3.5 = 35 %

PV = Schedule % Complete with Curve * BAC = 35 % * 100 = 35 $

However we can see the “Schedule % Complete” show 50%. Because it is not the “Schedule % Complete
with Curve”. It is the default “Schedule % Complete” of P6 which always show linear distribution.

If we want to show “Schedule % Complete with Curve”. We can use the User Defined Field feature.

1.  Create an “Activities” User Defined Field (UDF) called “Schedule % Complete with Curve” with a Data
Type of Number.

2.  Add this UDF as a column in the activities list.

3.  Create an “Activities” Global Change as follows:

Then Schedule Curve % Complete = Planned Value Cost / Budget At Completion
And Schedule Curve % Complete = Schedule Curve % Complete * 100
4.  Run Global Change and we can see the updated Schedule % Complete with Curve

If  we have multiple activities in WBS, and want to see the summary “Schedule % Complete with curve”, you
can look at the default Schedule % Complete. Its calculation is Summary PV / Summary BAC. So it will
show the right %.

For Activities having Both ‘Curve’ And ‘Non-Curve’ Resources

If an Activity features multiple resource assignments, some of which use Resources Curves, and some of
which do not, then the Planned Value will be calculated correctly for each resource assignment, using the
appropriate method, and then summed at the activity level.

How Baseline Dates are calculated in

Primavera P6 for Earned Value Management

Primavera P6 give us an option to decide that Baseline date is equal to Planned date or Current date.

The main purpose of this option is for Earned Value calculation.

I’ll explain that option in this article.

We have a simple project containing 3 activities. Each activity is assigned resource A.

We create a baseline called B1 and assign to our project.
Now we can show the Project Baseline date. By default Primavera will take Planned date as Baseline date.

When project start, due to a delay from Owner, Activity A start 2 days later.

Now we’re on 6th day, based on current Baseline, Activity A should complete 100%. So the Schedule %
Complete is 100%.

Now the project is late because we can see Schedule Variance is negative.
However this delay is owner’s fault, not our fault. So we request to update the Baseline to show that the
project start later.

Before creating a new baseline you have to make 1 important adjustment. Otherwise the Baseline date will
not change.

Go to Admin -> Admin Preferences.

Go to Earned Value tab -> Earned value calculation. Select “Budgeted values with current dates”
Now We create a baseline called B2 and assign to our project.
Now the Schedule % Complete is 60% and we are not late.

That’s for Schedule.

Now we move to the Cost.

We can show the Budget At Completion column and see that the cost doesn’t change.
However we realize that the delay cause an increase of cost so we make adjustment.

One again this delay is owner’s fault, not our fault. So we request to update the Baseline to show new Budget
At Completion.

Before creating a new baseline you have to make 1 important adjustment. Otherwise the Baseline date will
not change.

Go to Admin -> Admin Preferences.

Go to Earned Value tab -> Earned value calculation. Select “At Completion values with current dates”

Now We create a baseline called B3 and assign to our project.

Now the Budget At Completion change.

With the update of BAC, our Earned Value, Planned Value… and other figure are more accurate now.

Now you know how to use the option in Earned value calculation.

If Budgeted values with planned dates is selected, the baseline dates are equal to the
Baseline project’s Planned Start and Finish dates. If either At Completion values with
current dates or Budgeted values with current dates is selected, the baseline dates are equal
to the Baseline project’s Start and Finish dates. (Actual dates if they exist or planned dates if
activity if not started or finished)