CPM Scheduling Services

Resource/Cost Loading

Once the scheduler has developed the scheduled activities, the next step is to assign material, labor, and equipment resources to each activity. This enables the production of Resource Histograms, which track planned versus actual manpower on a weekly or monthly basis. With this information, project managers can determine when and by how many laborers per day they are short, and whether or not this explains any deviation from planned progress.

Cost loading is an essential tool for generating impressive billing reports to support payment applications. This tool enables the production of planned versus actual S-Curves to monitor project financial performance and earned value over time. It also helps track critical metrics such as Cost at Completion (CAT), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and Schedule Performance Index (SPI).

Here are some possible reasons for resource and cost loading:

• Required by the project specification
• Earned-Value will be applied
• Your company wants to plan/track resource flow
• Resources are limited in the area and leveling must be done
• Your schedule updates are being used as the pay application
• This requires the schedule to contain 100% of fully loaded costs
• Subcontractors must be contractually required to provide needed cost breakdowns
• You believe this is good practice

If you choose to resource-load your schedule, ensure that your company records fully support this process. HSE has extensive experience in all resource and cost loading processes and can provide the necessary support to help your project succeed.

Project Projection Cash-Flow Management Monitoring

Benefits of Cash Flow Projection for Your Projects

Your Business Plan:

A well-crafted business plan is essential for all businesses, especially for new business owners. A comprehensive financial projection can enhance the prospects of profitability and reduce losses.

Cash Flow Benefits:

Cash flow projections are a vital component of managing a business. They enable the owner to evaluate a company’s income for a given financial year against the available working capital. The projections are lower for new business owners and higher for established companies. The cash flow projections analyze the available cash or capital needed to initiate a new venture.

For a business to grow or achieve a hiatus, it must initially expend a certain amount of capital. The business capital is used for variable and fixed expenses. While there is a one-time expense that should be made, variable expenses must also be considered. A business owner must assess the expected income from sales of goods or services and calculate the corresponding expenses. Budgeting software is often used for these calculations, as it provides more accurate results and allows data to be inputted for appropriate results.

The usage of budget software also enables more accurate results than manual calculations, and companies or business entities should hire people with appropriate skills to complete these tasks. A business entity should have sufficient cash to allocate funds for different purposes. A significant challenge faced by businesses during the initial period is a shortage of funds, which can also affect businesses that want to achieve further goals.

Appropriate cash flow projections can aid in expanding and growing a business, enabling them to avoid obstacles. Investors can assess a business’s financial position before investing money by reviewing the cash flow statement. Cash flows help businesses determine if they have enough cash to meet immediate financial requirements, and if there is a severe shortage of funds, it’s essential to take immediate action. Cash flow projections or forecasts are useful for businesses related to their future planning, allowing them to modify their previous plan and execute the new plan.

Proper utilization of funds is critical for a business’s success, and negative cash flow can be disastrous. Therefore, it is essential to make accurate cash flow projections to achieve the goals of a business.

Manager’s Reports Generation

The Manager’s report presents data that has been gathered over a period of time for a list of monitors on a group of systems. You have the option to create or save a Capacity Manager report in several file formats, including CMR, TXT, XML, CMS, or HTML. However, please note that HTML files cannot be viewed in the Report Viewer, but they can be viewed in a web browser.

It’s important to note that collected data is retained for at least a month, but the slot file that stores this data is periodically overwritten. To ensure complete data coverage, it’s recommended to generate a report at the same time every month. For instance, if you choose to generate a report on the 24th of the current month, and you select a duration of 30 days, the report will contain data collected from the 24th of the previous month up to the 23rd of the current month. By scheduling your reports to be generated at the same time each month and by combining or merging reports, you can have comprehensive data that covers longer periods.

Recovery Schedule

In the event of delays or other difficulties encountered during a construction project, it is common for the owner to demand that the contractor produce a “recovery schedule.” This schedule outlines the steps the contractor plans to take to meet an accelerated completion date, as requested by the owner.

A recovery schedule differs from a regular schedule update in that it aims to project substantial completion by either the original contract completion date or an earlier date than the current projected completion date. While some construction contracts may have specific requirements for the preparation of a recovery schedule, owners may request one even in the absence of such provisions.

Contractors are advised to properly notice any project impacts that resulted in critical schedule delays before submitting a recovery schedule. This notice should include any impacts that the contractor believes are excusable or compensable under the contract’s terms. Additionally, contractors should inform the owner of the extent of any acceleration effort necessary to meet the recovery schedule’s substantial completion date.

The request for and submission of a recovery schedule often occurs during a stressful time in the project’s lifecycle. Therefore, contractors should continue performance despite disputes over entitlement to time extensions or extra compensation. The provision of proper notice during the recovery schedule submission helps the contractor establish a better legal position and enables the owner to accurately measure the temporal and financial ramifications of adhering to the recovery schedule.

Monthly Updates

HSE understands the significance of timely and accurate project scheduling for successful project control and forward planning. Therefore, we provide monthly updates that incorporate actual costs (variable and fixed) along with estimated completion costs. The process of updating your project schedule, whether it’s CPM or Linear, involves two basic steps.

Firstly, we collect information from the field and office, which clearly describes what occurred during the update period. This information is often found in contemporaneous documentation. Then, we update the status of scheduled activities and correct any logic that was not performed as planned.

The second part of the updating process involves utilizing historical and job knowledge to revise short-term future forecasts. We assimilate all information and update the schedule completely. Reports, graphic diagrams, and schedule narratives are then prepared.

In cases where the project has experienced identifiable impacts resulting in delayed project milestones, time-impact analysis should be conducted to request change orders.

Our team of CPM scheduling experts has extensive experience in construction claims analysis, delay, disruption, and project acceleration issues. Therefore, we can assist you in developing a schedule that anticipates potential complications and quantifying damages related to scheduling adjustments.