Project Controls Expo Australia 2022

I will be busy helping run PGCS 2022 in Canberra next week (16^th to 18^th August).  It is shaping up to be a great event with over 400 people signed up to attend: https://www.pgcsymposium.org.au/  Then my focus will shift to Project Controls Expo Australia 2022! https://projectcontrolexpo.com/aus/

Project Controls Expo Australia 2022 will run in Melbourne from 29^th to 30^th November and has a packed program totally focused on project controls.  I will be busy on both days:

On the 29^th in the ‘back to basic’s zone’ my session is: EVM – it’s not as hard as you think! This session will look at establishing and operating and running an EVMS, based on Australian Standard AS4817:2019 (the Australian adoption of ISO 21508), using simple tools. The session will briefly cover:
–  Understanding EVM, what it is, and what it is not.
–  Define the key elements and objectives of EVM
–  Demonstrate the creation, and use of EVM on a small bridge project.

 If you cannot make the session most of the information is available from: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-SCH-040.php#Overview 

Then on the 30^th I will be looking at a major challenge to traditional CPM and forensic assessment in: Scheduling Challenges in Horizontally Distributed Projects

The challenges of scheduling, managing, and claiming delays in, ‘horizontally distributed projects’ are not well supported by traditional project controls paradigms.

Horizontally distributed projects have two dominant characteristics, the majority of the work is comprised of a series of physically separated units that are similar or identical in design, and the logical dependencies between the different units are either non-existent or minimal (think of an off-shore wind farm).

In this type of project, most of the components are identical and can be used anywhere, which means the work can be planned in almost any sequence, and that sequence can be easily changed at almost any time. This type of project is not well supported by either traditional CPM, or ‘line of balance’ scheduling.

The primary consideration in planning is optimizing resource flows, and the consequences of re-sequencing are not based around traditional CPM logic, rather the loss in resource efficiency which is much more difficult to assess and measure. Particularly when you need to separate productive efficiencies under the control of the contractor from disruption caused by re-sequencing.

This presentation will define the concept of a ‘horizontally distributed project’, and then based on some practical examples, highlight the challenges of assessing delay and disruption based on traditional paradigms of CPM scheduling.  It will conclude by offering suggested ways to adapt project controls and contractual requirements to provide a sensible assessment of project delays. As soon as PGCS is over, finishing the research and writing this presentation is my next challenge.

More to follow on this.