I've been a fan of PrimaveraReader (or now ScheduleReader) for a quite a while. SchedulerReader is a truly great XER file viewer that fills many gaps for organizations using Primavera P6 Professional planning & scheduling software. More on that in a second. Last month, PrimaveraReader underwent a complete rebrand that had it move away from referencing the name "Primavera". Not surprisingly,
Primavera Software -Tutorials and Articles
Stay on top of Primavera and related software with these relevant posts, tutorials and articles.
17 Construction Apps Every Contractor Should Know About
13 Comments
We’ve all become accustomed to using our smartphones for vital things like banking and email, but did you ever think you would be using it to track where you last left your tools? Mobile apps are helping to speed up business processes and make it easier to access and record information. And new innovative apps are helping construction professionals get results too. In 2014, 36% of construction
These 4 Project Controls Software Trends Will Make Waves in 2018
2 Comments
In 2018, schedulers, planners & cost controllers will continue to deal with the pressures of managing complex projects amidst scarce resources, limited budgets and tight deadlines. And while most project controllers will spend their time in front of a piece of software, our project controls software is changing and evolving in our connected world. Project controls software tools play a
Review of ScheduleReader – the P6 XER File Viewer You Didn’t Know You Needed
10 Comments
In this post, I'm doing a complete review of PrimaveraReader (now ScheduleReader). When it first launched, PrimaveraReader XER viewer was an intriguing alternative to importing .xer files in your database to view the contents. But the tool was a bit too new to do a deep dive. Now, having a few releases under its belt (currently version 3.5), I'm convinced PrimaveraReader is a tool that will
How To Preview A Primavera P6 XER File’s Global Data
1 Comment
This post is part 2 of our Scheduler's Guide to Primavera P6 Global Data and Project Data. If you have't read part 1 yet, go have a read. In this post, I'll show you how to preview Global Data coming from a Primavera P6 xer file. The concept of Global and Project Data in Primavera P6 is important to understand; not so much from a planning & CPM scheduling perspective, but from the view of
A Guide to Primavera P6 Global & Project Data
11 Comments
I've always had difficulty explaining the concept of global and project data to new users of Primavera P6 in my training courses. It's a bit too much for some, and why should you even care? You seem to be able to use Primavera P6 just fine without any knowledge of Global or Project Data. You can, but you can also get into trouble once you start moving data around, especially back and forth
5 Ways to Prevent Your Primavera P6 Install From Getting Hacked
2 Comments
Just over a week ago, the city of San Francisco lost millions in revenue as a hacker's attack left the city's MUNI municipal transportation kiosk system completely inoperable. The trains and buses were running, but everyone was rode for free for 2 days as IT experts struggled with a ransomware demand. All MUNI computer terminals displayed the “hacked” message: “Contact for key
5 Free BIM Tools That Can Help You Get Started
3 Comments
Why aren't you using BIM yet? The impact of BIM (Building Information Modelling) on construction projects has increased over time and now there are more BIM software tools than ever before. The use of BIM virtual reality and 4D imaging is starting to revolutionize the builder's lifecycle. It allows contractors to make better design decisions, reduce waste, and perhaps even reach that elusive
What’s the difference between Primavera P6 PPM and Primavera P6 EPPM?
115 Comments
Which Primavera P6 program should you purchase? Primavera P6 EPPM or Primavera P6 Professional? If you need to purchase the software, you had better understand which Primavera P6 is best for you. Primavera P6 software is costly, and you don't want to make the wrong choice. Navigating the Primavera suite of applications isn't exactly straightforward. So I thought I should clear up what Primavera
Oracle Releases Primavera P6 16.2 – Java Moving Out, Performance Moving Up
32 Comments
Oracle is doing their round of webinars after the latest release of Primavera P6, version 16.2. I logged in to get the skinny on what we can expect in terms of new features and functions in Primavera P6 16.2. Starting from release 15 of Primavera P6, the Oracle Primavera business unit has committed to 2 releases every year. A new major version is released in the spring (xx.1) with the major
Construction Scheduling Software – How To Get The Most Out Of Your Solution
6 Comments
As a leader in your organization, one of the biggest mistakes that you can make in terms of construction scheduling software is focusing on a tool as JUST a time management solution. While having the right solution at your side can certainly help you make sure that a project finishes on time and on budget, the overall functionality of today's construction scheduling software runs a great deal
POBS Data Bug Fixed in Oracle Primavera P6 16.1
4 Comments
By now, if you're an Oracle Primavera P6 user you've probably heard about the problems with large XER files, slow XER import processes and the problems with POBS data in the Primavera P6 database. We showed you how to circumvent those POBS issues either by cleaning up your XER file before import or by cleaning Primavera P6's POBS tables from the database itself. Oracle Support has confirmed
Primavera P6 16.1 Is Released! Everything You Need To Know
48 Comments
This month marked Oracle's latest release of Primavera P6 16.1, their flagship project management software. There are some new features to discuss and some changes. If you're on an a single-digit version (version 6, 7 or 8) don't forget about Oracle's new versioning approach - version 16.1 isn't truly 8 releases ahead of v8. You can get the low-down on all versions from our version history
36 Productivity AutoCAD Hacks for Engineers [SlideShare]
1 Comment![36 Productivity AutoCAD Hacks for Engineers [SlideShare]](https://www.planacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2280515388_7a41ea7e62_z-264x200.jpg)
Technology is the future, the now. No kidding around, it makes our job much easier in all fields. When it comes to engineering and designing of architecture, technology assists in providing the highest standards of 2D or 3D models. AutoCAD is an essential part of this development. It is used to create these models, blueprints, professional sketches and much more in the planning stages of building
Location Based Management System (LBMS) – What No One Is Talking About
7 Comments
A location based management system (LBMS) might not be something that is on your radar as a project planner or scheduler -- but it likely will be soon. The concept has deep roots in the United States. The Empire State Building is one of the most well-known examples of using a LBMS, and its use is considered a key factor in the building's rapid completion. While this method of tracking construction
Primavera P6 Cloud Offers P6 EPPM As A Service
4 Comments
The Primavera P6 Cloud is here. Are you ready for it? A while back, I explained that the Primavera Cloud offers most of Oracle's Primavera applications in the Software-as-a-Service model. That means companies can pay Oracle to spin-up a hosted implementation of say Primavera Unifer and be up and running in hours. It also means no fiddling with servers or the tear-inducing WebLogic backend
Primavera Cloud: What Is It & What Will It Do For Me?
7 Comments
It wasn't that long ago that Oracle released the Oracle Primavera Cloud, a cloud-based offering for Oracle's popular project management software packages. If you've been following the news, you might know that Oracle was a bit late to the cloud-party. Nonetheless, if you work in an enterprise with large Primavera installations, you'll be happy they finally showed up - fashionably late
How the Planning Community is Hacking Primavera P6
Leave a Comment
The best thing about being part of a community is that members help each other out. And the planning and scheduling community is one of those that really likes to help each other out. You only need to poke around the many Project Controls and Primavera P6 Groups on LinkedIn to find a myriad of helpful advice on topics ranging from how to name your milestones to avoiding construction delay
P6 EPPM Is Not A Replacement For Primavera P6 Professional
14 Comments
Everyone assumes P6 EPPM is a web-based replacement for P6 Professional. And perhaps that's what they were told by marketing, but since P6 EPPM's release, it's been pretty clear to some that P6 EPPM cannot do what Primavera P6 Professional can do. And vice versa - P6 EPPM excels at some processes that P6 Professional can't dream of doing. P6 Professional users who have experimented with
How To Print To PDF in Primavera P6 Professional
26 Comments
Primavera P6 Professional is no doubt a great tool for managing large-scale construction and engineering projects. One of P6's crowning glories is that it can handle huge schedules ( up to 100,000 Activities) with ease. Yes, working with loads of project data works great, but many find that getting the data in and out is not always a piece of cake. Printing to a printer is mostly easy enough
How to Clean Your P6 POBS Table On MSSQL & Oracle DB
19 Comments
In my last post I went deep on how to quickly clean POBS data from a Primavera P6 XER file using a simple text editor. And we discovered that removing POBS data from an XER file greatly improved the import time for large XER files. A big thanks to readers who left comments on that post letting me and you know that there are some 3rd party tools (free and paid) that handle this in a more automated
XER File Slow To Import to P6? Try Cleaning POBS Data
37 Comments
The other day one of our Plan Academy members called our support line with an unusual P6 problem. I'm always happy to help out our members solve P6 problems, even when it's 4:30pm on the Friday afternoon before I'm off on a full week of vacation.... OK. Full disclosure here. I had already powered down my laptop for the weekend and was just about to grab something ice-cold and carbonated when the
What’s Fixed In Primavera P6 Professional & EPPM 15.1.1
3 Comments
Are you experiencing issues with Primavera P6 version 15.1 already? Recently Primavera P6 version 15.1 was released and although it brought some new features to the table there seemed to be some glitches hanging around also. Are you wondering why the jump from 8.3 to 15.1? Find out why all Primavera P6 products made the jump to 15.1 and check out what's new in Primavera P6 15.1. Listed
Primavera P6 Software Bugs: How To Find The Latest Patches
Leave a Comment
Are you sure your copy of Primavera P6 isn't buggy? With new releases to any software some features tend to stop working properly or not at all. To fix these glitches you need to find the appropriate upgrade, service packs and/or patches that were developed to remove these problems. So how do you get your Primavera P6 software running smoothly again? This can be done by downloading the
An In-Depth Look at What’s New in Primavera P6 15.1
26 Comments
Oracle announced new updates to the Primavera P6 suite at March's Oracle Industry Connect event. I wasn't there, but I did recently attend a webinar about the recent release and I've been playing with the new versions of Primavera P6 Professional and Primavera P6 EPPM. I've put together an overview of what new with Primavera P6 15.1 to share with you all. This release has updates for both
All Primavera Products Jump To Version 15.1 – Here’s Why
9 Comments
Oracle Primavera has just released version 15.1 of it's flagship project management & scheduling software Primavera P6. But for the many who are users of Oracle Primavera software products, this release might come as a big surprise - especially since the last release (2014) was version 8.4. But don't fret, there's a simple explanation to a seeming jump of 7 major software versions over the
Compare XER Files With Change Inspector
14 Comments
What's the easy way to compare XER files? Are you an owner or client who uses Primavera P6 but has to review a schedule that is constantly being updated from a 3rd party? When receiving an updated schedule, a few common questions might include: What actuals data was changed since the last update? Were any activities added or deleted and how do I find them? Were there any other
Just Like The Real Thing – Construction Simulator 2015
1 Comment
Whether you are in construction or not, you've probably wondered what it would be like to operate a LIEBHERR 81k fast-erecting crane, right? The Construction Simulator is a fun way to experience what its like to be onsite and what it takes to execute simple and complex construction contracts. So what’s all the hype about the Construction Simulator 2015 for Windows? Published by German games
Monte Carlo 101: How Monte Carlo Schedule Simulations Work
5 Comments
The term Monte Carlo Simulation just has that aura and feel about it...... it sounds complex. But in reality it's not as complex as we think. Let's see if we lay it out for you in straightforward terms. What is a Monte Carlo Simulation? A Monte Carlo simulation is simply a way to understand how inputs into a system might affect the outputs. Let's say you have a box of coins that you pour out
3 Up-and-Coming Project Scheduling Tools You May Not Know About
9 Comments
Last week's Construction CPM Conference in San Diego was a big success! It was my first time attending (and presenting at, for that matter) the Construction CPM Conference, and boy am I glad I did. This is a unique conference that attracts CPM Scheduling pioneers, veterans and academic experts. It's a bit overwhelming if you're new to the field of schedule, but the level of the presentations is of
Where will your Project Management Software be in the next 5 years?
Leave a Comment
The Project Portfolio Management Software Market will be worth approximately $3.9 Billion by 2019! So who says Project Management isn't still trendy? According to a new report, sales of PPM software is set to grow from $2.3 billion in 2014 to just shy of $4 billion in 2019. It is anticipated that North America will be the biggest market implementing PPM software (Virtual Strategy Magazine).
The Hidden Reality Of Corporate Culture [INFOGRAPHIC]
Leave a Comment![The Hidden Reality Of Corporate Culture [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://www.planacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2011.06.27-organizational-charts-264x200.png)
Since we are all so caught up with technology and the digital realm in today's society, what do you think organizations will be like in 100 years? Do you think there will be more internal chaos or will everyone just get along and 'rivals' will be a long lost term? The infographic clearly displays the art it takes to running a successful organization. Comic By Manu CornetBonkersworld.net
