powerproject 24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

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1 powerproject 24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

2 1 FAMILIAR, powerproject 24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ACCESSIBLE INTERFACE 2 Asta Powerproject s familiar, accessible interface makes it intuitive to use, enabling you to get up and running quickly and minimising training costs. Asta Powerproject has a classic Microsoft Office look and feel, with the same high level menu structure and short cuts (Ctrl+C = copy, Ctrl+A = select all, etc.). You can customise and control the Asta Powerproject toolbars to suit your needs. The workable screen area in Asta Powerproject is as large as possible, giving excellent presentation on a single medium-resolution screen. UNPARALLELED CONTROL OVER THE PRESENTATION OF YOUR PLANS Asta Powerproject gives you unparalleled control over the presentation of your plan. The outstanding visual presentation of project plans improves communication and impresses clients. Familiar, easy-to-use interface Choose exactly which features are displayed such as float, nondriving links, etc.. Add annotations such as text, graphics and hyperlinks to enhance the plan and highlight important information. Control the type, colour and thickness of horizontal and vertical grid lines, including the individual grid lines of any given row or specific date. Communicate plans clearly Control the colour of horizontal and vertical bands in order to highlight Work Breakdown Structure levels, Activity Codes and date periods. Surround the output with a customisable 4-sided border that can include unlimited logos, text references, notes, issue numbers, revision numbers, etc.. Control the format of the output including number of lines per page, page breaks, legend appearance, order, font and page size. 2

3 3 SCHEDULE CORRECTLY WITH MIXED CALENDARS Call us on to find out more Asta Powerproject always uses the correct calendar when two activities with different calendars are linked together, giving you accurate results that you can rely on. Asta Powerproject uses the predecessor s calendar for Start-to- Start links and the successor s calendar for Finish-to-Finish links, ensuring you always get the correct result. In this example the Start-to-Start link is based on the Task A (predecessor) calendar as Task B (successor) can only start 2 weeks after Task A has started. The Finish-to-Finish link is based on the Task B (successor) calendar, allowing the last 2 weeks of Task B to take place after Task A has finished. This Start-to-Start link allows Task B to start 2 weeks after Task A has started. This link is critical and driving. This Finish-to-Finish link allows the last 2 weeks of Task B to happen after Task A has finished. This link is not critical or driving. 4 DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF LINKS In Asta Powerproject you can assign a Link Category to links which enables logic differences to be remembered and demonstrated during a reschedule, without having to keep copies of the project and maintain more than one project file. You can have an unlimited number of Link Categories which you can name and configure to meet your requirements. Select the appearance of each link category (line style, colour, arrow-head type). Decide whether to display each link category on the plan. Choose whether to exclude selected link categories from the Critical Path calculation. The Link Category affects the appearance of the link and excludes it from the Critical Path calculation. The Link Category affects the appearance of the link and includes it in the Critical Path calculation. 5 POWERFUL AND USER-FRIENDLY Asta Powerproject is a powerful tool that is also very user-friendly. You can get up and running very quickly while our comprehensive range of training courses enables you to get the most from the software. Asta Powerproject is very powerful but also very easy-to-use. Phil Solomon, Planning Operations Director, Mace Find out more at 3

4 6 SERIOUSLY 24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ACCURATE PROGRESS REPORTING 7 JAGGED Asta Powerproject offers unrivalled progress reporting features, allowing you to keep records with a very fine level of detail. Record exactly what happened in every progress reporting period throughout the life of an activity, including actual cost, actual effort, actual %, actual work, etc.. Record progress against user defined Progress Periods the %, cost, effort (man-hours/days), work etc. during the period are recorded. This enables you to produce very accurate graphs and histograms showing, for example, that 5% was completed in Week 1, 60% in Week 2 and 35% in Week 3. Record multiple gaps and resume dates to show the true record of intermittent activities. PROGRESS VIEW In Asta Powerproject you create a Jagged Line Progress view in seconds! This allows you to monitor the project and keep an accurate As-Built record of the work undertaken. Using a single pre-configured menu option you can transpose the percentage complete from each Progress Period for each activity onto the baseline task to turn an As-Built plan into a Jagged Line Progress view. Progress in each Progress Period is displayed in a separate colour Forecast Baseline Actual progress in Week 4 8 EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE ANNOTATIONS Asta Powerproject allows you to control the visual appearance, content and placement of annotations, improving project communication and making the project plan as effective as possible. Control the font effect for each character within a text annotation, not just the whole annotation. Place unattached text annotations anywhere on the plan. Embed data values in attached annotations so that if changes occur to the project and the underlying data changes, the annotation will update automatically to show the new information. For example, if you include the end date of a specific task in an attached annotation and the activity is then delayed by 2 weeks, the annotation will update automatically to show the new end date for the activity. Mixed font effects possible Attach annotations to an activity so that the annotation moves with the activity. Include pictures and other Microsoft objects such as spreadsheets and movies in annotations. References to underlying data constantly updated 4

5 9 CONTROL THE APPEARANCE OF ACTIVITIES, RESOURCES & COSTS Call us on to find out more 10 With full control over the on-screen appearance in Asta Powerproject you can ensure the project plan is as clear and easy to understand as possible. Choose the appearance of activity codes as well as resource and cost assignments. The appearance of the activities (or resource/cost tasks) can be set to reflect your appearance preferences and a colour-coded legend is included in presentation outputs. The same colour coding and legend can be applied to the resources in a graph so you can clearly see the quantities generated from each source. SHARE PROJECT PLANS MORE EASILY AND AT NO ADDITIONAL COST Choose how project information is displayed 11 With Asta Powerproject you can share your project plans quickly and easily, improving communication and collaboration. You don t have to pay anything to look at Asta Powerproject plans. The freelyavailable Asta Project Viewer enables users to open, navigate (in defined limits) and print Asta Powerproject files. Asta Powerproject has excellent data interchange with Primavera and Microsoft Project. Project and activity data, including all calendars, resource libraries, activity codes, Work Breakdown Structures etc. can be exported from Asta Powerproject in Microsoft and Primavera formats. Microsoft and Primavera project files can also be imported into Asta Powerproject. This enables you to work on your projects in Asta Powerproject and then export them in Primavera or Microsoft formats so they can be accessed by users of other software solutions. DETAILED DATE ZONE With Asta Powerproject you can include up to 10 rows in the Date Zone, ensuring the plan is both detailed and easy to understand. Easy to save in Primavera format Multiple time zones in the date line Find out more at 5

6 12 24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS MULTIPLE TASKS PER LINE Asta Powerproject s ability to display multiple tasks per line enables you to save time when planning repeated tasks and improve the presentation of your plans. Distinguish clearly between different tasks on the same row of the plan through colour-coding and shading the level of detail is not compromised! Save time and avoid the need to laboriously create tasks on dozens of different rows. Improve the presentation of your plans multiple tasks per line allows information to be presented in a very compact form on a single sheet rather than on multiple pages. USES INCLUDE: Procurement planning for the various stages of bidding and awarding contracts for different work packages of a project: Repetitive processes such as the finishes stages of a commercial construction project, apartment fit-out, or the construction of a house: Intermittent activities or locations of a process: 13 IDENTIFY AND HIDE NON-DRIVING LINKS Links which do not position an activity but do affect the float calculation are termed non-driving links i.e. they do not drive the position of tasks. With Asta Powerproject you can distinguish graphically between non-driving links and driving links. You can also choose whether to hide or display non-driving links on screen and in printouts. Non-driving link displayed Non-driving link distinguished Non-driving link hidden 14 UNRIVALLED CONTROL OVER YOUR TASK TYPES Asta Powerproject gives you unrivalled control over your task types, enabling you to plan more accurately and identify ways to deliver the project more efficiently. Task types include: Buffer tasks. These can shrink or grow and act as contingency or risk monitors, supporting the critical-chain concept. Forced critical tasks. Forcing a task to become critical supports multiple critical paths within a single project. Interruptible tasks. The start of the task is determined by the incoming links and the task can grow or shrink. This allows successor tasks to often start earlier than originally scheduled, thereby shortening the critical path. This does, of course, have resourcing implications. Tasks with deadline flags. A deadline flag is an imposed end date that does not stop a task finishing later than the imposed date but changes colour and gives a warning when the imposed date is passed. 6

7 15 CALCULATE AND DISPLAY FREE FLOAT EASILY In Asta Powerproject it is simple to display Free Float no Global Change routines required! The Free Float period and dates are always calculated by a Critical Path calculation and can be displayed on the bar chart with one easy command. Free Float periods and dates can be displayed in the spreadsheet columns. Call us on to find out more 16 DISPLAY DURATIONS ACCURATELY With Asta Powerproject you can decide on the length of takes 24 hours will take 1 day when scheduled using the working day for each calendar. This ensures that Calendar A and 3 days when scheduled using Calendar B. durations are displayed accurately when different activities You can also print your calendars for quick and easy review have different working hours per day. of holidays and working patterns. For example, you can set Calendar A to have a 24-hour day and Calendar B to have an 8-hour day. A task that 17 CALCULATE ELAPSED TIME AS WELL AS WORKING TIME In Asta Powerproject you can enter and display both working time and elapsed time, helping you plan and schedule more precisely. For example, if you have a task that takes 10 working days and there is a 1 week holiday period in the middle of the task, the duration can be displayed both as 2 working weeks and 3 elapsed weeks. Elapsed time durations can also be displayed in elapsed months for work over longer timeframes. Holiday Weekend The working duration for both tasks is 1 week, 4 days but due to differing holidays and weekend working they take different lengths of time to complete (elapsed duration) 18 SCHEDULE SHORT ACTIVITIES PRECISELY In Asta Powerproject you can schedule to the hour, minute The feature is particularly useful on short projects, such as or second! This enables you to detail correctly the precise 24 hour railway possessions or oil refinery maintenance duration of each activity and specify the exact start and end shutdowns, where activities can have durations of minutes times of shut-down periods, holidays and shifts. and scheduling requirements are complex. 19 UNDO AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE! Asta Powerproject s unlimited Undo and Redo This makes it easy to try out a number of different function allows you to undo as much as you like, scenarios quickly and easily without permanently including through a Save, a Critical Path calculation affecting the plan. and a Resource Levelling exercise. Find out more at 7

8 20 SCHEDULE GROUPED ACTIVITIES AND OVERHEAD COSTS CORRECTLY In Asta Powerproject you can allocate resources and costs to both Summary Tasks (which group related activities in the Work Breakdown Structure) and Hammock Tasks (which group potentially unrelated activities). You can also create logic links to/from the start and end of Summary Tasks and to/from the end of Hammock Tasks. You can assign individual calendars to Summary Tasks, Hammock Tasks and charts, ensuring that they always display correctly. These features enable you to correctly schedule overhead costs and resources, such as cranes, hoists and management charges, and integrate them into the plan. They also enable you to allow one major portion of the project to dictate when another major portion should start. FLEXIBLE CURRENCY DISPLAY Asta Powerproject enables you to enter and display costs in different currencies and switch between currencies at will. For example, you can calculate costs in Sterling but display them in Euros (or any other currency of your choice). The flexible currency display is particularly useful when working with partners from different countries or on international projects. MULTIPLE RESOURCE COST RATES In Asta Powerproject resource cost rates are independent of the resource and you can have as many resource cost rates as you require. CUSTOM MACROS TO MEET SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS Asta Powerproject includes Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, the same programming language that is used in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This allows Asta to create specific extensions, integrations and automated routines to meet the specific needs of individual users. 24 FLEXIBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE LICENCING Choose the type of Asta Powerproject licence that meets your needs - standalone, network or Enterprise. With standalone and network licences there is no need to purchase a new database as project data is stored on your computer system. Microsoft Project is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Primavera is a registered trademark of Primavera Systems Inc 8 To find out more and to arrange a personal demonstration, call us on Asta Development plc. Asta Powerproject is a registered trademark of Asta Development plc. All trademarks recognised. E & OE. Asta Development plc Kingston House Goodsons Mews Wellington Street Thame Oxfordshire OX9 3BX United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) enquiry@astadev.com