HMS Software Case Studies

Like the managers of any large-scale project, project managers for the Newfoundland Offshore Development Constructors (Nodeco) have had to deal with their share of unforeseen developments. In order to handle the unexpected as well as the thousands of workers and millions of dollars involved in the construction of the Gravity Base Structure for the Hibernia oilfield, Nodeco's team have been using some sophisticated software.

Open Plan, a high-end project management program, and Cobra, a cost and performance measurement application, were chosen to fulfil the team's requirements for electronic scheduling, forecasting and reporting. Both packages are produced by Welcom Software Technology in Texas and distributed by HMS Software in Canada. So far this software combination has proved to be both flexible and capable of handling the project's scope.

Nodeco's Project Control Department includes about 30 people using Open Plan and Cobra, the majority of whom work on PCs linked by a local area network (LAN) in the consortium's St. John's offices. Other Project Control personnel are located at the Bull Arm construction site where they can collect data on the project's daily operations. This data is then electronically transferred to the main office.

In order to evaluate the impact of changes, both minor and major, on the project, the project control team must be able to rapidly analyze the constant stream of new information flowing in from the construction site and from other sources, such as Engineering groups and Procurement staff.

Open plan is used to run routine variance analyses on the new data to determine if goals for short or long-term progress have been affected. An exception report is automatically produced each time the software calculates an effect on resources and schedules that exceeds pre-determined limits of acceptability.

Nodeco's project managers then use their software to help them develop a response strategy. Open Plan allows them to analyze a variety of "what-if" scenarios using a copy of the project data and then integrate the desired solution into the actual project files. To save time, the software can run several scenarios simultaneously.

Because of the magnitude of their project, Nodeco's planners are continually engaged in this process of integrating new information, performing variance analysis, and developing response strategies. In general, the more changes that occur, the busier they are.

Since the Project Control team must quantify the cost of modifications as well as their effect on scheduling, the compatibility of their cost control and planning software, both of which use dBase language to structure data, has been an asset. "The linking of Open Plan and Cobra data, their compatibility and similarity in use allows a consistent reporting procedure to be maintained," explained Cheryl Lundrigan, the Applications Specialist for Nodeco's Project Control team.

The ability to report their data analyses coherently is crucial for Nodeco's project managers. The consortium owners demand continuous updates on a variety of different data relationships, and they require these updates in a variety of formats. Fortunately, Open Plan, in addition to providing about 80 standard reports, allows users to customize their own reports using the software's reporting language. "Of particular use," said Lundrigan, "is the flexibility of the report generator, which allows almost endless possibilities in select, sort and presentation of information."

Apart from exploiting the flexibility of their software, Nodeco's managers have relied on its ability to handle the amount of data and the types of data structures associated with large projects.

"The sheer size of the project presents logistic challenges," explained Lundrigan. "For example, we are dealing with a diversity of work involving several disciplines (i.e., concrete works, marine technology, engineering, construction, mechanical outfitting, procurement, etc.)." Because of this complexity, the project is sub-divided into several networks of activities. Nodeco's planners can integrate the data in the different activities and keep track of how one network influences another.

Neither the project's complex breakdown structure nor the enormous amount of data involved have been a problem for Open Plan, which can handle up to 100,000 activities and an unlimited number of resources per project with all the flexibility of dBase. The reason for this is that the software's shell programs, which control most types of data manipulation, are written in dBase. Furthermore, users have access to the code for these programs, so the full range of dBase/FoxPro capabilities is available to the knowledgeable user as well as the ability to customize data structures and write special applications. For example, Nodeco has developed a customized interface monitoring feature to check the impact of one network on another.

In customizing their software, Nodeco has had the continual support of the product's Montreal-based distributor. HMS Software originally began as a project management consulting firm, so their staff has the expertise to deal with Nodeco's needs on both a conceptual and a technical level. In addition to telephone support, training and consulting services, HMS's clients have access to an electronic bulletin board service with a library of applications that have been developed for the software. "HMS's technical support has been very timely," said Lundrigan. "Through HMS's BBS a needed routine or patch for the software could be downloaded and installed within an hour, and, on a project of this magnitude, time is crucial."

So far, it seems that solid product support, flexible data- handling capabilities, rapid data analysis, and flexible reporting are helping Nodeco's planning team to keep things on track. How do they plan to meet their new challenges now that the construction site has been completed and work on the Gravity Base structure has begun? Lundrigan predicts that "the number of Open Plan users will increase as the needs of management for up to the minute information to assist decision making steadily increases."

Almost certainly the Project Control team will continue to meet with the unexpected, which even the best laid plans cannot predict, but which the best planners, with the help of technology, can accommodate.