Reporting the Engineering Work Packages (EWP) performance and progress status should full the progress credit rules which could differ depending on the relevant project discipline. Similar to all other Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) practice articles, all presented forms and aligned to what is recommended by the Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA). For Engineering Work Packages (EWP), the reported performance indices will include:
- EWP Issue Rate. Number of EWPs issued on schedule / Total number of EWPs of the project
- Vendor Data Incompleteness. Number of EWPs delayed due to incomplete vendor data/ Total number of EWPs of the project
- Project Scope Data Incompleteness. Number of EWPs delayed due to project scope freeze/change / Total number of EWPs of the project
Using the same PMWeb Project Management Information System (PMIS) platform which was used to capture the data, calculate, monitor, evaluate and report on the cost, schedule, productivity and HSE performance indices for the construction work packages (CWP) and Installation Work Packages (IWP), the performance indices for the Engineering Work Packages (EWP) and progress rules of credit will be captured.
PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create a progress report for Engineering Work Packages (EWP) which will be used to capture the data needed to calculate the performance indices as well as the progress rules of credit. There will be different EWP progress forms that will depend on the EWP discipline being reported on. The Engineering Work Packages (EWP) Progress Report form will capture the plan and actual issuance date for the EWP, the reason for the delay which will be selected from a predefined list of values, and a narrative to explain the reported delay. For the rules of credit, there will be a table that will list the progress items to be reported on, the weight of each item, cumulative weight value, the status of it was completed or not, and the date on when it was completed. The form shown below is for a generic EWP progress report.
The EWP progress report for the Piping/Mechanical discipline will be almost identical to the generic EWP progress report but with differences in the rules for credit for which milestones were added to comply with how progress should be credited for this discipline. Other EWP progress reports will be generated for the other project disciplines.
The attachment tab for the Engineering Work Package Progress Report form will be used to attach all supportive documents for the reported EWP performance which should be uploaded and stored in the relevant EWP folder in the PMWeb document management repository. In addition, links to related PMWeb records as well as imported MS Outlook emails will be added. Some of the common PMWeb records that are usually linked to the EWP progress report form include a request for information, meeting minutes among others.
The EWP progress report form workflow will ensure that the form is reviewed and approved by the right project team members. The workflow will identify all needed steps, the duration for each step, responsibility for each step, actions that can be taken for each step, and the sequence for performing those steps. The workflow steps will be aligned with the permissions set in the EWP or IWP progress report form to ensure that designated project team members provide the information they need to provide. PMWeb also allows adding conditions to the workflow steps to incorporate the approval authority levels. In addition, the form copy command can be used to create different progress reports for which the progress period date will be adjusted to reflect the EWP reported progress details.
The data captured in those progress reports will be used by PMWeb Business Intelligence (BI) report writer to create the Engineering Work Packages (EWP) performance report for which it will report the relevant values for each performance index that relates to the project’s Engineering Work Packages (EWP). The EWP performance indices report data can be also blended with the Construction Work Packages (CWP) Performance and Installation Work Packages (IWP) Indices data to generate a consolidated performance dashboard that could be grouped by Construction Work Areas (CWA) and Construction Work Packages (CWP) which will summarize the performance of the Engineering Work Packages (EWP) and Installation Work Packages (IWP) that are part of each Construction Work Package (CWP).
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with more than 35-year service record providing project management and controls services to over 100 projects with a total value over the US $5 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education, and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, Telecommunication, and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training, and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management, and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 35 years, he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and South America. He has written more than 250 articles on project management and information systems featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, and London Business School, London, UK.