Integrating Budgeting with Project Scheduling

Ever opened a procurement spreadsheet and felt like you’re cracking a secret code? Dates buried in Column AJ. Tabs that seem to multiply overnight. And then there's Primavera P6's construction schedule that needs integrating. The result? Chaos. “Wait, why is this package a year late?” becomes the daily mantra. As a construction planner with 15 years of experience, I’ve seen this disconnect too many times. Procurement schedules and construction schedules often operate in silos. The impact? Countless hours spent "making the data talk". The Challenges 🚧 Silos of Information: Procurement data lives in spreadsheets. Scheduling data in P6. No bridge between them. 🚧 Lack of Standardization: Dates in random formats. Activities with no consistency. Headaches for schedulers. 🚧 Reactive Management: By the time issues surface, recovery options are limited. Here’s how I’ve tackled this problem; ➡️ Clear Mapping Processes - Define how procurement milestones (like material delivery) integrate into the P6 schedule. Standardize formatting. ➡️ Centralized Data Management - Assign one single source of truth. Establish a meeting with the procurement and construction teams to regularly to review and address issues. ➡️ Automation - Reduce the update burden by developing an semi automated or fully automated import process. Create a report that automatically checks procurement and schedule misalignments. The Outcome? When procurement and construction schedules align: ☑️ Teams can plan around when materials will arrive. ☑️ Adjustments happen proactively. ☑️ No surprises lurking in Column AJ. ☑️ The focus is on delivering the project, not updating the data. Let’s discuss ways to bring procurement and scheduling closer together. ♻️ Reposting this could help someone else navigate the chaos. Curious about more tactics and strategies? Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://lnkd.in/gb7FEKN5 Proven strategies and tactics to improve how you plan and schedule in construction.

A solid capex planning schedule connects the investments to the business impact. It should also flawlessly integrate with the balance sheet, cash flows, and P&L. (1) Investment details: If possible, project schedules are best when they’re broken down into components. This may include: • Cost of maintenance • Cost of installation • Cost of equipment • Cost of software • Cost of training A $20 million factory upgrade isn't one line item. It's dozens. If you don’t know what they are, the forecast is wrong. (2) Investment timing: For major investments, a company rarely pays all at once. There may be deposits, installments, and phased deliveries. Order dates and delivery dates change. There are ramp up periods. This timing matters, especially for cash flows. If you don’t know what they are, the forecast is wrong. (3) Lead times: Because capex often is often tied to operating initiatives, there may be lead and lag time. Redesigning the production floor may require ordering months in advance of the installation. If you don’t know what this looks like, the planning is vulnerable. (4) Depreciation impact: Some modelers apply run-rates and others calculate capex and depreciation as a percentage or revenue. While these aren't entirely wrong, they completely ignore the actual makeup of investments, their useful lives, and the depreciation method. It's more accurate to calculate depreciation for the asset or asset category. Then build a depreciation schedule. (5) Revenue contribution: Does capex expand capacity? Open up opportunities to serve new channels? Bring in incremental sales? Ideally the capex schedule ties to the impact on revenue. (6) Cost savings/efficiencies: Not every capex investment has upside benefits. Sometimes operational improvements save costs or improve processes. This might include less scrap, reduced labor hours, automation benefits, etc. Other investments reduce maintenance, replace the need to hire, or improve IT. -------------------- The capex planning schedule should be easy to navigate, seamless to flex, and tie in directly to the operating activities the capex relates to. You can learn more about this technique in Module 5 of Excel: Learning Cash Flow Forecasting (Excel-Based Cash Flow for Financial Planning & Analysis) https://lnkd.in/ezw6HdwU

🔍 Mastering Construction Progress with Earned Value Management (EVM) 🏗️📊 In today’s fast-paced construction environment, staying on schedule and within budget is more challenging—and more critical—than ever. That's where Earned Value Management (EVM) steps in as a game-changer. 💡 What is EVM? EVM is a proven method for tracking real-time project performance, offering deep insights by integrating schedule, cost, and scope metrics through 3 key values. Such as, 📌 Planned Value (PV) – What should be done? 💰 Actual Cost (AC) – What has it cost so far? ✅ Earned Value (EV) – What have we accomplished? 🚧 Why EVM Matters in Construction Large-scale projects demand constant, data-driven feedback. EVM empowers 📍 Clients with clear progress updates 📍 Teams with visibility into their impact 📍 Managers with early warnings to course-correct and avoid overruns 🔍 Key Metrics That Drive Decision-Making 📈 Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = EV / PV Efficiency of time usage ✔️ SPI > 1 → Ahead of schedule ❌ SPI < 1 → Behind schedule 💲 Cost Performance Index (CPI) = EV / AC Efficiency of budget usage ✔️ CPI > 1 → Under budget ❌ CPI < 1 → Over budget 📆 Schedule Variance (SV) = EV – PV 💸 Cost Variance (CV) = EV – AC Dollar-based indicators of deviation from plan 🔧 Real-World Benefits of EVM 💡 Accurate progress tracking 💡 Informed planning & resource allocation 💡 Real-time performance insights 💡 Early detection of risks 💡 Trusted project control and quality assurance EVM isn’t just about measuring, it’s about managing. With the right software tools, it transforms raw data into actionable insights, enabling better ➤ Forecasting 📉 ➤Scenario planning 🧩 ➤ Team accountability 💼 ➤Stakeholder confidence 🤝 #projectmanagement #projectmanagementtools #management #managers #engineers #successfulprojectmanagers #construction #civilengineering #civil #CivilEngineering #StructuralEngineering #ConstructionPlanning #ProjectManagement #WBSChart #EngineeringDesign #ConstructionProjects #BridgeDesign #EPCContracting #InfrastructureDevelopment #ConstructionScheduling #PilingWorks #Superstructure #ProjectControls #HSEManagement #QualityAssurance #ProcurementManagement #ConstructionSafety #AsBuiltDrawings #HandoverProcess #LessonsLearned #P6Scheduling #Primavera #ConstructionTechnology #SmartInfrastructure