If you are already using Primavera P6 for planning and scheduling your linear projects, such as roads, pipelines, tunnels or railways, there is a quick and easy way to represent these projects visually as Time-Location (or also referred to as Time-Chainage) charts using an add-on utility called Turbo Chart
Unlike other software tools, Turbo Chart has been designed to work with your existing Project Management software and not replace it, thus, retaining all the time, effort and training that has been paid for over the years. And importantly, maintaining all your project schedule information in a single source.
This third party add-on approach, designed by Planners for Planners, means that the software is available at a competitive price, is simple to learn and easy to use.
What benefits does a Time-Location chart provide?
Linear projects and their schedules lend themselves to be presented visually using axes of time and location. By presenting schedule activities on these axes, the chart can very efficiently present:
- Key sequencing and production rates
- Resourcing requirements
- Which and how many activities are occurring over any given time or location
- Clashes, interference or disconnects between activities
Entire project schedules can be represented on a single chart, rather than numerous pages of traditional Gantt charts.
How Does Turbo Chart Operate with P6?
Once your data has been prepared within P6, Turbo Chart can connect directly to your P6 Database, import data using a P6 XER export file, or by copy and pasting spreadsheet data directly into Turbo Chart. This quick and easy process can be repeated or synchronised as often as required, as schedule data is modified, allowing rapid visualisation of those modifications on the charts.
In fact, data can be copied and pasted from any software package that can produce spreadsheet type tabulated data. Alternatively, data can be manually entered.
What additional information is required in P6?
To visualise P6 activities, additional data on activity location (start and end), and visual representation (style and colour) is added to P6 as User Defined Fields. Only those activities to be shown on the charts require the additional data . All other required information is drawn from standard P6 fields that already exist.
Using libraries standard presentation of Schedule activities can be easily exchanged, or recreated from previous charts.
But I already use a drawing tool, why change?
Manually drawn charts (using Excel/Visio/CAD) can very easily become mis-aligned to dates on the schedule, resulting in errors. Updating manual charts can be a long, laborious, time consuming process, by which time the schedule may have been updated again.
Using specialised software removes these issues, and also allows for filtering of activities, zooming/selecting specific dates and locations – a task not easily achieved using manual charts.
What other features does Turbo Chart have?
Turbo Chart lets you display multiple sets of dates and data, multiple charts, filter activities, limit dates and locations displayed, generate highlights, chart annotations and stored print layouts. Turbo Chatcan also be used to manually position activities as required. Turbo Chart can also demonstrate calendar non-work periods, critical activities and custom location markers.
find out more information at the Turbo-Chart Homepage