As the Superintendent walks the site each week, s/he can mark the percent complete for each location and quickly see any areas that need to be addressed.

 

As you will see in the next slides, this information can be illustrated in a Flowline view, as well as a trade- or location-specific 4D simulation and shared with the crews.

When done with the Production Control Chart, the Superintendent can compare the baseline schedule (the solid lines) to the actual productivity rates on-site (the dotted lines). The red warning lights indicate that interference might delay work in that particular location. Armed with this information, the team can solve problems even before they are manifested.

 

By understanding how the schedule is progressing with the actual productivity rates from the crews, the Superintendent is able to “look ahead” and see where potential conflicts and problems might arise. Now with Production Controller, s/he can start work on solving the problems long before they ever manifest themselves on the jobsite.

 

One way to solve a problem of productivity is to add or subtract from the crew size. With a simple dialogue box, the Super is able to calculate what would happen if additional personnel were added or taken off a crew. S/he is then able to run a 4D simulation and see the results of that change before applying it.

 

While it is very strategic to show the schedule simulation to the Owner during the pursuit, it is even more tactical and timely to produce 4D simulations specific to each trade. This allows the Subs to thoroughly understand the scope of work, as well as where they need to be and what needs to be completed on a daily/weekly basis.

 

Before a project's 4D Simulation can be viewed and used for analysis and communication purposes, 4D Groups and 4D Representation settings need to be established.

 

A 4D Group Set is a collection of Task to 4D Group mappings and representation settings, and results in a 4D Simulation mode. More than one 4D Group Set may exist in a project, which allows for defining purpose specific 4D Simulations by creating different 4D Groups and 4D Group representation settings for different audiences (for example, “4D for Customer” and “4D for Superintendents” and well as “4D for MEP” and “4D for Finishes”).

 

A 4D Group is a group of (similar) Tasks that will be represented the same way during playback of the 4D simulation. 4D Groups have a color and assigned behavior, which occurs when associated Tasks take place during playback of the project's schedule in the simulation.

 

This table shows the results of the completions (start and end dates per location) and the actual resources used. The green rows show where progress has been entered. The table allows Superintendents to compare production data (the hours consumed per unit of work and also the production rate achieved): target to current to actual. It can be used to review how close to target production rates the team came and then be used to mine data to refine the cost and time elements in the Vico 5D Standard Library.

 

Now Superintendents can report on all activity on the jobsite with Production Controller. Reports include resource histograms for trades by location and crew size; cash flow reports; and the one-page flowline view of the project. More and more, owners are requiring cost- and resource-loaded schedules that are updated during the construction phase of a project. Cost-loaded schedules allow project teams to determine planned cost at a point in time and compare that to the actual cost from reported completion. Creating and maintaining a cost-loaded schedule, as well as creating the progress reports is just one benefit of this tight 3D-4D-5D integration in the Vico Office Suite.