Planned, Expected and Actual

This is a subpage of a larger section.

Return to: DFR Planner

Planned, Feasible and Actual

• Planned dates and data hold the original dates and data (start end, duration, cost etc.) put in the planner.
• Actual dates and data hold the final actual dates and data as recorded by the team on task/action/gate start/completion.
• Feasible dates and data are automatically and continuously updated based on how the project progresses.
  • Feasible Start Date is the earliest possible date the gate or action can start (based on prior dependencies).
    • If there is no precedence or dependencies this is equal to the planned start date.
    • If there is a precedence then this is the earliest start date possible, after the completion of the precedence.
  • Feasible End Date is the expected completion date.
    • This is the "Feasible Start Date + Planned Duration".
  • Feasible Window is the length (in days) of the available time window to complete the action/gate.

In the ideal scenario, where each item is completed on-time and exactly as planned, all three are the same. In the real world however this is rarely the case.

Example

Consider the project shown in the table below comprised of three top level gates, six sub-gates and 12 actions.

DFR Example
	G1: Gate 1
		SG1: SubGate 1
			Action 1000
			Action 1001
		SG2: SubGate 2
			Action 1002
			Action 1003
	G2: Gate 2
		SG3: SubGate 3
			Action 1004
			Action 1005
		SG4: SubGate 4
			Action 1006
			Action 1007
	G3: Gate 3
		SG5: SubGate 5
			Action 1008
			Action 1009
		SG6: SubGate 6
			Action 1010
			Action 1011

Planning Stage

Settings and Assumptions

• There is a same level precedence for each Gate and Sub-gate. No precedence is set for the actions within a gate, however the plans calls for them to run sequentially.
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are workdays. Weekends include Saturday and Sunday. Holidays include December 25th, July 4th, January 1st, the fourth Thursday of November, the first Monday of September, and the last Monday of May. This is set through the Work Days Scheduler interface, which can be found in Manage Repository under the Repository Settings.
• Each Action has a duration of three days.
• Actions start at the beginning of the workday assigned (i.e. first thing in the morning)  and end at the end of the workday assigned.  For example a two day action starting on January 1 would be completed on January 2 (e.g. all day on day 1 and all day on day 2).
• Action 1 starts in January 2, when completed Action 2 starts and so forth.
• No lag time between gates and actions.

Planned Dates

Based on the above settings and assumptions, including weekends and holidays, the planned dates would be as follows:

DFR Plan

				Planned Dates
				Start Date	Duration	End Date
P1: Project 1				Jan-02	50	Feb-20
	G1: Gate 1			Jan-02	16	Jan-17
		SG1: SubGate 1		Jan-02	8	Jan-09
			Action 1000	Jan-02	5	Jan-06
			Action 1001	Jan-07	3	Jan-09
		SG2: SubGate 2		Jan-10	6	Jan-15
			Action 1002	Jan-10	5	Jan-14
			Action 1003	Jan-15	3	Jan-17
	G2: Gate 2			Jan-20	16	Feb-4
		SG3: SubGate 3		Jan-20	8	Jan-27
			Action 1004	Jan-20	3	Jan-22
			Action 1005	Jan-23	5	Jan-27
		SG4: SubGate 4		Jan-28	8	Feb-04
			Action 1006	Jan-28	3	Jan-30
			Action 1007	Jan-31	5	Feb-04
	G3: Gate 3			Feb-05	16	Feb-20
		SG5: SubGate 5		Feb-05	8	Feb-12
			Action 1008	Feb-05	3	Feb-07
			Action 1009	Feb-10	3	Feb-12
		SG6: SubGate 6		Feb-13	8	Feb-20
			Action 1010	Jan-31	5	Feb-02
			Action 1011	Feb-18	3	Feb-20

Planned Costs

Planned costs can be automatically included/calculated based on the resources assigned to each action. See also DFR Resources, which can be found in Manage Repository under the Repository Settings.

For this example we will only consider labor costs and ignore other cost variables.  From a labor prespective assume the following resources are assigned to the project.

Team Members & Resources For Project
Position	Name	Hrs/Day	Cost Per Hour
Manager	John Reliable	8	100
Manager	Maria General	8	100
Employee 1	Employee	8	50
Employee 2	Employee	8	50
Employee 3	Employee	8	50
Employee 4	Employee	8	50

These are defined in team resources as follows:

Teams
Name	Members
CUS Team 1	E1 & E2
CUS Team 2	E3 & E4
CUS All	All

The allocation to tasks is as follows:

DFR Plan

				Planned Dates			Manager		Team
				Start Date	Duration	End Date	Name	% Allocation	Name	% Allocation
P1: Project 1				Jan-02	50	Feb-20
	G1: Gate 1			Jan-02	16	Jan-17
		SG1: SubGate 1		Jan-02	8	Jan-09
			Action 1000	Jan-02	5	Jan-06	John Reliable	25%	CUS Team 1	100%
			Action 1001	Jan-07	3	Jan-09	Maria General	25%	CUS ALL	80%
		SG2: SubGate 2		Jan-10	6	Jan-15
			Action 1002	Jan-10	5	Jan-14	John Reliable	50%	CUS Team 2	100%
			Action 1003	Jan-15	3	Jan-17	Maria General	15%	CUS ALL	100%
	G2: Gate 2			Jan-20	16	Feb-4
		SG3: SubGate 3		Jan-20	8	Jan-27
			Action 1004	Jan-20	3	Jan-22	John Reliable	50%	CUS Team 2	100%
			Action 1005	Jan-23	5	Jan-27	Maria General	15%	CUS Team 1	100%
		SG4: SubGate 4		Jan-28	8	Feb-04
			Action 1006	Jan-28	3	Jan-30	Maria General	20%	CUS ALL	50%
			Action 1007	Jan-31	5	Feb-04	Maria General	70%	CUS ALL	75%
	G3: Gate 3			Feb-05	16	Feb-20
		SG5: SubGate 5		Feb-05	8	Feb-12
			Action 1008	Feb-05	3	Feb-07	John Reliable	30%	CUS Team 2	60%
			Action 1009	Feb-10	3	Feb-12	John Reliable	30%	CUS Team 1	60%
		SG6: SubGate 6		Feb-13	8	Feb-20
			Action 1010	Jan-31	5	Feb-02	Maria General	50%	CUS Team 1	80%
			Action 1011	Feb-18	3	Feb-20	Maria General	80%	CUS ALL	100%

From the inputs as defined above then the planned costs would be:

DFR Plan

				Planned Dates			Planned
				Start Date	Duration	End Date	Cost
DFR Example				Jan-02	50	Feb-20	$146,040
	G1: Gate 1			Jan-02	16	Jan-17	$48,030
		SG1: SubGate 1		Jan-02	8	Jan-09	$30,660
			Action 1000	Jan-02	5	Jan-06	$7,650
			Action 1001	Jan-07	3	Jan-09	$23,010
		SG2: SubGate 2		Jan-10	6	Jan-15	$17,370
			Action 1002	Jan-10	5	Jan-14	$9,900
			Action 1003	Jan-15	3	Jan-17	$7,470
	G2: Gate 2			Jan-20	16	Feb-4	$50,910
		SG3: SubGate 3		Jan-20	8	Jan-27	$14,040
			Action 1004	Jan-20	3	Jan-22	$9,900
			Action 1005	Jan-23	5	Jan-27	$4,140
		SG4: SubGate 4		Jan-28	8	Feb-04	$36,870
			Action 1006	Jan-28	3	Jan-30	$14,460
			Action 1007	Jan-31	5	Feb-04	$22,410
	G3: Gate 3			Feb-05	16	Feb-20	$47,100
		SG5: SubGate 5		Feb-05	8	Feb-12	$10,800
			Action 1008	Feb-05	3	Feb-07	$5,940
			Action 1009	Feb-10	3	Feb-12	$4,860
		SG6: SubGate 6		Feb-13	8	Feb-20	$36,300
			Action 1010	Jan-31	5	Feb-02	$6,660
			Action 1011	Feb-18	3	Feb-20	$29,640

Planned Resource Loading

In this example the only resource used was personnel. Based on the prior entries each team member's utilization is as follows. Note that, in this case, overallocation exists for the two managers since they also serve on the CUS Teams.

Execution Stage

Action 1

Assume that the project got started a day late, i.e. the initiating action (A01) got started on Jan-3 instead of Jan 2.

Then on Jan-3 the DFR Plan would then transform as follows:

Resource Conflicts

The late start of Action 1000 causes a resource conflict as shown next. Planned and Feasible dates are shown in this display. John Reliable, Eugene Doubter, and Maria General must allocate more resources to complete the project on time.

Action 2

Assume that action Action 1000 was completed on Jan-08 and Action 1001 started on Jan-09.  Then the entire plan would shift as follows:

End Section

Basis, Impact & Discussion

Basis for Modification	Basis Discuss
Impact on V8/V9 Users	Impact Discuss
Discussion	Comment on this feature, or discuss it in the Synthesis Discussion area of our Discussion Forums.
These pages are not intended to replace, or be used in-lieu of the official software documentation. They are working/developments notes intended to facilitate communication between the user community and the development team. Features and specifications listed here are for discussion purposes and their final implementation in may be different than the specifications presented here.