Blogs

Happy Thanksgiving Day 2019 Canada and Everyone!

By Rufran Frago posted 8 days ago
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Come visit us!  PM Solution Pro We are part of the solution! http://pmsolutionpro.com (587) 899-1202 #pmsolutionpro #pmsp #pmspblog #rufranfrago   #thanksgiving #rbms #riskmanag
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The project schedule as a management tool, and not just pretty wallpaper.

By Andrew Dick posted 12 days ago
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After more years than I care to count (able to remember) working on all manner of projects, and over 20 years working directly as a Project Controls Professional, the one thing that stands head and shoulders above all other core issues related to project delay and failure is the lack of effective use of a project delivery schedule.  But why; after 60+ years of formalized project management, and over 100 years of the Gantt chart, are we still not able to create an effective schedule? Why do we hear so often that the schedule “wasn’t fit for purpose”, or “didn’t provide the real sequence for the way the project was being delivered”? Who has heard the infamous ...
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Effective P6 Administration by Improving Primavera Security through Correct Management of the Responsible Manager Code (RMC)

By Rufran Frago posted 21 days ago
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Rufran's Primavera Scheduling Tips and Tricks 04-13: Improving Primavera Database Security by Managing the Responsible Manager Code (RMC) field 1.0               SITUATION/PROBLEM 1.1   Project’s request to restrict access of other Users to their project schedules & portfolios seemed to have failed. Unauthorized access remains a problem. Contractors working concurrently in the same database were able to sometime see the client’s schedule and modified certain critical attributes despite the security protocol being enforced. Worst of all, one schedule was completely deleted by someone and have to be recovered from the back-end by the Database Administrator ...
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Canada Energy, Alberta’s Oil and Gas Future Needs Your Support !

By Rufran Frago posted 09-04-2019
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Statistics Canada recently reported that Alberta’s manufacturing sales year-over-year fell 13.2 per cent, with a loss of almost four per cent from December to January. Alberta’s economy continued to shrink because of the collapse of the oil and gas sector (Wikipedia, 2019). Canada is on recession watch after its economy almost stalled at the end of last year. Gross domestic product grew by just 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, or 0.4 percent annualized. It’s a weak enough number that could easily be revised into a contraction as new data come in (Bloomberg, 2019). In July 2019, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.0%, an increase of ...
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Video Explainers Using Three-App Combinations can Save you Money

By Rufran Frago posted 09-03-2019
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For those small businesses wanting to save some money on announcements and ads, know that PM Solution Pro used a combination of the following major tools in the ZERO P6 video explainer shown below : 1) Toonly, 2) CorelVideostudio Ultimate X10, and 3) RenderForest. Developed and created the whole clip ads myself. This simple one minute video animation took me two days (~8 hours). The company saved easy at least USD2000. While many creative idea consulting firms will say they start the counter at a low USD200, or even USD150, that can grow very quickly as the video is being developed. Each component added, each scene changed, audio mix introduced, ...
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Pushpendra (Pat) Patel takes on the role of PM Solution Pro Senior Project Controls Advisor

By Rufran Frago posted 08-04-2019
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The newest addition to PM Solution Pro’s remarkable pool of consulting resources is Pushpendra Patel. With more than thirteen (13) remarkable years of experience in project management and controls, any client will surely be satisfied with the quality and timeliness when it comes to work deliverables. Pat, as he is fondly called by friends and colleagues, is a graduate of BS Civil Engineering with reinforced continuing education in Construction Management. He exudes confidence in his knowledge of project controls as he demonstrates his competence and accomplishments working in complex mega-Projects ranging from $100M-$2Billion. Welcome Pat! Follow the ...
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What is the Purpose of a Phantom Schedule?

By Rufran Frago posted 08-04-2019
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A recent technical article rightly stated that one of the reasons why a phantom schedule is developed is “when the client no longer has any faith that the contractor’s contract schedule submittals are realistic (Beisler, S. & Zack, J., 2016.Cost Engineering. May\Jun 2016. p21). CLICK THE Image BELOW TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN PM SOLUTION PRO WEBSITE. CLICK THE HYPERLINK BELOW TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN PM SOLUTION PRO WEBSITE. https://pmsolutionpro.com/purpose-of-a-phantom-schedul
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The Phantom Schedule

By Rufran Frago posted 08-04-2019
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A phantom schedule (ghost schedule) is a non-official schedule prepared behind the official scheduling scene. Commonly used as an audit tool to validate or crosscheck the contract schedule. CLICK THE Image BELOW TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN PM SOLUTION PRO WEBSITE. Construction planner and scheduler Frank Lee was at it again. He was in the process of creating and developing another phantom project schedule for the Project Control Manager. The initiative started when the Project Manager complained to the Project Controls Manager. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, “… this schedule forecast and progress report is garbage! It ...
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The Three Blind Project Managers and the Elephant

By Rufran Frago posted 07-26-2019
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Click the image below to go straight to the full article. Oftentimes, the discussion on subject such as risk has a tendency to turn into something esoteric. When that happens, as a Risk Manager, we should appreciate the brilliance of some people’s individual premises, suppositions, commentaries, and conclusions, for they can add value and substance to what we already know. Pulling their takes together might just be what everyone needed to appreciate the whole. There is an old tale about the three blind men who encountered an elephant for the first time and attempt to learn about it by touch alone. Well, now, let us change the story ...
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How about understanding your Project’s Schedule Critical Path better?

By Rufran Frago posted 07-14-2019
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Delay to any of the activities sitting on the primary critical path will delay the finish date of the whole project. Any activity sitting on the path is critical even if its duration is only one day or one second.  Note however that for many years now, the introduction of the terms, secondary critical path, tertiary critical path, up to the nth path forces one to be clear when using the term. Suffice it to say, in this write up, we refer to the primary path when talking about critical path unless specifically described as another.  Identifying activities belonging to the primary critical path using the Primavera tool has three general setting; ...
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Happy Canada Day to all Freedom-loving persons out there!

By Rufran Frago posted 07-01-2019
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Happy Canada Day to all Freedom-loving persons out there! #canadaday #pmsolutionpro #rbmsinc #rufranfrag
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PM Solution Pro travel log : BSU aiming to be one of the leading Universities in the Philippines and Asia

By Rufran Frago posted 06-26-2019
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Rufran’s recent trip to the Philippines brought him back to his alma mater, Batangas State University (BSU). It’s been almost twenty years since he last set foot in the University Main Campus. It has grown to 37,966 (AY 2016–2017) [4] student-strong. His purpose was to see the University and Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) President Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo [3] . It was a privilege to be given the chance to talk with him considering that whole week was extremely busy with graduation rites he needed to attend to. It was a "short-notice request" for an appointment made through Dr. Jessie Montalbo, Vice President for Administration ...
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Happy Father’s Day 2019 to all Dads out there!

By Rufran Frago posted 06-17-2019
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Book-signing Promo Event, at Dana Point, CA a success!

By Rufran Frago posted 06-08-2019
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The chance to promote my books among friends and friends of friends was a welcome event last May 30, 2019 at El Torito, Dana Point, California. Once more, I had the chance to talk about risk-based management fundamentals and principles with gusto. My wife was specially happy of the turnout. She was the one who supported me all the way and made things possible from the start. I'm fortunate to have her by my side! We are all risk managers! Risk management is the only thing we do for a living, the very reason why our company or client pays us, the reason why we go to work every day. We manage risk even as we prepare to go to sleep, to increase probability ...
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PM Solution Pro participated in the AACE Dinner Meeting, “Proactive Trend and Change: Avoiding the Iceberg Effect.”

By Rufran Frago posted 05-23-2019
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PM Solution Pro participated in the Bruce County AACE Dinner Meeting, “Proactive Trend and Change: Avoiding the Iceberg Effect.” It was held at the SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western Kincardine, 791 Durham St, Kincardine, Ontario N2Z 1M4 yesterday, May 21, 2019, 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The dinner meeting/presentation was hosted by AACE Bruce county section. Guest speaker Les McMullan, FAACE, is a global veteran of project controls and project management for more than 35 years. A graduate from McGill University, he has worked in most major industries including nuclear, pulp and paper, petrochemical, mining and metallurgy, energy and infrastructure. He discussed ...
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Book Signing Event at El Torito, Dana Point, California. See you there!

By Rufran Frago posted 05-21-2019
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Click the image or the link below for more details. Check what the books are all about. Book-signing at El Torito, Dana Point, California, USA My first book, “ Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective ” took three years to write but worth the effort. It provides new and additional knowledge to project management practitioners, risk management specialists, and for undergraduate students taking up courses in Risk Management. The purpose of life is managing risk. It is in front of all of us and in the very fabric of our daily lives. Risk management is the only thing we do for a living. This ...
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Schedule techniques - looking outside the box

By Lanny Harward posted 05-20-2019
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I have been challenged to think outside the box and gather ideas on scheduling techniques.  We are questioning everything we do and why we do it (Production Control).  A little about us: We use Primavera Mostly Operations/Maintenance with plant upgrades and integration of 'off-site' schedules Maintenance nature prevents logic driven schedules (focus on resources and 'checklist' nature of Maintenance work)  High focus on resources (limited availability) especially during plant down-time Tracking costs is not a focus at this level of schedules (captured in roll-up where EVMS, configuration control, baseline management occurs) Off-site schedules exist which require ...
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Cost Reduction Strategies for Utilities Part 2: Technology Adoption by Ahsan Upal

By Rufran Frago posted 05-17-2019
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In the early 1900’s when electricity was being distributed to the houses. Utilities were considered technology companies because they were laying the foundation of the modern life and there was a strong demand for electricity service to be able to bring light and connect time saving tools and appliances at home with perhaps the same longing eyes as there is today with the latest smart devices. Somewhere along the way utilities lost their cool and instead of being innovators utilities became known as bureaucratic and boring. It doesn’t, however, need to be this way into our future. With technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, remote sensors, ...
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Stephen Odusanya takes on the role of PM Solution Pro Project and Construction Engineering Advisor

By Rufran Frago posted 05-17-2019
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Stephen Odusanya is one of PM Solution Pro’s highly regarded resource in the field of project engineering and construction coordination. If you or your company requires PM Solution Pro to help manage your project, we are ready to send our best members to you. Who knows? Stephen might just be the one you’re looking for. Click Stephen's picture below to read the full art
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Cost Reduction Strategies for Utilities Part 1

By Rufran Frago posted 05-09-2019
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PM Solution Pro invited a valued guest writer and professional colleague Ahsan Upal to bring forth some of his previous write-ups to grace our pages. He is the Canadian Business Development Regional Manager of Burns and McDonnell. You’ll find his opinions and perspectives to be creative, imaginative, and uplifting. Only a special intelligent person will write such things. We thought, it’s time to learn from him. We are interested to know what you think. # riskanalysis # business # futureofutilities # pmsolutionpro # ahsanupal # rufranfrago Click the image below to read the full Part 1 ar
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