Schedules Overview

Corecon can track multiple Schedules with unlimited tasks in each. An example would be separate schedules for design and construction or if there are multiple structures that are part of the overall project.

Scheduling Views

Gantt - Shows the sequence of tasks and their relationships in a horizontal bar time-frame.
Resource - Shows Resources (ie. Company Contacts and Equipment) on the left and assigned Scheduling Tasks in a horizontal bar time-frame.
Calendar - Shows tasks that are scheduled for the month along with their status: Not Started, In Progress, Completed
Comments - Shows tasks that have comments
Properties - Shows Project, Prime Contract, Scheduling #, Title, and Calendar

Gantt Menu Bar

Global Changes	Email Task Assignments	Filter Tasks
Show Baseline Dates	Fix Relationship Issues	Save
Reload Grid and Cancel Changes	Print	Export to PDF
Export to Microsoft Excel	Add Task	Add Child Task
Outdent Selected Task	Indent Selected Task	Expand All Rows
Collapse All Rows	Zoom In	Zoom Out
Zoom To Fit Window	Show/Hide Fields

Task Definitions

Tasks

A task is a work-related errand you want to track through completion. Examples of tasks are grade site, excavate footings, formwork footings, pour footings.

Task ID

A numeric identifier for the task that is auto generated by the system. The Task ID is used when referencing the Predecessor within the Gantt table.

Task Indenting

Determines if a task will be a parent task with child tasks as shown below.

Sitework (Parent Task)
- Clear Site (Child Task)
- Grade Site (Child Task)
Concrete (Parent Task)
- Excavate Footings (Child Task)
- Formwork (Child Task)
- Pour and Finish (Child Task)

Scheduled Start and Finish Dates

Scheduled dates will be used by default in the Gantt and Calendar views.

Baseline Start and Finish Dates

Baseline dates define the original project plan and can be set by copying the current scheduled dates using the Global Change option on the toolbar. Because baseline dates will be compared with scheduled dates during the course of the project, these dates and durations should include your best estimate.

Duration

The amount of work days required to complete the task. See examples below. Milestone tasks have a duration set to zero (0).

1 Day Duration:
- Start Date: Monday at 8AM
- End Date: Monday at 5PM
2 Day Duration:
- Start Date: Monday at 8AM
- End Date: Tuesday at 5PM
3 Day Duration:
- Start Date: Monday at 8AM
- End Date: Wednesday at 5PM

Percent (%) Complete

Percent complete (10% = 10) will determine the Status of a task and impact how it is color coded on the gantt chart and calendar.

Status

Not Started: Tasks with % Complete set to 0 and Start Date after today.
Not Started - Delayed: Tasks with % Complete set to 0 and Start Date before today.
In Progress: Tasks with % Complete greater than 0 and less than 100 and Finish Date after today.
In Progress - Delayed: Tasks with % Complete greater than 0 and less than 100 and Finish Date before today.
Completed: Tasks with % Complete set to 100.

Predecessor and Successor Relationships

Predecessor Task: A task (or activity) that must be started or finished before another task can be performed.

Successor Task: A task that cannot begin until another task has started or finished.

Task 1	----->	Task 2	----->	Task 3
Predecessor				Successor

Relationship Types:

Finish-to-Start (FS - Very Common)
Start-to-Start (SS)
Finish-to-Finish (FF)
Start-to-Finish (SF - Very Rare)

Example Predecessor References Using Various Relationship Types (Predecessor Task ID = 19):

FS with lag 0: 19
FS with lag 2: 19+2
SS with lag 3: 19SS+3
FF with lag 1: 19FF+1
FS with lead -2: 19-2 (Successor task will start 2 days prior to task 19 finishing.)

Example with multiple predecessor tasks that are separated by a semicolon: (Predecessor Task IDs = 5, 6 and 7)

FS with lag 0: 5;6;7

Company and Equipment Resource Assignments

Tasks can be assigned to both Companies/Contacts and Owned/Rented Equipment. When assigning a Company to the task, a Contact must be specified since Corecon offers task notifications via email.

Important Things To Know

Multiple schedules can be created and track for an individual project. For example, a Design-Build firm would have a separate schedule for each phase (eg. design phase, construction phase).
Task descriptions within a schedule must be unique otherwise the task will not be saved.
Milestone tasks have a duration set to zero (0) and do not have an end date.
There are two sets of dates for a schedule: Baseline and Scheduled. The latter is used by default in the Gantt View and Task Calendars.
Changing date and percent complete logic for successor tasks:
- If a task is 100% complete, changing dates of that task will not move any successor tasks.
- If a task is > 0% complete, system will treat the start dates as fixed. Changing the finish date or duration will move the successor tasks after prompt.
- If a task is 0% complete, the system will ask user if they wish to move the successor tasks.
'Global Changes' button on the Gantt Toolbar can do the following functions.
- Assign Company and Contact Resource
- Assign Equipment Item Resource
- Clear Assigned Resources
- Update Percent Complete
- Reset Baseline Dates to Scheduled Dates for all tasks
- Reset Task ID based on current sort order
Before using the Global Change function, the schedule should be saved if changes were made manually.
'Filter Tasks' button on the Gantt Toolbar includes the following options.
- Critical Tasks Only (Path through the Schedule that is driving the finish date.)
- Look Ahead | # of Weeks (This could be used in conjunction with Printing.)
- Not Assigned Tasks (Tasks with no assigned resources.)
- Status Filter: Not Started | In Progress | Completed
- All Tasks (Use this to clear all filters.)
To print the task listing or calendar, please allow popups for *.corecon.com. For more information, please click here.