The status of the US-CMS Upgrades project is assessed and reported on a monthly basis, as follows:

1) Project Office
  • Each month, the Project Office extracts from P6 two Excel files that show, for each L2 project:
    • All activities that have/should have started and that are not yet completed and reported on.
    • All resources assigned to the corresponding activities.

    The associated data are also included (start/end dates, responsible institutions, M&S and labor needs, etc.).

  • The files are posted as Google spreadsheets. This has the following advantages over the original Excel files:
    • Only a web browser -- on Linux, Mac, or Windows -- is needed to edit the files (not MS Excel).
    • Google docs supports multiple concurrent people working on the same document file.
    • Secure access is provided, using the CAMs Google login.
  • The Project Office informs the CAMs that the new files are available.
2) Control Account Managers (CAMs)
  • Each month, the CAMs are notified that new files are ready to be filled with status data, as described below.
  • The files will be in a USCMS Upgrades Google drive shared directory
  • To open a Google file to edit it, just click on the file name.

Activity status files

The CAMs should complete the following empty columns, for their areas of responsibility:

  • Actual Start date, if it has started, else write "Not started".
  • Expected finish date if the task is still in progress (else leave blank).
  • Actual Finish date if activity has finished, else leave blank.
  • Activity % complete is the estimated fraction of the activity (e.g. deliverables) that is complete.

For reference, the "Start" and "Finish" columns shows the planned start and finish dates.

Activity Resource Assignment

For each resource, the CAMs should complete the following empty columns, for their areas of responsibility:

  • Actual Units is the actual amount of the resource expended so far
  • Remaining Early Units is the estimate of the amount of this resource required to complete the activity.

The "Resource Type" column indicates whether the resource is "Materials" (M&S base cost in dollars), Labor (Fermilab labor in hours), or Nonlabor (University labor in hours -- yes, the P6 nomenclature is unfortunate). The "Budgeted Units" columns shows the planned amount of units for this resource.

  • After completing the files, the CAMs should notify their L2 manager.
3) L2 Manager
  • The L2 Manager verifies the content of the CAM reports and resolves any potential issues with the CAMs.
  • The L2 Manager notifies the PM when their two status files -- Activities and Resources -- are complete.
4) Project Manager
  • The PM verifies the content of the L2 reports and resolves any potential issues with the L2s.
  • The PM forwards the status reports to Project Controls and Project Finance.
5) Project Controls
  • The Project Controls enters the reported schedule data into P6.
  • The Project Controls generates a standard schedule impact monthly report.
6) Project Finance
  • The project's Finance Controller enters the reported resource data into the COBRA system.
  • The project's Finance Controller generates the standard earned value monthly reports.
7) Project Manager
  • The PM reports on the project status to the various project oversight bodies.