Without the proper tool, complex construction scheduling can be an unmanageable nightmare. Not so at Suncor Energy, where about 300 employees use Primavera Project Planner (P3) each day.

This construction scheduling software, which Suncor bought for $2,500, was more expensive than its competitors and required customization in allowing cost-allocation at the Activity ID level. However, it was well worth the extra dollars and efforts, said Salvador Carlos Hernandez Ramirez, who has worked at the Calgary-based company for two years and who has used Primavera software for seven years.

"In my last project, a combined cycle power plant, we grew from 800 activities, while the basic engineering phase was being executed, to more than 6,000 activities during startup and commissioning," Hernandez Ramirez said. "It was always the same project and P3 managed it as such, allowing schedulers to add detail and activities as information became available."

Using P3, schedulers can break complex projects into bite-size increments and then easily integrate each piece into the full project, he said. This reduces the time spent, increases efficiency and accuracy, and enables a company to allocate construction scheduling tasks to the most appropriate personnel or department. Standardized layouts make it easier for people to learn and use, speeding up training time and reducing mistakes, Hernandez Ramirez noted.

Since training, too, is often broken down into tiers, most users need only attend tier one and two classes, he said. The third session is more advanced, addressing global changes and some programming issues typically not of concern to most schedulers, Hernandez Ramirez added. And, if there is a question, documentation and technical support excel, he said: "It is the best documentation I have ever seen for scheduling. It also delves into project management problems, with real examples on earn value and schedule delays."

Overall, Hernandez Ramirez rated Primavera Project Planner (P3) a 9 out of 10.