Asta vs Primavera

8/10/2019 Asta vs Primavera

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24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT

RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

www.astadev.com

powerproject


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2 Asta Powerproject gives youunparalleled control over the

presentation of your plan. The

outstanding visual presentation

of project plans improves

communication and impresses

clients.

Choose exactly which features

are displayed such as float, non-

driving links, etc..

Add annotations such as text,

graphics and hyperlinks to

enhance the plan and highlight

important information.

Control the type, colour and

thickness of horizontal and

vertical grid lines, including the

individual grid lines of any given

row or specific date.

Control the colour of horizontal

and vertical bands in order to

highlight Work Breakdown

Structure levels, Activity Codes

and date periods.

UNPARALLELED CONTROL OVER THE PRESENTATION OF YOUR PLANS

Surround the output with a

customisable 4-sided border that

can include unlimited logos, text

references, notes, issue numbers,

revision numbers, etc..

Control the format of the

output including number of

lines per page, page breaks,

legend appearance, order, font

and page size.

Communicate plans clearly

1FAMILIAR, ACCESSIBLE INTERFACE

24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN

PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

powerproject

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Familiar, easy-to-use interface

Asta Powerprojects familiar,

accessible interface makes it

intuitive to use, enabling you to

get up and running quickly and

minimising training costs.

Asta Powerproject has a classic

Microsoft Office look and feel,

with the same high level menu

structure and short cuts (Ctrl+C

= copy, Ctrl+A = select all,

etc.).

You can customise and control

the Asta Powerproject toolbars

to suit your needs.

The workable screen area in

Asta Powerproject is as large as

possible, giving excellent

presentation on a single

medium-resolution screen.


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Asta Powerproject is very powerful

but also very easy-to-use.

Phil Solomon,Planning Operations Director, Mace

3 SCHEDULE CORRECTLY WITH MIXED CALENDARSAsta Powerproject always uses the correct

calendar when two activities with different

calendars are linked together, giving you

accurate results that you can rely on.

Asta Powerproject uses the

predecessors calendar for Start-to-

Start links and the successors

calendar for Finish-to-Finish links,

ensuring you always get the correct

result.

In this example the Start-to-Start link

is based on the Task A (predecessor)

calendar as Task B (successor) can

only start 2 weeks after Task A has

started.

The Finish-to-Finish link is based on

the Task B (successor) calendar,

allowing the last 2 weeks of Task B to

take place after Task A has finished.

This Start-to-Start link allowsTask B to start 2 weeks after

Task A has started. This link is

critical and driving.

This Finish-to-Finish link allowsthe last 2 weeks of Task B to

happen after Task A has finished.

This link is not critical or driving.

Call us on 01844 261700

to find out more

Find out more at

www.astadev.com/primavera 3

4In Asta Powerproject you can assign a

Link Category to links which enables logic

differences to be remembered and

demonstrated during a reschedule,

without having to keep copies of the

project and maintain more than one

project file.

You can have an unlimited number of Link

Categories which you can name and

configure to meet your requirements.

Select the appearance of each link

category (line style, colour, arrow-head

type).

Decide whether to display each link

category on the plan.

Choose whether to exclude selected

link categories from the Critical Path

calculation.

DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF LINKS

The Link Category affects

the appearance of the link

and excludes it from the

Critical Path calculation.

The Link Category affects

the appearance of the linkand includes it in the

Critical Path calculation.

5Asta Powerproject is a powerful tool that is

also very user-friendly. You can get up and

running very quickly while our comprehensive

range of training courses enables you to get

the most from the software.

POWERFUL AND USER-FRIENDLY


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6 SERIOUSLY ACCURATE PROGRESS REPORTINGAsta Powerproject offers unrivalled progress

reporting features, allowing you to keep

records with a very fine level of detail.

Record exactly what happened in every

progress reporting period throughout the

life of an activity, including actual cost,

actual effort, actual %, actual work, etc..

Record progress against user defined

Progress Periods the %, cost, effort

(man-hours/days), work etc. during the

period are recorded. This enables you to

produce very accurate graphs and

histograms showing, for example, that 5%

was completed in Week 1, 60% in Week

2 and 35% in Week 3.

Record multiple gaps and resume dates

to show the true record of intermittent

activities.

Progress in each Progress Period is displayed in a separate colour

24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

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8Asta Powerproject allows you to

control the visual appearance, content

and placement of annotations,

improving project communication and

making the project plan as effective

as possible.

Control the font effect for each

character within a text annotation,

not just the whole annotation.

Place unattached text annotations

anywhere on the plan.

Attach annotations to an activity

so that the annotation moves with

the activity.

References to underlying

data constantly updated

Embed data values in attached

annotations so that if changes occur

to the project and the underlying data

changes, the annotation will update

automatically to show the new

information. For example, if you

include the end date of a specific

task in an attached annotation

and the activity is then delayed by

2 weeks, the annotation will update

automatically to show the new end

date for the activity.

Include pictures and other Microsoft

objects such as spreadsheets and

movies in annotations.

Mixed font effects possible

7 JAGGED PROGRESS VIEWIn Asta Powerproject you create a

Jagged Line Progress view in seconds!

This allows you to monitor the project

and keep an accurate As-Built record of

the work undertaken.

Using a single pre-configured menu

option you can transpose the

percentage complete from each

Progress Period for each activity onto

the baseline task to turn an As-Built

plan into a Jagged Line Progress view.

EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE ANNOTATIONS

Forecast

Actual progress in Week 4

Baseline


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With Asta Powerproject you can share your

project plans quickly and easily, improving

communication and collaboration.

You dont have to pay anything to look

at Asta Powerproject plans. The freely-

available Asta Project Viewer enables

users to open, navigate (in defined

limits) and print Asta Powerproject files.

Asta Powerproject has excellent data

interchange with Primavera and

Microsoft Project.

Project and activity data, including all

calendars, resource libraries, activity

codes, Work Breakdown Structures etc.

can be exported from Asta Powerproject

in Microsoft and Primavera formats.

Microsoft and Primavera project files can

also be imported into Asta Powerproject.

This enables you to work on your

projects in Asta Powerproject and then

export them in Primavera or Microsoft

formats so they can be accessed by

users of other software solutions.

SHARE PROJECT PLANS MORE EASILY AND AT NO ADDITIONAL COST

9 CONTROL THE APPEARANCE OF ACTIVITIES, RESOURCES & COSTSWith full control over the on-screen

appearance in Asta Powerproject you can

ensure the project plan is as clear and

easy to understand as possible.

Choose the appearance of activity

codes as well as resource and cost

assignments. The appearance of the

activities (or resource/cost tasks) can

be set to reflect your appearance

preferences and a colour-coded

legend is included in presentation

outputs.

The same colour coding and legend

can be applied to the resources in a

graph so you can clearly see the

quantities generated from eachsource.

Easy to save in Primavera format

DETAILED DATE ZONE

With Asta Powerproject you can

include up to 10 rows in the Date

Zone, ensuring the plan is both

detailed and easy to understand.

Call us on 01844 261700

to find out more

5

Find out more at

www.astadev.com/primavera

Multiple time zones in the date line

Choose how project information is displayed


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12 MULTIPLE TASKS PER LINEAsta Powerprojects ability to display multiple tasks per line

enables you to save time when planning repeated tasks

and improve the presentation of your plans.

Save time and avoid the need to laboriouslycreate tasks on dozens of different rows.

USES INCLUDE:

Procurement planning for the various stages of bidding and awarding contracts for different work packages of a project:

Repetitive processes such as the finishes stages of a commercial construction project, apartment fit-out, or the

construction of a house:

Intermittent activities or locations of a process:

Distinguish clearly between different tasks on the same

row of the plan through colour-coding and shading the

level of detail is not compromised!

Improve the presentation of your plans multiple tasks perline allows information to be presented in a very compact

form on a single sheet rather than on multiple pages.

Asta Powerproject gives you unrivalled control over your task

types, enabling you to plan more accurately and identify ways

to deliver the project more efficiently. Task types include:

Buffer tasks. These can shrink or grow and act as

contingency or risk monitors, supporting the

critical-chain concept.

Forced critical tasks. Forcing a task to become critical

supports multiple critical paths within a single project.

Interruptible tasks. The start of the task is determined by

the incoming links and the task can grow or shrink. This

allows successor tasks to often start earlier than originally

scheduled, thereby shortening the critical path. This does,

of course, have resourcing implications.

Tasks with deadline flags. A deadline flag is an imposed

end date that does not stop a task finishing later than the

imposed date but changes colour and gives a warning

when the imposed date is passed.

14 UNRIVALLED CONTROL OVER YOUR TASK TYPES

13 IDENTIFY AND HIDE NON-DRIVING LINKSNon-driving link

displayed

24 REASONS TO USE ASTA POWERPROJECT RATHER THAN PRIMAVERA FOR MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

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Links which do not position an activity but do affect

the float calculation are termed non-driving links i.e.

they do not drive the position of tasks.

With Asta Powerproject you can distinguish

graphically between non-driving links and drivinglinks. You can also choose whether to hide or display

non-driving links on screen and in printouts.

Non-driving

link hidden

Non-driving link

distinguished


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15 CALCULATE AND DISPLAY FREE FLOAT EASILYIn Asta Powerproject it is simple to display Free

Float no Global Change routines required!

The Free Float period and dates are always

calculated by a Critical Path calculation andcan be displayed on the bar chart with one

easy command.

Free Float periods and dates can be displayed

in the spreadsheet columns.

With Asta Powerproject you can decide on the length ofthe working day for each calendar. This ensures that

durations are displayed accurately when different activities

have different working hours per day.

For example, you can set Calendar A to have a 24-hour

day and Calendar B to have an 8-hour day. A task that

16 DISPLAY DURATIONS ACCURATELYtakes 24 hours will take 1 day when scheduled usingCalendar A and 3 days when scheduled using Calendar B.

You can also print your calendars for quick and easy review

of holidays and working patterns.

In Asta Powerproject you can enter and display

both working time and elapsed time, helping

you plan and schedule more precisely.

For example, if you have a task that takes 10

working days and there is a 1 week holiday

period in the middle of the task, the duration

can be displayed both as 2 working weeks and

3 elapsed weeks.

Elapsed time durations can also be displayed

in elapsed months for work over longer

timeframes.

Call us on 01844 261700

to find out more

In Asta Powerproject you can schedule to the hour, minute

or second! This enables you to detail correctly the precise

duration of each activity and specify the exact start and end

times of shut-down periods, holidays and shifts.

17 CALCULATE ELAPSED TIME AS WELL AS WORKING TIME

18 SCHEDULE SHORT ACTIVITIES PRECISELYThe feature is particularly useful on short projects, such as

24 hour railway possessions or oil refinery maintenance

shutdowns, where activities can have durations of minutes

and scheduling requirements are complex.

7

Find out more at

www.astadev.com/primavera

The working duration for both tasks is 1 week, 4 days but

due to differing holidays and weekend working they take

different lengths of time to complete (elapsed duration)

Holiday Weekend

Asta Powerprojects unlimited Undo and Redo

function allows you to undo as much as you like,

including through a Save, a Critical Path calculation

and a Resource Levelling exercise.

19 UNDO AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE!This makes it easy to try out a number of different

scenarios quickly and easily without permanently

affecting the plan.


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To find out more and to arrange

a personal demonstration,

call us on 01844 261700.

Asta Development plc

Kingston House

Goodsons Mews

Wellington Street

Thame

OxfordshireOX9 3BX

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1844 261700

Fax: +44 (0)1844 261314

www.astadev.com

[email protected]

2008 Asta Development plc.

Asta Powerproject is a registered trademark of Asta Development plc.

All trademarks recognised. E & OE.

20 SCHEDULE GROUPED ACTIVITIES AND OVERHEAD COSTS CORRECTLY

In Asta Powerproject resource cost rates are independent of the resource and

you can have as many resource cost rates as you require.

In Asta Powerproject you can allocate resources and costs to both Summary Tasks

(which group related activities in the Work Breakdown Structure) and Hammock Tasks

(which group potentially unrelated activities). You can also create logic links to/from thestart and end of Summary Tasks and to/from the end of Hammock Tasks.

You can assign individual calendars to Summary Tasks, Hammock Tasks and charts,

ensuring that they always display correctly.

These features enable you to correctly schedule overhead costs and resources, such as

cranes, hoists and management charges, and integrate them into the plan. They also

enable you to allow one major portion of the project to dictate when another major

portion should start.

Asta Powerproject includes Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, the same

programming language that is used in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This

allows Asta to create specific extensions, integrations and automated routines

to meet the specific needs of individual users.

Asta Powerproject enables you to enter and display costs in different currenciesand switch between currencies at will. For example, you can calculate costs in

Sterling but display them in Euros (or any other currency of your choice).

The flexible currency display is particularly useful when working with partners

from different countries or on international projects.

21 FLEXIBLE CURRENCY DISPLAY

22 MULTIPLE RESOURCE COST RATES

23 CUSTOM MACROS TO MEET SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

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Microsoft Project is a registered

trademark of Microsoft Corp.Primavera is a registered

trademark of Primavera

Systems Inc

Choose the type of Asta Powerproject licence that meets your needs -

standalone, network or Enterprise. With standalone and network licences

there is no need to purchase a new database as project data is storedon your computer system.

24 FLEXIBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE LICENCING

Asta vs Primavera

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