Project Scheduling,
Cost Planning &
Value Engineering Skills

This course focuses on 2 modules. The first week of training will identify how to deliver reliable cost and schedule estimates during the early concept and planning stages of a proposed project.

The second week of training will explore the Value Engineering (VE) concept: a creative, organized approach with the objective of offering project stakeholders an opportunity to optimize project value, reduce life-cycle costs, address financial issues, and eliminate unnecessary costs.

This Project Scheduling, Cost Planning & Value Engineering Skills training course adopts a systematic step-by-step methodology to support the initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control and closure of projects. It covers the key elements of roles and responsibilities, planning techniques, forming and managing a multi-disciplinary project team to generate solutions and recommend alternatives; capturing stakeholders requirements and expectations; developing conceptual cost estimates and models; undertaking life-cycle costing analysis; and producing a high-level project plan to guide project execution and control. Practical applications are covered in detail, along with presentations of case studies designed to help participants master the course materials.

This training course will feature:

• Gaining knowledge of techniques used in project estimating, from the conceptual stage to the final detailed estimate
• Understanding the different types of estimates used to confidently and progressively estimate project costs and schedule
• Identifying risk sources and minimize their impact with and without contingency
• Developing effective team management, performance monitoring and control systems
• An integrated approach to scope, time, resources and cost management into a dynamic and manageable model

This comprehensive training course consists of two modules which can be booked as a 10 Day Training event, or as individual, 5 Day training courses.

Module 1 - Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills

Module 2 - Value Engineering Skills: Improving Performance & Profitability

By the end of this Anderson training course, participants will be able to:

• Manage and mitigate schedule, cost, scope, and resource risks associated with the project
• Develop a project recovery plan for budget and schedule overruns
• Identify value mismatches through the ratio of whole life costing
• Capture & incorporate stakeholders’ input in the development of the project charter & plan
• Know the fundamental concepts of Value Engineering and Analysis

This Anderson training course is suitable to a wide range of professionals but will greatly benefit:

• Those who have a role in various projects such as cost estimators, project schedulers, project designers, project planner, contracts professionals, project procurement and purchasing staff, and project control and business services professionals who have the responsibility for preparing cost / schedule estimates and project proposals in client and contracting companies
• Those who are interested in knowing more about estimation and control in a project environment
• Anyone involved in project initiation, engineering design, and critical assessment of projects
• All those responsible for making significant decisions concerning plans and budgets for large and complex projects
• Project or Program Sponsors, Project Managers, Cost Estimators, Cost Controllers, Engineers, Designers and Project Staff
• All those aspiring to deliver better value in all sectors of the economy from major projects in construction, manufacturing, petro-chemical, healthcare, education legal and public services

This training course will utilise a variety of proven adult learning techniques to ensure maximum understanding, comprehension and retention of the information presented.

The training course is highly interactive and presents knowledge through formal and interactive learning methods. The training course includes individual exercises, team projects, applicable case studies and group discussions. The material has been designed to enable delegates to apply all of the material with immediate effect at the office.

In addition, the training course will take delegates through the systematic step-by-step VE methodology through interactive speaker input, case studies and practice exercises. The exercises will provide participants with hands on experience of applying the techniques to a simple project and will facilitate group discussion.

• Basic Project Management definitions
• Triple Constraints – Time, Cost, Scope
• Project Selection Methods
• Defining the Project Scope
• Cost & Schedule Estimation, Cost Budgeting & Control
• Project Schedule Planning and Critical Path Method

• Project management inputs to cost budgeting
• Resource Requirements
• Direct & Indirect Project Costs
• Planning and Scheduling Limited Resources
• Options for Accelerating the Schedule
• Crashing the Schedule - How?

• Risk Identification, Analysis & Management
• Contingency Reserve
• PERT, Probability and Standard Deviation Formulae
• Network Activity Risk Profiles
• Application: Estimating Project Duration
• Project Risk Strategies

• Balanced Project Schedule without Buffers (Finish-Start) and Inserting Buffers
• Comparison of Unbalanced with Balanced Schedules
• Measuring Planned Progress on Schedule
• Risk distribution in contracting
• Actual Progress and Work Conditions
• Managing Variable Conditions

• Schedule Variances & Cost Variances
• Progress Control Charts - Trend Analysis
• Schedule and Cost Variance Forecasting
• Schedule and Cost Recovery Analysis
• Schedule and Cost Recovery Plan
• Project Recovery Baselines and Controls

• What is Value?
• What is Value Engineering? Why is it important?
• Defining Value Engineering concepts and principles
• How and when is Value Engineering applied?
• Project stakeholders analysis and management
• Understanding teamwork and cross-functional Project Teams and team player styles

• Overview of Different Value Engineering Phases / Job Plan
• The Information Phase – steps and procedures
• The need for Function Analysis in projects
• Developing FAST Diagrams to identify critical project components and perform project value analysis
• Defining project constraints – relationships and trade offs
• Aspects of Cost Estimating

• Risk Management
• Relationships between Value, Cost and Worth
• Facilitation skills
• Creativity and Creative thinking within the project environment
• Creativity techniques as applied to optimize project value
• Blocks to creativity within the project team

• Reaching consensus and leveraging the power of project team collaboration
• Idea selection
• Evaluation methods and value criteria
• Development phase
• Techniques in problem solving
• Life-cycle costing analysis

• Effective Decision-making in project environment
• Develop action plans and assign project roles and responsibilities
• Reporting VE findings to Senior Management and project stakeholders
• Integrating VE into the project process and Continuous Improvement and application at project initiation
• Case studies
• Assessment and Wrap-up

Anderson Certificate of Completion will be provided to delegates who attend and complete the course.