Automatic task completion rates in construction commissioning, explained

If you are a startup/commissioning manager, which percent complete number is better for your ongoing project?

Yea, it’s kind of a silly question.  Of course everyone will pick the more precise number, as long as it’s accurate and easy to calculate. And therein lies the rub:

It’s not that precise when using a spreadsheet-based solution

There are various reasons why a spreadsheet-based solution can’t calculate % complete for a commissioning project very well.  These include:

• When a device is deemed “commissioned”, it’s treated as 100% complete.  When it’s not, it’s 0% complete.  There’s no in-between: a device is either 0% complete or 100% complete. Even if your field crews have partially completed some devices, that effort is not accounted for on the spreadsheet.
• If your field crews forget to turn in their completion forms to the clerical staff in the project trailer, that work effort is also not accounted for on the spreadsheet until those sheets are turned in.
• If the clerical staff is busy with other tasks, the commissioning efforts expended by your field crews won’t be accounted for on the spreadsheet until the spreadsheet is updated.
• Formula and cell copying mistakes can be easily made on large multi-worksheet spreadsheets.

 An example of a typical home-grown spreadsheet solution for construction commissioning projects is illustrated below.

A more precise (and automated) approach

Our approach involved developing a generic way for the Cx manager to do the following:

1. Group similar devices into device types
2. Assign form templates to these device types
3. Give each form template a weight to use when calculating % complete per device

Here’s what that looks like in XForms Cx:

Breaking this down, we have…

Some details about each of these steps…

Grouping devices into device types is straightforward.  You are basically just categorizing equipment into similar groupings.  For example, motors, pumps, valves, solenoids, motor control centers, tanks, batteries, switches, etc.  Think of this exercise as establishing the lowest common denominator between similar devices.

You can be as fine-grained as you want: maybe you would like to group all valves together, or maybe you prefer to break out valves into digital valves and analog valves.

And you can also establish a hierarchy of device types.  For example, maybe you would like to group devices as mechanical devices and electrical devices.  And then drill down a layer and have pumps and fans underneath mechanical devices.  And a 3rd layer below fans for low pressure fans and for high pressure fans.

All of these options are possible.  Take a look at the screenshot below on how you can configure your device types in XForms Cx.

Once you have a device type hierarchy established, you can assign form templates to each root-level device type by clicking on the paper clip icon that appears in the icon set when you hover over a device type name.

After selecting the form templates from your template library that you want to assign to a particular device type category, then you can assign a percent weight to each.  This lets you weigh certain form templates more than others, to account for more complicated and time-consuming commissioning tasks.  So for example, you could give a bump and run-in form a weight of 80% and the motor checklist a weight of 20%. 

We’ve created a very simple algorithm that handles all the mathematics that calculate percent complete, from an individual device, up each hierarchical level, all the way up to the overall project.  All of this is handled automatically (no need to do anything on your end) in the following manner:

• There are 4 status states of a form attached to a device.  Each status state of a form is given a basic % weight value, as follows:
  • Not Started (0% weight)
  • Started and Saved as Draft (50% weight)
  • Submitted for Approval (75% weight)
  • Submitted and Approved (100%)
• The status state of a form is multiplied against the percent complete weight assigned by you to each form template for that device type.
• The % complete weight is then calculated for the device and rolled up throughout the project.

Here’s a visual schematic of the status state weights we’ve assigned internally in the system:

And here’s what that looks like within the mobile app to the field tech.

In the screenshot above, the overall device % complete has been calculated to be 62% complete.  Note the weights assigned to each form in parentheses:

• 50% for SU 2-7
• 25% for SU 4-1
• 25% for SU 4-2

And also note the status of each form:

• Submitted/approved for SU 2-7
• In progress for SU 4-1
• Not started for SU 4-2

The resulting percent complete calculation is as follows:

• SU 2-7: 50% weight x 100% completed = 50%
• SU 4-1: 25% weight x 50% completed = 12.5%
• SU 4-2: 25% weight x 0% completed = 0%
• 50% + 12.5% + 0% = 62.5% complete for the device

What is the end result of doing this?

Take a look at the video below to see for yourself.  By setting up a system that can programmatically handle all the calculations at the form and device level, and roll them up device type categories all the way up to the project, you get a bird’s-eye view into your commissioning project’s overall percent complete with the ability to drill down to an individual system code, device type, all the way down to an individual device.

This lets you as the Cx manager view your startup project’s completeness from various angles, with data that is entered in near real-time and which provides a way to credit partial work completed.  This is something that just can’t be done in Excel.

What are the benefits of doing this?

As mentioned previously, one of the big benefits is receiving credit for partial work completed on your project. Most systems out there don’t do this…they treat a device as either 0% complete or 100% complete.  This means those other systems are under-estimating the overall percent complete on projects.

And why would you want to do that?

Want to learn more about XForms Cx?