Most projects have deadlines. And it is possible to display deadline markers directly on the Gantt chart in Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) scheduling software.
If you are looking for a way to measure progress towards a deadline using an activity constraint and total float in the activities table refer to the following blog Monitoring Deadline Dates in Primavera P6 EPPM.
But if all you really want are static deadline markers on the Gantt chart this article is for you. Passive Gantt chart deadline markers and label is achievable in Primavera P6 EPPM.
This article demonstrates the insertion of a passive deadline marker on the Primavera P6 EPPM release 16.1, Standard view, Gantt chart.
Our demonstration schedule is displayed in Figure 1.
Figure 1
This is pipe repair project. We want to display a contract completion date (CCD) marker following the project completion date finish milestone. Generating this deadline marker requires the definition of a few user defined fields (UDF). To create the UDFs for this schedule go to Administer | Enterprise data, Figure 2.
Figure 2
In Enterprise data select Activity UDFs, Figure 3.
Figure 3
Add three additional UDFs, again, Figure 3. Name the first deadline start and assign the data type start date. We name the second deadline finish and set the data type to finish date. Finally, name a third UDF deadline and make it a text field.
Now that we have defined our UDFs, display activities and select the project completion date milestone, Figure 4.
Figure 4
Add the following Activity User Defined category columns deadline start, deadline finish, and deadline. Make the deadline start and finish dates 18-Jun-2019. Add the text Deadline to the deadline field. Great! Now our UDFs are populated for the CCD milestone activity.
Continue and select Customize View, Figure 5.
Figure 5
In the Customize View dialog select the Bars tab, Figure 6.
Figure 6
Choose + Add | Bar. Make the new bar type User Defined, Figure 7.
Figure 7
Name the bar Deadline. Set the start date field to deadline start and the finish date field to deadline finish, Figure 7. Save the bar definition. Proceed and select + Add | Label, Figure 8.
Figure 8
Set the label field to our deadline text UDF, Figure 9.
Figure 9
Place the label on the right of the associated bar. (You can click, drag, and drop the label into position) The final schedule including a Gantt chart deadline marker is displayed in Figure 10.
Figure 10
In Figure 11 we progress the schedule one week to confirm that our deadline marker stays fixed on 18-Jun-2019, while the project completion date delays.
Figure 11
And now we know our project is behind schedule, according to our deadline displayed on the Gantt chart.
Summary
The Gantt chart is at the heart and center of scheduling software. You therefore will want to display any CCD directly on the Gantt chart. This helps the project team keep focus on stakeholder expectations for time constrained projects. In Primavera P6 EPPM release 16.1 Standard view, you can define Gantt chart passive deadline markers and labels. These markers remain static, and help the scheduler gauge progress in relation to the expected CCD.