How can I generate s-curves in MS Project

[Bert]

Is it possible to generate and plot/print S-Curves to show the planned
completion of Project and a comparison curve to show the actual progress like
in Primavera?

 

[JulieS]

Hi Bert,

I believe you are talking about graphing earned value data. MS Project does
generate the data for earned value calculations including SPI, CPI, CV, SV,
etc. See Help in Project on Earned value for more information about what is
necessary to have this data in Project.

To graph the data, you will need to export the data to Excel and create the
graph in Excel.

If you view the Task Usage view, display the Analysis toolbar and click the
Analyze Timescaled Data in Excel button, that will start the Analyze
Timescaled Data Wizard. From the Wizard you can select what data you wish
to export to Excel and graph.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information about
Microsoft Project

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

You will have to export the data to excel to do charting. There is an add-in
which is titled "analyze timescaled data in excel" which will help you to
export the data you need. I'd start with exporting baseline work (for your
plan) actual work (for actual progress) and remaining work (for your
forecast) and then graphing. You might need to do some work in excel to
prepare the data. It has been a while, but I think it exports in hours (eg:
40h) so you might need to do a "find and replace" to replace the "h" with
nothing.

You can also write your own export routine. I have some examples here:
http://zo-d.com/blog/archives/programming.html
most specifically, this one might be a good starting point:
http://zo-d.com/blog/archives/examples/peanut-butter-sandwich-scheduling.html

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[davegb]

Is it possible to generate and plot/print S-Curves to show the planned
completion of Project and a comparison curve to show the actual progress like
in Primavera?

I think the other replies are what you're looking for. Just for the
record, I've seen S curves for various and sundry cash flows (like
labor, burdened or unburdened), EV, manhours, rebar, concrete, pipe,
electrical, structural steel and most anything else you can measure on
construction projects. They cover a lot of ground and have a lot more
uses than most people are aware of. And you could probably create one
based on most anything you track in Project. They're not so useful for
capital costs, overhead or civil work for obvious reasons.

Hope this helps in your world.