Milestone Trend Analysis (MTA)
Use
Milestone trend analysis is a simple method for analyzing the dates in a project and comparing them with planned data. You use it to recognize trends and deviations from the planned schedule quickly .
The scheduled dates of the milestones, which are relevant for the course of the project, are compared at various points in time. Deviations from the planned schedule are made apparent. In the graphical form a MTA chart is used, which is triangular where the sides are the times axes. The milestone dates are plotted against the report dates.
If the project runs according to plan, the curve remains horizontal. If the project deviates from plan, the curve rises (delay) or falls (in advance) with time.
Prerequisites
Flag the corresponding milestones as being relevant for Trend analysis.
On the chosen report dates create project versions, which also have the Relevant for MTA indicator set (at least one version is necessary for MTA).
Reschedule if you want to use data from the operative project or a simulation version and update this data.
Features
You can call up the milestone trend analysis from either the information system or the project planning board. It displays the dates of the relevant milestones in a project (or part of a project) at different report dates both in graphical and tabular form.
In the Information System you can limit the number of milestones to be displayed by using the usual selection facilities.
Either basic dates or forecast dates are used. Actual dates have priority over scheduled dates.
The information about the previous states of project is taken from the project versions This is compared with the current milestone data. In the project planning board you can use data from a simulation version instead of from the operative project.
In the milestone trend analysis, you can choose between two views:
- Historical curve
This standard view displays those milestones that have the MTA indicator set at the time of the current report.
These milestones are displayed across the entire reporting period, also when the indicator was not set for them at an earlier reporting time.
- Historical milestones
In this view, those milestones for which the MTA indicator was set at an earlier reporting time are displayed. The indicator is not set for them for the current reporting period.
After selection, you can restrict both the milestones and the reporting time for the display.
In the tabular display the report dates and the dates of the relevant milestones are shown. You can go to the milestone detail screens directly from this table.
For more details about the function, refer to Executing the Milestone Trend Analysis
You can print the milestone trend analysis using the print command in the context menu.
Class 4 Chart Types
The Gantt chart and milestone trend analysis (MTA) chart types belong to class 4.
Gantt Chart
In a Gantt chart, you can illustrate the time progression of projects and their substeps. You can also group these substeps in categories.
The time is displayed on the X axis and the substeps and categories are displayed on the Y axis. If you created categories, all substeps are displayed separately for each category on the Y axis.
You can display the time in days or you can use start and end times:
●Start Date
●Start Time
●End Date
●End Time
All combinations of start and end points are supported:
●Start DateEnd Date
●Start DateStart Time & End Date
●Start TimeEnd Time
If you select Start Time as the start point, the system uses the current data as the Start Date.
If you select Start Date or End Date as the start point or end point, the system fills Start Time and End Time with the value 0:00. This is particularly important for the interpretation of end points in the Gantt chart (see below).
Data Provider
You build the table on which a Gantt chart is based as follows:
●The table must contain at least two data columns. The first column determines the start point; the second column determines the end point.
●In addition to the start points and end points, categories are also entered in the data columns. You must make at least one entry (data column) for the start point and end point for each category.
Example Table for Gantt Chart
The example illustrates a table for a Gantt chart; it contains three categories and no data for some start and end times. The substeps are the Project Steps:Chart, Object Services, and Web Runtime. The categories are the Work Packages: Concept Creation, Specification, and Solution Validation.
Chart
Example of a Gantt Chart
In the example, the categories Concept Creation, Specification, and Solution Validation are displayed from bottom to top on the Y axis. The substeps are included in accordance with the data in the underlying table, that is, only Chart and Web Runtime are included for the Concept Creation category because no data is specified for the Object Servicessubstep.
The start point and end points for the substeps are displayed on the X axis (month, day).
Milestone Trend Analysis (MTA)
The milestone trend analysis enables you to monitor the contents of the project progression. You define the milestones and can schedule appointments and display any deviations.
The Y axis is defined as the target time axis with the scheduled milestones; the X axis represents the actual time axis. The appointments for project meetings (reporting times) are recorded on this X axis. In these project meetings, for each milestone, each owner is asked about the upcoming fulfillment date. The fulfillment dates named are entered into the chart using the meeting time. A forecast curve is produced for each milestone:
●If target and actual times coincide, the milestone for the scheduled time has been reached and the forecast curve runs horizontally.
●If the milestone is moved during the project meetings to a later time, the forecast curve rises.
●If the milestone is moved during the project meetings to an earlier time, the forecast curve drops.
Data Provider
You build the underlying table for a milestone trend analysis as follows:
●The table must contain at least two data columns. The first column determines the reporting time; the second column determines the milestone.
●You can add further pairs of data columns to the table. The table can consist of 2, 4, 6, and so on, data columns.
Chart
Special Features
The milestone trend analysis can also be created without categories, which means it contains data series only.