Abstract
Abstract : The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces a dilemma in seeking to automate construction project scheduling with Critical Path Method (CPM) software systems, because each vendor uses its own proprietary data format. To purchase and learn eaqh system used by various contractors would be expensive and time consuming. Yet specifying a system leaves the Corps open to charges of giving unfair advantage to contractors using that particular system. Requiring contractors to provide hardware, software, and training for any CPM scheduling system differing from the one specified by the Corps can keep a contractor from being able to submit a competitive bid on a smaller project. The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USACERL) has been working on a solution: establishing a standard data format that provides a common ground between proprietary systems. This report chronicles the development of this format, named the Standard Data Exchange Format (SDEF). Appendix A to this report is a draft of the SDEF specifications. Additionally, this report evaluates how well the following commercially available systems conform to the SDEF: AlderGraf (AlderGraf Systems, Inc.); OpenPlan (Welcom Software Technology Corporation); PMS-80 (Pinnell-Busch, Inc.); PPMS 30,000 Version 4.02 (Advanced Project Approach, Inc.), and Primavera (Primavera Systems, Inc.). (MM)
Published Version
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