Primavera P6 Professional may not show the correct completion date of your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) element or deliverable when filtering activities by start dates. The WBS summary activity, however, rectifies this situation.
Using the bars feature it is possible to display a summary bar finish date label. However, when filtering activities via start date the summary bar finish date reflects the finish date of only activities captured in the filter and not the actual finish date of the summary bar, i.e. the deliverable. This is a problem. You want the summary bar label to reflect the completion date of the deliverable. This is possible by inserting a WBS summary activity beneath each WBS element summary bar.
This article demonstrates a quick tip on how to insert the WBS summary activity to make the WBS summary bar reflect the correct completion date.
We have in Figure 1 our demonstration project.
Figure 1
This project schedule is for a Caribbean Resort Building Complex consisting of two hotel buildings, a restaurant, and a pool. In Figure 2 we have a filter to capture all construction starting in the next three months.
Figure 2
When we apply this filter the resulting schedule is displayed in Figure 3.
Figure 3
Note that the WBS element or deliverable finish dates of building 2 and the restaurant are incorrect. The summary bar labels of building 2 and the restaurant are displaying the finish date of all started activities and not necessarily the completion of the entire WBS element or deliverable, which is a problem.
To have the summary bar label reflect the entire duration of all deliverable activities we insert a WBS summary activity for each deliverable, Figure 4.
Figure 4
The WBS summary activity mimics the summary bar among its other features. Refer to the following link for a blog WBS Summary Activity Type in P6 Professional which introduces features of the WBS summary activity.
In Figure 5 we capture all construction commencing in the next three months, and our construction deliverables now reflect the correct completion finish dates.
Figure 5
Summary
The Primavera P6 summary bar finish date label may not necessarily reflect the correct completion date of the deliverable. This is particularly an issue when filtering activities. The only way to guarantee the summary bar displays the correct completion date of the deliverable when filtering is by insertion of a WBS summary activity. Thus, is demonstrated another utility of the WBS summary activity.