Thursday, July 19, 2018

UniPhi 14 - More and expanded template controls

From the day our resident genius +Murray Stiles developed the UniPhi template system way back in 2003, we've been using it to automate project status reports. To be honest, we have had mixed success. However, as the Indian in the Clint Eastwood classic "the Outlaw Josey Wales" once prosaically stated, we must endeavour to persevere. UniPhi 14 has six key new or expanded template controls that will hopefully increase the quantity of PCG reports being produced out of UniPhi.

These new features are split into three categories for the use cases they are looking to support - 1) General improvements applicable to all types of documents, 2) Cost Plan Report changes and 3) PCG report

General Template Improvements
  1. Added the ability to auto generate document names using template variables. This is a great feature that can standardise document naming to a common convention....the holy grail!
  2. Documents: Changed the line height of list items to match that of paragraphs.
  3. Custom CheckList template control now has a four column layout option.
  4. Distribution list template control now includes the Position of the relevant contact.
  5. Added a classification column to Distribution List template control.
  6. Document templates may mandate a minimum number of individuals required to sign off each document, in addition to the signoff roles being met.
  7. If a document has both an Autonumber step and a VariationOrder No or EOT No, the Autonumber will now take precedence in the document register.
Cost Plan Report Improvements
  1. Benchmark Elements template control that compares approved budget snapshots for a selection of projects.
  2. Budget Summary template control shows the level 2 codes plus any random other lines you wish to add into the Budget screen
  3. Budget Summary Text template control shows all text entered against the level 2 elements describing any assumptions, constraints etc. Note this data can come from underlying cost estimating tools that we integrate with. Ask us which ones and how to configure - our resident cost management expert Trudi Kirk will be able to assist.
  4. Budget template control: when showing the budget for a parent project, includes an option to show the budget breakdown for each child project as well.
PCG Report Improvements
  1. Document Register template control shows the metadata for a filtered list of signed off documents including document name and ID, author, date modified, etc.
  2. Issue Summary template control will now allow multi-select for projects when used in portfolio mode
  3. Issue Summary template control will now include issue custom fields as optional columns.
  4. Periodic Issue count template control now allows a subset of categories to be included/excluded from final output.
You can see an example of a PCG report being generated here:


And comparing two cost plans here:


If you liked this post, follow us on LinkedIn to make sure you don't miss the next one!

No comments: