Integrated Master Scheduling program controls dashboard

Near-Critical Paths: What Schedulers Should Monitor

Critical Path & Float, IMS Fundamentals Critical Path, IMS, Integrated Master Schedule, Near-Critical Path By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

A near critical path schedule review identifies sequences of work that could soon control a program completion date or key milestone. These paths have more total float than the current

How to Review an IMS Before Customer Delivery

IMS Fundamentals, Schedule Health IMS, Integrated Master Schedule By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

An effective IMS schedule review confirms more than whether the file opens and passes a metric screen. Before customer delivery, the scheduler should verify contractual compliance, status integrity, network logic,

Schedule Assessment and DCMA schedule health dashboard

DCMA Logic Check: Missing Predecessors and Successors

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, Missing Logic, Schedule Health By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA missing logic check identifies incomplete schedule activities that lack a predecessor, a successor or both. The standard metric counts each affected activity once, divides that count by the

DCMA Lags Check Explained

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, Schedule Health, schedule lags By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA lags check measures how often positive lag appears in the logic relationships of an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS). The familiar screening target is approximately 5 percent or less.

DCMA Relationship Types and FS Logic

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, Schedule Health, Schedule Logic By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA relationship types metric measures the proportion of finish-to-start (FS), start-to-start (SS), finish-to-finish (FF) and start-to-finish (SF) relationships in a schedule. Under the commonly used 14-point assessment criteria, FS

DCMA Hard Constraints Check

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, Schedule Constraints, Schedule Health By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA hard constraints check measures the percentage of incomplete activities restricted by Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start No Later Than, or Finish No Later Than dates. The

DCMA Negative Float Check

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, negative float, Schedule Health By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA negative float check identifies incomplete schedule activities with total float below zero. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point assessment uses a goal of zero negative-float activities. Therefore,

DCMA High Duration Activities

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, High Duration Activities, Schedule Health By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

The DCMA high duration check identifies unfinished schedule activities with a baseline duration greater than 44 working days. Under the commonly used Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point schedule assessment,

How to Prepare an IMS for a Schedule Health Assessment

DCMA 14-Point Assessment DCMA, DCMA 14 point assessment, Schedule Health By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

An IMS schedule health check should test whether the Integrated Master Schedule is complete, logically sound, current and suitable for forecasting. Before the assessment, the scheduler should finish the status

Earned Value Management program controls dashboard

CPI vs SPI: What They Tell Program Managers

Forecasting & Variance Analysis CPI, earned value management, EVMS, SPI By Noah Smith August 21, 2026

CPI vs SPI is a comparison of cost efficiency and schedule efficiency within earned value management. The Cost Performance Index (CPI) shows how efficiently the program converts actual cost into

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