How to create a site plan simulation with milestones

In this tutorial you will learn about the concept of milestones, and how milestones are used to create the steps of the site plan simulation.

Summary

• The site plan simulation is created by assigning project tasks to time-steps known as milestones
• Use the milestone manager, located in the top center of the screen to create and edit milestones manually or import a schedule to automatically convert scheduled tasks into milestones
• Upon creating the scenario the site has one default milestone - 'Project Start'

Milestone Management

• See edit options from the three dots on the milestone card
• To access the milestone manager table view: Click the three dots, and select Milestone manager

To add a new milestone; either:

• Click the plus button [+]
• Enter a name and date and press enter (or click off) to confirm
• From the table view, click the three dots on an existing milestone
• +Add milestone
• Select either Add before or Add after, the existing milestone

• Import Schedule

To edit a milestone; either:

• Double click the name or date on the milestone manager
• Or, click the three dots, followed by Edit name and date
• Click Delete to remove the milestone
• Press enter (or click off) to confirm

• From the table view, double-click the millstone name or date
• Or, click the three dots on the milestone
• Click Edit name or Edit date
• Click Delete to remove the milestone

View & Navigation Options

To navigate through the milestones:

• Click the side arrows [<] [>] on either side of the card to move forward or backward
• Alternatively, use the key shortcut of CTRL + L/R arrow keys
• Click Go to milestone to navigate to a selected milestone in the table view
• Click Current milestone to go to the nearest milestone to today's date

To customize the milestone view:

• To change the milestone index - click the three dots on the milestone manager, followed by View
• Select from weekly (wk), monthly (mo), or a custom index (ms) to show on the milestone manager
• To see all milestones - click the three dots on the milestone manager, followed by Multiple View
• Finally, as mentioned, to see the table view, click the three dots, followed by Milestone manager

What is a Milestone?

• A milestone is the name cmBuilder uses to refer to a phase of work in the logistics or construction plan
• cmBuilder can be analogized to a flip-book animation, where each page is a milestone, and the development of the site will be shown in the final presentation
• A milestone needs to be created to show changes occurring, and thus each scheduled stage of work

Example Sequence:

A simulation attempting to capture the major stages of work may include some of the following milestones:

1. Site setup and Mobilization
2. Excavation (1, 2 , etc.)
3. Foundation
4. SOG
5. Level 1
6. Level 2
7. Level 3 and so on
8. Envelope
9. Podium
10. And so on

Further Reading:

Model Browser (Tree) - For more information on using the model tree to sequence the building model

Resource Sequencing - For more information on how to sequence resources