by Joe Appleyard | May 21, 2025 | News
XER Toolkit 1.2 Is Here — You Asked, We Delivered
At XER Schedule Toolkit, we’ve always believed that powerful tools shouldn’t feel complicated. Managing schedules should be smooth, intuitive, and fast — because your time is too valuable to spend wrestling with clunky software.
That’s why Release 1.2 is all about one thing – you!
Every new feature and improvement in this release is a direct result of your feedback. You told us what could be better, and we went to work.
Now, we’re excited to share what’s new.
📁 Upload Projects Directly Into Folders
We heard loud and clear that organising schedules needed to be easier. With 1.2, it is.
Now, when you upload a project, you can drop it straight into the folder where it belongs — no dragging, no rearranging afterwards. Just click the three-dot menu on the folder, hit Import Project, and you’re done. One step. No fuss.
🔀 Move Projects Without Dragging
Dragging projects between folders felt clunky to many of you. So, we’ve added a new way.
Now, just open the project’s menu, click Move Project, choose the folder, and you’re sorted. It’s simple, smooth, and keeps you in the flow. Drag and drop is still there — but now, you’ve got a faster option.
🔍 Sort Projects the Way You Want
When you’re managing lots of projects, being able to sort them quickly makes all the difference.
You’ll now find a new sorting option at the bottom of the Projects page. Choose to view by Title or Progress Date — whichever helps you stay on top of things. Whether you’ve got a few active schedules or hundreds, staying organised just got a whole lot easier.
📄 Export Your Dashboard to PDF
This one’s been a big request — and it’s finally here!
You can now export your dashboard straight to a PDF. That means the same clear, customisable dashboard you use every day can now be dropped into reports, stakeholder updates, board packs — anywhere you need to show progress in a clean, visual format.
Built in XER Schedule Toolkit, shared wherever you need it.
👤 Know Who Assigned Your Licence
Transparency is important — especially when it comes to access and permissions.
Now, every user can see exactly who allocated their XER Schedule Toolkit licence. If you ever need help or have questions about your access, the right contact is right there in your account settings. No more guesswork.
📥 Import Users in Bulk — Fast
Managing big teams used to mean adding users one at a time. Not anymore.
Our new Mass User Import feature lets you handle large groups with ease. Export your user list to Excel, make changes or additions, and re-import it into XER Schedule Toolkit. It’s quick, efficient, and built to scale with you.
🧩 Soft and Hard Constraint Checks: Smarter Logic, Stronger Schedules
Not all constraints behave the same — and now, XER Schedule Toolkit helps you spot the difference.
Soft Constraints These allow flexibility in your plan — but too much can leave tasks floating and your timeline uncertain. Now, you’ll know exactly where that’s happening.
Hard Constraints These lock dates in place, which might seem useful — but they can hide risks, disrupt logic, and limit adaptability. We’ll flag those too.
These new checks give you clearer insight into your schedule’s structure, helping you spot where things might go off track. Why it matters:
- More transparency across your schedules
- A critical path that stays realistic and adaptable
- Early warnings before issues arise
Whether you’re reviewing supplier inputs, coaching junior planners, or pushing for portfolio-wide quality — this update helps you build logic you can trust.
🔍Sharper Schedule Insights, Same Trusted Integrity Checks
Running integrity checks across multiple schedules just got smarter.
Previously, results were grouped into a single overview. Now, each schedule has its own dedicated summary — giving you clearer, project-specific insights without losing the speed of bulk testing.
What’s new:
- Individual Breakdowns – Review results for each schedule separately
- Improved Audit Trails – Ideal for governance and assurance
- Faster Navigation – No more filtering; everything’s side by side
- Stronger Insights – Spot patterns and issues across your portfolio
Perfect for frameworks, supply chain reviews, or period-end reporting — this upgrade builds on what you already trust, just with more clarity and control.
Enterprise only
This update is about more than new features. It’s about removing the friction — those little annoyances that slow you down — so you can focus on what really matters: delivering great projects.
And this is just the beginning.
We’re not here to guess what you need. We’re building XER Schedule Toolkit with you, step by step. Your feedback drives everything we do, and we’re already working on what’s next.
If you’d like to join the conversation, CLICK HERE to join our forum!
by Joe Appleyard | Apr 14, 2025 | News
In the demanding world of project management, keeping schedules clear, updated, and accessible is essential. Yet, project managers often face the daunting challenge of maintaining accurate schedules, tracking changes, and ensuring efficient collaboration across teams and stakeholders.
XER Schedule Toolkit is transforming this landscape, offering a cloud-based solution that brings efficiency and clarity to the scheduling process.
Project management requires not just technical precision but also the ability to communicate effectively and coordinate with diverse teams.
Traditionally, this involved cumbersome manual processes, complex data sharing, and the constant risk of miscommunication. XER Schedule Toolkit changes this by offering a streamlined, accessible, and intuitive platform that puts scheduling control back into the hands of project teams.
One of the most significant benefits of XER Schedule Toolkit is its online accessibility. Consultant Seth Richard, who uses the tool for quick health checks and comparisons, highlights how the platform’s online nature makes his work smoother. “I love that it’s online, allowing me to access schedules from anywhere—even in a coffee shop,” he says.
Whether logging in from the office, home, or a remote location, users experience fast and efficient results. By bringing the power of Primavera P6-style planning to any location, XER Schedule Toolkit liberates project professionals from the constraints of the office desk.
A typical Monday morning might involve sharing the latest project timeline with both the team and clients. Traditionally, this meant exporting static PDFs or juggling screenshots—cumbersome and prone to version issues.
But with XER Schedule Toolkit, sharing schedules is refreshingly simple. Project Director for Marsh Wagner, Gary Bulla, calls it “user-friendly” and appreciates how it “makes sharing P6 data with non-P6 users effortless.”
This streamlined sharing process ensures that stakeholders can zoom into activities, milestones, or critical paths directly through their web browsers, without needing specialised software. Jim Lee, a veteran scheduler, finds that this ease of sharing extends externally too: “It makes sending updates to contractors seamless and has saved me a lot of money!”
With contractors and team members all viewing the same live schedule, miscommunication drops significantly, and collaboration takes off. Roger Hay, a construction planning lead for Sheffield Forgemasters, calls XER Schedule Toolkit “the ultimate collaboration tool for construction projects,” predicting it will become “the go-to platform for collaborative programme management on major construction projects.”
Keeping track of changes between schedule versions is a crucial aspect of project management. XER Schedule Toolkit’s comparison view makes this effortless, instantly highlighting every modification across dates, durations, and dependencies. Instead of manually cross-checking schedules, the tool clearly identifies what has changed, helping project managers zero in on the shifts that matter.
Andrew Sargent, Senior Director for The Vertex Companies, appreciates how it “makes schedule comparison easy and provides valuable insights into project management.”
Gary Bulla agrees, noting that the comparison feature “Saves me time by quickly identifying the items I need to investigate.” Instead of sifting through thousands of lines to spot a few tweaks, XER Schedule Toolkit provides a concise, color-coded difference report.
Whether updates come from Primavera P6, Asta Powerproject, or Microsoft Project, the toolkit’s comprehensive comparison ensures that nothing slips through the cracks. For project managers balancing constantly changing schedules, this feature alone can feel like a superpower.
Of course, a schedule is only as good as its integrity. Before XER Schedule Toolkit, ensuring a plan met industry best practice often meant hours running complex checklists or using proprietary tools. The toolkit’s automated health check transforms this process, identifying issues like dangling logic, out-of-sequence progress, and compliance with contracts (e.g., NEC) in moments.
Martin Murphy, Director at Hill International, highlights how the toolkit “removes subjectivity” and provides “clear, objective insights” into schedule quality. Neal Taylor, Director at RLB, echoes this sentiment, noting that XER Schedule Toolkit has “significantly reduced the time we spend analysing programme integrity and identifying problem areas.”
Delivering polished schedule updates and executive reports is also far more efficient with XER Schedule Toolkit. Say goodbye to messy exports or cutting and pasting into spreadsheets. With one click, the toolkit can transform a schedule into a well-formatted Excel report or a sharable dashboard, tailored for the intended audience.
Luke Medhurst, Managing Director for Keystone Project Advisory, praises the Excel export for its clarity: “The Toolkit generates well-formatted Excel Gantt charts that make it easy to gather and share status updates with clients from P6.”
If Excel isn’t preferred, XER Schedule Toolkit’s customisable dashboards offer a dynamic window into the project. Users can choose key metrics – like upcoming deadlines or progress by team and have these visualised instantly whenever they log in. This ensures that when a progress meeting comes around, data is ready to share, enhancing clarity and saving preparation time.
Despite its robust functionality, XER Schedule Toolkit remains accessible to users of all technical backgrounds. Rick Saunders, Managing Director for C-Sky Project Controls Consultancy, appreciates the platform’s straightforward approach, saying, “What I appreciate most about the XER Schedule Toolkit is its simplicity – in the best way possible. It’s not overcomplicated; it’s direct and effective.”
Martin Murphy adds that the toolkit is “a complete, high-quality tool that’s simple, hassle-free… and incredibly effective.”
There’s a lightness to using XER Schedule Toolkit that makes it genuinely enjoyable—a rarity in project management software.
Users often describe a sense of relief in how the tool streamlines tasks, from comparing schedules to generating reports. As Gary Bulla succinctly puts it, the toolkit “gives him time back in his day,” and Luke Medhurst notes that it “turns confusion into clarity” when communicating with clients.
In an industry where the goal is to be on time and on budget, XER Schedule Toolkit is becoming the go-to tool for project teams looking to maintain clarity and control. Its reputation as a practical and efficient solution continues to grow, largely through word of mouth from professionals who appreciate how it transforms project scheduling from chaos to clarity.
by Joe Appleyard | Apr 8, 2025 | News
The construction industry is often seen as resistant to change. Traditional methods are deeply embedded, and there’s a reluctance to overhaul how things are done. But what if technology could enhance these familiar processes without disrupting them?
That’s the philosophy behind XER Schedule Toolkit – improving efficiency and collaboration without forcing teams to reinvent the wheel.
Enhancing, Not Replacing, Traditional Methods
Construction professionals are experts in their field. They know how to plan, execute, and manage projects—what they don’t need is software that demands they change how they work. XER Schedule Toolkit respects this by seamlessly integrating into existing workflows, enhancing what teams already do well.
Whether it’s comparing schedules, checking progress, or managing updates, the Toolkit makes these tasks faster and more accurate without requiring a complete overhaul.
One of the Toolkit’s core strengths is its ability to streamline schedule comparison. Instead of painstakingly tracking changes across multiple versions manually, the software highlights what’s new or different. This means that rather than spending time on repetitive admin tasks, teams can focus on interpreting the data and making strategic decisions.
Collaboration Without Complication
Effective communication is the backbone of any successful project. However, in construction, where teams are often dispersed across sites and offices, keeping everyone aligned can be a real challenge. XER Schedule Toolkit makes collaboration feel effortless.
By offering cloud-based access, it ensures that whether you’re on-site with a tablet or at your desk, you have the same up-to-date information as everyone else.
What makes it different is that it doesn’t demand that users adapt to a new way of sharing information. Instead, it enhances existing practices by making data more accessible. Whether it’s sharing schedule updates or tracking progress, it’s all about making the flow of information smoother rather than imposing new processes.
Precision Without Complexity
In the fast-paced world of construction, accuracy is non-negotiable. Whether you’re tracking costs, managing resources, or evaluating progress, every piece of data needs to be reliable. XER Schedule Toolkit integrates seamlessly into the project management process, offering insights without overwhelming users with complex setups or steep learning curves.
The integrity checker, for example, automates the process of validating schedule quality. This not only saves time but also ensures that potential issues are spotted before they cause problems. It’s technology acting as an assistant rather than an instructor—supporting decision-making without dictating how it should be done.
A Tool That Grows With Your Needs
One of the biggest fears in adopting new software is that it will become obsolete as project demands change. XER Schedule Toolkit is designed to adapt alongside your needs.
Whether you’re managing a single project or a portfolio of initiatives, the software scales effortlessly, keeping pace with your team’s evolving requirements.
This flexibility means that no matter how complex a project becomes, the Toolkit remains an asset rather than a burden. Instead of being locked into rigid workflows, teams can adjust their use of the software as needed, keeping productivity high without sacrificing accuracy or control.
Technology That Feels Familiar
The best technology is almost invisible—it works so well that it feels like a natural extension of what you’re already doing.
XER Schedule Toolkit embodies this philosophy. Instead of introducing radical changes, it refines and optimises traditional methods, allowing construction teams to embrace digital transformation without feeling overwhelmed.
By focusing on enhancing established practices rather than forcing new ones, XER Schedule Toolkit proves that technology doesn’t have to be intimidating. It’s a practical solution for modern construction management – one that respects the expertise of industry professionals while offering powerful new capabilities.
by Joe Appleyard | Apr 4, 2025 | News
Why PDFs Still Dominate Project Planning
PDFs have long been a staple in planning workflows due to their consistent formatting, ease of sharing, and universal accessibility. They offer a reliable snapshot of project schedules—easy to print, annotate, and share with stakeholders.
Their predictability across devices makes them a go-to format, especially when dealing with non-technical audiences.
The Problem with Static Documents
Despite their reliability, PDFs can quickly become outdated. A printed schedule marked up in a meeting may be forgotten or lost days later, and it’s often difficult to track why delays occurred based on scattered notes.
This static nature leads to inefficient record-keeping and increases the risk of missing critical information.
Hidden Costs of Relying on PDFs
Using PDFs may feel familiar, but it creates a disjointed system. Planners often juggle separate notes, printed documents, and meeting minutes just to stay organised—wasting time and increasing project risk.
Over time, this fragmented workflow can lead to higher costs and lost insights.
Digital Tools Aren’t Just for Big Budgets
There’s a common misconception that dynamic planning platforms are expensive. In reality, tools like XER Schedule Toolkit are designed to scale for teams of all sizes, making them cost-effective for any project.
Rather than being an added expense, they’re an investment in efficiency, accuracy, and risk reduction.
A Cultural Shift is Needed
The continued use of PDFs is often down to habit and the reassurance of stability. But clinging to outdated methods can hold organisations back from embracing smarter, more collaborative approaches.
Moving beyond PDFs means rethinking planning as a live, evolving process.
How XER Schedule Toolkit Transforms Planning
XER Schedule Toolkit replaces static documents with a live, interactive schedule. Users can update progress, flag delays, and assign responsibility—all in real time.
Every action is recorded and timestamped, creating a clear audit trail and removing the need for separate logs or manual tracking.
This approach boosts transparency, reduces admin, and turns stakeholders into active participants rather than passive recipients of PDF reports.
by Joe Appleyard | Feb 27, 2025 | News
In project scheduling, accuracy and reliability are critical. However, a common issue that often goes undetected is out-of-sequence (OOS) progress—when actual work does not follow the planned sequence of activities.
This can significantly distort scheduling forecasts, misrepresent project progress, and introduce delays that impact overall project success.
What is Out-of-Sequence Progress?
Out-of-sequence progress occurs when an activity starts or finishes before its predecessor is completed, violating the intended logic of the schedule. This deviation can have significant consequences, including:
- Misleading schedule forecasts – The critical path may be distorted, making it difficult to predict project completion accurately.
- Incorrect float calculations – Free and total float values become unreliable, affecting decision-making.
- Resource allocation challenges – Planned dependencies may no longer reflect the actual order of work, leading to inefficiencies.
- Compromised as-built records – Historical data may not accurately reflect how work was executed, reducing its value for future projects.
Why is This Problem So Important?
Schedules are used for more than just tracking progress; they are crucial for forecasting, resource management, contractual claims, and forensic analysis. When out-of-sequence progress is ignored, it introduces uncertainty into all these areas. A project team relying on inaccurate data can make costly mistakes, such as:
- Misallocating resources due to unreliable activity relationships.
- Overlooking the real drivers of project delays.
- Creating misleading As-Built schedules, which can cause disputes in claims analysis.
One of the biggest challenges with out-of-sequence progress is that many scheduling tools fail to properly track historical logic violations. These tools focus primarily on future-looking schedules, rather than analysing whether past execution followed the intended plan.
The Limitations of Primavera P6
While Primavera P6 is widely used for schedule management, it does not have a dedicated feature to check for historic out-of-sequence logic violations. P6 does provide warnings for out-of-sequence activities, but these warnings are limited and do not provide a structured report for users to analyse and correct these violations efficiently.
This gap in P6 means that many projects unknowingly carry logic errors in their schedules, reducing the accuracy of both current progress assessments and retrospective project evaluations.
Tracking and Addressing OOS Progress
To maintain schedule accuracy and reliability, project teams should:
- Identify out-of-sequence progress regularly.
- Analyse why these deviations occur—whether due to changes in execution, incorrect logic, or unforeseen delays.
- Adjust schedule dependencies or update execution plans to align with real-world conditions.
- Ensure As-Built records reflect actual execution for accurate future planning and claims support.
By systematically tracking out-of-sequence progress, teams can improve their schedule integrity, ensure realistic forecasts, and minimise costly errors.
The Role of Historic Logic in Schedule Integrity
Historic schedule logic is essential for accurate As-Built analysis. If scheduling software does not verify whether planned relationships were maintained, historical project data becomes unreliable. This affects:
- Forensic schedule analysis – Inaccurate historical data makes it difficult to determine the root causes of delays.
- Lessons learned for future projects – Incorrect As-Built data reduces the reliability of reference schedules.
- Contractual discrepancies– A lack of verified historical logic can weaken claims and project narratives.
- Ensuring Schedule Integrity for Better Project Outcomes
By recognising the impact of out-of-sequence progress and actively addressing it, project teams can:
- Maintain accurate and actionable schedules.
- Reduce schedule-driven risks and inefficiencies.
- Improve the quality of As-Built records for future analysis.
- Ensure contractual clarity and accurate claims analysis.
Understanding and managing out-of-sequence progress is essential for reliable project scheduling. By implementing structured methods to track and correct logic violations, project teams can ensure that their schedules remain a true reflection of actual work performed.
Would you like to be one of the first users to try our new out-of-sequence check? Click here to sign up for your FREE 30 day trial today
by Joe Appleyard | Feb 25, 2025 | News
In today’s digital landscape, security and access control are paramount in project management.
Many of our clients are required to store project data within specific jurisdictions due to regulatory or contractual obligations.
Ensuring compliance with these requirements is critical for secure collaboration and maintaining trust with stakeholders.
Managing a complex schedule requires collaboration across multiple stakeholders, but without the right security measures, project data can become vulnerable. XER Schedule Toolkit is already built with strong security foundations, holding Cyber Essentials Plus certification and leveraging the robust AWS server network to ensure top-tier protection.
However, XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise License goes beyond this, offering enhanced security features such as seamless integration with your company’s Single Sign-On (SSO). This ensures secure access while maintaining compliance with corporate security policies.
Additionally, multiple SSO configurations can be supported, allowing different companies to collaborate securely without compromising authentication integrity. With AWS-hosted solutions in a location of your choice, you also have full control over where your project data is stored, eliminating concerns over data sovereignty.
Seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) Integration
With XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise License, companies can integrate Single Sign-On (SSO) security, allowing users to access the system using their existing corporate credentials while maintaining strict security controls. This eliminates the need for multiple logins, reducing password fatigue and improving user experience.
Additionally, SSO enhances security by centralising authentication management, reducing the risk of unauthorised access. By leveraging corporate identity providers such as Azure AD, Okta, and Google Workspace, organisations can ensure multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement and role-based access control (RBAC), further strengthening data security. This not only streamlines login processes but also ensures compliance with stringent security policies and regulatory requirements.
Multi-SSO for True Collaboration
Unlike many other project control solutions, XER Schedule Toolkit can support multiple SSO configurations. This means that different companies working on the same project can each use their own authentication systems while still securely accessing shared project data. Whether working with joint ventures, contractors, or clients, data remains protected while maintaining a collaborative workflow.
Built on Industry-Leading Security Standards
Security doesn’t stop at authentication. XER Schedule Toolkit is designed with multiple layers of protection, ensuring that your project data is safeguarded from unauthorised access and cyber threats.
- Cyber Essentials Plus Certified – XER Schedule Toolkit holds the Cyber Essentials Plus Certification, a government-backed standard that validates our strong cybersecurity measures. This certification demonstrates our commitment to protecting project data through industry-recognised best practices, including rigorous testing of our security controls to ensure a secure environment for all users.
- Hosted on Secure AWS Servers – XER Schedule Toolkit is built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), leveraging world-class infrastructure and security compliance.
- AWS provides encryption, access controls, and monitoring tools to keep data safe from external threats.
- Your Data, Your Location
Concerned about data sovereignty? With XER Schedule Toolkit, you don’t need to worry about where your data is stored. We offer the flexibility to host your project data in the AWS region of your choice, ensuring compliance with local regulations and corporate data policies.
Advanced License Management for Enterprise Users
XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise License is a standalone instance used exclusively by your company, ensuring complete control over data security and access.
It provides organisations with enhanced control over user access and project oversight, ensuring efficient and secure management of scheduling data. XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise License provides organisations with enhanced control over user access and project oversight, ensuring efficient and secure management of scheduling data.
- Enterprise-Level Access Control – Multiple super users can be designated to manage user access at an enterprise level, allowing structured and secure administration.
- Comprehensive Project & Usage Insights – Super users have visibility into active projects, user engagement, and overall toolkit utilisation, helping optimise resource allocation and project oversight.
- Additionally, they can identify and remove inactive users who have not accessed schedules, further reducing data entry point vulnerabilities and enhancing security.
- Centralised User Management – Password resets can be managed centrally, reducing IT workload while maintaining security and seamless access control.
- Customisable Access Restrictions – Administrators can restrict menu options and feature visibility, ensuring users only access the tools relevant to their roles, improving both security and usability across the
- enterprise.
Why Security Matters in Project Scheduling
In large-scale projects, multiple stakeholders need access to scheduling data, including contractors, suppliers, and project managers. Without proper access control, sensitive project information could be exposed to unauthorised users or compromised due to weak security measures. With XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise security features, you get:
- Granular access control – Define who can view, edit, or share project data.
- Seamless but secure collaboration – Work with external partners without the risk of exposing critical information.
Future-Proof Your Project Data Security
With cyber threats evolving rapidly, companies must ensure their scheduling tools are not just collaborative but also secure. XER Schedule Toolkit’s Enterprise License provides enterprise-grade security, seamless access control, and compliance with industry standards, ensuring your project schedules remain protected at all times.
For organisations looking to enhance their project security, XER Schedule Toolkit offers a comprehensive, cloud-based solution that balances collaboration with uncompromising security.
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