Strengthening Schedule Integrity at Scale: How SSE Improved Programme Reviews
About SSE
Name: David Leslie
Job Title: Planning Manager – SSEN Transmission (SSE)
Industry: Energy
How Scheduling and Project Planning Fit into My Daily Work
In my role, I manage a large portfolio of projects, overseeing contractor programme submissions and ensuring they meet required standards. A key part of my team’s work involves reviewing complex schedules, maintaining integrity, and ensuring compliance with NEC requirements while supporting effective project delivery.
Before Using XER Schedule Toolkit
Challenges Faced
Before adopting XER Schedule Toolkit, we were managing a vast portfolio of projects, each requiring monthly reviews of contractor programme submissions.
These programmes often contained thousands of activities, with significant changes month-to-month. Ensuring schedule integrity and NEC compliance across all submissions was extremely time-consuming and required a high level of manual effort.
This made it difficult to consistently and efficiently review programmes while still focusing on key risks and improvements.
Limitations of Previous Solutions
We did not rely on a specific alternative tool, which meant much of the analysis was carried out manually.
This approach was labour-intensive, time-consuming, and made it challenging to standardise reporting and ensure consistency across programme reviews.
Your Experience with XER Schedule Toolkit
Why We Chose XER Schedule Toolkit
We chose XER Schedule Toolkit based on its strong reputation within the industry.
Getting Started
The onboarding process was simple and straightforward. Only basic information was required, and the setup was completed efficiently.
A training session was provided to the team, enabling users to quickly understand the tool and start gaining value from it.
What I Like Most
What stands out most is the simplicity and efficiency of the platform.
Key schedule information can be extracted with a single click, something that would otherwise be highly labour-intensive. The tool offers functionality similar to Primavera P6, with customisable layouts and a much cleaner, more accessible interface.
It has also enabled non-P6 users to access and engage with schedules beyond static PDFs, which has been highly beneficial for wider project and operational teams.
The Impact & Results
Key Improvements
The most noticeable improvement has been time efficiency.
Teams can now extract key information quickly, allowing them to focus on critical areas rather than spending time gathering and analysing data manually.
Efficiency Gains
XER Schedule Toolkit has significantly improved efficiency across programme reviews.
Comprehensive checks are now carried out consistently across all programmes, supported by standardised reporting. Tasks that previously required extensive administrative effort can now be completed far more efficiently.
This has resulted in an estimated saving of up to two days per programme, allowing teams to focus on higher-value activities such as:
- Risk identification
- Mitigation planning
- Programme improvement
Measured Benefits
- Significant time savings (up to two days per programme)
- Standardised and consistent programme reviews
- Reduced manual effort in schedule analysis
- Improved focus on risk and key project areas
- Greater accessibility for non-P6 users
Recommendation
Would I Recommend XER Schedule Toolkit?
Yes, XER Schedule Toolkit provides a structured and efficient approach to analysing schedules.
It supports the identification of key programme issues, logic gaps, and compliance with planning standards, all within a simple and intuitive interface that works across varying levels of experience.
What I’d Say to Someone Who’s Unsure
Trial XER Toolkit. It is straightforward to use and doesn’t require a significant time investment to start seeing value.
The team behind the tool are knowledgeable and supportive, making onboarding smooth and helping users fully realise its benefits.
Summary
David Leslie, Planning Manager at SSEN Transmission (SSE) in the Energy sector, implemented XER Schedule Toolkit to improve the efficiency and consistency of reviewing complex contractor programmes across a large project portfolio. Previously, manual analysis of thousands of activities per programme was time-consuming and difficult to standardise. With XER Schedule Toolkit, David and his team can now carry out comprehensive checks quickly, extract key insights in a single click, and produce consistent reporting across all submissions. The tool has saved up to two days per programme, reduced administrative effort, and enabled teams to focus on risk mitigation and programme improvement. David highly recommends XER Schedule Toolkit for its simplicity, efficiency, and ability to deliver immediate value.