ECOS 5 TRAINING SELF-TRAINING...

©ESA – This training material is the property of ESA. It can be distributed within your organisation for the sole purpose of learning how to use ECOS. It cannot be used to propose paid training services. You may contact the ECOS Helpdesk([email protected]) to submit any request related to this training material.

of 125

ECOS 5 TRAINING

SELF-TRAINING MANUAL

Issue 2

Rev 3

Issue/Rev date: 13/12/2013

mailto:[email protected]


of 125

IMPORTANT UPDATES

The issue 2 of this Self-Training manual takes into account recent new rules as laid out into General Clauses and Conditions of ESA Contracts ESA/REG/002 rev.1 dated 07 February 2013.

The most significant change in preparing financial proposal and corresponding ECOS files is that the overheads on sub-contractors are not allowed anymore to be expressed as a percentage of the sub-contract price. Such expenses are now recovered charging the corresponding direct labour hours or are deemed to be included into the General and Administration expenses.

PSS-A forms have been revised. Issue 5 is now applicable since 25 February 2013.

The most significant change is that the new PSS-A2 layout now requires to indicate Average Sold Hours per Man-year per labour category to allow calculating Full Time Equivalent (FTE). This information is stored within the rate file and the resulting FTE appear on the PSS-A2.

The Travel Plan has also been included as Exhibit B to PSS-A2.



of 125

Table of Content

Introduction

The ECOS process flow charts

Getting familiar with the Graphical User Interface

Exercise 1 - Defining your environment

Exercise 2 - Creating a Project

Exercise 3 - Develop PT/WBS and Define/Send ITT

Exercise 4 - Performing Data Entry

Exercise 5 - Entering Payment Plan and data entry control

Exercise 6 - Sending ITT files – Data entry at Sub-cos levels

Exercise 7 - Generating Tender files – Integrating sub-cos tenders

Exercise 8 - Advanced feature – Using Product Libraries

Exercise 9 - Advanced feature – User WBS numbering

Exercise 10 – Advanced feature – Shifting dates for WBS blocks

Exercise 11 – Advanced feature - Dealing with Options and Alternates

Solutions

Report examples

Troubleshooting

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Annex A – Main screens presentation



of 125

Introduction This training manual has been developed to allow the ECOS Users to get familiar with ECOS 5. It is based a series of hands- on exercises that will allow the Users to progressively get familiar with the wide set of most commonly used features of the Application Software. ECOS 5 GUI has been totally revised with respect to previous versions so users of previous versions are invited to follow this training. In a self-training context, the training should take a normal working day (about 8 hours). After completion the trainees are deemed to have reached sufficient experience to be able to configure her/his own environment, to enter all data related to financial offers and handled by ECOS, to define and send ITT files to sub-contractors and to Select/Integrate tenders received from them in order to prepare an Integrated Tender to be sent to the upper tier. The training course will explain how to use ECOS in the most efficient manner in order to minimise time spent elaborating such files while guaranteeing high quality level in Price presentation. The last exercises of the series are presenting advanced features that allow to treat complex cases such as dealing with proposals including options or alternates or shifting block of dates to efficiently modify a financial proposal subject to procurement time table redefinition. Last but not least the troubleshooting section will tell what to do when some error messages would pop-up or if the application is becoming unstable. Even though this procedure will allow you to solve most of the problems encountered by yourself, it is important that you take a screen shot of such an error message and send it to the ECOS Help Desk so the instability cause can be tackled and/or proper guidance can be provided to explain what happened and what to do to avoid it in future unless a patch update will definitively resolve it. This training Manual should be kept for later re-use as a reference information in complement to the Integrated Help. We draw the attention of the reader on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) inserted at the end of this document. It contains very useful information that may significantly improve the ECOS experience. Trainees are invited to provide their feed-back in order to keep this document at its highest quality level. You may contact the ECOS Help Desk to do so ([email protected]).



of 125

The ECOS process flow chart (with sub-cos)



of 125

Getting familiar with the Graphical User Interface Here is a quick overview of the new ECOS layout implemented in this version 5

ECOS main screen organisation

IMPORTANT: Check Annex A: main screens presentation to get acquainted with the various type of screens

Main menu level 1 options

NB: Some menu options may not be selectable (appear in grey text) depending on context



of 125

Exercise 1- Defining your environment

After completion of this exercise, the trainee will be able to: Install ECOS / Activate ECOS Start ECOS Update ECOS Prepare work environment Creating Rate Files

ECOS Installation and activation If you have not yet installed ECOS 5, you may contact the ECOS Help Desk ([email protected]) that will provide you with all necessary instructions to download, install and activate the application.

ECOS 5 and ECOS 4 may coexist on the same computer since both applications are strictly independent In particular, program and data folders are different.

NOTE: You must be a registered ESA bidder in order to acquire an ECOS company code. This code will be necessary to activate the application and therefore be able to use it. This code identifies your organisation in all financial reports produced by ECOS.

Once installed and activated, you are now ready to use ECOS.

• Start of ECOS requires user identification. The default login is

USER: ADMIN PASSWORD: e5

ECOS requires regular updates, in order to always use the latest version. The instructor will show how to perform automatic and manual update.




of 125

Preparing work environment

Adjusting Preferences

• Select from Main Menu: Maintenance/Preferences…

NB: In ECOS 5, Data files from users are now stored into [My Documents/ECOS5] folder.

Backup (BCK) and Projects (PRJ) default folders may be changed by the User (although not recommended). To be noted that several Project directories can be created; this is particularly useful when creating a server-based configuration to manage a multi-users environment.

Also the default company code used when creating projects or rate files and the default printer can be adjusted here. If you do not have specific reasons to do so, we recommend not to change the directories default settings.

Changing these settings only makes sense when installing ECOS in a server-based configuration with multi-users access rights management (see menu option: Maintenance/Libraries/User Accounts). Such feature will not be treated in the frame of this training because it is rarely used. If you intend to implement ECOS in this configuration, please contact the ECOS Help Desk who will assist you in this task.

• Select from Main Menu: Maintenance/Colour selection

This menu option allows you to adapt background colours to your taste. You may try and save several sets of colours. Try it!



of 125

Three colours are being defined to better identify in which mode ECOS is: Maintenance, Data Entry or Tender

Maintenance is the mode that allows all preparatory works outside of specific project. No project file .ECS nor .TEN is opened in this mode.

Data Entry is the mode when working on a specific Project file (extension file name .ECS)

Tender is the mode when producing reports out of a tender file (extension file name .TEN)



of 125

Creating Rate Files (see Annex A0 for explanations on screen layout)

Normal situation: you create the rate file for your company.

Specific case: you create rate file(s) using the Company code of a (some) sub-contractor(s) to perform data entry of its (their) behalf. This is not recommended. The normal and better way to work is to send an ITT to the sub-contractors so they perform their own share of the work and you integrate their resulting tender.

In the specific context of this training We are going to create a series of rate files to get acquainted with rate file various features and to prepare the simulation of the overall process of the integration of an ECOS integrated Project file onto your PC. In this context we are going to play successively the role of all 4 companies involved.

• To create Rate file go to the following menu option:

When you need to modify or delete an already created rate file, you will use the menu option just below i.e. “Modify/Delete Rate File” that will access the list of already created rate files.

You may Backup and/or Restore a Rate File for instance to transfer a rate file to one of your colleague working on another Computer.

We now start the rate file creation,

• Enter the following information:



of 125

Headers

The following will apply for all the rate files that we are going to create.

• Provisional rate file, valid from June 2012 till December 2014, economic conditions set at June 2012.

We are also going to create variation and escalation tables that will be used for various rate files

Variation tables

• Labour rates variation:

IDE: VL, Title: Labour Variation

-2% in 2013, -1% in 2014,-0.5% in 2015

• G&A variation:

IDE: VG, Title: G&A Variation

-5% in 2013, -2% in 2014, -1% in 2015

Escalation tables

• The following Escalation table is created:

IDE EL, Title: Labour Escalation

2% per year from 2013 till 2018.

• Materials Escalation:

IDE: EM, Title: Materials escalation

1% per year from 2013 till 2018.



of 125

To enter these tables you need to go there:

To note the calculation difference when the yearly change applies to rates (absolute figure) and

when it applies to percentages (Overheads or Profit).

The values x entered into the table are used as follows:

RateN+1 = RateN * (1 + x%) % Overhead or ProfitN+1 = % Overhead or ProfitN + x%

The value x can be negative or positive and may include up to 4 decimals.

• We are now going to create the following rate files:

DISCLAIMER: The company codes used in support to the following rate files are real codes

but the rate file structure and the values are purely fictitious for the purpose of this training.



of 125

Company EDIS (1/2)

Extended features:

Subject to variable rate agreement (VL, VG) Multiple G&A and Profit rates will be defined Labour:

Base rates Average yearly sellable hours M MANAGER 120 €/H 1700 E ENGINEER 100 €/H 1680 T TECHNICIAN 80 €/H 1620 10% industrial overheads apply on all Labour categories Basic labour rates are subject to variation (VL)

Facilities:

VT Thermal Vacuum 800 €/day VI Vibrations 1000 €/day

Escalation on Labour (EL) applies on all Labour and Facilities rates

Other costs

1 Raw Material 2.00000%

2 Mech.Parts 2.00000%

3 Semi Fin.Parts 2.00000%

4 Electrical Parts 2.50000%

5.1 HiRel-Internal 1.00000%

5.2 HiRel-3rd Party 3.00000%

6 Ext.Maj.Product 2.00000%

7 Extern Services 4.00000%

8 Trans,Insurance 1.00000%

9 Travel/Allowance 1.00000%

10 Miscellaneous 0.00000%

Escalation on Materials (EM) applies on Other Costs categories 1 to 6

Escalation on Labour (EL) applies on Other Costs categories 7 and 8



of 125

Company EDIS (2/2)

G&A and Profit G&A1 is 25% and G&A2 is 15% G&A 1 subject to variation (VG)

Profit 1 is 8% and Profit 2 is 4%

G&A1 and Profit 1 applies on all Base rate labour categories

G&A2 and Profit 2 apply for Labour Industrial overheads and for Facilities

Profit 1 applies to Others categories 1 to 5.2 and Profit 2 applies to Other categories 6 to 9

Profit 1 applies on G&A1


IMPORTANT: To also apply Profit on the G&A

do not forget to fill-in the Cross Application window

In “real life”, nobody is by your side to verify the rate file. It is advised to create a small

project with one WP and to enter a round number of hours such as 1000 hours per labour categories to verify and validate your rate file.

• Now, after checking the company code entered into the header is EDIS (and not your Company Code as proposed by your Preferences settings …), save and close the EDIS rate file.

• Go back to Maintenance/Create Rate file menu to enter the next rate file

You may also verify the rate file data entry by running the report 5005



of 125

Company MAMU (1/2)

Extended features:

Detailed rate codes will be used Subject to variable rate agreement (VL, VG) Labour: Average yearly sellable hours

MAN MANAGER 120 GBP/H 1700 ENG SEN SENIOR ENGINEER 110 GBP/H 1680 ENG JUN JUNIOR ENGINEER 90 GBP/H 1660 TEC TECHNICIAN 80 GBP/H 1620 Variation (VL) will apply on TEC rate only Facilities:

THER Thermal Vacuum 500 GBP/day VIB Vibrations 800 GBP/day Escalation (EL) applies on all Labour and Facilities rates Other costs

1 Raw Material 2.00000% 2 Mech.Parts 2.00000% 3 Semi Fin.Parts 2.00000% 4 Electrical Parts 2.50000% 5.1 HiRel-Internal 1.00000% 5.2 HiRel-3rd Party 3.00000% 6 Ext.Maj.Product 2.00000% 7 Extern Services 4.00000% 8 Trans,Insurance 1.00000% 9 Travel/Allowance 1.00000% 10 Miscellaneous 0.00000%





of 125

Company MAMU (2/2)

G&A and Profit G&A is 25% G&A subject to variation (VG)

Profit is 8%

G&A and Profit applies on all labour and Facilities categories

Profit applies to Others categories 1 to 7

Profit applies on G&A



of 125

Company ABSL (1/2)

Extended features:

Using R&D Overheads category Multiple G&A and Profit rates will be defined Labour:

Base rates Average yearly sellable hours

MG MANAGER 120 GBP /H 1700 EN ENGINEER 100 GBP /H 1680 TE TECHNICIAN 80 GBP /H 1620 10% industrial overheads apply on all Labour categories Facilities:

TV Thermal Vacuum 700 GBP/day VB Vibrations 800 GBP/day Escalation (EL) applies on all Labour and Facilities rates Other costs

1 Raw Material 2.00000%

2 Mech.Parts 2.00000%

3 Semi Fin.Parts 2.00000%

4 Electrical Parts 2.50000%

5.1 HiRel-Internal 1.00000%

5.2 HiRel-3rd Party 3.00000%

6 Ext.Maj.Product 2.00000%

7 Extern Services 4.00000%

8 Trans,Insurance 1.00000%

9 Travel/Allowance 1.00000%

10 Miscellaneous 0.00000%





of 125

Company ABSL (2/2)

G&A and Profit G&A1 is 20% and G&A2 is 10% R&D Overhead is 2.5%


G&A1 and Profit 1 and R&D overheads apply on all Base rate labour categories

G&A2 and Profit 2 apply for Labour Industrial overheads and for Facilities






of 125

Company EREM (1/2)

Extended features:

Using R&D Overheads category Multiple G&A and Profit rates will be defined Subject to variable rate agreement (VL, VG) Labour:

Base rates Average yearly sellable hours

MR MANAGER 100 €/H 1700 ER ENGINEER 90 €/H 1680 TN TECHNICIAN 70 €/H 1620 All labour categories are subject to variation (VL) Facilities:

VT Thermal Vacuum 700 €/day VI Vibrations 900 €/day Escalation (EL) applies on all Labour and Facilities rates Other costs

1 Raw Material 1.00000% 2 Mech.Parts 1.00000% 3 Semi Fin.Parts 1.00000% 4 Electrical Parts 1.50000% 5.1 HiRel-Internal 2.00000% 5.2 HiRel-3rd Party 4.00000% 6 Ext.Maj.Product 2.00000% 7 Extern Services 2.500000% 8 Trans,Insurance 1.00000% 9 Travel/Allowance 0.00000% 10 Miscellaneous 0.00000%





of 125

Company EREM (1/2)

G&A and Profit G&A1 is 22% and G&A2 is 12% G&A 1 subject to variation (VG)

R&D Overhead is 2.5%


G&A1 and Profit 1 and R&D overheads apply on all base rate labour categories

G&A2 and Profit 2 apply for Facilities




You may verify that your rate files are correct by checking rate file screen shots into the SOLUTIONS section at the end of this document.



of 125

Exercise 2 – Creating a Project

After completion of this exercise, the trainee will be able to: Create Project as ESAP Initialise PT/WBS Define top level ITT/RFQ Generate top level ITT

Create Project as ESAP

Usually bidders receives a top ITT/RFQ generated by ESA In this first sequence the Trainee will simulate ESA when creating the project. NB: In the future Project will be automatically generated at Prime contractor level by simply loading a ”Seed File” downloaded from the Electronic Tendering System. The current option to create “manually” a Project will remain to allow ECOS users to create ECOS files for business outside of ESA or to provide ECOS file to an upper tier that has not provided an ECOS ITT file for whatever reason. Here you are going to play the role of ESA.

The principle of the ITT chain

ESA will create the project and then release one single ITT to the bidding prime contractors.

In our case the Organisation Breakdown Structures will be as follows:



of 125



• Select [Create New Project] from the Main menu.


Program Identifier: TRAIN / Programme name: TRAINING ECOS / Project Title: ECOSAT / Initiated by: ESAP

ITT number : ITT TOP / Required cost item granularity min: 30 000 / max: 300 000

Support Function Library: Master Support Function Library / economic cond. June 2012 / Conversion rate June 2012 / Earliest Expenses: June 2012 / Cost Details: Detailed

NB: do not select rate file at this stage.

Reference number: REF TOP / Project Version: 1 / User name: USER as ESAP

Press [Comment tab and enter text such as: “This comment is made at Project Creation”.

• Geo-Return weighting factors definition, specify

Weighting factor 0.5 for Support Function -2AA



of 125

• Geographical Distribution Requirements: Specify

France: min 20%, Max 40%

Portugal: min 30%, Max 45%

Great Britain: min 25%, Max 35%

Initialise PT/WBS (see Annex A2 for explanations on screen layout)

• Create the following nodes:

PT/WBS TITLE CONTRACTUAL PHASE B ECOSAT B2

C ECOSAT C/D E ECOSAT E1

using

or local menu accessed via right mouse click.

Define top level ITT/RFQ

• Define ITT01 as follows:

ITT number: ITT01 Title: ECOSAT Granularity: min 30 000 / Max 300 000

For doing so, use icon [Add ITT] from the TaskBar

Include all nodes into ITT01 via local menu or Drag’n Drop or using Taskbar Icons or using right click local menu in[ITT content} window.



of 125

Issue ITT01 (the ITT file will be located into My Documents/ECOS5/BCK)

This ITT file is now ready to be “sent” to the potential prime contractor bidders.

Geographical Distribution Requirements: Specify

France: min 20%, Max 40%

Portugal: min 30%, Max 45%

Great Britain: min 25%, Max 35%

• Add comment: “This comment is added at main ITT creation”.

Note that when the ITT has been issued, the background colour of its name changes into the ITT

window



of 125

Exercise 3 – Develop PT/WBS and Define/Send ITT After completion of this exercise, the trainee will be able to: Load an ITT Develop PT/WBS Define lower level ITT/RFQ Generate lower level ITT

In this sequence the Trainee will simulate the company bidding as the Prime Contractor. For doing so, the Contractor download an ITT file received from ESA (as we generated it in Exercise 1). NB: In the future, Projects will be automatically generated by simply loading into ECOS a ”Seed File” downloaded from the Electronic Tendering System. The Trainee will define then its PT/WBS, taking care to minimise effort by using [Copy Branch] and [Paste Branch] when repetitive structure in the WBS appears such as from one phase to another. Drag’n & Drop features will be used to allocate support functions or to define ITTs. It is essential that the Trainee learns how to generate ITT for sub-contracted parts in order to involve sub-contractors for elaborating their own share and generate corresponding tenders .By doing so each contractor is minimising its workload and better involve its sub-contractors into the bidding process.

Loading an ITT Usually companies bidding as Prime contractor receives a top ITT/RFQ generated by ESA (see Exercise 2). We will now acting as EDISOFT (EDIS) loading this ITT. For doing so:



• Select [Load Project] from the Main menu. • Select ITT file called ECOSAT into your BCK folder.

The following window will open:



of 125

Replace your Company Code with EDIS in the “to Company” field and change User to “USER AS EDIS”

Then press [Ok]

IMPORTANT: Once loaded, a Project file is located in the Project Archive. Use the Project Archive every time that you will want to go back and continue working on your Project file

Develop PT/WBS (see Annex A2 for explanations on screen layout)

The Trainee will now develop its WBS by creating first the Product Tree (PT) and then allocating Support functions to create the WBS.

It is recommended to proceed as follows:

1. Develop the PT for Phase C/D, 2. Assign Support Functions to Phase C/D PT to create the Phase C/D WBS, 3. Copy Phase C/D WBS to Phase B2 4. Finally, trim down the Phase B2 WBS by removing unwanted items (typically MAIT and GSE

activities)

For doing so, go to the [WBS] tab



of 125

• Create the following PT nodes (in bold): (refer to Exercise 2 if required)

PT/WBS TITLE CONTRACTUAL PHASE

B ECOSAT B2

C ECOSAT C/D

C1 PLATFORM C/D C11 STRUCTURE C/D C12 POWER C/D C13 TTC C/D C2 PAYLOAD C/D

E ECOSAT E1

• Add Support functions for own share activities at PLATFORM level

For doing so, you may use the Icon [Add Support]



of 125

Or local menu by proceeding as follows:

• Copy the C1 branch to the B branch using • Copy C2 branch to the B branch by positioning cursor on C2 line, press and hold down left

mouse button and using Drag’n Drop onto line B

• Delete All -2B and -2K support functions series into the B branch using • Add -2AA and -2AD support function under E branch. You may Drag’n Drop the required Support

Function after developing the Support Function Library from the upper right side window at the appropriate level. You drop on line E

You do it first for -2AA and then repeat it for -2AD



of 125

Define and issue lower level ITT/RFQ

Add ITT for the Power S/S using one of the four following methods:

1. Use icon [Add ITT] from the TaskBar 2. Right Click to access local menu in ITT definition window (Lower right) and click on [Add] menu

option

3. Click on [Add] button of the ITT definition window

4. Finally, you may first click on the line representing the first cost item to be included into the ITT and holding then drag and dropping directly into the ITT content window. This manoeuvre is delicate since when you click the line must turn into inverse video for the sequence to be successful.



of 125


ITT number: ITT02

Title: POWER

Granularity: min 30 000 / Max 300 000

• Include all nodes related to POWER i.e. Phase B2 (NODE B12) and Phase C/D (NODE C12) into ITT02 via one of the four methods describe above. The procedure must be repeated for each node.

• Issue ITT02 (located into My Documents/ECOS5/BCK)



of 125

• You will specify the following Geo-return Constraints:

Great Britain Min: 60% Max: 80%

• You will add the following comment:

Please send Tender file before the 15/12/2012.



of 125

Exercise 4 - Performing Data Entry After completion of this exercise, the trainee will be able to: Perform headers data entry via the Summary Perform Data Entry per Cost item Manage data entry quality and completion Fine tune and adjust Prices presentation

Modifying cost items headers in Summary tab (see Annex A3 for explanations on screen layout) In this sequence the Trainee will simulate the data entry for the Company bidding as the Prime Contractor EDIS.

• Start of ECOS


• Select [Project Archive] from the Main menu. • Select ECOSAT EDIS Project file

• Go to [Summary] tab

Confirm selection of EDIS rate file if and when asked to do so.

Change Multiple Headers

• Click on first line. • Press the [Shift] key and click on the last line. All lines background turns blue meaning that they

are now all selected.

• Select [Multiple Headers Change] icon in Taskbar or use the second option of the local menu that you access via a right mouse click on any of the selected lines.

• Tick box in front of Distribution and Select Distribution A. Press [Tab] key. You get this:



of 125

• Press [Ok] button • Now, repeat the selection process but only for the phase B2 cost items. • Tick box in front of Price Type and Select Price type 1 for all Phase B2 cost items. Press [Tab]

key. You get this:

• Press [Ok] button • Repeat procedure using Price type 4 for all Phace C/D cost items • Repeat procedure using Price type 6 for all Phace E1 cost items

Change Headers

• Ge the cursor on the first cost item

• Select [change header] icon in taskbar or or use the first option of the local menu that you access via a right mouse click on the selected line.

• Enter start date 12-06 • Enter end date 13-12

Normally all dates are entered this way, but the data entry process can be significantly accelerated if start /end dates can be imported from a planning tool such as Microsoft Project or Primavera. We are going to simulate such transfer hereunder:

Export/Import dates

• Select [Export Dates] icon in Taskbar • Save Excel file as WP-DATES EDIS • Go to BCK folder • Open WP-DATES EDIS with Excel



of 125

• Enter the following dates

NB: We are using this Import/Export facility to enter dates making some copy/paste of dates in Excel. The real purpose of such interface is to import/export to scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project or Primavera.

• Save Excel file WP-DATES EDIS • Return to ECOS [Summary] Tab • Select [Import Dates] icon inTaskbar • Select WP-DATES EDIS Excel file

Entering data on cost items – Labour and Facilities entries (see Annex A4 for explanations on screen layout)

• Go to the [Cost] Tab and perform the following data entries. To move to a specific WP you need to click on the corresponding line into the WP browsing list located on the upper right side of the window.

01/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2AA PLATFORM------------B201/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2AC PLATFORM------------B201/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2ADA PLATFORM------------B201/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2ADD PLATFORM------------B201/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2ADG PLATFORM------------B201/06/2012 31/12/2013 B1-2ADH PLATFORM------------B201/01/2014 01/01/2018 C1-2AA PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2014 01/01/2018 C1-2AC PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2014 01/01/2016 C1-2ADA PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2014 01/01/2016 C1-2ADD PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2014 01/01/2016 C1-2ADG PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2014 01/01/2016 C1-2ADH PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2015 01/01/2016 C1-2BA PLATFORM------------C/D01/01/2015 01/01/2016 C1-2BD PLATFORM------------C/D01/02/2016 01/01/2018 C1-2BI PLATFORM------------C/D01/09/2016 01/01/2017 C1-2BT PLATFORM------------C/D01/03/2015 01/03/2016 C1-2KB PLATFORM------------C/D01/02/2018 01/09/2018 E-2AA ECOSAT---------------*E101/02/2018 01/09/2018 E-2AD ECOSAT---------------*E1



of 125

• For the facilities on C1-2BD adjust dates 15-04/15-05 for VT and 15-05/15-06 for VI • For the facilities on C1-2BI adjust dates 16-06/16-08 for VT and 17-06/17-08 for VI

Entering data on cost items – Other Costs entries

• Complete the entries with the following “Other costs“ information

To change a Company code just type X then hit the [Tab] key; the Company list will

pop-up or directly type-in the code into the corresponding [Company] cell. If you know the Company code you may type it in directly

Code Company Base Amt (PC)C1-2BA 1 EDISC1-2BD 5.1 EDISC1-2BI 5.2 TCNLC1-2BT 7 AEARC1-2KB 3 AEAR

External ServicesSemi-Finished Products

20 00020 00040 00050 00050 000

Raw MaterialsHi-Rel Parts (Internal)Hi-Rel Parts (3rd party)

Description



of 125

Entering data on cost items – Cost without Additional charges entries There is a specific area at the bottom of the [Cost] Tab where some budgetary amount, eventually allocated to another company might be taken into account. These special items are not treated by the rate file and will not attract overheads or profit (i.e. without additional charges). As an example, some companies not using the escalation tables of the rate file may calculate separately the provision for escalation to be included into Price type 1 (Firm Fixed Price). Whenever WAC is used, a corresponding entry in the Exhibit A should be created to explain the purpose of such provision.

• On WP C1-2KB and C1-2BT, enter the following WAC:

Title: CHF/EUR Exch. rate risk

Amount (PC): 1000

All other fields unchanged

Entering data on cost items – Travels The elaboration of Travel plans has been significantly improved in ECOS 5.

The most significant improvement is the ability to work with a Cities dictionary and to constitute Travel libraries that can used from one project to another. All information relative to a specific trip(i.e. cost per trip) and local subsistence (i.e. cost per day) can be recorded in the libraries and reused. The number of meetings, number of people, number of days remain specific to each record of the travel plan.

Travel libraries can be elaborated up front the specific context of a particular bid. This can be done in a very efficient manner using the Import facility via an excel file. This Excel file can be easily produce in collaboration with your Financial entity in charge of defining rates for daily allowances and mission trips.

Travel libraries can also be progressively elaborated by saving records generated in the frame of specific project files data entries. We will use this method for this first case.

Travel Plan can be entered on one or several Work Packages. In our case we are going to enter the information for each contractual phase i.e. on the management work package of each contractual Phase: B1-2AA, C1-2AA and E1-2AA.

Click on [Travel Plan] button in Cost Item Header.



of 125

An alternative is to click on the button located onto the Travel category

Because we are entering travel information for the first time, no Travel Library is existing so we receive the message:

• Click on [Yes] button • Click on [Insert ] button, new pop-up [Travel Cost Library will be added] appears • Enter the following information:

Library: TRAV01

Description: EDIS Travel Library

• Click on [Select] button

The Travel Plan data entry windows is now opening.

We are about to create our first item into the travel Plan:

• Go to the field [Start entering City Name] that allows quick search and select. • Type LIS



of 125

The city list has dramatically reduced to the three following possibilities:

• Drag’ n Drop LISBON from the Cities list into the cell corresponding to the [Departure] on the

first line of the Travel Plan. • Now click again into the field [Start entering City Name]. • Type STE • Drag’ n Drop STEVENAGE into the cell corresponding to the [Destination] on the first line of the

Travel Plan. We will come back to enter the cost details for this trip. • Now you are going to enter the [Destination] cities of the Travel Plan displayed into the table

hereunder displayed. You notice that the [Departure] cities are all the same. To save time we are going to Copy/Paste the departure City from the first record into the other lines. For doing so we position the cursor on the city name LISBON and while holding down left click move one cell to the right to include the Country field into the selection. Once done we release the mouse click and type [Ctrl C], go down one line, type [Ctrl]V. Go down one line further and type [Ctrl]V again and repeat until all departures for each line of the plan are filled-in.

• Enter the cost information and quantities into the various cells to complete the travel Plan according to the Table here below.

• Once this is done, do not forget to save to the Library all the items that we have created so you may easily drag and drop the combination Departure/Destination in the future with associated cost per trip and cost per day information. For doing so go successively to each line of the plan and Click on the icon [Save to Library] at the bottom of the Travel Window. You may also [mouse right] click on each line of the Travel Plan to access the local menu that will allow you to save to Library.

• Once this is done click on the icon [ Save & Close] at the bottom of the Travel Window.

Note: B/E stand for Business or Economy

A/R stands for Fixed Allocation or Reimbursement

In the context of this training you will select systematically “B” and “A”



of 125

• We will now repeat the procedure for entering the Travel plan for Phase C/D into WP C1-2AA

but because we have already recorded some entries into the Travel Library, we will reuse them to perform faster and easier entries

• Every time that a Departure/Destination combination exists into the Travel library, you may Drag’ Drop the line from the Library into the Travel Plan. You only need to adjust the quantities and the Purpose of the Travel.

• For new departures and/or Destination you need to repeat the initial procedure. When the city name is not present into the Cities Library on the left side i.e. typing city name will have resulted in no record occurrence, then you may directly enter the City name and country into the Travel Plan. (in the example of the table here under (JARNAC FR).

• Last but not least we will enter the Travel plan for Phase E1 into the WP E1-2AA according to the

table here below:



of 125

Entering Data on cost items – The Exhibit A

PSS-A 2 Exhibit A entries are required when significant procured items or specials entries under WAC code (Cost Without Additional Charges) are performed.

When such cost items have been entered into a WP,

• Press on the [Exhibit A] button into the WP header.

The item subject to Exhibit A explanation are already identified. Click on them one after the other and when positioned on a given line, click on the [Change] button at the bottom of the window. Enter the necessary explanation into the text field proposed and press [Ok] button at the bottom of the entry window.

• Enter Exhibit A information for the Cost items here below using the method described above



of 125

Entering WPD (Work Package Description) ECOS 5 offers the possibility to enter WP Description according to PSS-A20 format. We are going to enter an example into B1-2AA and C1-2AA with dummy text to later run the corresponding report. • Go to B1-2AA WP. You may click on the line B1-2AA into the right window browsing list • Fill-in first the following information of the WP Headers • WP Manager: John Smith • Event (related to Start date): KOM • Event (related to End date) : End of Ph. B • Fill-in first the following information of the WP Headers • Click on [WP Description] button • Complete the Headers by specifying Issue : 1 • Go to the first text box called [Objectives ] • Type in: “ THIS IS FILLING_IN TEXT “ • Highlight this text including the 3 trailing spaces and Click [Ctrl]+C • Go to the end of the text and type [Ctrl]+V and keep both keys held down to fill-in fast some

text. • Repeat the same into the other Text boxes [Inputs], [Tasks] and [Outputs]. • Once done, press the button [Ok} at the bottom of the window. • Repeat for WPs C1-2AA and E1-2AA

Checking Data Entry status – Managing data entry

ECOS 5 includes new feature that allows managing data entry particularly useful when entering on dozens if not hundreds of Work Packages and getting a clear view over the work done/work remaining to be done when resuming work from one day to another. Data Entry completion Once the user is satisfied with a particular with the data entry on a specific WP, he may mark it as Completed by clicking on the [Data Entry Compl.] button located into the down right [Totals] window. This action does not change anything to the data but changes the background colour in blue instead of yellow. By visualizing the browsing list either on the right side of the [Cost] tab or the [Summary] tab, the User easily identifies where are actions are still needed to complete work.

• Try this functionality by marking as completed the following WPs: B1-2AA, B1-2AC, B1-2ADD, B1-2ADH, C1-2AC, C1-2ADA, C1-2ADH, C1-2BD, C1-2BI, E1-2AA

You may reset the completion status by clicking again on the button.



of 125

You do not need to enter this information on all WPs to able to generate a tender file. This is just auxiliary supporting information for managing data entry.

Special entries flags One of the difficulty when dealing with a high number of WPs might be to remember on which WPs have been entered some special information such as Travel Plan or Exhibit A information. When you return to the [Summary] Tab, you will notice that some coloured square patches have appeared into what may be called the “WTAD grid”

The light blue lines indicates WP data entry complete The dark Blue Square indicates the presence of a WPD entry The Green square indicates the presence of a Travel Plan entry The Orange Square indicates the presence of an Exhibit A entry The D column is reserved for Technical data entry (yellow square), currently not enabled.

You may Mark/Unmark blocks of WP as Data Entry Completed using the [Multiple Header Change] menu option on [Summary] tab.

Checking totals / offering co-funding

Checking WP total Price can be done at any time by clicking on the [Recalculate Totals] located on the down right [Totals] window.

The bidder has the possibility to offer co-funding. For instance the bidder may offer in a commercial effort to reduce its price for instance to meet a target price and therefore ensure the feasibility of the project. For doing so, the user press on the [Edit Co-Funding] button:



of 125

Do not enter the minus sign; the system already expects that the amount indicated is a deduction.

• Rounding Totals The bidder may also want to present round figures , in thousands of euro to improve the readability of its financial proposal and suggest a commercial effort to please the customer. To be noted that rounding down to the closest thousands of EUR could only be performed after integration when application of a percentage of overheads on sub-contractors’ were still allowed because the total own share could only be determined after including such price element calculated based on the sub-contract Price. The Procedure is described on page 55 in section 6.3 (BATTERIES) but can already be applied for this ITT since no overheads on sub-contractor is existing anymore.

To verify the Phase B2, the Phase C/D or the Phase E1 amounts you will need to go back to

the [Info] Tab and press [Update Totals] icon.

Take this opportunity to check the GRANULARITY of the Price.

Granularity scoring vs. Requirements



of 125

Exercise 5 Entering Payment Plan and data entry control After completion of this exercise, the trainee will be able to: Enter Payment Plan Verify quality and completeness of own share data entry

Enter Payment Plan in [Tender Answer] Tab (see Annex A7 for explanations on screen layout)

• Start of ECOS


• Select [Project Archive] from the Main menu. • Select ECOSAT from EDIS Project file.

• Go to [Tender Answer] tab

When you go to this tab after your data entry, you will see the Graph of the cumulated expenses for all the contractual phases.

Clicking on a specific Phase among the tabs displayed at the bottom of the Graph allows you to see the expenses profile specific to a particular phase.

The tabs for each phase are red meaning that no payment milestones have been entered or

that Payment milestones are exceeding 100%.

NB: Payment milestones are entered for each Contractual Phase

• Select Phase B2 using Pull-down list:



of 125

• Select [Add Milestone] to get into milestone entry screen:

NB: the use of percent Amount is the preferred method compared with entering fixed values because any changes brought to Proposal price value will require to return to payment milestones menu to update these absolute figures.

• Enter the following Payment plans:

Once this is done you may check if your Payment Plan vs. expenses is balanced or if it needs further adjustments.

For doing so you position the cursor on the payment milestone that you want to modify and you press the [Edit Milestone] button.

Take the following actions:

• Select B2 Graph to be displayed and for Phase B2, change PM4 to 15% and EOPB also to 15%,

then press [Update Graph] button and check result. • Select C/D Graph to be displayed and for Phase C/D, change PM10 to 18% and EOCD to 12%,

then press [Update Graph] button and check result.

This is completing the Data Entry for the own share of the Prime Contractor EDIS. We are now going to repeat the data for the sub-contractors . There will be less guidance but you may come back to the Exercise 3, 4 and 5 sequences to refresh your mind on how to do things.



of 125

Exercise 6 Sending ITT files – Data entry at Sub-cos levels After completion of this exercise, the trainee will have repeated basic ITT file construction to: Firm up basic ITT file elaboration knowledge Prepare for the integrated answer elaboration

Overall OBS We are now going to build this hierarchy of ITT files

For doing so, we will successively :

6.1 - Open from Archive ECOSAT Prime Contractor EDIS ITT file (if not currently active)

Generate and Issue ITT for TTC sub-system

6.2 - Close ECOSAT and load the POWER ITT already created during Exercise 3 as MAMU

Generate and Issue sub-ITT for BATTERIES and enter own share data for POWER

6.3 - Close POWER ITT file, load BATTERIES ITT file and enter own share for BATTERIES as ABSL

6.4 - Close BATTERIES, load TTC ITT file and enter own share as EREM

At this stage all the ITT generations (descending flow) and data entries will have been performed

NB: In the next exercise we will produce the tender files and integrate them through each level of the contractual organisation (ascending flow) up to the complete aggregation of the total Price to ESA



of 125

6.1 - TTC ITT file definition and generation

• Open ECOSAT ITT file from the Archive And press [Expand All] button to visualize all files

Press [Select] button to make active and open the file

Wait for the initialisation process to finalise before pressing on the [WBS] Tab

Click on [Expand] button to visualize the whole PT/WBS

• Add TTC ITT as ITT03 including the nodes B13 and C13 (refer to Exercise 2 if necessary to revise how to define and generate an ITT)

• Generate ITT TTC with the following information: • User: USER AS EDIS • Granularity max 200 000 • Comment: Please send Tender by 15 Dec 2012 the latest! • Geo Return requirements: min 60% and max 80% for France

(All other fields unchanged)



of 125

6.2 – Close ECOSAT and Load POWER ITT

We are now going to act as MAMU who has received an ITT for POWER from the Prime Contractor.

We have Issued an ITT called POWER in Exercise 3. It is currently stored into the BCK folder and we are going to use it..

• Select [Load Project] sub-option from the Main menu [Project] option.


• Enter the following PT/WBS

Refer to Exercise 3 to refresh your mind about developing PT/WBS in a smart way using

Copy/Paste branches!)



of 125

CAREFUL: To Copy the Support functions of the Phase C/D into Phase B you will need to copy

from C12-2 to B12

• MAMU headers multiple changes In [Summary] Tab Distribution A for all records Phase B2 Price Type 1, Phase C/D Price Type 4 NB: there is no Phase E1 for MAMU Export Dates Give name WP-DATES MAMU to the interface Excel file



of 125

• MAMU own share data entries

• Create travel Library TRAV02 for MAMU

Beware, the amounts here under are in GBP

CAREFUL the previous used Library remains open and has to be replace by TRAV02 (to be created). This is normal because normally you do not change role from EDIS to MAMU. • Travel Plans



of 125

• Payment Plans

• Rounding Totals Rounding to closest Thousands of EUR would normally be performed after integration to include overheads on sub-contractors before rounding the prices. Because overheads on sub-contractors are not allowed to be recovered as percentage on sub-contracts, price rounding could already be done at this stage.

• Generating ITT for BATTERIES

The Trainee should now know how to navigate through the various tabs and screens forms to perform the following operations:



of 125



of 125

6.3 – Close POWER and Load BATTERIES ITT

We are now going to act as ABSL who has received an ITT for BATTERIES from the POWER S/S contractor MAMU.




of 125

• ABSL headers multiple changes In [Summary] Tab Distribution A for all records Phase B2 Price Type 1, Phase C/D Price Type 4 NB: there is no Phase E1 for ABSL Export Dates Give name WP-DATES ABSL to the interface Excel file

• ABSL data entries

• Create travel Library TRAV03 for ABSL

Beware, the amounts here under are in GBP



of 125

CAREFUL the previous used Library remains open and has to be replace by TRAV03 (to be created). This is normal because normally you do not change role from MAMU to ABSL. • Travel Plans

• Payment Plans

• Rounding Totals

Rounding to closest Thousands of EUR will now be performed. Use menu option: Edit/Global Changes/Phase Price Rounding or use the Icons of the tools bar



of 125

You may also directly access to the phase Price Rounding facility by clicking on the Price rounding icon on the [Info] tab or the [Summary] tab. To be noted that if you need to restart working on your price, then Price rounding can be easily cancelled just by clicking on the icon “Clear Rounding”

You need to select which WPs are going to hold the co-funding amounts that will round the price of each contractual phase. We chose the Management WPs i.e.:

B122-2AA for Phase B2 C122-2AA for Phase C/D

• Click on line B2 and press on [Round] button

• Double-Click on line B122-2AA • Repeat the sequence for rounding Phase C/D price using WP C122-2AA • Go to [Info] tab and press [Update Totals] button. The prices are now rounded!



of 125

6.4 – Close BATTERIES and Load TTC ITT


EREM headers multiple changes

In [Summary] Tab

Distribution A for all records

Phase B2 Price Type 1,

Phase C/D Price Type 4

NB: there is no Phase E1 for EREM

Export Dates



of 125

Give name WP-DATES EREM to the interface Excel file

EREM data entries

Create travel Library TRAV04 for EREM

Beware, the amounts here under are in EUR

CAREFUL the previously used Library remains open and has to be replace by TRAV04 (to

be created). This is normal because normally you do not change role from ABSL to EREM.



of 125

• Travel Plans

• Payment Plans

• Rounding Totals

Rounding to closest Thousands of EUR can be performed now. Use menu option: Edit/Global Changes/Phase Price Rounding Use the following WPs to hold co-funding amounts for rounding

B13-2AA for phase B2 C13-2AA for Phase C/D



of 125

Exercise 7 Generating Tender files – Integrating sub-cos tenders After completion of this exercise, the trainee will learn and How to select and integrate tender files from sub-contractors. How to perform final adjustments before issuing a tender. how to generate a tender file

Overall OBS

We are now going to produce all Tender files at all levels and integrate them in an ascending flow across the organisation breakdown Structure up to producing the Total Piece for ESA.

For doing so, we will successively :

7.1 - Open from Archive BATTERIES ABSL ITT file. Generate tender TEN BATT

7.2 - Open from Archive POWER MAMU ITT file. Integrate TEN BATT ABSL and Generate tender TEN POWER

7.3 - Open from Archive TTC EREM ITT file. Generate tender TEN TTC

7.4 - Open from Archive ECOSAT EDIS ITT file. Integrate TEN POWER ABSL and TEN TTC EREM. Generate tender TEN SAT from EDIS.



of 125

IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING FILE TYPES

There are two types of ECOS files:

ITT files

We have been using these files so far to enter create PT/WBS and all data. These files can be edited, their content modified in order to define and adjust as necessary the financial elements of the proposal.

The extension name of such file is .ecs

The tabs below the active window are:

Tender files

We are going to generate in this exercise 7 ECOS Tender files. The Tender files unlike the ITT files are not editable. They take a snapshot of the financial proposal including when applicable tenders from sub-contractors.

Reports to be included as part of your financial proposal MUST be produced from Tender files.

You may produce reports from ITT files but such report will display a “DRAFT” watermark across the reports’ pages.

The extension name of such file is .ten

The tabs below the active window are:

The background colour of the window is likely to be different depending on your choice of colours settings.

In the Project Archive these files types are identifiable thanks to their icons:



of 125

7.1 Generating BATTERIES ABSL Tender and producing reports

• Project Archive, select ABSL project file, go to [Tender Answer ] tab, press [update Totals].

Tender number TEN BATT

From User USER AS ABSL

Filename BATT ABSL

• Tick boxes [Load in ECOS] and [Open File after generated and loaded] • Press button [Save as … ]

The Tender file is now loading …. Once the screen has stopped flickering,


• Check [Extra] and [Sub-contractors] Tabs at the bottom of the main active window • Produce reports. You may preview the following reports: PSS-A1, PSS-A2, PSS-A4, PSS-A6, PSS-

A8, PSS_A10, PSS-A15, PSS_A15.1, • You may also see the following reports: Granularity: report 5206, Travel Plan: Report 5208 • Try other reports time permitting. • Close Project



of 125

7.2 Generating POWER MAMU Tender and producing reports

(see Annex A6 for explanations on screen layout)

• Project Archive, select MAMU project file, go to [Integration] Tab • Select ABSL Batteries

• Press [Integr. Tenders] button • Rounding Totals

Rounding to closest Thousands of EUR may now be performed since MAMU’s sub-contractors have been integrated. Use menu option: Edit/Global Changes/Phase Price Rounding Use the following WPs to hold co-funding amounts for rounding

B12-2AA for phase B2 C12-2AA for Phase C/D

• Go to [Tender Answer ] tab, press [update Totals].

Tender number TEN POWER

From User USER AS MAMU

Filename POWER MAMU






of 125



7.3 Generating TTC EREM Tender and producing reports

• Project Archive, select EREM project file, go to [Tender Answer ] tab, press [update Totals].

Tender number TEN TTC

From User USER AS EREM

Filename TTC EREM




of 125





7.4 Generating SAT EDIS Tender and producing reports

• Project Archive, select EDIS project file, go to [Integration] Tab

Select MAMU POWER

Select EREM TTC

Press [Integr. Tenders] button



of 125

• Rounding Totals Rounding to closest Thousands of EUR may now be performed since MAMU’s sub-contractors have been integrated. Use menu option: Edit/Global Changes/Phase Price Rounding Use the following WPs to hold co-funding amounts for rounding

B1-2AA for phase B2 C1-2AA for Phase C/D E1-2AA for Phase E1

• Once Contractual phases Prices have been rounded, go to [Tender Answer ] tab, press [Update

Totals].

Tender number TEN SAT

From User USER AS EDIS

Filename SAT EDIS






of 125

The [Info] tab of the integrated project should look like this:

• Check [Extra] and [Sub-contractors] Tabs at the bottom of the main active window

(see Annex A8 and A9 for explanations on screens layout)

• Produce reports. You may preview the following reports: PSS-A1, PSS-A2, PSS-A4, PSS-A6, PSS-A8, PSS_A10, PSS-A15, PSS_A15.1,

• You may also see the following reports: Granularity: report 5206, Travel Plan: Report 5208 • Try other reports time permitting. • Close Project



of 125

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE [SUB-CONTRACTORS] TAB IN INTEGRATED TENDER ANSWERS

When the whole ECOS process is properly applied across the Industrial organisation tree (sending ITTs and receiving/integrating corresponding Tenders at various levels, the [Sub-contractors] tab allows to “Navigate” easily through the various tender offers, this enabling rapid but thorough quality and coherency checks of the whole Integrated financial proposal.

The details for each sub-contractor at any level Industrial organisation can be visualised by positioning the mouse cursor on the corresponding line and clicking on the [View] button.

The Granularity histogram of the [Info] tab of the sub-contractor is also visible.

Clicking on the [Extra] tab for this sub-contractor provides its Payment Plan per Contractual Phase and Geographic distribution at its level.

Clicking on [Sub-contractors] tab allow to visualise the list of its sub-contractors

Clicking on [Close] allows to return to the subcontractor list included into the Tender file

More details about the price summary per contractor at various levels of the Industrial

organisation can be found when running the PSS-A6 report.



of 125

EXERCISE 8 Advanced feature – Using Product Libraries After completion of this exercise, the trainee will learn: How to create an element into the Product Library. How to integrate an element of the Product Library into a WBS

Product Library is a convenient way to memorize blocks of PT/WBS to later on plug them in into a new Project. This is particularly useful when a contractor provides a certain type of equipment across various projects. Libraries can be organise to cover various sub-categories or generation of a given type of equipment. The element of the library may cover more than the PT/WBS. It may also cover the Support functions (i.e. the WP are being defined) and even the Resources (Labour hours per categories and number of units of facilities) can be exported/imported provided the rate file structure is identical.

8.1 – Creating an element into the Product Library

• Open [BATTERIES] ITT file from ABSL • Drag ‘n drop node C122

Click [Start]. The Element is now created.

We realise that we should have specified “Type A” and also “Phase C/D” so we

• go to the Product Library window and with the right-click mouse local menu we choose:



of 125

• We take this opportunity to enter the Description in the corresponding tab :

“Battery type A is 500 Ah Li-Ion”

And to associate the Classification: [Battery]

We now see the full record on the right side window

The S/R/T flags indicates the extent of the content of information above the PT/WBS:

• S for Support Functions • R for resources • T for Technical Information

This element is now ready to be used into any Project.



of 125

8.2 – Reusing an element from the Product Library into a new Project.

• Close current Project. • Create New Project with the following headers:

• Go to [WBS] Tab

Take note of the presence of the BATTERIES Type A record into the Product Library

• Create a top node with the following headers:

• Drag’n Drop the element from the Product Library onto node T



of 125

• Change name to “New Battery” and leave all options S, R and T selected, then click on [Start]

We will leave the start date to be 12-11 but this could be adjusted to your real need. All planning

dates will be adapted according to this start date.

Because you selected [R] (i.e. including resources) , ECOS requires you to select the rate file.

• Go to [Summary] Tab and click on [Update Totals].

You will see that all dates and costs have been updated. All resources have been included. Even the Travel Plan has been included (It will probably need to be adjusted according to the destination of the new Customer…)

As a conclusion, a bidder that proposes generic type of equipment can build complete and detailed ECOS file very rapidly by using the new Product library feature in ECOS 5

This feature can also be used by all bidders to reuse blocks of proposals from one project to another or for transferring All data entries from one project to another. This maybe particularly useful if a sub-co has started entering data in a self-created project because its upper-tier was late sending an ITT file and now has to transfer all created data into the ITT file coming from this upper-tier.



of 125

EXERCISE 9 Advanced feature – User WBS numbering After completion of this exercise, the trainee will learn: How to implement its own WBS numbering system. How to produce reports based on User numbering system

9.1 – The rationale and constraints related to User WBS numbering systems

Although we strongly encourage the ECOS responsible person(s) to disseminate the Support Function culture and to use it as the basis for developing WBSs within its organisation, it is understood that many Users will be confronted to the necessity to adapt and report according to their home-made WBS numbering or a specific WBS structure imposed to them by an upper-tier contractor.

For this reason, ECOS 5 includes the possibility to enter User WBS Numbers and to report on them. The structure of such numbering is inherently non-harmonised from one company to another so a great flexibility is required in its implementation. To this end and even though these are normal basic requirements for WBS coding, ECOS 5 does not impose the structure to be hierarchical nor the numbers allocation to be exhaustive.

The “price to pay” for this great flexibility is that the User numbering cannot be used for WBS branch selection nor for summations at intermediate levels (completeness and hierarchical structure are not mandatory). The user has the possibility to use the ECOS PT/WBS to make such kind of selections in reports because the ECOS coding is by construction hierarchical and complete. The user still as the possibility to display the results using its own WBS numbering system.

As a conclusion, when the User WBS numbering is exhaustive and its coding structure hierarchically consistent, the reports will be of equal quality than when using ECOS PT/WBS coding.

9.2 – Entering User WBS numbers

The User WBS numbers can be entered in various screens:

In the [WBS] tab

To enter the User WBS number you may either use the “Edit Icon” of the Task bar or via the right mouse click to access the local menu option “Change”.



of 125

In the [Summary] tab

The User WBS number can be entered by entering the “Change WP header” menu option

Once the first User WBS number will have been entered, ECOS will indicate WPs with missing User WBS number by changing background cell colour in red.

Exercise: Enter the User WP numbers as indicated into the ABSL BATTERIES ECOS file. You may use the method of your choice.

This will allow you to run the various reports of section 9.3

You may change WP list order using icon

In the [Cost] tab

User WBS number can be entered into the corresponding field into the header section

NB: If several WPs are related to the same ECOS Support Function, you may use the Split WP feature when elaborating your WBS. See FAQ 07

9.3 – Producing reports based on User WBS numbers

Reports, when displaying WP level information, can be produced using and sorting by User WBS number.

WBS branch can only be selected based on ECOS PT/WBS code since numbering hierarchy is only guaranteed in this case.



of 125

Here is an example of report produced sorted by ECOS PT/WBS code

And the same report sorted by User WBS numbering

NB: In both cases the restriction to the Project Office of Phase B2 has been selected using the ECOS PT/WBS code

NB: This report 5404 is very useful to control the mapping between ECOS coding and User numbering

Exercise: Using the ABSL Batteries ECOS file, produce the following reports first time using ECOS PT/WBS coding and second time using User WP numbering system:

PSS-A8, 5201, 5202, 5204, 5206, 5205, 5301, 5302, 5304, 5306, 5404



of 125

EXERCISE 10 Advanced feature – Shifting dates for WBS blocks Once Start and End dates have been entered for all Work Packages then the procurement cycle may take longer than initially foreseen. WP dates will need to be redefined. Some activities may shift in time some others may not. It was important to implement into ECOS the possibility to apply time shifting to WBS branches or Contractual Phases.

To apply WBS branch time shifting select the following menu option:

Edit/Global change/Time shifting

or directly use icon in [Summary] tab

Escalation provisions for Firm Fixed Prices are automatically recalculated instantly.

When multi-year rates variation agreements apply, yearly allocations of resources are automatically and instantly recalculated.

• Exercise: In this example, open the TTC ITT/Project file from EREMS. • Print PSS-A2 • Shift Phase C/D start date from 14-01 to 15-01 • Produce PSS-A2 again. • See how total Price has changed • Analyse hours per labour categories and per year



of 125

EXERCISE 11 Advanced feature – Dealing with Options and Alternates

Difference between Option and Alternate: An option is a stand-alone adjunction to a main scope called baseline.

An Alternate is a modified version of the overall scope.

Quite frequently, financial proposals do include options and/or alternates.

Options and Alternates can be easily handled in ECOS 5 using the Contractual Phase field to identify options and backup files to create Alternates.

Here is a complex example showing how a set of baseline/options/alternates can be generated:



of 125

When including options in an ITT/Project file, reports must be carefully produced per contractual phases in order to avoid unwanted aggregation of baseline and optional works prices.

Here is an example of PT/WBS containing Options:

Reports can be produced per Contractual Phase and/or WBS Branch.

Assigning a contractual phase name to an option allows to define a specific payment plan for this option.

To integrate an option into the baseline, just make the necessary multiple change in the [Summary] tab.

Baseline price recalculation including updated expenses profile is instantaneous.



of 125

SOLUTIONS

This section provide screen shots corresponding to correct entries for the various exercises:

EXERCISE 1 Entering Rate file

Rate File EDIS



of 125

Rate File MAMU



of 125

Rate File ABSL



of 125

Rate File EREM



of 125

EXERCISE 4 AND 6 Performing Data Entry

The solution is limited to the main data entry. It is verified by visualizing the [Summary] tab. Information displayed is after Price rounding

ECOSAT (EDIS)

POWER (MAMU)

BATTERIES (ABSL)

TTC (EREM)



of 125

REPORTS EXAMPLES General information about report generation

ECOS can generate series of reports from the main menu option [Reports]:

There two groups:

The series 50xx to 54xx that mainly correspond to working reports.

The list of PSS-A reports out of which to the official formats usually required in the Special Conditions of Tender when presenting proposal’s financial breakdowns.

Some of the 5xxx series have been “upgraded” to mandatory reports

• 5208: Travel Plan (now Exhibit B to PSS-A2) • 5406: Geographical Distribution

Most of the reports are configurable according to some parameters such as Contractual phase, WBS Branch, Company(ies), time periods, WP listed according to ECOS PT/WBS coding or User Numbering order, etc...

Most of the reports can be sent to the printer retained during the set-up or generated in a grid interface that allow to copy/paste to Excel. This allows the User to exploit the data from the excel import either for feeding database or customizing report layout.

Here are few examples of reports:



of 125

PSS-A1



of 125



of 125

Report 5402: Rate File report.

The rate file report provides a clear view of the rate file fully in line with the way the data is entered in ECOS. This report is very useful for verifying the rate file.



of 125



of 125

PSS-A2



of 125



of 125

PSS-A6



of 125

PSS-A15.1



of 125

Report 5405: Payment Plan



of 125

Travel Plan The report 5208 produces the Travel Plan.

But it is also produced under the new format of Exhibit B to PSS-A2 report



of 125

Geographical return



of 125

TROUBLESHOOTING ECOS is a run-safe application. You do not need to save data to avoid losing some if and when an error or a power interruption occurs.

First Level soft error

To protect its data integrity, ECOS may interrupt and send a pop-up error message.

Pressing [Ignore] Button will generally suffice to exit the bug loop.

Should error messages keep repeating then you may choose [Abort] in which case ECOS will shut down.

Reopen ECOS and answer [Yes] to the following message:

If the problem has not disappeared, take a screen shot of it and contact the ECOS Help Desk.

Screen freeze. ECOS is not responding.

In some rare occasions, ECOS application may freeze. Main windows may display (not responding) into its title.

Pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Del] to enter the Windows Task Manager and choose last option:

[Start Task Manager]



of 125

From the [Applications ] Tab, select the ECOS application and choose [End Task].

You may also verify into the [Processes] tab that no ecos.exe instance is running. If so, select it and choose [End Process].

Close the window and launch ECOS again. ECOS should run Ok but if error occurs again, please contact ECOS Help Desk.



of 125

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q01: I have started to enter data in an Project file and now I realise that my rate file needs to be modified but when I modify my rate file via the [Maintenance] menu and come back in my project file the modifications have not been taken into account A01: This is normal. You may record modifications in your original rate file via the [Maintenance] menu Once it is modified, you may select it using the [Select Rate File] icon in the [Cost] taskbar. For this specific project you may also modify the associated copy of your rate file. Each project has its associated rate file copy. This allows to backup and then restore project files on different computers or retrieve and use old files for which rate files are not maintained anymore. To modify the associated copy of the rate file, use the [Modify Rate File] icon. All rate file modifications will be specific to this Project only.

Q02: I have entered a travel Plan on a WP but I now realise that it should have been entered onto another WP. Is there a way to transfer this Travel Plan to another WP without having to retype all the information?

A02:We have thought that this may happen. Also that may have

similar destinations in Travel Plans within different phases. For these reasons, we have included a [Copy from Other WP] button located at the far down-right of the Travel Plan window:

To use this feature, simply go the WP where you really want to enter the Travel Plan and copy from the WP where it is currently located. Do not forget to delete the entry on the original WP afterwards if applicable.

This facility may also be useful to initialise a Travel Plan for Phase C/D reusing many trips (Departure/Destination) already used in Phase B2.



of 125

Q03: I want to back-up the file I am working on.

A03: There a two ways to do it. First you may close the active window by clicking on the Use the [X] button:

And then use the menu option Once done, you may reinstate the active window using the menu option:

And continue working. The second possibility is to Close the Project, Go to the project Archive, place the mouse cursor

on the line of the file to be backed-up and click on the Icon from the Task Bar. In this case you will have to re-open the Project from the Project Archive to continue working on the file.



of 125

Q04: I want to trim down my Contractual Phases prices to express them in thousands of euro to improve the readability of my financial proposal.

A04:Use the [Phase Price Rounding] menu option located in the menu branch Edit\Global

Change\ Phase Price Rounding.

NB: This option is available on Project files only, not Tender files.

Go to: Edit/Global Changes/Phase Price Rounding or click on the Price rounding icon

• Rounding can be done in tens, hundreds or thousands. • Place the mouse cursor on the phase to be rounded and click on button [Round]

• Double-click on the WP that will hold the co-funding for rounding purpose. • Repeat for each Contractual Phase Price to be rounded. • Got to [Info] tab and press the [update Totals] button to check the result.



of 125

Q05: My upper-tier did not send me an ITT file and still I want to use ECOS; how can I do this?

A05: Create a new Project by yourself based on ITT Cover Letter/Special Conditions of

Tender and use it. You may send ECOS ITT files to your sub-contractors.

Q06: My upper-tier was late sending me an ITT file so I created a Project myself and already performed many data entries . How can I transfer in the upper-tier ITT file just sent all what I have entered so far in my self-created file to avoid retyping it?

A06: Follow these steps:

1. Load the ITT from your upper-tier and check characteristics such as Date of Earliest Expenses and ITT top level PT node(s) especially to identify if contractual phases have been defined.

2. Close project, go to Project Archive and select the Project that you have created and used so far entering your data.

3. Create Product library(ies) eventually one per contractual phase if several contractual phases exist in the ITT received from the upper-tier. Make sure that all options are ticked-in before creation

4. Close project and open ITT file in your Project archive. 5. Use Product library(ies) created to transfer data. Make sure that all options are selected.

Adapt Start dates to date of earliest expenses if necessary; your start dates cannot be before the specified date of earliest expenses from the upper-tier.



of 125

Q07: I cannot find a Support Function into the built-in list that matches the type of activity considered in my WBS. How can I add Support Function types?

A07: The Support Functions Master list results from the joint European-wide Working Group

gathering both Industry’s representatives and Agencies that concluded works in 2006 with the production of the Support Functions Master List. Combining these Support Functions with the hierarchical levels of the Product Tree already offers a fair possibility to describe and manage the work at an important level of details. It is however recognised that the description of the work may not be totally represented at the proposed level of description. For this reason several options are included into ECOS to further expand the applicable Support Function dictionary to specific cases.

Case 1: The WBS incorporates a generic type of activities (generic means that such activity is likely to be encountered in the future on similar projects. Additional Support Function will be created within the Support Function library.

Select the following icon in the task bar of the [WBS] tab

Develop Support Function tree in the Segment to reach the location where you want to create a new Support Function

You may use icon or local menu option to insert a new Support Function. The system will propose the new code available in sequence and will replicate the title, short code and text description of the previous Support Function in sequence to provide guidance in filling-in new information. The information needs to be adjusted.



of 125

It is very important to insert the new Support Function in a logical place. For instance an

engineering discipline in Space segment should be added under the -2AD level.

It is equally important to read in-depth the Support Function dictionary to understand its

structure and to ensure that no new codes are created while the targeted activity is already covered by another pre-existing Support Function.

Inform ECOS Help Desk of such generic need so ESA will take care to include such Support

Function next time the Support Function list will be updated.

…/…



of 125

Case 2: The WBS includes specific activities to the current project. Specificities may originate from various reasons:

• Granularity requirements lead to further detailing some activities • Description of some of the activities correspond to a specific part of a more generic

activity. • Work Package is shared among several companies.

In these cases the adjunction of Support Functions is performed directly in the [WBS] window of the Project using the [Split WP] feature that can be accessed either via the icon in the Task Bar or the [Split WP] option into the right-click local menu.

or



of 125

Q08: The WBS provided to me does not look at all to the PT/WBS numbering generated by ECOS. How can enter my own numbering system?

A08: ECOS allows User numbering system to be entered. Reports listing work packages level

information can be produced and sorted according to the User numbering system. You may refer to Exercise 9 that explains everything about implementing User Numbering.



of 125

Q09: My project is in an early phase. Many sub-contractors are not yet identified but I need to include some provisions for their contribution into my price. Because these sub-contractors will be directly paid by ESA, they will not be included into my Payment Plan. How can I properly handle this?

A09: This situation is frequently encountered by prime contracting companies bidding for

Satellite level Phase B2/C/D/E1 but may also apply in many other circumstances when sub-contractors are not yet identified nor the procurement process for such sub-contracts be initiated at the time of the proposal. Only the Core Team members are identified and actively contributing to the elaboration of the financial proposal at this stage. Many other contractors are only requested to provide ROM price quotations and for even smaller and standard contributions, the Prime Contractor may just decide by its own what provision to account for in its proposal based on its market knowledge.

Because the sub-contractors are not yet selected it is not possible to enter their contribution in detailed mode i.e. taking into account their rate file applied to their various resources categories. For this reason we shall define a budgetary provision to cover for such contributions that will be recorded under the WAC category (Cost Without Additional Charges).

However, these WAC cannot just be appended to your Work Packages otherwise their amount shall be accounted for into the calculation of the Milestones Payment Plan. It is therefore important that such contributions are defined as part of ITTs. In fact, when you shall be effectively consulting for these sub-contracts at later stage this is exactly what you will do: sending them an ITT.

Two problems arise:

1. When you want to enter data into an ITT you need to associate a rate file (even for only entering a WAC)

2. Your project may include dozens of such cases and you may find tedious to create individual ITTs for each individual sub-contract at this early stage of the project.

Three sub-contracts’ type shall be considered:

Type 1: The company is already identified

Type 2: The company is not yet identified but only the potential bidders of one specific country shall be considered for Geo-Return reasons or due to specific market situations.

Type 3: The company is not yet identified and potential bidders belong to several countries



of 125

Although we are going to enter budgetary amounts, we need to create rate files (this is imposed by the ECOS ITT process as earlier mentioned). For this reason you will create some dummy rates files, one for each country already identified and a generic one for “Europe”.

We shall use the country code as company code of this rate files (EU for Europe). By doing so the amount will be entered into the corresponding currency and the Geo-Return allocation shall be correct.

For the sub-contract type 1, i.e. when the company is already identified, this sub-contractor is usually part of the Core Team an ITT/RFQ is sent to him and he provides a ender file in detailed mode i.e. using a proper rate file. For some reasons it may happen that such identified contractor is not contributing to this initial procurement stage and therefore its price is taken into account as a budgetary amount.

The generic country codes can be found into the Companies list and the exchange rate file.

Here is the list as it stands today. You need to create dummy rate files only for the countries that you need to consider in your tender answer:

AT Austria AU Australia BE Belgium CA Canada CH Switzerland CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DK Denmark EE Estonia ES Spain EU Europe FI Finland FR France GB Great Britain GR Greece HU Hungary IE Ireland IT Italy JP Japan LU Luxembourg LV Latvia NL Netherlands NO Norway



of 125

In the following example we have created ITTs to cover the following Best Practices:

• Thermal S/S contractor is expected to be Polish • The PCDU and the RTU will be procured in Denmark • The TTC antennae will come from Sweden • The Solar Array, the CDMU and the S Band Transponder will be procured in Europe but

we do not know yet in which country.

The ITT are then issued and picked up by yourself. You load the ITT identifying yourself under the country code of the ITT and you use the dummy rate file of this country that you have created to be able to enter WP budgetary values (WAC).

Small contributions can be identified under a single Support Function X (X= to be defined later) but for larger sub-contracts it is recommended to enter some level of breakdown that will allow better compliance to granularity requirements.

PL Poland PT Portugal RO Romania RU Russian Federation SE Sweden US U.S.A



of 125

For instance :

2A Project Office 2B MAIT 2K GSE

Or for larger sub-contracts:

2A Project Office 2AA Project Management 2AC PA 2AD Engineering 2B MAIT 2BA MAIT General Tasks 2BE MAIT EM 2BI MAIT PFM 2BJ MAIT Recurring FM 2K GSE 2KA EGSE 2KB MGSE

You will need to enter Start/End dates, Price Type and Distribution type for each WP created.

Then the amounts for Phase B2 and C/D for each WP. In this case:

Giving this result:



of 125

You will then generate the tender file

And integrate it in the upper-tier tender answer (i.e. your tender answer).

Based on start, end dates and distribution profile, it will be possible to produce an aggregated expenses profiles but you will enter your Milestone Payment Plan for your own share of the work and the PSS-A15.1 that you will produce will report only on your own share for both expenses and payments.



of 125

Q10: I have defined, issued and sent ITT files to the N-1 sub-contractors of the bidding team. Negotiations on work share allocations are not frozen. Some ITTs are not valid anymore some new ones need to be defined and the scope of others need to be modified. What is the best way to handle these changes in ECOS?

A10: This is a very common problem during the bidding process. Although discussions on

partnering usually takes place much earlier than the ESA main ITT has been released, some adjustments are always taking place during the bid preparation period. People unfamiliar with ECOS may prefer to wait the very end of the negotiations to start the ECOS process in order to avoid changing the ITT definition. This is a fundamental error because ECOS becomes more an administrative burden than a tool to help integrating the total price in a reliable manner and when the negotiations are still pursued up to the very last minute then there is virtually no time to prepare ECOS files for the final assembly of the proposal before the deadline.

For this reason the ECOS process should be started as early as possible. This allows to verify from the start if some team members are not ECOS registered users or not familiar anymore with the application.

ECOS has been designed to simulate descending and ascending flows of information within a bidding team even in the largest and most complex cases. Using ECOS from the start guarantees that you keep a good control at all times of the work definition and allocation under your responsibility including the exactness of the integrated price at your level.

Even if significant “butchering” is required, the Product Library feature allows to easily save blocks of WBS loaded with their resources and reallocate them in a new ITT with new perimeter.

Here is an illustration of a redefinition case:

Coming back to the ECOSAT training case, the TTC ITT for phase B2/C/D is cancelled and replaced with an ITT that covers only the phase B2 for TTC but also phase B2 for data handling; a new node B14 being added to the PT/WBS. This is a theoretical example just for the sake of demonstrating the flexibility of ECOS in handling scopes redefinition and work share distribution.

1 The prime add the node B14 for Data Handling and then define and release the New ITT that include the nodes B13 and B14.



of 125

You will notice the overlap between the definition of ITT03 and ITT04 clearly displayed by ECOS. You may delete ITT03, now obsolete to resolve the overlap. It is indeed important that you inform the concerned N-1 sub-contractors of such evolutions so they can make sure to work on the latest definition of the work.

2 The sub-cos having already worked on the previous ITT save the WBS branches already developed this including all data entered at this time. In our example EREMS may already have developed its WBS from ITT03 and entered many cost details. When receiving ITT05 that only contains Phase B2 of TTC, EREMS will save in a Product Library all data already entered by simply drag’n drop the concerned WBS branch.



of 125

This may concern only the PT/WBS but also the resources (cost details per labour categories, travel plan) or even payment plan when a whole contractual phase is concerned.

3 The sub-cos load the new ITT (ITT05 in our case), and drag’n drop from the product library the WBS blocks still valid and continue data entry in this new context. No data re-entry of preserved scope has been required.



of 125

ANNEXES ANNEX A - Main screens presentation

Annex A0 - The Rate File screen

Annex A1 - The Info screen

Annex A2 - The PT/WBS Screen

Annex A3 - The Summary screen

Annex A4 - The Cost Data Entry screen

Annex A5 - The Technical Information screen

Annex A6 - The Integration Screen

Annex A7 - The Payment Plan and Tender Generation screen

Annex A8 - The Extra Information screen

Annex A9 - The Sub-contractors screen



of 125

Annex A0 - The Rate File screen

The Rate file screen allows you to define your rate file. This is the first type of information to enter prior to create projects or loading ITTs in ECOS because you will not be able to enter information in WBS elements if a rate file has not been created.

Do no wait to be caught in the deadline of a proposal to start creating and verifying

your rate file on a small test project.



of 125

Annex A1 - The Info screen

The Info screen is the first screen appearing when opening a file from the Project Archive. This screen is configured the same way for bot ITT/Project files and Tender files. It provides a series of general information concerning the file and some data structure quality indicators via the granularity information.



of 125

Annex A2 - The PT/WBS screen

The PT/WBS screen is used to elaborate the Product Tree, assign Support Functions to create the WBS, define and Issue ITTs, Save and restore Product Libraries. This is the only screen where WP can be added or deleted.



of 125

Annex A3 - The Summary screen

The Summary screen is a browsing list of all WPs displaying headers and WP main price sub-totals. Changes can be performed on individual WP or by applying generic modifications to a selection of multiple WPs

Data is not directly editable into the cells of the browsing list. The browsing list included into the [Cost] tab allows direct entries on some fields.



of 125

Annex A4 - The Cost Data Entry screen

The Cost Data Entry screen is a composite window that contains several sections

The main cost data entry window composed of Headers, Labour, Facilities, Other Costs and WAC (Cost Without Additional Charges) sections

The WP browsing list window that allows visualising and selecting the WP on which data entry has to be performed. Some headers information can be directly entered in this window.

The Total windows that provide information on WP totals per categories. It also contains the action buttons to enter co-funding or marking the WP data entry as complete.



of 125

Annex A5 - The Technical Information screen

The Technical Information is currently not operational in ECOS 5



of 125

Annex A6 - The Integration screen

The Integration screen is the dashboard that allows controlling which sub-contractors tenders are to be integrated to assemble the Integrated answer.



of 125

Annex A7 - The Payment Plan and Tender Generation screen

The Payment Plan and Tender Generation screen is a composite windows that includes the Payment milestones entry screen and table, the corresponding Payment versus expenses graphic and the tender generation information window.



of 125

Annex A8 - The Extra Information screen

The Extra Information screen is part of the tender file. It displays payment plan per phase and actuals versus Geo-return requirements



of 125

Annex A9 - The Sub-contractors screen

The Subcontractors screen is part of the Tender file. It provides the full and detailed list of sub-contracts presented in a hierarchical manner in order to provide a bird-eye view over the Industrial structure of the proposal. The Industrial tree can be explored at any level of sub-contracting from this screen.



of 125

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the ECOS 5 TRAINING.

You now have in hands a very powerful tool that will allow you producing efficiently and reliably aggregated prices.

You are ready to build up any type of financial proposal details from the simplest one to the most complex multi-contracting levels international consortium cases.

We wish you great success in all tour undertakings !

THE ECOS TEAM


ECOS 5 TRAINING SELF-TRAINING...

Documents

Transcript of ECOS 5 TRAINING SELF-TRAINING...