Managing the Complete Project Lifecycle with SIX ProjectFlow
Projects rarely fail because nobody worked hard. They fail because scope, responsibilities, time, costs and decisions were not managed as one connected process. SIX ProjectFlow brings project planning, tasks, employees, documents, working time, purchasing, expenses, budgets and financial results together, giving every responsible team a reliable view of the project from the first request to final completion.
Project management is more than a task list
A task list explains what people need to do. Complete project management must also explain:
- Why the project exists
- What must be delivered
- Who is responsible
- When each activity must be completed
- Which tasks depend on other tasks
- Which employees and skills are required
- How much time and money may be used
- Which documents and approvals are needed
- What has changed since the project started
- Whether the project is still profitable
- When the work can be delivered and invoiced
When this information is stored in separate spreadsheets, email conversations and disconnected applications, the project manager never sees the complete situation.
SIX ProjectFlow creates one structured project record. The record connects operational work with the employees, customers, suppliers, costs, documents and financial transactions related to the project.
The complete project lifecycle
A project moves through several connected stages:
| Stage | Main purpose | Typical result |
|---|---|---|
| Demand | Understand why the project is needed | Approved project requirement |
| Definition | Establish scope and expected results | Clear deliverables and acceptance criteria |
| Planning | Organize tasks, time, people and costs | Approved project plan and baseline |
| Execution | Complete the planned activities | Finished tasks and recorded progress |
| Monitoring | Compare the plan with actual results | Current view of delays, workload and costs |
| Delivery | Confirm that the agreed result was provided | Customer or internal acceptance |
| Financial completion | Finalize costs, billing and profitability | Complete financial result |
| Closure | Preserve history and lessons | Closed and traceable project record |
SIX ProjectFlow connects these stages instead of treating each one as a separate administrative process.
Stage 1: Capturing project demand
Every project begins with a need.
The need may come from:
- A customer opportunity
- An accepted quotation
- A signed contract
- An internal improvement request
- A product development idea
- A construction or installation requirement
- A compliance obligation
- A maintenance program
- A management decision
Before creating a project, the organization should understand the reason for the work and the expected business result.
A customer project may begin in SIX CustomerFlow with an enquiry, opportunity, quotation or customer order. An internal project may begin with a formal request from a department or manager.
Once the work is approved, the relevant information can continue into SIX ProjectFlow. This reduces repeated data entry and keeps the original commercial or business context connected to the project.
The project record should identify:
- Project name and reference
- Customer or internal owner
- Project manager
- Business objective
- Expected deliverables
- Planned start and completion dates
- _Priority
- Contract or authorization
- Initial budget
- Responsible department
- Project status
This first record becomes the central point for all later project activity.
Stage 2: Defining scope and deliverables
Scope describes what the project includes and what it does not include.
A clear scope protects both the organization and the customer. Without it, teams may continue adding work without changing the deadline or budget. This is known as scope creep.
A useful project scope should answer four questions:
- What problem must be solved?
- What will the project deliver?
- What work is not included?
- How will completion be accepted?
Deliverables are the measurable results produced by the project. They may include a completed installation, a configured software system, a finished building phase, an approved design, a report, a prototype or a customer training program.
Each deliverable should have acceptance criteria. These are the conditions that must be met before the result can be considered complete.
For example, “install the new system” is too general. Better acceptance criteria would include:
- Required modules are configured
- Approved data is migrated
- Named users are trained
- Test cases are completed
- Customer approval is recorded
- The production environment is active
SIX ProjectFlow keeps the scope, requirements, deliverables, documents and approvals connected with the project. This gives the team one reference point when questions or disagreements appear.
Stage 3: Dividing the project into manageable work
A large project should not be managed as one task.
The project manager divides the complete scope into smaller phases, deliverables and activities. In project management, this structure is often called a Work Breakdown Structure, or WBS.
A software implementation might contain these phases:
- Process analysis
- Solution design
- System configuration
- Data migration
- Testing
- Training
- Launch
- Post launch support
Each phase can contain several tasks. Data migration, for example, may include data collection, cleaning, mapping, import testing, correction and final migration.
SIX ProjectFlow can organize this work through projects, milestones and tasks. Each task should contain enough information for the responsible person to understand the expected result.
A well defined task normally includes:
- Clear task name
- Description
- Responsible employee
- Priority
- Planned start date
- Due date
- Estimated effort
- Current status
- Related milestone
- Required documents
- Dependencies
- Completion criteria
This structure makes progress measurable. It also allows managers to identify exactly where delays or extra costs are developing.
Stage 4: Planning milestones and dependencies
A milestone represents an important project achievement. It does not need to contain many hours of work. Its purpose is to confirm that a major point has been reached.
Typical milestones include:
- Project plan approved
- Design completed
- Materials delivered
- Prototype accepted
- Installation finished
- Customer testing completed
- Final delivery approved
Tasks may also depend on other tasks.
Training cannot begin before the training environment is ready. Installation cannot begin before required materials arrive. Final testing cannot begin before the technical work is complete.
These relationships are called dependencies.
SIX ProjectFlow helps place activities in a logical sequence. When an earlier task is delayed, the project manager can identify which later activities may also be affected.
This is important because one late activity does not always produce one late result. It may affect several employees, suppliers, customer appointments and billing dates.
Stage 5: Planning people, skills and capacity
A schedule is only realistic when the required people are actually available.
Assigning a task to an employee does not automatically mean the employee has enough time or the correct competence. The project manager must consider:
- Working schedule
- Existing project assignments
- Operational responsibilities
- Planned leave
- Required skills
- Certifications
- Experience
- Location
- Expected task duration
SIX ProjectFlow can work with employee and working time information from SIX PeopleFlow. This connects project planning with the real workforce.
If an employee is assigned to several projects, managers need to understand the combined workload. An employee with 40 available hours should not receive 70 hours of planned work for the same week.
Skills are also important. A certified engineer, trained installer or authorized quality inspector cannot always be replaced by any available employee.
Connecting ProjectFlow and PeopleFlow gives managers a more reliable basis for assigning the right person to the right activity.
Stage 6: Building the project budget
A project budget is the approved financial plan for completing the work.
The budget may include:
- Internal labor
- External specialists
- Materials
- Equipment
- Travel
- Accommodation
- Purchased services
- Transportation
- Software or license costs
- Administrative costs
- Contingency funds
The contingency is a controlled amount reserved for uncertainty. It is not extra money that can be spent without explanation.
The project budget should be based on the planned scope and schedule. If the scope changes, the budget may also need to change.
SIX ProjectFlow connects planned hours, labor values, purchasing, expenses and other project costs. This creates a cost baseline.
A baseline is the approved version of the plan used for comparison. Managers can compare it with actual results during execution.
A simple cost variance can be calculated as:
Cost variance = Planned cost − Actual cost
A negative result means the project has spent more than planned. A positive result means actual spending is still below the approved amount.
The number alone is not enough. Managers must understand why the variance exists. A project may be below budget because work has not yet started, not because it is performing well.
Stage 7: Approving the plan and starting the project
Before execution begins, the project should have a clear approved plan.
The approval may confirm:
- Scope
- Deliverables
- Schedule
- Milestones
- Project manager
- Team members
- Budget
- Customer responsibilities
- Reporting method
- Acceptance process
The project kickoff introduces the approved plan to the team.
A good kickoff meeting explains what must be delivered, how progress will be recorded, where documents are stored and how problems should be reported.
SIX ProjectFlow gives the project team access to the same structured information. This reduces misunderstandings and prevents team members from working from outdated files.
Stage 8: Managing tasks during execution
During execution, plans become real work.
Employees should be able to see:
- Their assigned tasks
- Current priorities
- Deadlines
- Required documents
- Related milestones
- Previous tasks that must be completed
- Current project status
- Expected output
As work progresses, task statuses should be updated consistently.
Useful statuses may include:
- Planned
- Ready to start
- In progress
- Waiting
- Blocked
- Completed
- Approved
- Canceled
A task marked as completed should represent real completion. It should not mean that the employee has started the work or sent it to another person.
Consistent status rules make project reporting trustworthy. If every employee uses statuses differently, the project dashboard becomes misleading.
SIX ProjectFlow connects task ownership, status, deadlines and working time with the larger project plan. The project manager can see both individual activity and overall delivery progress.
Stage 9: Recording working time
Working time is one of the most important project measurements.
A project may appear to be on schedule while using far more labor than planned. This problem becomes visible only when time is recorded against the correct project and task.
Employees should record:
- Work date
- Project
- Task or activity
- Hours worked
- Billable or internal classification, when applicable
- Short description
- Approval status
SIX ProjectFlow connects timesheets with project tasks. SIX PeopleFlow can provide related employee, attendance and leave information.
This connection helps answer important questions:
- How many hours were planned?
- How many hours were recorded?
- Which activities required more effort?
- Which employees are overloaded?
- Which work can be billed?
- How much labor cost has the project generated?
Time records should be entered regularly. Waiting until the end of the month usually reduces accuracy because employees may no longer remember how their time was divided.
Stage 10: Managing project documents
Projects produce many documents.
These may include:
- Customer requirements
- Quotations
- Contracts
- Technical specifications
- Drawings
- Meeting notes
- Change requests
- Test records
- Acceptance documents
- Invoices
- Completion reports
When documents are stored in personal folders or email accounts, the team may use the wrong version.
SIX ProjectFlow keeps project related documents connected with the project record. Authorized users can find the information within the correct business context.
Document control should answer:
- What is the current version?
- Who created or approved it?
- When was it changed?
- Which project or task does it support?
- Is it still valid?
- Who may access it?
This is especially important for regulated work, customer contracts, technical projects and quality management.
Stage 11: Purchasing for the project
Some projects require materials, equipment or external services.
The project team identifies the requirement, but purchasing manages the supplier process. These responsibilities should remain connected.
A project purchase may follow this flow:
Project requirement → Purchase request → Approval → Supplier quotation → Purchase order → Delivery → Project cost
SIX ProjectFlow can connect with SIX PurchaseFlow so the project manager can understand whether required items have been requested, approved, ordered or received.
This prevents a common problem: the project schedule assumes that materials are ready, while purchasing is still waiting for approval.
The purchasing record should preserve:
- Requested item or service
- Required quantity
- Project reference
- Required delivery date
- Supplier
- Purchase price
- Approval
- Order status
- Delivery status
- Actual cost
When supplier costs are assigned to the project, financial reporting becomes more accurate.
Stage 12: Connecting warehouse materials
A project may also consume materials already held in inventory.
The organization must distinguish between materials that physically exist and materials that are actually available. Some stock may already be reserved for another customer, manufacturing order, service job or project.
When SIX StockFlow is enabled, project requirements can be connected with warehouse availability, reservations and material movements.
The process may include:
- Identify the material requirement
- Check available inventory
- Reserve the quantity
- Prepare a picklist
- Issue the material to the project
- Record unused returns
- assign actual consumption to the project
This gives the project manager a more complete cost picture. It also helps the warehouse understand why materials are being moved.
Stage 13: Managing expenses
Project expenses may include travel, accommodation, transportation, meals, permits, tools and other direct costs.
Expenses should be recorded with:
- Employee
- Project
- Expense category
- Date
- Amount
- Currency
- Receipt or supporting document
- Approval status
- Customer billable status, when relevant
SIX Expenses can connect employee expenses with the correct project. This reduces manual calculations and supports more accurate project costing.
A project cannot be considered profitable if significant expenses remain outside its financial record.
Stage 14: Controlling changes
Most projects change.
The customer may request additional work. A supplier may change the delivery date. A technical issue may require a new solution. Management may change the project priority.
Change is not automatically a problem. Uncontrolled change is the problem.
A structured change request should explain:
- What is changing?
- Why is the change required?
- Who requested it?
- Which tasks are affected?
- Does it change the delivery date?
- Does it require additional people?
- Does it increase cost?
- Does the customer need to approve it?
The project manager should not silently add work to the existing plan. The effect on time, cost and scope must be visible.
SIX ProjectFlow preserves the connection between changed requirements, tasks, documents, responsibilities and financial results. Approved changes can be included in the updated plan while the project history remains traceable.
Stage 15: Managing issues and project risks
A risk is something that may happen. An issue is something that has already happened.
For example:
- A possible supplier delay is a risk.
- A confirmed late delivery is an issue.
- A possible employee absence is a risk.
- A recorded sick leave is an issue.
The project manager should evaluate risks before they become urgent problems.
A useful risk record includes:
- Risk description
- Probability
- Possible impact
- Responsible owner
- Preventive action
- Response plan
- Current status
When an issue occurs, the project manager must understand which tasks, deadlines, people and costs are affected.
Connected information makes this analysis faster. ProjectFlow provides the project context, PeopleFlow provides workforce information, PurchaseFlow provides supplier and order status, and StockFlow provides inventory availability.
Stage 16: Monitoring progress
Project monitoring compares the approved plan with actual results.
The project manager should regularly review:
- Completed tasks
- Overdue tasks
- Upcoming milestones
- Blocked activities
- Planned and actual hours
- Planned and actual costs
- Open purchases
- Unapproved expenses
- Resource workload
- Scope changes
- Customer approvals
- Billing status
A percentage complete can be useful, but it must be based on meaningful progress.
If a project contains ten tasks, completing five small tasks does not always mean that 50 percent of the project is finished. Progress should consider the size and importance of the work.
Milestone completion, recorded effort and deliverable approval usually provide a more reliable view than task count alone.
SIX ProjectFlow gives managers one place to examine operational and financial project information.
Stage 17: Comparing planned and actual results
Project control depends on variance analysis.
A variance is the difference between what was planned and what actually happened.
Important project variances include:
Schedule variance
Are tasks and milestones being completed on time?
Effort variance
Are employees using more or fewer hours than expected?
Cost variance
Is the project spending more or less than the approved budget?
Scope variance
Is the team delivering work that was not part of the approved scope?
Resource variance
Are different employees or skills being used than originally planned?
A variance is a signal that requires explanation. It is not always bad.
A project may spend more on equipment but require fewer labor hours. Another project may finish early because part of its scope was removed.
SIX ProjectFlow keeps the underlying project records available so managers can understand the reason behind the number.
Stage 18: Controlling project profitability
Revenue does not equal profit.
A project can produce a large invoice and still lose money if labor, purchases, materials, expenses and rework are too high.
A simplified project profitability calculation is:
Project profit = Project revenue − Total project cost
Total project cost may include:
- Internal labor
- External labor
- Purchased goods
- Materials consumed
- Travel and employee expenses
- Transportation
- Equipment
- Rework
- Other direct costs
Some organizations also allocate indirect costs, such as administration or office expenses.
SIX ProjectFlow connects operational records with the wider financial process in SIX ERP. This makes it possible to review both delivery progress and financial performance.
Managers should monitor profitability during the project. Discovering a loss after completion is too late to correct the work.
Stage 19: Customer communication and approvals
Customer projects require clear communication.
Important decisions should not remain only in phone calls or personal email accounts. The project should preserve the business result of the communication.
This may include:
- Approved requirements
- Meeting decisions
- Requested changes
- Delivery confirmations
- Test results
- Rejected work
- Corrective actions
- Final acceptance
SIX CustomerFlow can preserve the wider customer relationship, while SIX ProjectFlow manages the delivery work.
Connecting both views helps sales, project and service teams understand what was promised, what was delivered and what still requires attention.
Stage 20: Delivery and acceptance
A project should not be considered complete simply because all internal tasks are closed.
The agreed deliverables must be reviewed and accepted.
The delivery process may include:
- Internal quality review
- Completion of open corrections
- Delivery to the customer or internal owner
- Acceptance testing
- Signing of an acceptance document
- Confirmation of the completion date
- Approval for invoicing
Acceptance criteria defined at the beginning of the project now become important. They provide an objective basis for deciding whether the work is complete.
If the customer rejects part of the delivery, the required correction should become a controlled project activity instead of an informal promise.
Stage 21: Project billing and financial completion
Different projects use different billing methods.
Common methods include:
- Fixed price
- Time and materials
- Milestone billing
- Periodic billing
- Advance payment
- Retainer
- Cost reimbursement
- Mixed billing
The billing method affects how project information must be recorded.
A time and materials project requires accurate approved timesheets and expenses. A milestone project requires clear milestone acceptance. A fixed price project requires especially strong cost control because additional internal effort may not create additional revenue.
SIX ProjectFlow can connect approved project results with invoicing and financial management in SIX ERP.
Before final billing, the organization should confirm:
- Approved work
- Billable hours
- Billable expenses
- Delivered quantities
- Accepted milestones
- Previous invoices
- Advance payments
- Remaining contract value
- Open change requests
This reduces disputes and helps finance prepare invoices based on verified project information.
Stage 22: Closing the project
Project closure is a controlled process, not just a status change.
Before closing the project, the manager should confirm that:
- Deliverables are accepted
- Open tasks are resolved
- Required documents are stored
- Time entries are complete
- Expenses are submitted
- Purchase orders are reviewed
- Materials are returned or consumed
- Final invoices are prepared
- Customer obligations are complete
- Access rights are adjusted when necessary
- Final costs and revenue are reviewed
The project should also preserve a complete history.
This history helps with customer support, warranty questions, audits, future estimates and similar projects.
Stage 23: Learning from project results
Every completed project provides useful information.
The organization should compare:
- Estimated hours with actual hours
- Planned costs with actual costs
- Planned dates with actual dates
- Expected margin with actual margin
- Original scope with final scope
- Expected risks with real issues
- Planned resource use with actual assignments
This is often called a lessons learned review.
The purpose is not to blame people. It is to improve future planning.
If one type of activity regularly requires twice the estimated time, the estimate should be corrected. If supplier delays repeatedly affect the same project type, purchasing should begin earlier. If one skill is constantly overloaded, the company may need training, recruitment or external support.
SIX ProjectFlow turns completed projects into structured business knowledge instead of allowing useful experience to disappear.
How ProjectFlow connects with the wider SIX ERP platform
Project management touches almost every part of the organization.
SIX CustomerFlow
Connect enquiries, opportunities, quotations, customer commitments and communication with the resulting project.
SIX PeopleFlow
Use employee records, skills, working time, attendance and leave information when planning and recording project work.
SIX PurchaseFlow
Turn project requirements into controlled purchase requests, supplier quotations, approvals and purchase orders.
SIX StockFlow
Check availability, reserve materials, create picklists and record material consumption against the project.
SIX ManufacturingFlow
Connect project deliverables with manufacturing orders when a customer project requires internally produced goods.
SIX ServiceFlow
Continue from project delivery into installation, field service, maintenance or after sales support.
SIX Expenses
Assign employee and operational expenses to the correct project and approval process.
SIX Financial Management
Connect project costs, invoicing, revenue and financial reporting to understand the complete business result.
SIX Documents and Contracts
Keep contracts, specifications, approvals, acceptance records and other controlled documents connected with the project.
The exact workflow depends on the SIX ERP modules enabled and the organization’s configured processes.
Different industries require different project structures
The basic project lifecycle remains consistent, but the details change between industries.
Software and ERP implementation
The project may include analysis, configuration, development, data migration, testing, training and launch. Customer approvals and change control are especially important.
Construction and installation
Projects depend on locations, materials, subcontractors, permits, equipment and scheduled work phases. Delayed materials can affect several teams and milestones.
Engineering
Technical drawings, revisions, prototypes, testing and specialist qualifications require strong document and competence control.
Professional services
Working time, employee utilization, customer communication and billable activity have a direct effect on profitability.
Marketing and creative services
The process may contain briefs, concepts, reviews, revisions, customer approvals and final asset delivery. Uncontrolled revisions can quickly consume the project margin.
Product development
Projects may contain research, design, testing, manufacturing preparation, compliance checks and controlled product revisions.
Internal transformation
ERP implementation, process improvement and compliance projects often involve several departments. Responsibilities, decisions and management support must remain visible.
SIX ProjectFlow provides a common project structure while allowing each organization to configure its own phases, task types, responsibilities and reporting requirements.
The responsibilities of the project team
A connected system does not remove human responsibility.
Project sponsor
Approves the business purpose, budget and major decisions.
Project manager
Plans the project, coordinates resources, monitors progress and manages changes.
Task owner
Completes the assigned activity and records accurate status and time information.
Department manager
Confirms resource availability and supports workload decisions.
Purchasing team
Manages supplier selection, ordering and expected delivery.
Finance team
Reviews costs, billing, revenue and financial completion.
Customer or internal owner
Confirms requirements, provides decisions and accepts deliverables.
SIX ProjectFlow gives each role access to the information required for its responsibility. Permissions should prevent employees from viewing or changing information outside their authority.
Project data must be current and reliable
A project platform is only useful when people maintain accurate information.
The organization should establish clear rules for:
- Creating projects
- Naming tasks
- Assigning responsibilities
- Updating statuses
- Recording time
- Submitting expenses
- Approving changes
- Closing milestones
- Storing documents
- Completing projects
Management must also use the system consistently. If important decisions continue to happen outside the approved process, employees will stop trusting the project record.
Good project management requires both software and discipline.
Common project problems and how connected information helps
Unclear scope
The team does not know exactly what must be delivered. A documented scope and acceptance criteria create a shared reference.
Hidden delays
Employees know that work is late, but management learns too late. Current task and milestone statuses make delays visible earlier.
Overloaded employees
The same people are assigned to too many projects. Connected resource and working time information supports better planning.
Missing materials
Work is scheduled before materials are purchased or reserved. PurchaseFlow and StockFlow provide current supply information.
Unrecorded work
Employees perform extra work without creating a change request. Controlled scope and change records protect time and profitability.
Late time entries
The project appears profitable because labor has not been recorded. Regular timesheets improve cost accuracy.
Disconnected expenses
Travel and external costs remain outside the project record. Project linked expenses reveal the true cost.
Billing delays
Finance waits for confirmation that work is complete. Connected milestones and acceptance records support faster invoicing.
No project history
Documents and decisions disappear after completion. A closed and traceable record protects business knowledge.
Building a stronger project management process
Organizations introducing SIX ProjectFlow should begin with process clarity.
A practical implementation sequence is:
- Define project types
- Establish standard project phases
- Create task and milestone rules
- Define project roles
- Decide how time will be recorded
- Establish budget and cost categories
- Define purchasing and inventory connections
- Create change approval rules
- Define billing methods
- Establish closure requirements
- Select management reports
- Train users by role
Templates can help teams start similar projects consistently. However, templates should provide a useful structure, not force every project into the same shape.
The organization should begin with the information needed for real decisions. Excessive administration can discourage users and reduce data quality.
The management result
SIX ProjectFlow turns project management into one connected operating process.
Project managers can see work, deadlines, resources and costs together. Employees understand their assignments and priorities. Purchasing sees what the project requires. Finance receives clearer cost and billing information. Leadership gains a more reliable view of delivery risk and profitability.
The complete flow becomes:
Business need → Scope → Plan → Resources → Tasks → Time and costs → Delivery → Billing → Closure → Learning
The result is more than an organized task list. It is a complete project record that connects people, work and financial performance.
With SIX ProjectFlow, organizations can plan more realistically, respond to change earlier, control costs more accurately and preserve the information needed to improve every future project.
