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I know of a long-standing program where a particular format of project status chart has been in use for more than a decade. It was originally created to status the assembly sequence of a complex device (M) and thus acquired the name "M" Assembly Sequence Chart (MASC).

Although this chart format has since been re-purposed to status all sorts of projects with complicated dependencies, the acronym has stuck and MASC is all I know it by. Does this type of chart have a common industry name? I'm trying to learn more about it and look for tools to help me create automatically and status them.

Clean MASC

I know it looks similar to a classic PERT chart, but I see a few key differences and am wondering if these particular specializations are codified in their own variant. For example:

  • The PERT chart focuses on spans, which is useful for generating a schedule and understanding the critical path. The MASC is used once the schedule has been established and is used to show progress against dates.
  • The MASC uses color codes to show progress, rather than schedule data like critical path
  • In practice, when estimated or actual start and finish dates don't line up with the plan the old dates are not removed but struck-through and the new date put above (although this isn't shown in the example).

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This appears to be a cross between a schedule network diagram and a swimlane process map. Both of these views do different things. I am wondering what the value is trying to breed them. Also, I have never seen anyone report status against it. Very interesting.

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