In-frequent user of Microsoft Project but I have been given the task of creating a resource management system to cover the work we carry out and thought I had it working but found lots of problems and would appreciate some advice from more knowledgeable users!
Our work involves the following:
Single projects that each have 6 tasks that run 24 hours a day
6 tasks need to run back to back so changing the duration of one will change the timing of the subsequent ones
Group of engineers & technicians that can all be assigned to any task - these are stored in a common resource file
The amount of resource assigned to each task will mostly be lot less than 100%. i.e. 365 day task and engineer will assign 100 hrs to this which needs to be spread equally over their working days for the length of the task
Tasks need to be independent of the resource availability and vice versa
All the single projects to be imported into a Master Project to summarise all the resource assignment for all engineers & technicians across all projects
So far I have done the following:
Created a master template for the single projects using Auto scheduling
Set the tasks to run to a 24hr calendar
Referenced the common resource file.
Saved these as single files and imported them as subprojects into a master file
Set calendars for each resource to match their working pattern which is NOT 24hrs !
All seems to work but finding the Start and End dates do not match the durations. i.e. when imported a 365 day task does not go across 365 days according to the Start & End dates
I have tried ticking the 'Scheduling ignores resource calendars' option but this does not seem to fix the issue
Unsure whether the tasks should be Fixed Duration, Fixed Units or Fixed Work as not sure the difference between them.
Tried changing the tasks to Manual Scheduling but this makes it more difficult for the users who would like to just change the duration and leave the Start & Finish dates to change themselves. Also means remembering the Respect Links each time to ensure tasks do not overlap.
In summary hopefully Project is suitable for what I am trying to do and if anybody can give me any pointers then I will be most grateful.
Our work involves the following:
Single projects that each have 6 tasks that run 24 hours a day
6 tasks need to run back to back so changing the duration of one will change the timing of the subsequent ones
Group of engineers & technicians that can all be assigned to any task - these are stored in a common resource file
The amount of resource assigned to each task will mostly be lot less than 100%. i.e. 365 day task and engineer will assign 100 hrs to this which needs to be spread equally over their working days for the length of the task
Tasks need to be independent of the resource availability and vice versa
All the single projects to be imported into a Master Project to summarise all the resource assignment for all engineers & technicians across all projects
So far I have done the following:
Created a master template for the single projects using Auto scheduling
Set the tasks to run to a 24hr calendar
Referenced the common resource file.
Saved these as single files and imported them as subprojects into a master file
Set calendars for each resource to match their working pattern which is NOT 24hrs !
All seems to work but finding the Start and End dates do not match the durations. i.e. when imported a 365 day task does not go across 365 days according to the Start & End dates
I have tried ticking the 'Scheduling ignores resource calendars' option but this does not seem to fix the issue
Unsure whether the tasks should be Fixed Duration, Fixed Units or Fixed Work as not sure the difference between them.
Tried changing the tasks to Manual Scheduling but this makes it more difficult for the users who would like to just change the duration and leave the Start & Finish dates to change themselves. Also means remembering the Respect Links each time to ensure tasks do not overlap.
In summary hopefully Project is suitable for what I am trying to do and if anybody can give me any pointers then I will be most grateful.
