Schedule Forecast using Microsoft Project 2010 1

[PHarrell]

Hi,
I work for a small subcontracting painting company, and we were in a bind last year due to scheduling mishaps. We want to create a scheduling forecast that shows each project that we have coming up, how many days it will last, and how many men we will be needing each day. I was able to create something using Microsoft Excel 2010 using conditional formatting, however, it didn't allow me to show how many men we needed each day. We want something that shows us how many people we will need to make sure we don't have so much overtime. For example: Say we have 5 projects that start April 1st. Jobs 1, 2, and 3 will only last 3 days, and Jobs 4 and 5 will last 5 days. Job 1 only requires 1 man per day, Job 2 needs 2 men per day, Job 3 needs 1 man on the first day 3 men on the second day, and one man on the last day, Job 4 needs one man per day, and Job 5 needs 2 men per day. So I would need for the schedule to show me, on Day one that we need 7 men total, Day 2-9 men total, Day 3-7 men total, Day 4-3 men, and Day 5-3 men. Is there anything out there that can show me such? I am in need of serious help!!
Thank you!

 

[johnherman]

MS Project can do this for you. There are also other tools that can assist, but since you posted this in the MS Project forum.....yes, MS Project can assist with your problems.

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The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[PHarrell]

Could you direct me to any tutorials that you may know of that could show me how to do this?

 

[johnherman]

Can't directly help you with any tutorials. If I understand your reqts, this is standard MS project stuff. I recommend these steps:

1. Decide on your basic work unit (hours or days).
2. Establish a master project calendar. This should match your company calendar. Make sure weekends are marked as Non-Working Days. Mark holidays as Non-Working days. (Don't worry, you can override and schedule work on weekends or holidays if you need to, but for planning purposes, mark the Non-Working days_).
3. Enter your resources into the Resource Sheet. If you want to get slick, give each resource its own calendar by making a copy of the company calendar. This will allow you to track individual vacations as well as allowing particular resources to work on Non-Working days without disrupting the scheduling of other projects.
4. Create tasks for each painting job. Put in the amount of effort for each job. See the FAQ in this section which describes the difference between Fixed Duration, Fixed Units, and Fixed Work. I believe you want to be Effort Driven. That is, if you have a job that is 4 man-days and you assign 3 people, MS Project will automatically adjust the duration to 1.33 days.
5. Assign resources to the painting job tasks. As noted above, MS project will adjust as you assign resources. For instance, if you have a 9 man-day project, assigning 1 resource will result in a 9 day duration. Two resources will cut the duration to 4.5 days. Adding a third resource will cut the duration to 3 days.

Hope this helps. If I get time later, I'll find the link to that FAQ, otherwise, search the FAQs. FAQ is a tab in the section above these questions and postings.

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The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[PHarrell]

WOW!! This helps so much!! Thank you!!

 

[JulieInMaine]

Assuming you are working with Project 2013 below are some links to the getting started information.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/basic-tasks-in-project-2013-HA102891709.aspx

Start with John's list and let us know if you have specific questions. You can also find many free tutorials on YouTube about Microsoft Project.

Hope this helps.

Julie

 

[PHarrell]

Hi JulieInMaine,
Unfortunately I am using MS Project 2010. Is there a way that I can upload what I have created so far to show you what I'm looking at?

 

[JulieInMaine]

The concepts for Project 2013 are very close to Project 2010. But if you'd like to upload, sure - I'll take a look.

 

[johnherman]

I was wrong, there is not a FAQ regarding Fixed Duration, Fixed Work, or Fixed Units. I had long asked PDQ Bach, one of this forum's MVP's, to create one. However, if you search this forum, he has written replies about the concept of Fixed Duration, Fixed Work, or Fixed Units for several questions.

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The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[JulieInMaine]

The link below applies with the caveat that the Assignment Units field does not show the correct value - the peak field does:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/about-task-types-HP001038014.aspx

See the link below for discussion about peak versus assignment units:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/project/archive/2010/04/29/assignment-units-in-project-2010.aspx

One other comment to add to John's list - step number 5 regarding the decrease in duration when you assign additional resources applies only if the task is effort driven. In both Project 2010 and Project 2013 tasks are not effort driven by default.