Copying tasks in Project 03

[Beemer]

Hey guys, I just got tasked with modeling our new build and have been working with Project for all of three days. Here is the scenario. Im creating a construction schedule for 700 small projects that are all similar and run concurrently. What I would like to do is create a couple of models and copy them within project, only thing is that each time I paste the 27 line mini schedule its duration grows by 25 days. Every single time!

 

[Rob Schneider]

What are the properties of this task? (duration, type of work,
assignments, predecessors, successors, etc.) How is it different from
the previous 26 tasks in the group?

Hope this is useful to you. Let us know.

rms

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Each time you past, did you outdent the first task to level 1?.
That should do the trick.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Project Management Consultancy
Prom+ade BVBA
32-495-300 620

Hey guys, I just got tasked with modeling our new build and have been

working with Project for all of three days. Here is the scenario. Im
creating a construction schedule for 700 small projects that are all similar
and run concurrently. What I would like to do is create a couple of models
and copy them within project, only thing is that each time I paste the 27
line mini schedule its duration grows by 25 days. Every single time!

 

[Steve House]

Where are you seeing the duration increase? This is a 27 line block of
tasks you're copying and pasteing, right? Where does it get positioned
in the Gantt chart? Which tasks in the block are changing duration?
Also, what are you calling a "project" when you say you have "700 small
projects"? That seems very unsual and I wonder if you're clear on what
a project, a summary task, and a task are. A simple cut and paste of a
task or a set of tasks normally won't in-and-of itself trigger a
duration change to the pasted tasks - there's some more details you've
left out of your description of the what you're doing.

--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Hey guys, I just got tasked with modeling our new build and have been

working with Project for all of three days. Here is the scenario. Im
creating a construction schedule for 700 small projects that are all
similar and run concurrently. What I would like to do is create a couple
of models and copy them within project, only thing is that each time I
paste the 27 line mini schedule its duration grows by 25 days. Every
single time!

 

[Steve House]

It does sound like resource leveling may be the source of your observed
behavior - is it set to "automatic?" (Tools, Leveling) I'm curious about
your assertion that all 700 sites can go in parallel, starting together
and finishing about the same date, and yet share resources. People
can't be in two places at once. How can Joe be at the New York site
waxing widgets and also at the Los Angeles site polishing fids all on
the same day? Thaty's what you're saying will happen in your
description below.
--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks all for your help. I have found out that the shift in dates has

something to do with the resources allocated to the tasks being copied
as I made a new project (A whole new file from scratch) and made tasks
with milestones that rolled up into a summary task (The black bar with
upside down arrows at the ends). That copied just fine. I select the row
that the summary task is in and copy it..when all goes well the start
date and end date stay the same proving that all the tasks contained
within are the same. When I added some example resources to the original
and copied the summay task the dates changed. Is it doing some automatic
resource leveling?

When I said 700 small projets what I mean in real life is that I have

700 sites to build, each has started on the same day and will end around
the same time. I would like to track 25 different tasks that are
necessary from leasing a site to the construction of the actual site.
So, I would like to make a few example schedules and copy them so I have
700 mini projects but perhaps the word is summary tasks. Thing is that
each one is independent of the others but they can share resources. The
end goal is to be able to predict the resources needed to complete the
700 sites in the time allotted.

 

[Beemer]

What I was hoping for was to start the projects on the same day and assign generic resources such as construction coordinators and then find out how over allocated the resources were to figure out the peaks in demand so we could staff accordingly.

 

[Steve House]

When I create a summary task with subtasks indented under it and assign
resources to the subtasks, then select the summary and copy it to the
line below the last subtask, the whole block does get copied without
extending the durations. Do remember to outdent the freshly copied
summary as it may initially go in as a subtask of the previous summary.
Are you sure you don't have links coming in to the copied block of tasks
that change some of the dates? I like to insure the "feature" of
"Autolink Inserted or Moved Tasks" found in ToolsOptionsSchedule menu is
turned off (a totally wacko, useless and dangerous feature anyway in my
opinion - what were they thinking when they put it in and made default
to on??).

Regarding using Peak Allocation to estimate the number of resources -
not a bad idea but do be sure to remember one vital point. The peak
allocation is the highest *instantaneous* usage of the resource and
doesn't tell us for how long it is being used at that level. We may
show Engineer as being allocated at a peak usage of 500% but that may
only be for a 15 minute period during the entire project - hardly worth
hiring several people to cover (grin).


--
Steve House
MS Project MVP
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

What I was hoping for was to start the projects on the same day and

assign generic resources such as construction coordinators and then find
out how over allocated the resources were to figure out the peaks in
demand so we could staff accordingly.