Determining Resource Need

[Tim]

Forgive me, but I am new to MS Project...

I have a task that I need to set up that has a specific start date and a
specific end date. There are several sub-tasks that each have the same 5
sub-tasks below them.

Instead of listing actual resources, I have resources called "Task 1
Workers," "Task 2 Workers," etc. My goal is to determine how many people I
need to allocate to each group ("Task 1 Workers," "Task 2 Workers," etc.) to
effciently complete the project on time.

Currently I have each task set up as a start - finish task, have guessed on
the number of resources needed, and leveled the project. I was able to come
up with a decent guess, but I don't feel like my resources are being used
efficiently and would like Project to calculate how many people I need to
assign to each group ("Task 1 Workers," etc.) to get the job done on time.

My Questions are:
Is this possible in Project?
How do I set up the project to accomplish this?
Am I at all on the right track, or am I way off base?

Thanks in advance to all.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Before goinhg ay further in discussing youyr approach, what exactly do you
mean by

Currently I have each task set up as a start - finish task

Do you mean you gave in start and finish dates or that there are Finish to
Start links between the tasks?

 

[Tim]

Here are my levels...

Overall Task (Level 1)
Sub Task (Level 2)
Indiv. Task 1 (Level 3)
Indiv. Task 2 (Level 3)
and so on........

The Indiv. Tasks are linked as finish -> start

Sub Tasks are not linked

There is only one overall task that I'm looking at

Each task is posed as a Complete ASAP

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

First the bad
(Quote)
would like Project to calculate how many people I need totime.

As such, Project calculating, No, sorry, not evn the beginning of it.
Project calculates task dates based on resource levels YOU give to each
task.
By the way, there are so many variables here that I wonder if any logic will
give you "the optimum". What is the optimum?

Then for the good news

Am I at all on the right track, or am I way off base?
I think you're on the right track.
Project's leveling reacts so fast that you can afford many, many simulatons
to come up with a "good" solution - the best you see. Not necessarily "the
absolute optimum" but good, probably better than trying by hand.

Hope this helps,

 

[David M C]

You can "sort of" work out how many of a given resource you need. Setup your
project, and put in the durations you expect for the tasks. If you expect 3
men to compelete a task in 3 days, for example, put the duration in as 3
days, and the resource at 300%. Set the task type as fixed work, change the
duration you want each task to take, and the units will change accordingly.

So, for a task that initially has a duration of 2d with 200% resource, set
it to fixed work, reduce duration to 1d, and you'll see resources go to 400%.

Ok, project doesn't tell you the most efficient way of doing things, but how
can it know? It doesn't know your business or its processes.

Dave