FS relationship results in wrong start date

[Kim]

Activity 1, duration 1day. Activity 2 FS relationship with Activity 1.
Standard calendar.

End date of Activity 1 - 9/1/09 @ 5:00pm
Start date of Activity 2 - 9/1/09 @ 5:00pm; finish as soon as possible

Project calendar - 8 hrs per day; default start 8am; default finish 5pm
Task calendar - 8 hrs per day; 8a-noon & 1p-5p

I expected to see Activity 2 start at 8am on 9/2/09. Why is Activity 2
starting at exactly the same time as the end of Activity 1.

Using MS Project 2003. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

[vanita]

Hi Kim

Check the calendar again. Specifically check the working times of 1st Sep.
Also through Project > Project information please check that whether this
calendar is assigned as the project calendar.

If a resource is assigned to the Activity 2, also check its calendar.

I hope it helps.
Vanita

 

[Kim]

Thanks, Vanita. I appreciate your help.

I thought I had checked all calendars. In fact, I had. However, I
overlooked the fact that I have a material resource assigned.

When I remove the material resource, the dates are correct.

Any idea why the material resource affects the start date of the successor
task like this?

 

[vanita]

Hi Kim

Good your problem is resolved.

Ideally this conflict should not be caused by a material resource since it
is not connected with a calendar and also does not have Max units
availability data attached with it.

How are you defining a material resource? If a resource is categorised as
'Material type' only then it is taken as a material resource.

I hope it helps.
Vanita

 

[Kim]

I agree - the material resource shouldn't be the culprit.

During my review, I learned that the material resource had been assigned to
the activity with 0 units with cost. When the material resource was assigned
this way, the start date was wrong. However, when I entered 1 unit and kept
the cost the same, the date was correct.

The key to figuring this out was your suggestion - simply but reliable -
check your task and resource calendars (again).

Thanks again. Kim

 

[Steve House]

This still doesn't make sense. Material Resources don't have calendars and
their assignments don't influence task timing. Look again at the resource
sheet. Are you sure the resource type column next to the name doesn't read
"Work" rather than "Material" for that resource?

 

[Kim]

Resource type is confirmed as material.

I think you're right - I also don't believe it was a calendar issue.
However, it wouldn't have found the issue if Vanita didn't prompt again to
look at calendar. That's when I realized material resources don' have
calendars. My previous attempts to fix the successor date kept taking me to
the task calendar and related working time.

In my original scenario, I assigned a material resource with 0 units. Then,
I went to the task usage view and entered planned cost. Kept the unit 0 and
planned cost of $1.

Changing the unit to 1 corrected the start date on the successor task to
start at 8:00 on 9/2/09.

I'm not an expert, so I'm sure there's a rule about resources planned with 0
units that affected the date. I wish there were more so you could expand on
the underlying cause. Hope this helps.