Sheduling delivery and installs

[Frank]

I've done some searching but didn't find anything that spoke
specifically to what I'm trying to do.

I'm using Project 2003. My main question is related to equipment
delivery and the best way to deal with it. Here are the particulars:

1) We have ordered the equipment from the vendors, they have given us
delivery dates.
2) For some of the equipment the vendors are installing it, so the
dates on when they will be here are fixed.
3) For the equipment we are installing ourselves, work obviously can't
begin until the equipment arrives.

I've seperated the items into summary tasks, each with several sub
tasks (including delivery). An example is below:

Storage 12 days Wed 6/6/07 Thu 6/21/07
SAN Arrives 0 days Wed 6/6/07 Wed 6/6/07
SAN Implementation 4 days Mon 6/18/07 Thu 6/21/07

I've set the arrival task as a milestone. In this case both the
constrain dates are set to "Start no earlier than".

Is this the best way to approach this?

 

[Jim Aksel]

We do it like this:

Task1: Create and place Equipment Orders (5 days)
Task2: Equipment Leadtime (20 days)
Task3: Equipment Arrives (0 days, milestone)
Task4: Installation (4days)

All tasks are linked FS and are of type ASAP
Task1 might be set to SNET with a date, but usually backs up to something
like "Authorization to Proceed" or something.

In your case, you could work it that way with a SNET on the milestone.
There would be no need for a SNET on SAN Implementation as it could start on
6/7/2007. If it cannot, then use a lag from the mileston FS+8d.

If there is something going on in those 8 days, it would be best to add
another task like this:

SAN Arrives 0 days
Admire Box SAN is packaged in 8 days
SAN Implementation 4 days

Each would be FS, ASAP although the SAN Arrives milestone as SNET with a
date is certainly tolerable.

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Jim
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[Dave]

I've done some searching but didn't find anything that spoke
specifically to what I'm trying to do.

I'm using Project 2003. My main question is related to equipment
delivery and the best way to deal with it. Here are the particulars:

1) We have ordered the equipment from the vendors, they have given us
delivery dates.
2) For some of the equipment the vendors are installing it, so the
dates on when they will be here are fixed.
3) For the equipment we are installing ourselves, work obviously can't
begin until the equipment arrives.

I've seperated the items into summary tasks, each with several sub
tasks (including delivery). An example is below:

Storage 12 days Wed 6/6/07 Thu 6/21/07
SAN Arrives 0 days Wed 6/6/07 Wed 6/6/07
SAN Implementation 4 days Mon 6/18/07 Thu 6/21/07

I've set the arrival task as a milestone. In this case both the
constrain dates are set to "Start no earlier than".

Is this the best way to approach this?

I think that in line with Jim's comments there is not necessarily a best
way.

I like to represent the order date as a milestone (or task if the amount
of work justifies it) and then have the delivery date as another
milestone (linked FS to the ordering milestone) to which the capital
costs are assigned as that ties in with the way we invoice the customers
in my organisation. The delivery milestone then links as a predecessor
to those tasks which need the equipment or testing activities for the
equipment prior to use.