task, resources and calendars. how to work with some of them?

[Fernando]

Hi.

i want to do something like that:

one resource A (a person) working morning and afternoon.
one resource B (an equipment) working only afternoon

some tasks (type 1) which need resource A and B together
other tasks (type 2) which just need resource B.




i've programmed it with a calendar for A (morning and afternoon) and
other calendar for B (just afternoon), then i assign task type 1
resources A and B (100% each), and tasks type 2 only resource B (100%).

But then project doesn't understand that B (the equipment) must work
with A, and it program so i can see in the resource chart that in a task
type 1 sometimes is only working A, other times is only working B
(imposible!!) and other times are working them both.

how can a do it well?


thanks

 

[JulieS]

Hi Fernando,

I'm afraid there is no default way in Project to ensure that resources
(person A and equipment B) work together. There are a couple of work arounds.

1. Create a task calendar which has only common working time between both
resources (in your example afternoons that both resource A & B are working.)
Then assign the task calendar to the task and select the option "Scheduling
ignores resource calendars." The problem with this is if you later level the
resources, you may still end up with resource A working one afternoon and
resource B working another, different afternoon.

2. Create a resource "A & B" and assign that resource to tasks which require
both. The problem with this idea is it then becomes much more difficult to
see if either resource A or resource B is overallocated.

3. Manually edit the work for each resource in the Task Usage view. This is
the most manual of the approaches but as such gives you the most control.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[Fernando]

tank you for your reply.

JulieS escribió:

Hi Fernando,

I'm afraid there is no default way in Project to ensure that resources
(person A and equipment B) work together. There are a couple of work arounds.

i was afaid of it too, but i thought i must be wrong because it seem to
me it's something very easy and usual in projects.

1. Create a task calendar which has only common working time between both
resources (in your example afternoons that both resource A & B are working.)
Then assign the task calendar to the task and select the option "Scheduling
ignores resource calendars." The problem with this is if you later level the
resources, you may still end up with resource A working one afternoon and
resource B working another, different afternoon.

2. Create a resource "A & B" and assign that resource to tasks which require
both. The problem with this idea is it then becomes much more difficult to
see if either resource A or resource B is overallocated.

3. Manually edit the work for each resource in the Task Usage view. This is
the most manual of the approaches but as such gives you the most control.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

none of them work well (well 3, does it, but if i have to do it by and,
why use ms-project? better do it by pencil and paper :-(

2 as you say create a lof of confussion with real work time of resources
A and B so when you redistribute resources strange things happen.

3 must work (i think). Thinking that B (the equipment) can't work alone
i make a calendar for A (assigned to A) and a calendar for B. I assigned
to tasks type 2 (can be done only by A) the resource A, an tasks type B
resource A too (not resource B) but assigning it calendar for B and
selecting the option "Scheduling ignores resource calendars (it destroy
cost calculations of work of B but it doesn't matter).
Well i think it must work, and initially it does before redistribution.
Resource A its overloaded. Then i make a redistribution of resources and
the result is very bad: there is a los of days when no resource is
working..... why???? so project ends up very late.





thanks

 

[JulieS]

Hi Fernando,

My comments are embedded.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

tank you for your reply.

JulieS escribió:


i was afaid of it too, but i thought i must be wrong because it seem
to
me it's something very easy and usual in projects.




none of them work well (well 3, does it, but if i have to do it by
and,
why use ms-project? better do it by pencil and paper :-(

2 as you say create a lof of confussion with real work time of
resources
A and B so when you redistribute resources strange things happen.

3 must work (i think). Thinking that B (the equipment) can't work
alone
i make a calendar for A (assigned to A) and a calendar for B. I
assigned
to tasks type 2 (can be done only by A) the resource A, an tasks type
B
resource A too (not resource B) but assigning it calendar for B and
selecting the option "Scheduling ignores resource calendars (it
destroy
cost calculations of work of B but it doesn't matter).
Well i think it must work, and initially it does before
redistribution.
Resource A its overloaded. Then i make a redistribution of resources
and
the result is very bad: there is a los of days when no resource is
working..... why???? so project ends up very late.

[Julie] I assume when you talk about "a redistribution of resources"
you are using the Resource Leveling command. Bear in mind that Resource
Leveling is not a resource optimization tool. It works solely by
delaying tasks to resolve resource overallocations and may very well
create periods when the resource is under utilized.

I'm not sure I follow exactly what you did above. If A & B are
resources, they all ready have a calendar. There is no need to create
an additional calendar for A or B. Just create a calendar (Tools >
Change working time > New) that has the common working time for both a &
b. Then assign that calendar to the Tasks that require both resources
and choose the option "Scheduling ignores resource calendar."

If you choose to use Resource Leveling, I suggest disabling (uncheck)
"Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task." I would expect
to see that Resource A is not fully utilized if we say Resource A can
only work on some tasks with Resource B and Resource B only works in the
afternoon.

I hope this helps. Please let us know how you get along and if you have
any further questions.

Julie