Tasks happening as Late as Possible

[NevilleT]

I have a project plan where I want to link training activities to a go live
date so that training ends on the go live date. I cannot work out the
combination of "As Late as Possible" and linking to use. I end up with Go
Live milestone being pushed out or the training activities happening too soon.

Can anyone point me at an example or put me on the right track?

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

As late as possible is a very (far too) strong constraint, it will push the
task out till it is critical.
It is only practiclly usable when linked to a task with a fixed date or a
Finish no later than constraint.

What you are actually looking for is a "Just in Time" constraint... but not
only is that absent in Project, some people even claim it is useless (I
don't!)

Two ways out: Use the ALAP-link as you describe, but fix teh go lkife
milestone; training will then be scheduled "just in time"

Or, use a reverse link, from the start of go life to the end of the
training. That will position the training allright but should the training
start later than planned Project won't tell you you have a problem since go
life start does not depend on training any longer.

Hope this helps,
--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[NevilleT]

Thanks for the feedback. I suspected JIT was not really workable. Perhaps I
set the first task in the training scheme linked to the Go Live with a
negative lag?

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Yes, that publishes the plan as you want to see it BUT when the training
date changes it does not feedback on the Go life date and you don't get a
warning.
I still feel a normal FS relationship Training to go life, with training
constrained alap, but with Go Life Must Start On, is better.

Hope this helps,

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[NevilleT]

Hi Jan

If I use the link between Training Complete Milestone and Go Live Milestone,
it pushes the Go Live Milestone out to the end of the project. The training
tasks being ALAP push the Training Complete Milestone to the end of the
project and the Go Live follows it.

I have another idea but don't know if this will work.

- Can I use a custom date field (Date1) and put a reference to the Go Live
date in it for the Training Complete Milestone. Something like "=Task12".
- Can I then use the Training Complete milestone as must finish on Date1 (Go
Live Milestone Date).

Theoretically it could work but no idea how to do it in practice.

Thanks again for your help up to this point.

 

[NevilleT]

Thanks Trevor. Go Live is not the last date and I have considered a fixed
date that would be adjusted if the Go Live changed. Still looking for a
better solution where if the Go Live moves, the whole training chain also
moves.