Wrestling Part Time Resources with MS Project 2003

[Dougal]

I am trying to set up a plan to acurately track drawing resources on a small
In-House project. We currently have three draugtshmen on the books who all
work different numbers of hours each week, as follows: -.

The first draughtsman works 39 hrs per week, 100% of the time on this project,
The second draughtsman works 35 hrs per week, 100% of the time on this
project.
The third draughtsman works 35 hrs per week, 75% of the time on this project.

In an attempt to simplify my plan (in terms of hrs spent adjusting it) I
have entered this into the resource sheet as follows: -

Draughtsmen = 257%

(This figure was determined from the following: -
First man = 100% (based on standard working time being 39 hour's per week)
Second Man = 89.7% (i.e. 35hrs/39hrs x100) (based on standard workign time
being 39 hour's per week)
Third Man = 67.28% (i.e. 35hrs/39hrsx100x75%) (based on standard working
time being 39 hour's week)).

Applying this to my plan which has approximatley 50 seperate tasks in total
with each task being assigned a draugtsman resource of 100% for completion; I
was disheartened to find that, when my plan was resource levelled, it would
only assign 200% of the 257% of the resources available to my project in any
given week?

Why is this, and how can I get project to allow all my resources to work the
full hours available in any given week?

Wrestling MS Project 2003

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Dougal,

First, the why.
Leveling never ever changes assignment units.
You ask it to combine a number of 100% assignments so combinations can only
be 100 or 200 percent (more will be decreased by postponing tasks)

To get a better result and still keep track of your average availabilty:
- Set the Max Ubits doe draughtsmen to 300%
- Give Draughtsmen a working time of 33 hrs 25 minutes per week
(2.57*39/3 hours)

You'll get nice results.
HTH

 

[Dougal]

Thanks for that.

One further question is that my resources come and go as they please
(something I am working on). For example, my third draughtsman only ended up
working 3 hours of a possible 35 on this project last week.

Using the method in your reply, I would therefore set the resources
available to 300%, change last weeks working week times accordingly and
resource level the project.

Entering my percentages complete would then give an accurate picture of
where we were up to.

Is this the corect way to update the plan using MS Project, when resources
come and go, or am I hacking and slashing to make it work?

Thanks again.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Dougal,

Correct I do not know but DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED.
I do not like to enter percent complete.
I enter actual work and check the accuracy of remaining work.
Why make the division yourself?
The most precise way is to enter actual work timephased (Insert the actual
work row in task Usage or Resource Usage View)
Hope this helps,

 

[Dougal]

Thanks for the help.
--
Dougal

Hi Dougal,

Correct I do not know but DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED.
I do not like to enter percent complete.
I enter actual work and check the accuracy of remaining work.
Why make the division yourself?
The most precise way is to enter actual work timephased (Insert the actual
work row in task Usage or Resource Usage View)
Hope this helps,

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