MS Project 2010 Resource Scheduling

[shoppingboy]

I have task 1 that has a durration of 10 days. Resources A and B are assigned to it but on the 6th day resource B is replaced by resource C. Resource B is assigned to task 2 that runs concurrently with task 1 so will only be assigned to it from day 6 to 10.

Does anyone know how to schedule this?

[EINSTEIN_007]

I dont know how to do that but you can download PlanningForce Express Scheduler 2.3.1 which is a free scheduling software to schedule your MS-project files. It generates reports based on scheduling results and you can easily get resource allocations without any over-allocation. It generates 6 types of report (Key performance indicators, resource usage, resource allocations, resource scheduling and goals report).

[JulieS]

I would suggest breaking the task into two tasks each with 5 days duration. The first part as resources A & B assigned. The second half Resources A & C. The only way to handle it otherwise is to edit the spread of work in the Task Usage or Resource Usage view.

Link task 2 as the predecessor to the second half of the task.

I hope this helps.

Julie

[shoppingboy]

Thanks for your suggestion JulieS. This would mean that I would have to split the task everytime a resource is assigned to or removed from that task wouldnt it? Each task could have up to 12 resources assigned which frequently change so the schedule could end up quite messy.

[BJH]

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/pr...spx#BMvacation

Change the resource availability without using a calendar

If you are working with automatically scheduled tasks, you can change a resource's availability without changing that resource's calendar. Aside from the effects of the project calendar, availability is also reflected by a resource's working time, starting and ending availability dates, and any varying unit availability at different time periods. Project uses this information to determine whether a resource is overallocated. This is useful if you know that a resource will be available to work for a certain amount of time on a specific task, but you don't want to change the resource's availability for other tasks in the project.

If you are using Project Professional to change schedule information for an enterprise resource, you must first check out the resource. You can also update the changes to the resource calendars by using Project Server.
1.Click the View tab, and in the Resource Views group, click Resource sheet.


2.Right-click the resource name, and then click Resource Information.
3.In the Resource Information dialog box, click the General tab.
4.In the Available From field, enter the resource's start date on the project.
5.In the Available To field, enter the resource's finish date on the project.
6.In the Units field, type the number of maximum units that this resource is available during this period of time.

You can enter maximum units as a percentage (for example, 50%, 100%, or 300%), or as a decimal (for example, 0.5, 1, or 3).
To adjust the assignment of a single resource to full-time effort, in the Units field for the resource you want, type or select 100%.
To adjust the assignment of a single resource to part-time effort, type or select a percentage less than 100 to reflect the level of part-time effort that this resource will be working. For example, if the resource will be working on this task half-time, type 50%.
To adjust the unit assignment of a group of multiple resources, type a percentage that represents the level of effort for this group of resources. For example, if the resource group is Operators, there are three resources in this group, and you want to assign all of them full-time, type 300%.

Notes
Although the Resource Availability table in the Resource Information dialog box changes a resource's maximum units over the life of the project, it does not change the resource rates over time. You can enter different rates for a resource in a cost rate table.
The Resource Availability table adjusts the maximum unit availability throughout a project, and work contours adjust the varying levels of work throughout a specific assignment.
You can enter a date in the Available To field without entering a date in the Available From field.

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[JulieS]

Thanks for your suggestion JulieS. This would mean that I would have to split the task everytime a resource is assigned to or removed from that task wouldnt it? Each task could have up to 12 resources assigned which frequently change so the schedule could end up quite messy.

The purists in the project management world (I am not one) would say that every task should be decomposed so only one resource is performing the task. Too much like work for my tastes.

So, the only other option is to have to manually edit the assignment data. You can get sort of close with assignment delays or changing start/finish dates on the assignment row in a usage view. The challenge to this is that you have to calculate the number of hours you expect the resource to perform.

Unfortunately there is not automatic way of handling this. If the substitutions are happening more 'on the fly' then you can use the replace command in the Assign Resources dialog. Any actual work applied to Resource B would remain in place and the remaining work would be passed to the replacement resource. However, this swap is only good once -- you cannot keep replacing in this manner automatically. After the first, it's manual.

I hope this helps.

Julie