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Hi folks
is the there any equivalent to wbs summary (of primavera p6 ) in Ms Project 2007 ?
if yes , how to to do it ?
Regards
Kamel
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Evgeny
Thank a lot for your detailed method, even if it works as a filter to display a layout based on resource assignments at wbs level. Very helpfull.
Rafael
Thank you for your contribution, I have discovered that in msp , resource could be at wbs level assigned , but your pertinent reflection has drawn my attention to be careful with the total work resulting from the summary task.
as you said “in other words, you not only add up all of the work from the tasks to the summary, but you also add more hours from the summary task to itself.”
Regards
Kamel
Kamel,
I hope we have contributed to your needs.
Evgeny,
I am not sure Vladimir is not to implement the functionality because of it being incompatible with multiple WBS, I do not believe they are incompatible. I suspect there is a possibility Vladimir does not wants to implement the functionality because it might bring some confusion. I believe it might bring confusion if the logic of child activities is kept undisclosed.
I would be more concerned about confusion with maximal lags, even creating an activity of shorter duration that must happen between the start and finish of another is confusing. I usually welcome new functionality but at the moment I have my doubts only with regard to bringing maximal lag functionality into general use CPM software.
BTW there is a software you might like to explore as it promotes the kind of updating you like but many of us find unacceptable because of several reasons, among others because it might invalidate claims analysis under contemporaneous methods.
Best Regards,
Rafael
Rafael,
understood.
So, to conclude: the statement in bold is a correct one, however it is not related to method I suggested to Kamel, as my method has got nothing to do with resource assignment to summary task.
Regards.
Evgeny.
P.S. This is not directly the subject of this topic, but I like the functionality, which is provided by a summary task in MSP:
I know we had a discussion about this in Spider forum, but Vladimir believes he can't implement it in Spider as it would conflict with multiple WBS feature.
Regards.
Evgeny
Evgeny,
"In other words, you not only add up all of the work from the tasks to the summary, but you also add more hours from the summary task to itself."
It is a direct quote from the reference, not my own words, and although I do not use/have MSP it is how it works judging from the figure provided as an example.
Kamel asked for, "In other words a summary task which Distribute a resource from the start date of the first activity till the end date of the last activity".
And this is one way MSP provides for it. I have no doubt other methods can be used, other methods that can be even more flexible, but I was looking for an easy solution that fits Kamel needs.
As you can see I do not use/have MSP but at times I must import MSP files and the lack of an activity type that enforces links among Summary Tasks as MSP does is one of my concerns. MSP is not my choice but I am glad it exists, it is the choice of many and it do have many good things others do not have and shall learn and improve.
BTW I believe that MSP Summary Task is a practical way to tackle the need for resource lag in a way it is transparent. You might have an activity that after some time requires the use of certain resource by using a Summary Task activity with a child activity for every resource lag you can model it in a transparent way, you can even add some dependencies among the child activities or other activities or maybe even none. Then you can link the Summary Task to other tasks as MSP does.
Many do not accept as good the remaining duration of an activity moving on a different dates range than the resources and so I do. Many do not accept as good a Summary Task that can be linked to other activities but fails to disclose logic on child activities and so do I, I would welcome a Summary Task that disclose logic on child activities.
Best Regards,
Rafael
Rafael,
I agree with every single statement of yourself regarding assignment of a resources to a summary task in MS Project , except I cannot understand, why you say
"In other words, you not only add up all of the work from the tasks to the summary, but you also add more hours from the summary task to itself."
The method I described, does not involve assigning resource to a summary task. My method is about groupping of resource assignment around certain text field
Regards.
Evgeny
From:
http://www.projectinsight.net/community/learn/article/level-of-effort-summary-task-calculation.aspx
Many projects are set up in Microsoft Project with resources assigned to the summary task, but few of these assignments are properly understood by the person who originally assigned the tasks. The most common misunderstanding is that the assignment of a summary task simply designates the resource who is responsible for the completion of all work within the task. While this may be the intention of the assignment, it also assigns work to that resource. The work assigned to the resource is NOT simply the total of all work within the summary. In fact, it is ADDITIONAL work to the work within its corresponding tasks.
In other words, you not only add up all of the work from the tasks to the summary, but you also add more hours from the summary task to itself.
MSP summary tasks can have active links to other activities that work while incredibly other software allows you to link summary tasks and hammocks with links that do not work as if wanting to fool you, this is a functionality I find very wrong. Either make them work as MSP or SureTrak Topic activitiy does or do not allow the creation of such dummy links.
I do not meant to say MSP is perfect as it fails to disclose full logic of Summary Tasks. When a Summary task have a predecessor or successor al its member inherit such links and MSP fails to disclose them.
Best Regards,
Rafael
Kamel,
to the best of my knowledge there is no standard feature in MS Project to achieve, what you want. However you can see still do it.
The example below shows how to rolup the resource usage to the secont level of WBS
1) In Gantt view show custom text field (e.g. Text1)
2) Manually roll the name of the Summary Task, which you want to roll up all the resource assignments to, all the way down to tasks. (I am sure it is also possible to write a Macro, which will do it automatically)
3) Activate task usage view (View=>Task Usage)
Now create a new grouping
4) Go: View=>Group by => More Groups => New
5) Set the 1st Groupping level to be equal to Text1
6) Select the 2nd Grouping level to be equal to "Resource Names". By this Grouping level select Field Type to be "Assignment"
7) Select option “Group assignments, not tasks”
8) Type in the name of the Group view
9) Tick check box “Show in menu”
10) Press Save and then Apply for this Group view
The result shall be like this:
Does it suite your needs?
Dynamic way
===============
there is another, what I would call a ""dynamic way" to do it.
Create a combination view with the Gantt Chart on the top and resource usage at the bottom.
Select all the tasks, which you want to explore resource for, on the top view.
In the bottom view it will show usage of all resources in the tasks, you selected in the top view
So, for our example it will look like this:
Regards.
Evgeny
The goal is to find a way to roll up resource assignment on a group of activities
In other words a summary task which Distribute a resource from the start date of the first activity till the end date of the last activity.
Kamel,
the (WBS) level is probably equivalent to the Outline Level in MSP.
So, if you are talking about "a group of activities that share a common work breakdown structure (WBS) level", then you can simply use MSP feature to show only activities down to a spesific Outline level.
Is it what you are looking for?
Regards.
Hi Evgeny
A WBS summary activity type represents a group of activities that share a common work breakdown structure (WBS) level. The summary-level WBS activity enables the rollup of dates for the activity group. Rollup values for a WBS summary activity are calculated when the project is scheduled. The duration of a WBS summary activity extends from the start of the earliest activity in a group to the finish of the latest activity.
The WBS summary activity type combines the summary capabilities of the WBS structure with task-level attributes such as relationships, resource assignments, and notebooks. Use this activity type to roll up dates, duration, and percent complete values for a group of activities that share a common WBS code.
Thanks
Regards
KAmel
Dear Kamer,
if you could tell little bit more about wbs summary (of primavera p6 ), I could check whether equivalent functionality exists in MSP.
Regards.
Evgeny
Email: PPadmin@planningplanet.com
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