Does this mean these the software can level consumable resources, or they just make a warning of some over allocation?
Oracle Primavera P6:
- Adding Resources - Use this task to add resources to the resource pool. Resources include the personnel and equipment that perform work on activities across all projects. Resources are generally reused between activities and/or projects. Resources can be distinguished as either labor, material, or nonlabor. Labor and nonlabor resources are always time-based, and material resources, such as consumable items, use a unit of measure you can specify.
Asta Powerproject:
- http://catalystusa.com/wp-content/docs/WP-2011-Allocating%20Resources%20for%20Construction.pdf
- We use resources to allocate materials. We can also use materials in this way to track stock levels. To do this we use a different type of resource called ‘Consumable Resources’. They are allocated the same way as other resources but have slightly different properties.
Deltek Open Plan:
- http://www.fplotnick.com/CPMinConstructionManagement/DeltekOpenPlanManuals/DeltekOpenPlan35UserGuide.pdf
- Consumable – An individual resource that can be consumed or “used up” over the course of a project. Building materials such as bricks used in a construction project are a typical example of a consumable resource. Units of consumable resources that are not required during one period of availability are carried forward to the next period. For example, assume that the availability of bricks is defined as 3,000 units on a particular day. If the requirement for the bricks is only 2,000 units on that day, Open Plan carries forward the remaining 1,000 units to the next day.
To figure it out we can try resource leveling the following consumable resource scenario [Bricks/Cement&Sand] that is unfeasible unless all are leveled or constrained.
Johannes,
I do not use P6 I use Spider Project and the solution comes at a single click of the mouse. This afternoon after I return from other duties I will take a look at it.
I provided a simple schedule for the purpose of illustrating consumable resource leveling, please give us your solution to the sample schedule to see how good it can be.
Thank you very much for your response, you have been the first and only person willing to deal with some numbers for consumable resources within this discussion. No doubt it can be done with manual methods, but how good and reliable is of concern.
Best Regards,
Rafael
Hi all
I have updated this post and added screenshots
I appreciate the efforts of Raphael to demonstrate that resource management and more, in particular, the leveling of resources is crucial for the creation of sound scheduling models.
I use resource leveling and smoothing techniques all the time in my scheduling models but had not attempted to level material resources in Primavera P6.
Yes, you can level material resources in the same manner as labor resources as demonstrated in the 6 screenshots below
Fig.001 The bricks in the unleveled condition
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Fig 002 The leveling specification at a rate of 700 bricks per day
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Fig. 003 shows the effect of the leveling of the material resource "bricks" on the activities.
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Fig 004 demonstrates the bricklayers in the unleveled condition
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Fig 005 Demonstrates the leveling specification for the leveling of the labor resource "bricklayers". The maximum units/ per time is set at 16 hours per day.
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Fig. 006 Demonstrates the condition when the resource "Bricklayer" is leveled
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I trust this demonstrates that Primavera P6 can level material and labor resources
Please visit my blog with the link below and you see the leveling of materials and labor resources.
https://primavendum.com/leveling-resources
Regards Johannes
http://archibaldassociatesllc.com/Problems_Methods_Tools%20of%20Advanced%20Constrained%20Scheduling.pdf
Project schedules must consider all existing constraints including resource, supply and financing restrictions. It should model real life work, taking into account working in shifts, activities where execution cannot be split, resources that may replace one another, and everything else that is taken into consideration by people that create resource schedules manually. If the software cannot consider real life restrictions, the schedules created by this software will not be practical.
MATERIALS LEVELING SCENARIO WITH ACTIVITY SPLITTING ALLOWED
I published on August 11, 2017 at several discussions on LinkedIn the same scenario in the hope of getting at least a single response and within 3 days:
A lot of views, a lot of comments, not a single one dared to tackle the problem directly, all were evasives as if no-one within the scheduling community is capable of dealing with consumable resources.
Too many keyboard monkeys with pedigree, many with over 30 years experinece as Project Managers in their resume.
I hope some day at least a single one will dare to discuss the scenario without evasives, without BS-ing.
They all chicken out.
Yes Rafael, it can be done the way you suggested.
But when plan we expect certain probability of assigned resources. Actual productivity on the certain day may be different for many reasons. It does not mean that the rest of activity will be done with the same speed. In any case remaining schedule shall be adjusted after entering actual data.
Vladimir,
I cannot imagine any serious scheduler that has never considered consumable resources constraints even if by using an abacus.
For the Great Wall of China consumable resources was a major concern. The Great Wall over the ages used around 100,000,000 tons of stone, bricks, and mud.
A legend about the Jiayuguan Pass tells of a workman named Yi Kaizhan in the Ming Dynasty (1368BC-1644BC) who was proficient in arithmetic. He calculated that it would need 99,999 bricks to build the Jiayuguan Pass. The supervisor did not believe him and said if they miscalculated by even one brick, then all the workmen would be punished to do hard work for three years. After the completion of the project, one brick was left behind the Xiwong city gate. The supervisor was happy at the sight of the brick and ready to punish them. However Yi Kaizhan said with deliberation that the brick was put there by a supernatural being to fix the wall. A tiny move would cause the collapse of the wall. Therefore the brick was kept there and never moved. It can still be found there today on the tower of the Jiayuguan Pass.
I was hoping to find serious schedulers like Yi Kaizhan willing to take the challenge even when will be no punishment if they miss by 1 brick. I am starting to believe that P6, Ata Power Project and Open Plan schedulers will chicken out and run away from this discussion.
While someone shows up, if it ever happens, I would like to discuss with you some of the challenges I find when dealing with consumable resources using Spider Project.
When progressing the schedule I suggest before adding actual data to adjust deliveries for the updating period for planned to be equal to actual and fix delivery plan as Spider Project will not tolerate 1 missing brick. Then actual data input initially calculated by the software will need no adjustments. Please provide your comments and suggestions.
Best Regards,
Rafael
For a jump start I am using an example where materials are assigned to activities, the simplest case of consumable resource assignments. If the software cannot deal with the simplest scenarios I do not expect them to be able to deal with real but more complex consumable resource leveling.
Cannot be any easier.
Maybe I got it wrong but from the literature I understood they are capable of consumable resource leveling. If I got it wrong all is needed is a clear statement they are not capable of leveling consumable resources. I want to know if they have consumable resource leveling functionality. I want to know how good the leveling is if they have the capability to do so.
Rafael,
consumable resource assignment is no less interesting.
Materials can be assigned directly to activites as fixed amount, or per unit of time or volume.
But they can also be assigned to renewable resources (a car consumes gas whenever it moves) or to renewable resource assignmments (if we want to plan and to control material consumption by certain resources or contractors).
Materials can be consumed at activity start, at activity finish, during activity execution or using combination of these options.
If materials are not properly assigned their consumption planning is not reliable.
So it is interesting if scheduling packages can properly model consumable resource assignments.