Dear all,
I am looking at resources in Spider and have a question how to simulate resources absence.
As I can see, every resource needs to have a calendar, which, in turn, depends on a Week object and exceptions.
I am now considering the situation of named resources.
Question 1
As in practice each resource has his own absence schedule (due to individually booked vacations ), does it mean, that I will have to create:
- separate exception for every vacation of every resource?
- Separate calendar of every resource?
So, in case I have 10 resources, each of them will have approx 5 vacations spread over the year (in addition to public holidays), that means, that for the project of 1 year I will have to create 50 exceptions and 10 calendars just to cover resources vacations.
Is it correct?
Question 2
How to handle situation, when resource is only made available for a some time (shorter, then expected duration of a project)
In MS Project one can set resource availability periods, (which is by default set to From N/A To N/A), but in Spider I found only how to set exceptions, not availability.
Regards.
Evgeny
Rafael,
thanks.
I just noticed, that exporting to CSV is available also in demo.
Regards.
Evgeny
As a first try I suggests using CSV-file Export function, a file format most database software can handle. You can download the project file from the link provided on my previous posting.
Export Project Table To File
Separate project tables, as well as the whole project, can be exported to text files (CSV format).
Exporting Project tables or Documents
To export tables (documents) into text files, select Export Table to file from Table menu in any project table. After selecting table export options in Table Export dialog box, Export into Files dialog box will be invoked, to set up export settings.
CSV (Comma Separated Value) format saves table in a format, where its columns will be separated by TABS or any other symbols (delimiters). This format allows the user to export any table documents to other programs (such as Word, Excel, and Databases). File extension of the files is .txt.
Delimiter can be changed in the Spider project options dialog box.
Documents saved in HTML format can be opened with internet browsers. Therefore, the user will be able to access these documents without using Spider Project software.
The following figures illustrates how.
You can record a Script to automate the procedure to a single click.
Now it is up to you and your knowledge of your database software to import CSV tables and create a template for your reports. Maybe the newly created Access Database can be connected to Spider.
For your requirement that I consider not unusual I still would prefer a direct table within Spider, a table that anyone can use without the need to ask IT and get a response for "next week".
I rarely use CSV, not even Excel to transfer data among Spider files, I use Excel for very simple tasks. I prefer to use what they call "Reference Books", a piece of cake compared to the method used by competing CPM software to transfer data with Excel using their special templates.
Good luck.
Rafael,
If doesn’t cost too much time, would you be able to export for me some project to MS Access file (*.mdb) and make it available together with the original *.sprj file itself?
I just want to see in which form Spider exports projects.
Regards.
Evgeny
If Assigned Calendar Codes [& Name] are made available as a multi-valued fields there would be no need for a UDF to be manually populated [or by formula if it can be done], then with the use of filters [applied on single or multiple columns] you can get the reports.
You can download the file from the following link.
http://www.mediafire.com/?pr975s1hp6ia50s
This can do the trick but the Exceptions Assignments Table would be better as there would be no need to use calendar codes to relate resources to exception assignments.
Maybe on the background the Assigned Calendar Codes are not a multi-value field, just that they look like it, to me it would not matter how the table is built.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/18/multivalued_datatypes_access/print.html
Leave the details to the experts, give me the tables.
Rafael,
RE " I suspect this need is what is making users of MSP to use it". I actually mentioned, that in MSP I could not find this possibility either so far, using neither complex nor simple way.
So, I actually think that Spider produces more information in this case. It is just that Vladimir said that there is no need to export Spider to database to pull it together, but so far I could not find how.
Regards.
Evgeny,
Contrary to my industry [Construction] for yours [IT] and others like design firms the call of the day is the use of named resources, it is real, it is a big issue. I suspect this need is what is making users of MSP to use it in the way you are, in an error prone manner, at the expense of much trouble. It comes out of a real need, not out of lack of knowledge, IT people are among the most capable persons.
Perhaps it would be better if such table for "Exception Assignments" is generated from within Spider so mere mortals like me can pull down the data at a single click of the mouse. This table shall display for every resource all assigned exceptions on a separate line that will include all exception data in addition to start and finish date. Maybe resource production shall also be included on a separate line, the software will also have to look at the Resource Production Table. Fields for standard resource assignments might require to be under different columns than those for resource production. Also can be considered to include projected start and finish dates of resource production, to be pulled down from activity table.
Who said named resource management is easy using CPM software at current state? It will never be easy but some extra functionality will help.
Best Regards,
Rafael
Vladimir,
RE “..you wrote that in MS Project you create vacation activities and link them with other activities..”.
I don’t think I wrote, that I had any links to or from vacation activities. I use them exactly, how you suggested in your previous topic.
RE: “ Any report is easier to create in Spider”.
This is probably me, but I did not find a way to create a report in Spider, which would show all exceptions, applicable to a specific resource with exception dates. To do this one would have to link Resource table , Calendar table and Exception table in one query to have the following result.
Is it possible to do it in Spider with or withour scripts?
Regards.
Evgeny
By the way you can also show vacations as tasks.
In this case your resource asignments shall be variable and vacations tasks shall have high priority.
With variable assignments resources will move to higher priority task and return to work when vacation activity will be finished.
I still think that it is more complicated than just assign calendar exceptions.
When you wrote that in MS Project you create vacation activities and link them with other activities I wonder what you will do when some activities will be delayed. It always happens. Does it mean that you reconsider vacation activity links after each project rescheduling? Or you just keep frozen schedue where data date is different everywhere? In any case it is hard to predict project status at the moment of each vacation.
Our customers use external databases only for the integration with other softwares. Any report is easier to create in Spider and don't forget about report templates and scripts. If a report is complicated create a script that will produce this report by one mouse click.
Evgeny,
I thought about Access but the fact that on the calendar table the exceptions field is a multi-valued field makes such query a bit complicated for someone like me who for years have not used database software.
Even handling of multi-valued fields is relatively new to Access.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/msoffice/how-to-use-the-new-multivalue-field-in-access-20072010/5134
Best regards,
Rafael
Rafael,
understood. It is possible to extract the information about all exceptions and their dates, available for a specific resource, but this is not a simple report. One would have to link Resource table, Calendar table and Exceptions table with each other. Exception table would contain information about the start and finish date of every exception. Potentially, in case every report’s calendar has the same name as the resource itself, one can skip linking the resource table.
The easiest way to achieve this would be probably to export project to Ms Access (as I understand this feature is available is full version) and then build a simple query to pull this information out of there.
By the way, so far I did not find a way how to achieve this in MS Project at all. That is why for my project I prefer just to have exceptions as a task, with resources assigned to it. It is easier to manage and to show. Even though I agree, it may not be the way it was meant to work.
Regards.
If I follow the “exceptions” approach for absence management, will I be able to do the following:
Create a report for all vacations, reserved for a specific person.
For each Named Resource define Named Exceptions and Named Calendars then with the use of user defined fields you can filter the calendar exceptions table. By clicking on the exception lines you can easily check on assignments.
Create a report for all public holidays applicable for a specific person (in case of multinational distributed team)
It is easier to create a report directly from the calendars table filtering for the resource. Keep it simple, the following provide both. At a single click you can transfer the filtered data to Excel and edit your report.
Regarding the subject of a “volume”
You see, not every activity can be measured in a volume in my view.
Of course, not all activities are necessarily production type, can be Duration Type, but even Duration Type can have volume of work.
If you lay bricks – then yes. However what if you write a book or a document?
In this case, one can spend 20% of a time to type in 80% of characters, and then will spend remaining 80% to polish off the document. How do you measure the volume in this case? How do you measure the % of readiness?
This is a duration type Activity with a volume of work equivalent to 100% of the work.
Just use volume of work as percentage, by assigning 100 to volume and % to unit.
Rafael,
If I follow the “exceptions” approach for absence management, will I be able to do the following:
Regarding the subject of a “volume”
You see, not every activity can be measured in a volume in my view.
If you lay bricks – then yes. However what if you write a book or a document? In this case, one can spend 20% of a time to type in 80% of characters, and then will spend remaining 80% to polish off the document. How do you measure the volume in this case? How do you measure the % of readiness?
Therefore the only thing which matters in this case for a scheduler / project manager is estimated time to complete the task. Things are much less linear, when it comes to software development, documentation creation etc.
Regards.
Evgeny
Just switch from Gantt view to Resource Gantt, here you will be able to see all assignments grouped by resource, you can apply filters as well and create diagrams and table reports as well.
But the approach of using an activity to model vacations is still poor as resource leveling might move the activity.
Optimization will disregard priorities in favor of duration and other algorithms might still delay the activity if a prior activity using the resource is scheduled to finish after the vacation start. Say you have an activity that uses resource A, start today and last 20 days but the resource will be on vacation during X-maqs, the vacation activity approach will delay the activities.
Prior to resource leveling.
After resource leveling with all priorities equal.
After resouce leveling with priorities assigned.
Note that even with no resource leveling the effect of vacation was correct, the activity was discontinued during the resource non-work period, same as if a long week-end.
Go with the direct and reliable methods to avoid any possible trap, if a resource will not be available model availability the correct way, through resource calendar exceptions. With few resources you might notice but with hundreds of activities you might miss a few. With few resources if you notice you might solve the problem by brute force, by somehow forcing the software to do what it should do easily. Enter the data in a transparent and consistent way and let the software do the dirty job for you.
Let me know if I understood you well, at times I have problems understanding the ways of MSP users, especially with regard to productivity and volume of work. Work different to effort as you might work 8 hours but other working the same 8 hours might produce half the volume of work. MSP lacks direct functionality to model volume of work and productivity as related volume of work, when in need to model this I cannot follow the faulty logic used by MSP users.
May be this is not a question, specific to Spider, but sometimes I see that to manage absence in MS Project people create just a high priority task for vacation (e.g. Peter vacation – 2 weeks ), for public holiday, training etc. and then assign correspondent resources to these tasks.
The advantage of such approach is that you can create resource usage report (who is doing what report) and one can clearly see, what resource is doing, or why it is not available, as vacation or training gets shown there as an activity for this resource.
If you simply use exception, then it is not immediately obvious from the report why resource is not available for specific period.
Does such approach make sense?
Regards.
Evgeny
I understand how to manage named resources, but in case of un-named resources (e.g. 50 brick layers) how do you manage the fact some of them take vacations at certain dates, thus the total availability of resources goes down. So at certain week you can have 40 of them, other week 45.
Is this possible to model?
Sure, if change in availability is date dependent use fixed date milestones to model resource production to increase/decrease availability. If dependent on activities that move as the project moves use similar approach but instead of fixed milestones use milestones that move with the activities. Once you start exploring this functionality you will see how easy it is to model. Remember that all these field values are displayed on tables you can always display when needed, it is transparent and never hidden.
Of course you do not necessarily have to use milestones it can be the activities themselves. The use of milestones might help as a reminder on the Gantt, it is a matter of personal preferences.
Be aware that the use of partial assignments is not the same as reduced quantity availability even when both might yield same amount of work-hours. One activity might require 8 work-hours by two resources working at the same time on a part time basis [4 hours each], a single resource working full time [8 hours] will not meet the requirement for two activities.
Real life resource assigments can be complicated, but transparent functionality that do not require work arounds that might be erroneous makes it less dificult.
Rafael, understood.
My only concern is that that must be quite a challenge to manage all these tons of exceptions and calendars.
I have another question in this respect. I understand how to manage named resources, but in case of un-named resources (e.g. 50 brick layers) how do you manage the fact some of them take vacations at certain dates, thus the total availability of resources goes down. So at certain week you can have 40 of them, other week 45.
Is this possible to model?
Resource production is an interesting concept. Just wondering how it works together with resource leveling?
Regards.
Evgeny
I am now considering the situation of named resources.
Question 1
As in practice each resource has his own absence schedule (due to individually booked vacations ), does it mean, that I will have to create:
So, in case I have 10 resources, each of them will have approx 5 vacations spread over the year (in addition to public holidays), that means, that for the project of 1 year I will have to create 50 exceptions and 10 calendars just to cover resources vacations.
Is it correct?
Yes, this is correct with any software, you have to tell the software, no software will be able to figure it out by itself. In my case it would be a single vacation exception from X-mas to 3-kings day for all employees. Can you imagine 2 climbing crane operators on vacations twice a year on the same job, a single tower?
If you got to get into this granularity tell the software, it will do the hard part for you, it will let you know what about the impact.
Question 2
How to handle situation, when resource is only made available for a some time (shorter, then expected duration of a project)
In MS Project one can set resource availability periods, (which is by default set to From N/A To N/A), but in Spider I found only how to set exceptions, not availability.
Availability is the time where exceptions do not apply. If you want to limit the range just establish an exception from any time before the project start to the start of the availability and another from the end of availability to a distant time after project finish. This I rarely use because we usually let the software unrestricted to tell us when the resources will be needed. At times it is a genuine scheduling need and the software must provide for it, it just do it on its own way.
Use of exceptions is very efficient and allows Spider to report on non available time without having to print calendars that include every day of the year.
Eventually you will learn to use resource production triggered by activities, another unique functionality available within Spider another way to handle availability of resources. This I find it more useful when some resources become available at certain phases that will occur not per fixed calendar dates but for a phase dates range that might change as the job progress. Remember that in the construction industry it is common to hire local labor as the work develops, your modeling needs might be different, and is valid.
Resource Production
See also
Spider Project enables resource production (or consumption) on activities. The user can either set a list of resources produced/spent on activity (at page Resource Production in activity properties dialog box) or set for individual resource (at page Resource Production in resource properties dialog box) a list of activities, that produce/spend current resource.
The user can specify whether resource is produced (consumed) at the beginning or at the end of activity by checking corresponding boxes At Start or At Finish.
Amount of resource units produced (i.e. positive value) or consumed (i.e. negative value) is set in the field Quantity for selected resource (at page Resource Production in activity properties dialog box) or for selected activity (at page Resource Production in resource properties dialog box).
It is recommended to use resource production option to model quantity of resources available in the project life cycle. To change resource quantity the user can also include dummy activities (producing or consuming resources) to project work breakdown structure.
Displaying idle time on Histograms most probably will interest you, but this is a separate issue by itself we shall deal when you start creating table reports and diagrams.