Fixed Work - Units not changing

[Terri]

Using MSP 2007

I was added to a project that is in the proposal stage and took over an
existing schedule.

The original scheduler had it as fixed units, and did a preliminary resource
loading. Now the estimates have changed and I need to adjust the hours. I
want it to be fixed work and let the duration calculate based on amount of
work. I did change all the task types to fixed work and then started
adjusting the hours.

My question, (I may not even have to worry about it, but it is bugging me)
is when I adjust the hours on a resource using the gant chart view, split
window, task details form on bottom split, the units are adjusting for some
resources, but for some it is staying at whatever the unit percentage was
there prior to the adjustment or is changing to 100% for less that 100% effot.

Example:

Total work for the activity is 120 hours split over 3 resources 100 hours
for 1 and 10 hours each for the other 2.

The 100 hours is giving me 12.5 day duration, since this is engineering, I
am allowing some float so I adjust the duration to 15 days. This reduced the
units for the 100 hours correctly to 83% the other two are staying at 100%
which I would have expected to see 8% on. Is there an explanation why some
units adjust correctly while other stay where they were prior to the
adjustments?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Jim Aksel]

This has to do with how you are loading the resources.
If you are keying the work (100,10,10) and letting Project calculate the
duration, it is working with Manny (100hrs), Mo(10 hours), and Jack(10hours).

The algorithm is assuming the units availability is 100% (from the Resource
Sheet). So it is allocating Manny's hours (100/8=12.5 days). Then it places
Mo and Jack as 8 hours on day 1 and 2 hours on Day2.

Since all three resources are assigned at 100%, it is moving the work as far
left as possible. Mo and Jack have no work past "10AM" on day 2 of this 12.5
day task.

Increasing the duration of the fixsed work task from 12.5d to 15d causes
Manny's units% to drop below 100% becuase you give him extra time to complete
the work. Project is forced to spread his 100 hours accross a longer
duration holding work fixed at 100 hours. Since the distrution of Manny's
hours is assumed to be uniform, it gets you the lower assigned units number.

You can see this if you look at the Task Usage View on the View menu.
If you want to spread Mo and Jack's hours evenly (peanut butter), you can
key their assignment units% in the lower pane of the Gantt Chart.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

When you first assign two resources to a task, then they both start and
finish on the same date. Edit work and the units will recalculate with fixed
work. However, change just one assignment and the finish or start dates are
no longer locked. Only one of the assignments drives the task duration. Now
when you edit the duration only the longest assignment recalculates.

To "lock" both assignments together again, make the duration very short, say
2d then increase to 15d and that should do it.



--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project - http://www.project-systems.co.nz

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see: http://www.projectvbabook.com

Using MSP 2007

I was added to a project that is in the proposal stage and took over an
existing schedule.

The original scheduler had it as fixed units, and did a preliminary
resource
loading. Now the estimates have changed and I need to adjust the hours.
I
want it to be fixed work and let the duration calculate based on amount of
work. I did change all the task types to fixed work and then started
adjusting the hours.

My question, (I may not even have to worry about it, but it is bugging me)
is when I adjust the hours on a resource using the gant chart view, split
window, task details form on bottom split, the units are adjusting for
some
resources, but for some it is staying at whatever the unit percentage was
there prior to the adjustment or is changing to 100% for less that 100%
effot.

Example:

Total work for the activity is 120 hours split over 3 resources 100 hours
for 1 and 10 hours each for the other 2.

The 100 hours is giving me 12.5 day duration, since this is engineering, I
am allowing some float so I adjust the duration to 15 days. This reduced
the
units for the 100 hours correctly to 83% the other two are staying at 100%
which I would have expected to see 8% on. Is there an explanation why
some
units adjust correctly while other stay where they were prior to the
adjustments?

Thanks in advance for any help.




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[JulieS]

Hi Terri,

When you have tasks with multiple resources assigned, modifying the
duration in a fixed work task type will change the assignment units only
for the "driver" resources. In your example, the resource with 120
hours is the "driver" resource. He or she is the reason why the task
duration was initially calculated at 12.5 days. The other two resources
with 10 hours and 100% assignment units likely finish their portion of
the task midway through the second day.

With the Task Form showing in the lower pane, click in the lower pane
and then choose Format > Details and choose Resource Schedule. You'll
get to see when each assigned resource begins and ends his or her work.
The assignment units for the resource(s) who finish last will change
as they are the reason the duration was extended in the first place.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Steve House]

Additional notes ...

When the task is Fixed Work and you edit Work hours, it behaves as if it was
Fixed Units and duration changes.
When the Task is Fixed Duration and you edit Duration hours, it behaves as
if it was Fixed Units and work changes.
When the task is Fixed Units and you edit Units, it behaves as if it was
Fixed Work and duration changes.

 

[Terri]

Thank You Everyone for the help

Additional notes ...

When the task is Fixed Work and you edit Work hours, it behaves as if it was
Fixed Units and duration changes.
When the Task is Fixed Duration and you edit Duration hours, it behaves as
if it was Fixed Units and work changes.
When the task is Fixed Units and you edit Units, it behaves as if it was
Fixed Work and duration changes.

--
Steve House
MS Project Trainer & Consultant




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