Rotating Twelve Hour Shift X 4

[Ted]

I am trying to setup calendars for resources on 4 - twelve hour shifts that
work a rotating schedule at a chemical plant. This schedule is the same for
each 4 weeks. Actually the same days every two weeks but reversed days and
nights. The following is a sample of the shifts schedule for 4 weeks - 6AM/PM
to 6PM/AM days (D) and nights(N) and non-working days (O)

Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun
WEEK 1 D D O O N N N
WEEK 2 O O D D O O O
WEEK 3 N N O O D D D
WEEK 4 O O N N O O O

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Ted]

Forgot to put that I am working in Project 2007

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

You'll have to set up each of the shifts manually. Basically, create a DayA
and DayB shift, then a NightA and NightB shift (or Night Red, Night Blue,
etc.). Create the four calendars then apply them to each of the resources in
the resource pool.

To create the calendars, use the Tools > Change Working Time option. Review
the existing night calendar to see what the entries should look like.

The night shifts are a bit tricky as you'll have to keep them all in a
single calendar day, so you get a nonintuitive entry of:

Tuesday:
12:00 AM - 6:00 AM
6:00 PM - 12:00 PM

Instead of just 6:00 PM - 6:00 AM (which spans two days).

-A

 

[Jim Aksel]

I am the items you posted represent the work schedule for a specific
resource? You may have more than one resource on the same schedule, and
other resources on "opposites".

I would go into the Resource Sheet and make changes to the calendars of each
individual resource. Here's how I'd do it.

Make two calendars (Tools/Change Working Time..) Create calendars with the
desired work shifts with the desired start/end times. Let's call them ShiftA
and ShiftB.

Now go to the Resource Sheet. Double click on the each resource name, and
then use "Change Working time..." You can then change the resource's
working calendar to ShiftA or ShiftB.

HTH
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

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

 

[Ted]

The example given was for one shift (resource) Each time the shift goes in it
alternates day to night shift. I am able to do this schedule in Outlook using
a recurrance of every 4 weeks but in Project when I put in a day for the next
week I get an exception of an overlap of the previous week.

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

You'll have to enter it all manually for each day (or week) of the calendar -
there's no real option to repeat calendar exception entries in MS Project.

The good news is that you only have to do it once, and then you can apply
the calendars to the resources and just leave it.

At this point, I might ask if you're sure that you want to schedule to this
level of granularity. I've been in similar environments where we just
assumed a 12 hour day, and didn't care overly if the task happened in the
morning or the evening. The only reason you'd want to get this granular
would be if tasks routinely get passed from the day shift to the night shift
and you wanted to track to that level of detail.

-A

 

[Ted]

I agree that this is a bit over doing it but my boss is really anal and the
the four shifts have issues about level work between them. It is unfortunate
that this could not be done within project. Is there a way to have project
pull from an external data source for calendar information - such as Excel or
even Outlook?

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

I didn't say it can't be done. It can be done quite easily (and effectively)
in Project. It's just a bit tedious to do the initial calendar setup.
Shouldn't take longer than an hour or two though.

Of course you could create one calendar, copy it, and then edit the copy if
that saves some time.

-A