Substituting Resources

[Aussie]

I am working a customer schedule (i.e., not an Enterprise schedule for my
company) in MS Proj 2007 Pro. Is there a way to set up resources so that they
will substitute for each other based on availability? For example, I need
either an Electrician level 4 or 5 for a task – whoever is available? I don’t
think that Enterprise resource pool will work for me as 1) I don’t think the
company has set it up and 2) I don’t want to tangle my customers resources
with the companies resources. I am looking for a standalone option.

 

[Roland67]

Project does not automatically substitute resources for any reason. If you
want this kind of capability you'd need to look around for a 3rd party
software (which I haven't heard of any) or have someone develop it.

 

[Aussie]

Roland67,

Your thinking and mine are along the same lines. I will leave the post open
for a while in case someone has dreamed up a "lateral thinking" solution

 

[Jim Aksel]

Project will not automatically substitute resources like this. Remember,
Project has no way to know what a Tech Level 4 or a Tech Level 5 is, let
alone if they can even do the job. Resource names and Task names are only
"free flowing text" as far as Project is concerned.

You may manually substitute resources. To do so, select the tasks in
question and select the "Assign Resources" icon on the toolbar (or
Tools/Assign Resources..) In the open dialog, select the resource to be
removed and then select "Replace" on the right side. A new resource may be
selected and will be substitued for the original resource for the selected
tasks.

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Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
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