Forum Discussion
MS Project allocation of resources
Hi,
When using ms project, is there any way I can have a maximum work time for a people resource.
My issue is this:
I am planning a diving job using welders. We have 6 welders but only 1 can dive at a time. The amount of time each welder can weld for depends on the depth he is diving to. So for example if he dives to 5 meters, then he can dive for 3 hours. If he dives to 20m, he can dive for 50 mins.
I have multiple locations at multiple depths that have to be welded, which I have broken onto seperate tasks.Can I allocate the 1 resource, ie a welder diver, and adjust the maximum work time for each task/location?
Thanks in advance.
This sounds more like a safety issue than something to be done in Project. But, if you want use Project as a resource/time management app then here is an approach you might consider.
First, set the Project options for Duration units entered in "minutes"
Second, create a couple of custom fields, a number field (e.g. Number1) as a lookup list of potential dive depths, and a custom Duration field (e.g. Duration1) that relates the dive depth to the max allowed dive time.
So a simple plan could look like this. As the values in the Dive Depth are selected, the Max dive time will be automatically shown. Manually enter the Max dive time value into the Duration field. Add resources and dependencies as appropriate for each dive, and you will have a plan. Note, the Duration field could be automatically updated with a Paste Link from the Max dive time field but I don't recommend it as Paste Links have a tendency to corrupt a file. However, a simple VBA macro could automatically set the Duration values once dive depths are selected.
Hope this helps.
John
Thanks John,
I'll give this a go. It looks like it should work. The real problem for me is that the max unit for a resource is a variable that changes with each task. So I was hoping to find a way that would weight or load the resource for each task.
I'll give your way a go though.
Thanks again,
Adrian
- Adrian,
Ordinarily the max units for a resource would determine the availability of the resource but yours is a unique case. Each resource is 100% available, assuming divers are full time and no off-days/vacation are in play. So in your case the defining time period is the duration of the dive (Duration field), and NOT the resource availability.
John
