Forum Discussion
Ms Project Shift Work
Hello, I am currently changing how I manage our production schedule within MS Project..... Background - I work at an industrial repair facility, durations are roughly estimated, i use "Work" as an ...
John,
Thanks for your reply.
I definitely understand that my file is very complex. There are many moving parts and the ability to be agile is a huge barrier in regards to shortened or lengthened durations due to the nature of our repairs.
I will take a look into the assignments and see if there is something i was missing.
What we had done in the past was create individual calendars that would reference the working times 1 shift 5 days 8 hours through 2 shifts 12 hours 7 days and everything in between. Then each department would have multiple resources ( all of which would reference the department and one of the listed calendars)
Assembly 1X5X8
Assembly 1X5X10
Assembly 1X5X12 ...... so on and so forth
The system "Worked" but only in a sense of showing an accurate Start/Finish.... No Over Allocations, Cost, or Hour By Hour views.
Maybe what i am trying to do would be better suited for another program, but i would really like to make MS Project work for me.
As far as the calendar goes... The 12AM to 3:30AM would be the End of Shift from the previous day (2nd Shift) Then pick back up starting at 3:30 PM.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your reply.
I definitely understand that my file is very complex. There are many moving parts and the ability to be agile is a huge barrier in regards to shortened or lengthened durations due to the nature of our repairs.
I will take a look into the assignments and see if there is something i was missing.
What we had done in the past was create individual calendars that would reference the working times 1 shift 5 days 8 hours through 2 shifts 12 hours 7 days and everything in between. Then each department would have multiple resources ( all of which would reference the department and one of the listed calendars)
Assembly 1X5X8
Assembly 1X5X10
Assembly 1X5X12 ...... so on and so forth
The system "Worked" but only in a sense of showing an accurate Start/Finish.... No Over Allocations, Cost, or Hour By Hour views.
Maybe what i am trying to do would be better suited for another program, but i would really like to make MS Project work for me.
As far as the calendar goes... The 12AM to 3:30AM would be the End of Shift from the previous day (2nd Shift) Then pick back up starting at 3:30 PM.
Thanks again.
Chris,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
Project will do what you need although with the complexity of your structure, it may take more effort than you want/expect. I would definitely limit the number of custom work calendars. Take a close look at what you need to define the work and limit the options for calendars. In my view you're already in deep yogurt, no need to keep piling on the "toppings", so to speak.
Now that I look at your second shift, I missed the fact that it is correct. The order of the work times threw me off.
Good luck
John
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
Project will do what you need although with the complexity of your structure, it may take more effort than you want/expect. I would definitely limit the number of custom work calendars. Take a close look at what you need to define the work and limit the options for calendars. In my view you're already in deep yogurt, no need to keep piling on the "toppings", so to speak.
Now that I look at your second shift, I missed the fact that it is correct. The order of the work times threw me off.
Good luck
John
- Partially Solved.
This is slightly cumbersome but it does work.
I have created an additional Resource named "Planning". This resource is a modified 24hr Calendar that shows a lunch break per shift.
When the initial schedule is created every task will be assigned to "Planning"
Then, each task will hold its own TASK CALENDAR
Then, using the calculated Start/End times i will assign the correct resources. In the times that there is WORK runover from one shift to the next I assign both day and night resource.... So far there has been no (and I know that this verbiage is wrong) Level Loading.
Each task falls into the anticipated time slot. The only other minor modification that i made was using DURATION instead of WORK..... Understanding that DURATION should be assigned on a day/week level, instead i am using hours. this also correctly changes the total work for the task.
I will update if there are any issues going forward, or if I find a better way to tackle this.- Chris,
Thanks for the update. A couple of comments.
If you assign your Planning calendar as the Project calendar, all tasks will follow that calendar and there won't be any need for separate Task Calendars, unless specific tasks need to deviate from the Project calendar.
In Project, duration is the time span during which a task is performed. Work is the effort expended to perform the task. Project only has one definition for a "day". With multiple custom calendars you should avoid entering duration in anything other than hours. Hours are hours but days, weeks, and months may vary.
John- Thanks John,
I agree that for my specific needs Duration is best suited for hours entry rather than days/weeks
I have been messing with the options for [hours per day] [hours per week] [days per month]
Can you please verify something for me.
During the initial build of a schedule if the base calendar is 2 shifts 8 hours per shift [16 total hours with 15 hours of work available due to lunch breaks]
The option would be [16 hours per day] [80 hours per week] [20 days per month]
This would be scaled to the appropriate initial base schedule.
The reason I ask is that it seems to be just very slightly off.
Again, Thank you for your continued support!
