I there any way to make a fixed length overhead task without using fixed start/end days, e.g. task end ten days after task start?
I need to set up a plan (initially to get an idea of the required resource capacity) for a number of subprojects which are executed by a mixture of internal resources and external contractors. At this stage not very much information is available so I need to work based on assumptions and cannot work with fixed calendar days. For the internally staffed tasks I can use effort based tasks and scale them using resource assignments. For the tasks executed by external contractors however I only know how long they are going to take to complete. It is important to have them in the plan as there are dependent tasks to be executed internally.
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I think an effort-based (non-overhead) task is easier to schedule in this case. You can add a constraint (Constraints tab) where the "End must be after" a task or calendar event offset by 10 days. You still need an initial event to anchor these tasks and you will need a dummy resource for the external contractor so that the task is scheduled.
Hope this helps, but if I haven't fully grasped the scenario come back with some more info/examples.
Andy
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thank you for your input. We have currently set up the project along the lines of what you suggest but am not very happy with the result because we end up having to create a lot of dummy resources (30 dummies compared to 10 actual resources) to ensure that they don't become a bottleneck.
Is there a reason why the following dependencies are not allowed in xProcess:
- a task is not allowed to depend on itself, e.g. to create a task running for 10 days: END must be after FORECAST START offset 10 days
- a task is not allowed to depend on another task twice, again to create a 10 day task:
- Task 2 START must be after Task 1 FORECAST END
- Task 2 END must be after Task 1 FORECAST END offset 10 days
Flemming
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I there any way to make a fixed length overhead task without using fixed start/end days, e.g. task end ten days after task start?
I need to set up a plan (initially to get an idea of the required resource capacity) for a number of subprojects which are executed by a mixture of internal resources and external contractors. At this stage not very much information is available so I need to work based on assumptions and cannot work with fixed calendar days. For the internally staffed tasks I can use effort based tasks and scale them using resource assignments. For the tasks executed by external contractors however I only know how long they are going to take to complete. It is important to have them in the plan as there are dependent tasks to be executed internally.
I think an effort-based (non-overhead) task is easier to schedule in this case. You can add a constraint (Constraints tab) where the "End must be after" a task or calendar event offset by 10 days. You still need an initial event to anchor these tasks and you will need a dummy resource for the external contractor so that the task is scheduled.
Hope this helps, but if I haven't fully grasped the scenario come back with some more info/examples.
Andy
Hi Andy,
thank you for your input. We have currently set up the project along the lines of what you suggest but am not very happy with the result because we end up having to create a lot of dummy resources (30 dummies compared to 10 actual resources) to ensure that they don't become a bottleneck.
Is there a reason why the following dependencies are not allowed in xProcess:
- a task is not allowed to depend on itself, e.g. to create a task running for 10 days: END must be after FORECAST START offset 10 days
- a task is not allowed to depend on another task twice, again to create a 10 day task:
- Task 2 START must be after Task 1 FORECAST END
- Task 2 END must be after Task 1 FORECAST END offset 10 days
Flemming
Those are good suggestions and I'll look at whether they can be easily introduced. I'll get back to you.