MS Project Lab Tutorials
MS Project Lab Tutorials
MS Project Lab Tutorials
MS Project
Lab 1A: Getting Acquainted with MS Project
Objectives of this Lab Tutorial:
This lab exercise will attempt to accomplish the following functional objectives in MS Project:
Enter tasks, durations, and predecessor activities in the MS Project software.
Learn the general layout of the Window display for MS Project software.
Previewing and printing out a project in MS Project
Creating a Footer to include your name and lab exercise title.
Getting Started
MS Project allows you to operate in two modes: Auto Scheduled and Manually Scheduled.
You MUST SELECT Auto Scheduling. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
Read on to learn where to find the option to set the project to AUTO SCHEDULING in the project window.
Using the Task menu and checking with the Manually or Auto icons
The lower left corner in the information bar.
When you START a project, you should see Auto Scheduled as in the 3rd graphic above (solid blue bars).
The middle graphic above shows that you have NOT selected Auto Scheduled. You can change the Scheduling
to Auto Scheduling by going to the Task Menu Tab and selecting Auto See the top graphic illustration on
this page.
This is the MOST IMPORTANT first step in setting up a project: Selecting Auto Scheduling.
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MS Project
View Bar: You can make the view bar display, by right clicking on the left side of the
MS Project screen.
You will see a menu box that will allow you to check the view bar option.
TO DO: Enter the following data into MS Project just like you see below.
First, be sure you have selected Auto Scheduling.
Task Names of A, B, and C
Durations of 2, 3, and 2 days respectively.
Predecessor values of 1 for B and 2 for C (these will be explained later).
DO NOT enter any dates. Project sets up dates automatically and we will learn
about dates later. Your dates will be different from mine shown below.
The following graphic illustrates some of the basic components of the MS Project Window
view. You may need to refer to this diagram to answer questions and/or to
understand some terminology used in the following exercise activities.
Major (top)
Minor (bottom)
Time scales
To do:
First, be sure you have selected Auto Scheduling.
If you did not enter the tasks yet, enter the tasks A, B, and C now.
NOTE: DO NOT ENTER ANY DATES. We will learn how to change dates later. Project sets dates
automatically.
You should see a data entry table (Duration, Start, Finish, etc. like below).
If you do not see the data entry table, then
Click on the View on the menu bar.
Click on Tables on the tool bar.
Click on Entry in the drop down menu from Tables.
Correcting Mistakes:
If you make a mistake entering values into cells, you can backspace (! Backspace) to erase them.
Delete a CELL: click the cell (similar to MS Excel) and depress the delete key (cancel on some keyboards).
Delete a ROW: Move mouse over the ID number, click, the row will highlight, then right click to delete.
If you make a mistake, click on Edit and Undo to undo your mistake.
Adding a Task
You can add (insert) tasks in multiple ways with MS Project:
Similar to Excel: right click on a task to insert a task BEFORE the task that you clicked on.
Task Icon: Click the Task tab. On the right side of the Auto Schedule, click on the Task icon in the tool
bar.
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MS Project
Creating your First Project in MS Project Software
The most common method is to enter the tasks first. Depressing the Enter key places your cell cursor at
the next task activity to enter.
Then enter the durations for each task, and then the predecessors. You can do this in any order.
1. DO THE FOLLOWING: Assume we want to plan a party and have the following information. We need to
plan first. Obtaining supplies happens after planning is finished. The location is reserved after the supplies have
been obtained, and we mail the invitations when the supplies and location have been finished.
Note: Predecessor simply means the task that precedes or leads into a successor or following task.
Task Name Duration Predecessor
o Planning (food, drinks, location) 2 days No predecessor
o Reserve Location 1 day Planning
o Mail Invitations 1 day Reserve Location
o Obtain Supplies 3 days Reserve Location & Mail Invitations
Enter the Project
You should get a project diagram that looks similar to the one below.
Your dates will be different than mine
a. First, be sure you have selected Auto Scheduling.
b. Click on new project in the File menu to start a new project.
c. Click on Task Name in the Entry Table window and enter the four tasks for planning the party.
d. Switch to the Duration Column and enter the task durations, using d for day (default is days).
e. Next, enter the Predecessors for each task. To enter a predecessor, enter the predecessor
number, not task name. You may need to adjust the split bar to the right to see the Predecessor
column better. Adjust the split bar by left clicking and dragging the split bar.
Enter two predecessors separated by
comma [semi-colon in Europe].
NOTE the task #.
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MS Project
2. TO DO
OK, lets set up a larger project, similar to some of the assignments that you will have later on.
This independent exercise will be to create a new project using the data in the following table.
OK, Now enter the data for the project shown above. Remember, your dates will be different from mine.
The following diagram shows what I got after entering all the project data.
OK, How do I create a summary task? (Just insert a new task and indent tasks below the new one)
Insert a new task BEFORE Task A.
o Click anywhere on the Task A row
o Click on Task and a new task will appear. (Try the insert key: what happens?)
o Give it the name SUMMARY.
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MS Project
Note the following about the summary task for this project:
The first task (Summaryyou can use any name) is a summary task. It takes into account all the task
connections and relationships. It will have the same start date as the first task (Task A under the summary)
and the same finish date as the very last task (Task I, #9).
You will see that it summarizes the project. Its purpose is to show a summary of two aspects of the project:
o Project duration
o Overall Project Start and Project Finish dates
It is not necessary to enter any duration for the Summary Task.
No problem if you do, but MS Project will automatically recalculate and change the value when you indent
the subsequent tasks.
Your dates will be different from the dates I have displayed.
This project is 19 days, starts on Mon Aug 08, 2011 and finishes on Thurs Sept 1, 2011. Remember, your dates will
be different from mine.
BUT, the summary start is the same as start of Task A (Mon, Aug 08) and the finish is the same as Task I.
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MS Project
NOTE: The Summary task displays with a black Bar on the Gantt chart. The summary task provides a convenient
means for seeing a quick summary of the project in terms of how much time it will require and the project start and
finish dates.
Add the following tasks to your project for the remainder of this lab exercise:
ID Task Duration Predecessor
(in days)
11 J 7 8
12 K 4 10, 11
13 L 3 10, 12
14 M 5 12FS+10, 13FS+15
15 N 5 14
This what I got when I added the extra tasks shown above.
Notice how the summary task dates changed automatically to reflect
o The start of Task A
o The finish of Task N
You are now finished with Part A of Lab-1. NOTHING to hand in.
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MS Project
Lab #1-B: Setting Dates and Non-Working Days
This lab exercise will attempt to accomplish the following functional objectives in MS Project:
Setting the START date for a project.
Setting up non-working days to MS Project in the Standard Calendar.
Before Starting, bring up your View Bar (left side) by right clicking in the black narrow column on the left side.
Clicking on the Project Information icon will give you the following:
You should see a START and FINISH date like the Task A project shown on the next
page.
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MS Project
Notice Project calculated the finish date automatically as 4 days later, i.e., circled date in the screen shot
above. Notice that the duration is working days only, i.e., not Saturday & Sunday (indicated by a
shading effect).
LEARNING POINT: You should be realizing by now that you MUST NOT directly enter any start or finish
dates in the data sheet view, only in the Project Information. Project will automatically set all the task dates for
you based upon project information start/finish dates and durations.
Project Calendar.
Changing and Setting the Project Calendar
The Standard Calendar is the default calendar that MS Project uses when you create a new project.
We will show how to change the days in the standard calendar. In a more advanced course in MS
Project you would learn how to create specific calendars for different working conditions,
workers, etc.
Holidays can be indicated as non-working days. The calendar allows you to indicate that Saturday
and Sunday will be working days on the project for all the workers.
TO DO:
Change your Task A to have a project start date of January 1 for next year.
o Go back to page 2 if you forgot how to do this.
Go into Tools and click on Change Working Time.
o This will allow us to change the calendar.
I set my date to be January 1, 2013. Your date will probably be different from mine.
But, you should get something similar to what you see below.
January 1 for next calendar year should be displayed in your Start date.
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MS Project
Holidays and Non-Working
The simplest way to communicate holidays and non-working days to MS Project is to enter them in as
exceptions to the calendar.
The calendar will show the current month and date, NOT the future start date.
So you need to adjust the calendar to display the month that you need for the non-working day.
For this example, lets set the following dates as non-working days, for the year 2013:
January 1 (New Years day) " I already put in New Years day for you.
July 4 (American Independence day)
One day for Christmas, December 25 (only one day).
This is what I got after entering all the holidays indicated above:
TO DO: Change the second day in the project (Task A) to be a non-working day. Remember,
that your Task A project starts on Tues, Jan 1 and finishes on Friday, Jan 4.
Before Starting, bring up your View Bar (left side) by right clicking in the black narrow column on the
left side.
The Gantt chart in the following diagram has two lagged relationships:
Start-to-start between task A and B.
o Task A starts or begins when Task B commences.
Start to start plus 4 days between task B and C.
o Task C commences 4 days after the start of Task A.
Finish to finish plus 2 days between C and D.
o Task D finishes 2 days later than the completion of Task C.
You can simply enter the following into the predecessors column:
You DO NOT need to enter the word days. It is assumed as a default.
For Task B, enter 1SS+0 or simply 1SS. This means from task #1 to task #2 (or task B)
For Task C, enter 2SS+4. Project will enter the days automatically.
For Task D, enter 3FF+2.
Recall that Project uses the ID numbers, not the Task Name in the predecessors column.
TO DO:
Create this simple project and see how easy it is to enter lagged relationships.
Here is what I got after setting up the lags.
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MS Project
How do I Create a Lagged Linkage Between two Tasks?
How is a lag entered in the predecessor column?
Lets look at lagging Task B after Task A by 3 days.
TO DO
Try narrowing the Task Name column name like mine above.
Critical Path
Lets change the critical path to show a hatched pattern. ALL the changes to the Gantt Chart can be
performed with the Format menu item and selecting the Bar Style menu item.
Click on Format and Bar Styles.
Select the critical path item (blackened in diagram below), then select the Bars tab and then the
Pattern selection to select the pattern you desire (I like the hatched pattern).
You will see the following dialogue window:
Click OK and you will have a hatched Critical Path similar to the following:
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MS Project
Click on the down arrow to the right side in the Left option.
o If you wanted something on the right side, you would select the Right option.
Scroll down and select name. (Type N and it will jump to Name as well).
o Note: Critical is the default bar style (task type) that Project selects.
Click on OK.
This is what I got after performing the above operations. Notice ONLY the critical tasks are named.
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MS Project
Repeat the same procedure to show the names of the NON-critical tasks.
Select Task instead of Critical in the above steps.
o The non-critical tasks are formatted by selecting Task and shown in blue color.
This is the end of Lab #1-C. There is nothing to hand in from this lab tutorial.
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MS Project
Lab #1D: Analyzing the Critical Path and Slack
Critical Path
This lab exercise will attempt to accomplish the following learning objectives in MS Project:
Understanding and analyzing the critical path in a project using MS Project
Working with views and tables in MS Project to see the free slack and total slack.
1. TO DO
Enter the following project into MS Project.
*** Remember to select auto schedule (refer back to Lab #1 if you do not remember).
Be sure to set your start date the same as shown below by using the project information dialogue box (Task tab,
then Auto Schedule).
Plan to include a summary task as the very first task entry. (Review Lab #1 if you need assistance with Summary).
ID Task Duration Prede Click on Project on the menu bar, then click on Project Information.
(in days) cessor
1 Summary Leave as None
default
2 A 5 None
3 B 4 None
4 C 4 A
5 D 3 A
6 E 5 B
7 F 5 C
8 G 3 C, E
9 H 3 D, E, F
10 I 2 G, H
Your project duration should be 19 days (summary task). To see the Critical Path, Click on the icon under File,
upper left hand corner.
The critical path is identified in the following diagram below as A-C-F-H-I. I changed the bar format to display the
critical path with the vertical hatched rectangle:
Notice that Saturday and Sunday (grey appearance) are the default non-working days.
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MS Project
We will be studying some important characteristics of the critical path (CP) in future exercises:
It is the longest path through the set of project activities. The CP determines project duration.
If any one of the hatched tasks on this critical path is delayed (takes longer than planned), then the critical
path will be longer, which will cause the project duration to be increased, thus delaying the project.
If you can shorten a task on the critical path, then it makes sense that the project will shorten in its overall
duration also. We will use this characteristic of the CP during Project Compression, Chpt 9.
Notice the critical path is 19 days (RED circle in diagram previous page), the same as the project summary
task = the project duration.
1. Enter a summary task for this project at the beginning, just before Task A. Remember to indent
all the tasks below the summary task.
2. You should see 32 days project duration displayed in the summary.
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MS Project
Views
Project has many views to allow you to look at the project from many different perspectives to see what
is happening. There are also Row-Column views (spread sheet format) that we will investigate later to
see how tasks use resources, or how resources are assigned to tasks. In the following, we will investigate
the network diagram view, Detailed Gantt View in addition to the default Gantt View.
Different Views of the Project.
At this point we are ready to begin exploring the various views that can be helpful and give us a lot of
information about our project.
Select the View Tab
Select a View under the File icon (upper left corner).
o The view tool and view display is shown in two places in the MS Project window.
o Top of window just left of the file name.
o Left side of window
Notice Gantt Chart indicated in the two different positions on the window below.
Gantt View. Click on Gantt Chart icon in the View Bar. If the View Bar is not displayed, click on View and
then View Bar. Notice the following: Use Cntrl-G and 1 to make the Gantt show if it disappears.
The initial detailed data entry table is displayed on the left side.
The Gantt chart window view returns, but the critical path is NOT displayed in Gantt View.
This not an exciting view, but it is the basic view that you will always start with and refer to often.
Your start and finish dates will be different from mine, but it is not important for this set of activities.
If the data entry table does not display and you have some other table, then you can use the View menu
to select the data entry table. Click on the Tables icon tool.
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Explanation of the Gantt chart
The Gantt chart view on the right hand side shows the usual bar chart view of the project. The CP is not
displayed nor any progress, etc.
The Data Entry Table shows Task Name, Duration, Start and Finish, Predecessors, and Resources.
The data entry table will not automatically show up with the Gantt Chart View. You may get another
table if you associated the Gantt Chart View with a different table in the past. But just go to the View
Menu and select Tables " then data entry.
Click on Detail Gantt that is shown on the View Bar (left side).
Click on Other Views and then More Views.
If you see a delay table instead of a data entry table, it is not a problem. However, it is not so useful to us
at this point. Click on the Views and then Tables. Then select Schedule Table.
MS Project tries to anticipate your viewing needs and tends to present the most recent table with a view
that you have used. This feature of MS Project can explain why you may get a delay table one time and a
schedule table the next time.
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MS Project
Schedule Table
The schedule table will show slack information, as well as late and early start/finish dates. This
information is useful in determining which tasks we should attempt to change if for some reason we need
to reduce the project duration and make the finish date be earlier than originally planned.
TO DO
We want to make the Schedule Table show on the left side.
Schedule Table: You can make this table show on the left side by going through the View menu -->
Table and selecting Schedule from the list.
Your view should similar to the one below. I changed my Red critical path to display as the hatched
block look (vertical lines in the bar).
Also, I narrowed the Task Name column and moved the split bar. It is the same as you would do with
Microsoft Excel. I clicked on the magnifying glass (Zoom Out) to produce a view of every 3rd day.
Notice the Schedule table shows the start and finish, same as the Gantt Chart view and default table.
But you can see the Late Dates and SLACK (free and total) as well in the schedule table.
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MS Project
Elementary Slack Analysis
Previously you saw the Detailed Gantt chart, which showed the critical path. But just as important, the
slack in the project can be seen and analyzed as well.
TO DO: Change the view of the Detailed Gantt chart view to show each day (magnifying glass " Zoom
in) as illustrated in the figure below. Notice the following:
3 6
The schedule table shows free slack and total slack.
2 X 2
Remember that the total slack is the difference between late start and early start 5 3 8
or late finish and early finish, i.e., the value of 2 in the diagram to the right
When the project early finish date = late finish date the Slack (total slack) will ALWAYS be ZERO.
Off Critical Path tasks may or may not have flexibility (free slack) in terms of their starting and finishing
dates. The flexibility depends upon whether they have free slack or not.
o Notice that Task B has FS=0 but is NOT on the Critical Path.
o Notice that Task G has FS=5 and TS=5 and is NOT on the Critical Path.
You are now finished with Lab Tutorial #1-D. There is nothing to hand in.
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MS Project
Lab 2A-2B: Resource Allocation using MS Project
This lab exercise will attempt to accomplish the following objectives about resource allocation:
Setting up resources in the Resource Sheet.
Assigning resources to tasks in the project.
Using the Check-Box to inform MS Project whether you have a
o Time constrained project, or
o Resource constrained project
Leveling resources in MS Project.
This is what my resource sheet looks like. You should have the same.
The Assign button is greyed out because Mktg has already been assigned.
Notice the Task #2 shows the Mktg[200%] to the right of the task.
I formatted the critical tasks by going into Format ! bar styles, and then selecting critical, then text, then
right (you did left in the previous lab exercise, for the task ID numbers).
Now, go ahead and assign resources to the remainder of the project tasks according to the following
table:
CAUTION: The durations of your tasks may change because MS Project thinks
that more resources can get the work done in less time, hence, it automatically
reduces the task duration.
Change the task durations back to the original duration values shown above.
You know what the durations should be, so just change them back to what they
should be.
You need to remember that MS Project is only a database that stores the values that
you put in. But, you are the project manager. You know your tasks and durations.
MS Project is only recording and storing the values.
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MS Project
4. Resource Over-allocation
Over allocation means that we have more demand (assigned resources) than we have on our resource
sheet (availability).
a. Look at your Resource Sheet.
b. You should see Devlp and Indus in RED, indicating more required than we have available.
c. Notice, also, the yellow alert signs in the blue I column next to the Resource Name (below).
The following graphic of MS Project is what I got after assigning the resources.
I formatted the Gantt chart bars (Format on the menu bar, then select Bar Styles See Lab #3 if you forgot.)
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MS Project
Now, it is possible to understand why Devlp and Indus are over allocated:
Indus: Tasks 4 and 5 are parallel, i.e.,
o Start at the same time (Mon, Jan 11)
o Task 4 has two Indus persons assigned.
o Task 5 has two Indus persons assigned.
o The total is four during the same time period,
i.e., Mon Fri, Jan 11 15, 2010.
# 400% Indus assigned is > the 300% in the Resource Sheet
Over allocation can only occur when tasks are parallel (same time period):
Require the same resource(s), and
Total requirement is more than available in the Resource Sheet (your resource pool)
Be sure that you understand the relationship among leveling ONLY within using free slack,
leveling
Checking the box Level ONLY within available slack (time-constrained)
NOT Checking the box Level ONLY within available slack (resource-constrained)
Explain leveling in MS Project, i.e., what conditions need to exist.
Explain over allocation and how it is related to leveling in MS Project
Class notes and discussion contain the answers.
Click on Resource and then on Leveling Options.
Be sure that you have the options set as shown in the above example.
Click on the Level Now button to initiate Project to do the leveling.
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MS Project
Click on Skip All and you should get the following project network view.
Notice: Tasks 4 and 5 separated and this has eliminated the over allocation conflict over the Indus
resource.
Notice: Tasks 7 and 8 separated, but Task 7 is in conflict with Task 9. They both want Devlp [200%].
The beginning date for Task 7 is 2/24/10, which is the reason for the message above.
Notice that only Devlp is now over allocated (previous page). MS Project has been able to resolve some
of the over allocation problem, but there is just not enough free slack to cure all of the problems.
Look back at Tasks 7 & 9. Both want Devlp [200%] also.
Notice that the quantity of non-critical tasks has reduced from three to two, as the free slack is being used
up in separating Tasks 4 and 5. This changes the sensitivity of the project. In this lab exercise, it is your
judgment to understand how the sensitivity has changed.
After the network is back to its original over allocated situation, open up the Resource Leveling
again.
You should see the Resource Leveling dialogue box again, as shown in the following:
This what I got when I leveled according to the above Resource Leveling dialogue box:
o There are no more conflicts for Design, Devlp among Tasks 7, 8, and 9.
We will see in Lab 3 that Task 7 is a CRITICAL TASK (resource constrained critical)
Select either the Critical or Task, depending on which kind of task you want to deal with.
I selected Critical in the example below. Do the same for Task for the blue tasks.
Notice the finish date pushes out later (Mar 25) compared to the time-constrained finish (Mar 15)
The main difference between time-constrained and resource-constrained projects for MS Project is
checking the box for within available slack in the Resource Leveling dialogue box.
Why is this lab tutorial important? The planning solution to a resource constrained problem usually extends a
project to be late. This lab tutorial shows how to use MS Project to shorten (compress) the project and bring it
back in on time (back on schedule) or even earlier, if necessary. It is important to understand how to
communicate to MS Project that we have some additional resources available and how we shorten the task
durations.
PART A: Adding extra resources, assigning the extra resources, and shortening the
durations.
Lets start by creating a resource-constrained problem and resource over allocation situation, similar to where you
left off in Lab Tutorial 2B.
6. TO DO:
Set up a project that looks like the following shown below (tasks A F).
Be sure to set up the resource pool (resource sheet) and assign as shown in the following project windows.
You should have the following set up and detailed Gantt chart for this project.
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MS Project
7. Click on the resource graph icon in the view bar.
If you assigned the resources correctly, you should see that it is resource constrained.
The problem is that BB is over allocated to tasks C and E.
Notice that task E was pushed over to start (Wed, 9/6) immediately following the finish date of Task C
(Tue, 9/5). That is because resource BB was over allocated before leveling. With only one BB available,
Project pushed Task E over to WAIT for Task C to finish, thus alleviating the potential over allocation. But
NOW, Task C is a critical task also, because if Task C is late, then that will make Task E start later,
thus making the project late. Task E must wait for Task C, thus, both Task C and E are on the critical
path. Waiting is now invoking the third definition of critical path.
But notice that Task C is in BLUE, not RED. This is one of the limitations of MS Project right now that
it does not show resource-constrained critical tasks. It can only detect resource over allocation and show that
in RED (Resource Sheet, Resource Graph, etc.). MS Project will still treat this critical task as an ordinary
free slack task.
This is what my resource sheet looks like after adding the extra resources and their costs.
Notice that I used the same cost values for xAA, xBB, and xCC, because they are simply extra amounts of the same
resource at the same cost.
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MS Project
If you forgot how to assign the resources, you can look back on lab #2A or try the following to jog your memory.
Double click on the task, then click on the Resource tab, and enter the resources into the table that pops up.
NOTE: Your duration changed. Project is assuming that because you have extra people now, that the project can
get done in a shorter amount of time. But that is not what you have in mind. So, you will need to go back and
change the durations to what they were before you changed the resources. See part 4.c in the following:
4.c TO DO: Change the Durations back to the values shown in the Compression Table
Notice that the task duration changed after you assigned the new extra xBB resource. But you know that
the duration should be the value shown as the amount in the table of extra resources, i.e., 3 days.
Change the duration for Task E to the amount of the first compression iteration, i.e., 3 days, down one
from the original 4 days. Project assumes incorrectly that if you add a second resource (xBB), then Task
A can be completed in half the time (2 days). Just change it back to 3 days.
Note that the project finished one day earlier, i.e., Wednesday, 9/13.
Next, I chose to reduce Task C for $10 (resource xBB at $10). I could have reversed the order of Tasks E
and C, because they were at the same cost. But, Task E was RED and an obvious critical path task. Also,
if task C had been the lower cost/day, then I would have accelerated it first.
You will get 2.5 days when you assign xBB as the compression resource for Task C. Change it BACK to
be 4 days, i.e., we want to reduce Task C down one day from 5 days to 4 days.
Notice that Task C now finishes on Monday, 9/4, one day earlier than on Tuesday, 9/5.
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MS Project
Monday, Sept 4
Now lets reduce Task C down to 3 days to get closer to our desired compressed finish date of 9/11 or earlier.
NOW, Task E starts (Monday, 8am) immediately after Task C finishes (Friday, 5pm).
Also notice that Task D and Task E are both critical and MS Project shows this.
Go to the Add New Column and click on the down arrow and then type C to get to the Cost option.
You should see a Cost column to the right of the Finish column.
We can see that the resource that commands the greatest total cost (in this page graphic) is resource Design Engineers
at a cost value of $383,040.00. Also, we can see the tasks that this resource is assigned to:
Product Design for $115,200.
Product Design Selection at $21,600.
Etc.
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MS Project
3. Cash Flow Report to Analyze Monthly Costs
Project allows you to create a report that will show projected cash flow on a weekly, monthly, or even a yearly
basis, whatever suits your information requirements. In the following two graphics, I am showing you the Zuma cash
flow report, but I have changed things in the project, so it does not represent anything of value to you. It is only to
illustrate the kind of report that you should produce for the Zuma project assignment.
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MS Project
How do I produce a Cash Flow Report?
You can produce a monthly cash flow schedule to see the cash requirements for each month by doing the following:
Project. Then click on Reports (far right hand side next to Reports.
Select the Custom (see above) and then select Cash Flow and the Edit option (see below) and you will get the
next screen (next page) so that you can set it for a monthly report.
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MS Project
Change the time period to be months for this assignment. In your job someday, you may want weekly or yearly.
Now go back to Reports under the Project tab in the menu (same as you did earlier).
Click on the Reports icon again and you should get the same as shown on the next page.
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MS Project
Select Costs this time, as we will want a cost report. Remember, that you have already specified a monthly report.
Click on Select and you will get the opportunity to print your monthly cash flow report.
The print page will come up and show you the pages that it wants to print. This is an automatic default of the MS
Project 2010, to print reports.
You can use the cursor that will look like a magnifying glass when you move it over the report pages to be printed.
You can enlarge the pages and read the cash flow values. From these pages, you will be able to determine various
costs on a monthly basis and the total project cost.
See the next page for examining the costs on a monthly basis and for the project total.
Computer Lab Tutorials Introduction to MS Project 50
MS Project
This is the monthly report that MS Project shows me for this lab.
I circled the month on this page that is the largest budget item. But this is only an example.
The report table also can show you the total cost for the project and the total costs for each task. Note that the task
budget can be time phased over multiple months, such as the one above for Feb, Mar and April.
The report also shows the project total at the bottom of this Total table.
You can also cross check the project total with the Project Information Statistics.