Capacity and Resource Planning
The enhanced capacity and resource planning capabilities within COSMO Project Manufacturing helps plan resources in the same way production can be planned, thus providing greater resource visibility into projects.
By using the integrated capacity and resource planning function in COSMO Project Manufacturing, resources can be allocated during the planning status of a project. This might include actual resources (individual employees and resource groups) or other assets that are relevant to the planning procedure, such as automotive vehicles and machines.
Vacation Management is also included within the resource planning function. Approval controls are integrated to manage employees that have been assigned to individual projects (see Vacation Administration).
This section includes information about calculating capacities, managing resource calendars, synchronizing calendar entries, object planning, scheduling times across all resources, and planning using employee groups.
Provide Capacity
The capacity for the internal resources must be set up before availability can be calculated.
Capacity is assigned to each person by running the Create Person Capacity function from the Resource Card.
Note
Running this function deletes existing entries and creates new capacity entries. Turn on the Keep History toggle in the Options FastTab to retain existing capacity entries.
The calculation uses the setup from the Base Calendar Code and Project Work-Hour Template Code fields on the Person FastTab on the Resource Card.
The capacities for individual persons can be viewed in the Planning View Person page, accessed using Tell Me. Choose the 
icon, enter Planning View Person, and then choose the related link.
Note
The values displayed in the Planning View Person page are defaulted from the Planning FastTab in the Projects Setup page but can be changed on the View Options FastTab.
The capacity for a Resource Group (based on capacities for every person) is summarized in the Planning View Person Groups page, accessed using Tell Me. Choose the icon, enter Planning View Person Groups, and then choose the related link.
Assign Planning Resources
On the Planning Processes page, planning resources can be entered in the Assigned Resource No. field. This can be done directly in the field or by choosing the ellipsis button to open the Project Process page for entering in the lines.
Every Planning Resource from the Project Team can be used, as well as Persons and Resource Groups.
After the assignments are done, the planned hours are allocated to the resources as displayed in the Work Planned Hours field. The allocation is equal, but it can be re-allocated manually in the Assigned Resources page.
Calculation of Schedule Entries
Capacity planning can begin once the processes are linked and the planning resources have been assigned. The following prerequisites exist:
- Planning quantity and planning resources are known.
- Installation and customer testing are not supposed to be calculated by effort. In all other lines, the Effort driven checkbox is selected, which controls if the process, start date or end date should be limited by their planned availabilities.
If capacity limitations prevent an effort driven process to be finished with its planned resources, then the finishing date of this process is automatically assigned to the last planned date.
For non-effort driven processes, the start and finish date will be calculated based on the process duration independent of their related process planning.
For process planning without the calculation of predecessors and successors, choose the Schedule Process action on the Scheduling menu.
For linked process planning, choose the Schedule Processes (with links) action on the Scheduling menu.
The calendar entries are the result of the schedule process and the calculation is always based on available capacities. If no Schedule Type is selected, the Simulated option is used as the default (see Scheduling and Schedule Types).
Scheduling and Schedule Types
The different Schedule Types are described in the following table.
| Schedule Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Simulated | Simulated calendar entries are NOT used to calculate availabilities of planning resources. Every new planning deletes all simulated entries and creates new ones. |
| Planned | Planned calendar entries are used for availabilities. Every new planning deletes all planned entries and creates new ones. NOTE: This is the default for all process lines. |
| Fixed | Fixed calendar entries are used for availabilities. A new planning does NOT delete these entries. |
From a process view, the planning can be changed rapidly. Therefore, changing the Schedule Type directly in the overview automatically changes all related processes to this planning level.
On the Actions menu, the Update Scheduling menu provides several actions that can be applied to marked process lines.
Released lines are available for selection in the Project Calendar page by choosing the ellipsis button in the Project Process No. field.
Project Calendar
The Project Calendar can be used to manually enter planned time for resources, instead of assigning planning resources or calculating scheduling entries. The Project Calendar is accessed from the Role Center or Tell Me. Choose the icon, enter Project Calendar and then choose the related link.
In the General section at the top of the page, set a filter on the person group or individual person. In the Options section at the bottom of the page, set the Period Type and choose if simulated entries should be shown or not.
The middle section shows all planning entries for the person or person group based on the selected period type. In this section, the Schedule Type, Start, and Start Times can be changed. New entries can be added by adding a new line.
Availability Overview
An availability overview is accessible from different planning-related pages.
On the Planning Processes page, select a line to review and then choose the Resource Availability action on the Resources menu.
The Planning Res. Availability page is preset with the following criteria:
- Start Date (in this case Start from process)
- Resource Group Filter and/or Person Filter, depending on the assigned planning resources
- Process No.
Resource Allocation
Using resource groups is recommended if a project needs to be planned but there is some uncertainty about which employee will be available for the task but the task needs to be scheduled anyway. The planning can be amended in the short term with the desired resource.
While planning with a resource group, the scheduled dates are assigned to all members of the group and the group member availability will be reconciled with the resource group. On the Resources menu, choose the Resource Allocation action to plan with a resource group.
In the Planning Res. Allocation page, define the options for the matrix and then choose the Show Matrix action.
In the matrix, for example, it is possible to distribute the hours in the Process Planning column for a resource.
First, the available resource capacities should be reviewed. Then choose the value in a specific column to open the Planning Allocation page, which shows the group and person availability. In the Group Process Planning or Person Process Planning field, enter the full quantity of hours, for example 8 hours.
The matrix then shows the result of the resource allocation.
Detect Conflicts
Planning can become a complex issue and it can be hard at times to keep the full picture in view. It is extremely important to spot planning conflicts to be able to regulate them.
COSMO Project Manufacturing supports the process of finding conflicts with the Signal Conflict field's two types of planning conflicts:
- Predecessor/Successor: Start and End Date do not match
- Planned Date (Start or End of the process) cannot be matched (planned too early/too late)
Predecessor/Successor
There are currently two fields to indicate predecessor/successor conflicts:
- The Signal Conflict field displays "!>" for successor conflict and "!<" for predecessor conflict.
- The Signal Conflicts field displays an F for successor conflict and a P for predecessor conflict.
Planned Date
There are currently two fields to indicate planning conflicts:
- The Signal Conflict field displays "X+" for a planned after finish conflict and "-X" for a planned before start conflict.
- The Signal Conflicts field displays "T+" for planned after finish and "-T" for planned before start.
Planning Conflicts are usually a result of differences between:
- Capacity independent planning of processes
- Capacity dependent planning of resources
This becomes a problem when there are not enough resources available or additional deadlines need to be set after the desired finishing date or a reverse planning must be done.
See Also
Resources
Planning Processes Page
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