Working with Resources

 

Objective:  Continue working with resource assignments, cost and making changes to the assignments and working with various views.

 

Assignment:  Use the KitchenRes4 file.  Follow the step-by-step instructions below.  Name the file as KitchenRes4-Your Initials.mpp.

 

Suggestions and Observations: Perform each instruction in the exact order specified below or your results will differ in some areas.  Save your work often, and double-check that your total project cost matches what we provide below as you go through the steps.  This will help you to verify that you are performing the steps correctly.

 

 

Step-by-step Instructions to complete:

It is time to work on the kitchen project, and you have hired a friend of yours, Bob Jones, to help you with the work.  Since Bob can do many different tasks, you have agreed to pay him different hourly rates based on the type of work he is performing.  Enter the following 3 resources in your resource sheet, in this order: 

1.1. Your Name (which should represent your real name)
1.2. Bob Jones
1.3. The Banker

Note that a number of fields have default values assigned to them after we added our resources.

Make the following changes in the Resource Sheet:

2.1 Change your initials to YN (which should represent your real initials)
2.2 Change Bob’s Initials to BJ
2.3 Change The Banker’s Initials to TB
2.4 In the Base Calendar Column for yourself and for Bob, Choose the “Construction” Calendar that we created in the Extra Case Problem for Tutorial 2.

Double-click on Bob’s name to display the Resource Information Dialog Box.  Click on the “Costs” tab and for tab A (Default) enter a Standard Rate of $18.00/h.  On tab B, enter a Standard Rate of $25.00/h.  Note the field towards the bottom of the dialog box called “Cost accrual:” and for that entry, choose “End” from the drop down box.  Bob has agreed that you can pay him for a given task after he finishes the work.  Now return to the Gantt Chart.

Using either the Assign Resources Dialog Box or by splitting the window of the Gantt chart, assign your resources to the project tasks as follows:

4.1 Yourself to tasks 2, 3, 6, 7, 13, 14 and 17
4.2 Bob Jones to tasks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16
4.3 The Banker to task 3

Use the Gantt Chart Wizard to format your Gantt Chart; you just need to select the Critical path option during “Step 2” and go with the default suggested options for the remaining steps.  In this small project for one kitchen where most tasks have to be completed in the same sequence they are numbered, it should be no surprise that all the tasks are critical.

Insert a Project Summary Task for your project. This can be done by clicking on one of the rows and then selecting Toolsà OptionsàView.

Double-click the Project Summary bar on the Gantt Chart and on the “Bar Text” tab, enter the field name “Cost” in the “Right” entry.  This will put your project’s total cost on the Gantt Chart on the right side of the Project Summary bar for you.  Notice that you have formatted only one bar, and not the overall “Bar Styles” .  At this point, that cost should be $684.00.

Before going to the bank, you decided to pay for a credit report on yourself, so switch to the cost table and for Task #2, “Gather financial information together to apply for a loan”, enter 35 in the Fixed Cost field.  Note that Project 2000 formats it into currency for you.  The total project cost displayed on your Gantt chart should now read $719.00.

While in the cost table, you have decided to enter your cost for task 9, “Install Cabinets & Countertops”, as a fixed cost.  Enter 3000 in the fixed cost field for that task.  Your project total cost should now read $3,719.00.

You also remembered that Bob gets paid according to different types of work.  The cost entered in tab A, of the “Costs” tab in the Resource Information Dialog box is also the default rate, so the $18.00/h shows up in the “Std. Rate” column of the Resource Sheet for Bob.  Using the View Bar or the View menu item, switch to the Task Usage view.  Each task will be listed and indented underneath that task name will be the name(s) of the resource(s) assigned to it.  Double-click Bob Jones’ name where it appears under task 8, “Install new light fixtures”.  A dialog box called “Assignment Information” appears.  Click on the “Tracking” tab and at the bottom right hand corner of that dialog box, choose “B” for the “Cost rate table:” entry.  This will now apply Bob’s $25.00/h rate to that task.  Note that your overall project cost has increased.  Do this same procedure for Bob’s assignment to tasks 10 and 11 as well.

Your total Project cost should now be $3,789.00.  This is an increase of $70.  Add up the work hours from tasks 8, 10 and 11 and you will see there are 10 hours total work for those tasks, and Bob is performing all the work.  The difference in his “B” pay rate and his “A” pay rate is $25.00/h - $18.00/h = $7.00/h.  Multiplying this by the 10 hours of work accounts for the $70 increase to the project cost.

You suddenly remember that Project 2000 has a special field called “Type” in the Resource Sheet that would allow you to add various material costs and then assign them as resources to the appropriate tasks.  Switch to the Resource Sheet and enter the following materials and cost.  Be sure to choose “Material” in the “Type” column for each of these items.  Note that your people resources have “Work” in their “Type” column.

For each of these resources, also be sure to select “Start” in the “Accrue At” column and enter the dollar values in the “Std. Rate” column.  You will have to pay for these materials up front.

10.1 Drywall patch                      $30.00
10.2 Plumbing                            $600.00
10.3 Electrical                            $250.00
10.4 Ceramic Tile                       $100.00
10.5 Paint                                  $35.00
10.6 Wallpaper                          $75.00
10.7 Floor Covering/Base            $280.00
10.8 Caulk                                 $20.00

Click back to the Gantt Chart and reapply the Entry table, if desired.  Now assign the material resources to the tasks as follows:

11.1 Drywall patch                      Task 7
11.2 Plumbing                            Task 10 (Garbage Disposal cost included here)
11.3 Electrical                            Task 8
11.4 Ceramic Tile                       Task 12
11.5 Paint                                  Task 13
11.6 Wallpaper                          Task 14
11.7 Floor Covering/Base            Task 15
11.8 Caulk                                 Task 16

The total project cost should now read $5,179.00.

Bob is in a time crunch and needs your help to install the cabinets and the ceramic tile.  Add yourself as a resource to each of those tasks (9 and 12), assuming 100% units, and that you and Bob will share an even workload for the task (in other words, let Project 2000 reassign the work load).  The total project cost should now be $5,035.00 because you are taking some additional work yourself, effectively reducing Bob’s workload.  You are not paying yourself anything, so you are saving some cost on Bob’s reduced work hours.

Based on the project estimate, your cost should be $5,035.00, $35.00 of which was your cost to pull a credit report on yourself.  You decide to apply for a $5,000.00 loan at the bank, paying for the credit report yourself and absorbing any additional cost that may creep up on the project.

Go to the Task Usage View and insert a column for Cost in the table there.  Note that each resource listed under every task has a cost associated with it and those costs add up to the overall cost for the task itself.  The one piece of information you do not see listed separately here is the Fixed Cost you entered for tasks 2 and 9.  Task 2 only has the $35 fee associated with it and no cost for your time.  Task 9 has a $3,000.00 Fixed Cost for the task, plus Bob’s work hours.  This is why the task total is $3,072.00, but you only see $72.00 for resource costs underneath that task. 

This is one good reason to use the Material Type resource for all your materials, so that you can see a cost breakdown in this view.  Preview some of the Resource and Cost reports.