Multi Project Planner 3.2
The problem
Multi Project Planner addreses the problem of planning and scheduling multiple projects competing for shared resources.
The solution
Scheduling multiple projects competing for shared resources, resembles the job shop scheduling problem, seen in the manufacturing world.
In a Job Shop a job runs through a set of operations such as cutting, sanding, drilling etc, where each operation is conducted on a machine capable of performing the operation.
In order to schedule the jobs, the Job Shop Scheduler contains a master schedule, where each row represents a machine, on which the operations are booked according to available space in time and capabilities of the machine.
Likewise Multi Project Planner contains a master schedule, where each row represents a work team, offering a set of competencies, upon which the activities of the projects are booked according to available space in time and competencies required by the activities.
The picture shows a simplified planning board for a construction company. The picture clearly illustrates how the production apparatus forms a pipeline through which the projects flows. The need to avoid a 'lumpy flow' becomes obvious. Click to enlarge.
Bennefits of this layout
This layout ensures a far superior overview of the project portfolio and immediately reveals any resource conflicts between the project activities.
Together with a highly interactive and intelligent planning board this layout offers an unsurpassed control over the daily handling of the project portfolio as well as minimizing the lead-time for the projects and last but not least minimizes the strains on the brains of the planner.
The planning process in Multi Project Planner.
Planning a project in Multi Project Planner consists of two steps:
- Creating the gantt chart for the project in a separate window.
- Drag and drop the gantt chart unto the master plan, letting Multi Project Planner figure out the scheduling.
The 'Divide and Conquer' strategy, illustrated in the video, greatly eases the task of scheduling multiple concurrent projects, as you define a project in advance without bothering about the resource situation and then the schedule the project without worrying about the predecessor and successor relationships between the activities etc, as they are handled by Multi Project Planner.
The alogorithm used during the 'drag and drop' scheduling maximizes the resource utilization and minimizes the project lead time.
Applicability
Multi Project Planner is applicable in construction, engineering, development, consultancy and generally where multiple concurrent projects compete for scarce resources.The program is mainly targeted at small to medium sized projects, but can be used as a strategic tool on a portfolio of large projects, if these projects and the resources are generalized into broader concepts.
Main limitations
If your task is single project planning Multi Project Planner is not the tool for you.
As the minimum scheduling unit is one day Multi Project Planner is not applicable as a production planning tool.
Features and benefits
Below the four main features that distinguish Multi Project Planner is shortly described.
These are:
- The design of Multi Project Planner.
- Hot potatoes.
- Template projects.
- Best Fit Monitor.
Design
Multi Project Planner contains one global plan which contains two schedules:
- The activity schedule, representing the schedules for all work teams constituting the production apparatus and upon which the activities are booked.
- The work hour schedule, representing the schedules for all resources, who staff the work teams.
The picture below shows the difference between traditional project management solutions and Multi Project Planner. Resource conflicts now becomes clearly visible and can be handled up front.
The depicted plan contains four projects distinguished by their color.
A more detailed presentation of the differences in layout between traditional project management solutions and Multi Project Planner can be found here.
As the main purpose of the program is to assist the operating management in the scheduling task and the handling of daily exceptions, the focus is on:
- The puzzle problem of scheduling a number of projects in a scenario of limited resources.
- Handling the ripple or domino effect of one project being delayed upon the others.
- Facilitating a Just in Time kind of planning.
- Accepting that plans do not always comply with reality.
- The scheduling task is performed with the look and feel of a planning board.
Multi Project Planner is very much inspired by the planning problem of the build-to-order, sometimes referred to as make to order (MTO), production mode characterized by construction companies.
The layout of the main planning board is inspired by the 'Job Shop Scheduling' scenario.
Hot Potatoes
A hot potato represents a resource conflict.A project activity can not occupy a space already occupied by another activity, unless you force it to do so, in which case the project activity is turned into a hot potato.
The picture below shows a hot potato.
The hot potato can be handled like any other project activity, except having resources allocated.
The hot potato is turned into a proper project activity, when it is droped at a place of sufficient size.
The main benefit of the hot potato facility is that it eases the handling of resource conflicts, as you can let the hot potato ripple ahead when making space for the hot potato at hand. You do not have to go to the very end of the plan and move activities as you go backwards.
See a demonstration of the hot potato facility.Template projects
Template projects are predefined projects. Template projects are scheduled in the plan using drag and drop.
During the scheduling of a template project Multi Project Planner ensures that the activities are booked according to resource needs and respects the predecessor/suscessor relationships between the activities. The algorithm used minimizes the project lead-time.
The main benefits of template projects:
- Divide and conquer: define a project in advance without considering the resource situation and then the schedule the project without worrying about the predecessor and successor relationships between the activities etc. This divide and conquer strategy will avoid much of the double trouble inherited in multi project scheduling.
- Define a type of project as a template and reuse it multiple times.
Best Fit Monitor
The Best Fit Monitor will keep track of the optimum place to schedule a template or project while dragging the template or the project along the plan.
I.e. the Best Fit Monitor dynamically calculates to which the extent the resource requirements of the project activities can be satisfied and indicates the optimum first encountered.
This feature can be used to answer questions like:
- To which extent can we fullfill an order before a given time.
- When can an order be fullfilled.
- Forward planning.
- Backward planning, i.e. Just in Time scheduling.
Multiple users
Several users can use Multi Project Planner simultaneously, but only one user at any one time can edit the plan.
The first user to login is granted 'edit' privileges, The others 'read only' privileges.
Multi Project Planner Viewer
Team members, who are allowed to view the plan but not allowed to change the plan, can be equipped with Multi Project Planner Viewer.
Multi Project Planner Viewer is a 'read only' version of Multi Project Planner.
The cost of Multi Project Planner Viewer is 48 USD.