FTE per Location

[Former Member]

Hi experts

PPM 5.0 SP7

I have some questions regarding distributing demand for a role created in a project.

Is it possible to make the FTE (in distribution) dependent on the Location set for the Role created?

What I need is to be able to create multiple roles with different hours/day for the FTE defined by the Location.

As of now when I distribute FTE on a role demand the FTE is set to be 23.080 seconds = 6,4 Hours. This is derived from the Unit of Measurement settings.

I could probably create a new entry and set it to 8.0 hours, but I need to be able to have more than one FTE definition, which should be based on the Location set for the role.

I tried to define the Locations and in here I can choose "hours/day" and "Calendar". Here I maintained the hours/day to be 8.0.

I also defined hours/day to be 8.0 in the "Make General Settings for Distribution"

I also defined "hours/day for FTE Definition" in the Global Override settings to be 8.0

Am I missing something?

Any help is much appreciated

Best,

Morten

[Former Member]

I re-read your original post, and perhaps missed the point that you were wanting to DEFINE the RESOURCE as having specific work day hours.  Sorry about that.

It looks like you might also be able to do this via managing specific Named Resource details screens - which also has Location and Area.  Multiple ways to get there in the UI, but here's one way:

PPM Admin  >  Edit Resource  >  Location

Setting Location for specific FTE:

For the sake of illustration, I've created a Location with 1hr / day:

Now I've set this location for a resource (Homer)  for all of 2014.  1hr a day for the entire year.  Must be nice.  ("D'oh!")

Finally, here's this resource's availability in the Resource Dashboard based on set Location:

• Jan: 22 working days in the "US" calendar, which excludes Jan 1st as a holiday.
  • 22 workdays x 1 hr/d = 22 hours available for Jan

Setting Availability for specific FTE:

Of course, here's where you can also manage specific named resource - Bart's - availability for all project work (in hrs/day).

Notice that he's set to be available for project work for only 4h/day for the month of Jan, and 6 hrs/day starting in July.

In checking this resource's availability in the Resource Dashboard based on specific Availability:

• Jan: 22 working days in the "US" calendar, which excludes Jan 1st as a holiday.
  • 22 workdays x 4 hrs/d = 88 hours available for Jan

• July: 22 working days, excluding July 4 as a US holiday.
  • 22 workdays x 6 hrs/d = 132 hours available for July

I hope this is helpful.  Many ways to achieve the same goal.

Lawrence

[Former Member]

Hi Lawrence.

Thank you for the replies.

Actually you were right in the first reply. I need it to be on the Location on the Role created, not on the Resource staffed to the Role.

It should be the Location of the Role determining how many hours/day the FTE is equal to when distributing demand for the Role.

I did test this with defined Area and Location (Location with 8 hours/day and international calendar), but the FTE when distributing Role demand still uses 6,4 hours/day derived from the "Units Of Measure" in customizing.

What we achieve by setting the Resource availability I don't think has anything to do with the FTE distribution of Role Demand. Resource availability is for Staffing a Role, not for creating the Demand of the Role. Or am I mistaken here?

Hope this makes sense?

Morten

[Former Member]

Hi Morten,

I tested this myself, and am finding that what the UI shows is a bit confusing.  Perhaps this might be just a communication/training matter, to clarify to Users where "Role Availability" can be found.  I believe I had to save and refresh several times as well throughout the process to make the distribution table reflect the correct values.

In my test, I used my simple 1hr/day location, and in the definition of the Role with a set location (@1h/day), any demand set still shows up as-is  (set ast 100h of work).  Perhaps this is correct by design - but admittedly a bit confusing.

Here's the demand set on task:  100h of work:

Now here's the demand on the role based on the task: 100h unmet  (after "Update of Role acc to Task").

Note that I haven't confirmed any work allocation yet.

And here's what the Role Distribution looks like.  Assigned Effort is distributed to total 100h.  However, Working Days (of Role) seems to be the value we are looking for - correct at 1h/day!

Task starts June 10th.  As a result, the role's working days for June 2013 are limited at 15 days  (or, 15h @ 1h/day).

For whatever reason, the Staffing Availability is also limited at 15h total for the role for the month of June:

So, setting limits on the available hours a Role... seems to work!  With some quirks.

I hope this helps, Morten.

Lawrence

[Former Member]

Here's where we might find a discrepancy in functionality.  Again, possibly a training matter.

If I try to allocate hours of work to the role, to meet task demand.  (Note, no resource staffing yet.)

In this example, I committed the role to fulfill 80 work hours for the task.

This work allocation by role is still distributed as set, based on the timeframe set by the task.  This seems to disregard role "availability" or "work hours":

Now, I assign work to a specific resource - Mr. Burns.  (For this I had to delete and re-add.  Common problem.)  As a result, there's still a net negative capacity for the role to meet demand, as availability is limited.

From the Staffing tab: Burns' availability  (show as "Remaining Availablility), capped at 1h/day --- set against the total demand on the role  (32.43 h in June).

From the General tab:  staffing of the role based on one resource capped at 1h/day.

Now, to fulfill net demand, I confirm another resource for work on the role - Smithers, and the capacity is increased.  Remaining demand on the role is decreased.

From the Staffing tab: Smithers' assigned effort

From the General tab:  allocation is doubled with the staffing of two resources to meet role demand.  Both are capped based on the 1h/day location setting on the role.

[Former Member]

Hi Morten,

Great question~!  You've definitely got the wheels in my head turning on this one.  Was your configuration not working when you were testing?

I think the answer to your question can be found right in the documentation for the SPRO activity "General Settings for Distribution"  --- the crux being that you have to define AREA and LOCATION first to drive workday hours and fac cals for distribution settings.  But from what I'm reading you've already done that.

• PPM  >  PRO  >  Basic Settings  >  Define Area  (prereq for defining Location)
• PPM  >  PRO  >  Basic Settings  >  Define Locations

Within "Locations" you can configure Hours/Day, which becomes your limits for distribution  (i.e. 8h, 6h, 4h per day).  You might call this the "application-specific" settings (limits) for distributions.  Also, the definition of "locations" also requires the selection of a standard calendar, which further limits the number of days resources are allowed to work.

In summary, I see LOCATION as the method by which you can define your "various FTEs" work hours, as you describe it.  Of course, there will have to be several roles with those specific "locations" framing your allowed work hours/day.  PMs/Admins will have to select the Area and Location within the role in PRO-RES, for this to work.  I recommend using Templates to drive standardization

I would imagine that concrete role staffings would adhere to the role's "hours/day" when fulfilling demand distribution.  But again, I haven't tested this out myself.

I hope this helps you out Morten!  Again, great requirement.

Lawrence