Resource/Target Leveling: Details

To access this screen:

  • Tools ribbon >> Levelling >> Level.

  • Press <F10>.

Scheduling a task to start as soon as its predecessors allow, does not take into the account resource capacity constraints. Resource capacity is almost always constrained in real world scenarios, and need to be taken into account.

Levelling resources involve delaying / interrupting tasks until sufficient resources are available. You can do this manually by modifying the task schedule yourself, or you can use the DTS levelling algorithms to do this automatically.

See Resource Leveling and Resource Availability Leveling.

Specify the order for resolving over-allocations and the algorithm to be used.

Activity steps:

  1. Display the Details screen.

  2. Use the table at the top of the screen to specify the Order for resolving over allocations. These are the fields used to perform resource leveling and the top-bottom order denotes in which order they are actioned.

    See Applying resource leveling.

    Note: The Priority field must be selected if you are to use Algorithm 1 (see below).

  3. Specifies the sort order of the field values used for resolving over allocations. Within each field, a numeric sequence is followed, in either Ascending or Descending order.

  4. Select Advanced options:

    • Resources all work simultaneously on a task – Ensure all allocated resources work simultaneously on a task. Default.

    • 'Driving' resources start as soon as availability permits – Ensure resources start as soon as they become available (they can work independently from other Driving resources).

      See Add/Remove Assignment.

  5. Specifies the Algorithms used for leveling.

    • If Algorithm 1 is used, check Prioritize predecessors of higher-priority tasks to assign the highest priority to all predecessors of a high priority task. This ensures that all predecessor tasks are driven to complete high priority tasks first.

      • If Re-sort and re-schedule on every pass is checked, data is reorganized and analysed with every pass of the algorithm.

    • If Algorithm 2 is used, you can select one of:

      • Single pass - select this field to select this to use the original algorithm. This works in the same way as the Microsoft Project leveling algorithm.
      • Multi-pass, original sort - select this field to sort using logic that reproduces a similar result as the one using Algorithm 1 and Prioritize predecessors of higher priority tasks.
      • Multi-pass, re-sort on every pass - select this field to sort using logic reproducing a similar result to using Algorithm 1.

      Note: If an Algorithm 2 is unable to reach a solution, a message is displayed indicating that the algorithm cannot converge. In this case, you must use a different algorithm for a solution.

      See Leveling for more information on the algorithms.

  6. Check Trace Leveling to display the Resource Leveling Tracing screen when leveling is processed. This shows detailed information about the leveling process, including the sort order, resource profiles and changes in delay rates for selected tasks at various stages of the process.

  7. Click Level Now to run the resource leveling and insert leveling constraints where required.

    Warning: All previous resource leveling constraints are automatically cleared before the resource leveling is run.

    • Click Clear Leveling to clear all currently applied leveling constraints from the tasks.

  8. Close the Resource/Target Leveling screen and save your project.

Related topics and activities: