Managing multiple (100's) of repetitive tasks

[macattack_ga]

Hi MPUG,

Any thoughts on managing multiple (100’s) of repetitive tasks?

Example:
I’m inspecting 200 cars with 200 inspectors.
I’ve got a 20 step/task process for inspecting each cars.
I’ve got the schedule built with a summary task for each car and the 20 sub tasks for the inspection.

(200 cars x 20 step inspection = ~4000 lines)

If the inspection process changes, is there an way to modify easily the schedule for all 200 cars without going line-by-line?

[Larry Christofaro]

My question has to do with timing and managing the detail. How long does it take to inspect a car and would you need to manage what step you are on for each one? My assumption is that the inspection itself is typically done start to finish. If that’s the case then you don’t need each step for all your cars? Replace that with a task per car. If not then delete/copy/paste…just make sure the tasks are generic and don’t contain constraints or in process. Hope that helps.

[macattack_ga]

If I told you they weren’t really cars and the “inspection” process took 180 days would that help?

[Larry Christofaro]

Yes…:-) In that case you have a very large project. You could estimate what a typical car is in duration (and work if you are tracking that) and just enter one line for those cars that are far enough in the future to be estimated without details. 200 cars and 200 inspectors…are they all starting at once? I don’t know your situation but a general idea is to detail that which is closer in time. Best I got…

[macattack_ga]

They all start at once. It is a big effort.

>>best I got
Thanks for chiming in.

[Larry Christofaro]

200 inspectors completing a total of a little over 20 tasks/day, each task averaging about 10 days. It’s a lot of tasks but maintenance is easy unless or until they change the inspection process…hence your question. The more you know Project the easier you can setup a fast path to making changes. You could even create a macro to automate some of the tedious clicks if you have to do the same thing 200 times. Can you simplify the task names, combine some of the simpler tasks, ??

Good luck…

[macattack_ga]

200 inspectors completing 1/10th of a task a day.
I can simplify. Pretty much the only unique thing will be something to ID the “car” in the summary task.

I’m afraid some sort of macro would be needed.

The example below shows only 3 cars and 4 sub task (actual schedule will have 200 cars w/ 20+ same sub tasks each)

Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Resource Names
ATP 0 days Thu 8/27/20 Thu 8/27/20
Car 1 40 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 10/21/20
inspect a 10 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 9/9/20 1 Art
inspect b 10 days Thu 9/10/20 Wed 9/23/20 3 Art
inspect c 10 days Thu 9/24/20 Wed 10/7/20 4 Art
inspect d 10 days Thu 10/8/20 Wed 10/21/20 5 Art
Car 2 40 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 10/21/20
inspect a 10 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 9/9/20 1 Bob
inspect b 10 days Thu 9/10/20 Wed 9/23/20 8 Bob
inspect c 10 days Thu 9/24/20 Wed 10/7/20 9 Bob
inspect d 10 days Thu 10/8/20 Wed 10/21/20 10 Bob
Car 3 40 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 10/21/20
inspect a 10 days Thu 8/27/20 Wed 9/9/20 1 Chuck
inspect b 10 days Thu 9/10/20 Wed 9/23/20 13 Chuck
inspect c 10 days Thu 9/24/20 Wed 10/7/20 14 Chuck
inspect d 10 days Thu 10/8/20 Wed 10/21/20 15 Chuck
Finished 0 days Wed 10/21/20 Wed 10/21/20 16,11,6

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