What does the Date field mean in Leveling Order: Standard

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    • #402222
      Daryl Deffler
      Participant

      In the Leveling Order : Standard, it is defined as sequencing tasks based on
      Predecessors
      Slack
      Task Dates
      Task Constraints
      Task Priority

      I understand everything except the Task Dates. Does anyone know which task dates and how a schedule example can be created to illustrate how this works?
      I’ve researched this on the web on and off for weeks and most references, if they even mention it, simply gloss over it and never provide an example or even attempt to explain it.
      Any help or direction to a tech page that explains this specific parameter would be appreciated.

    • #402224
      Larry Christofaro
      Participant

      Daryl, it’s certainly a valid question but I’ve never needed to know the answer so I’m only guessing. My assumption is that it sequences tasks in date order (earliest to latest) after all of the above criteria result is identical. Sorry but I’m sure someone knows that would be able to answer. If you do find an answer I would appreciate a solution posted to this thread… Thanks…Larry

    • #402225
      Daryl Deffler
      Participant

      Thanks for the thought.
      I’m trying to assemble some training on Resource Leveling which is one of the topics that creates the most confusion for our PM staff.
      Part of that training is showing schedule before/after leveling examples to illustrate how each option works. I’ve managed to create examples of just about everything except this. If I remove predecessors from all the test tasks, they all have the same start date. If I add dependencies, the dependencies take precedence. If I manually add a start date, that’s a constraint which takes precedence. I’m almost starting to think this is something left over from a much earlier version of Project since I can’t figure out anyway to demonstrate it.

    • #402227
      Larry Christofaro
      Participant

      OK, now you got me thinking…(I hate it when that happens…:-). Try this. Have two tasks assigned to two separate predecessors but assigned to the same person. Then tweak the predecessors so that one or the other have the earlier start date. My assumption is that the earlier start date will win the resource and the later start date will be delayed. Does that make sense or help you with this?

    • #402228
      Daryl Deffler
      Participant

      I thought I tried that, but apparently not the exact right scenario. Based on your suggestion, I think I have a working example now.
      Here’s what I did. Tasks 1-4. Task 1 -2 are linked. Tasks 3-4 are linked. Task 1 assigned to resource A duration 3 days. Task 3 assigned to resource B duration 2 days. Tasks 2 and 4 assigned to resource C with 3 day duration each. So before leveling I have two small independent waterfalls. Task 2 starts 1 day later than Task 4, both assigned to resource C.
      When I leveled, Task 2 was delayed because Task 4 had an earlier start date.
      My mistake when I tried this originally was I had all 4 tasks in a common predecessor chain. When I break it into two independent chains, I can see the Date tie breaker delaying one task with a later start date.

      Bottom line, it delays the task with the later start date.

      Excellent!
      Thanks! Sometimes you just need someone not in the forest to make a suggestion.

    • #402230
      Larry Christofaro
      Participant

      and thanks to you I learned something without me having to do anything (except my head hurts now). My hat’s off to you. Good luck with your training…

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