This screen is a tool to allocate your manpower to certain tasks on the job.
You can plan ahead between 1-6 weeks. There is no requirement to plan all 6 weeks. The screen is setup to accommodate a maximum of 6 week planning cycle. If you prefer, you can plan in 3 or 4 week increments.
There are a number of blue user entry columns with dates in the headers. The first column is the week starting date for the current week. The next 5 columns are future weeks.
Each phase or cost code shows the man weeks of work remaining. The calculation for work remaining is based on either the Estimate or the Projected Hours. Set the checkbox at the top of the screen "Use Projected Hours" to toggle between the two calculations. Normally you will use the projected hours for work remaining.
Make an entry in the Manpower Plan based on the number of people you will assign to a given task for that week. The system will provide totals at the bottom showing your total staffing (or crew size) for the job.
The system will provide a "Projected Finish Date" based on the number of people you assigned to the task. The system assumes you will maintain the staffing at that level until the task is complete. So the projected finish is an estimate.
You can enter a scheduled finish date for each task. This should be your finish date requirement based on commitments you have made in the General Contractors planning meeting. The system will calculate the Days Slip, which is the difference between your required date and the projected finish date. Days Slip = Projected Finish - Scheduled Finish.
Example:
Projected Finish = 3/15/2021
Scheduled Finish = 3/10/2021
Days Slip = 5 (Shows in Red)
This means we are 5 days behind schedule or we have slipped by 5 days. If the Days Slip is negative (green), it means we are ahead of schedule.
Selecting Codes
The screen also includes a SEL column. This allows you to check off the codes you want to schedule. Then at the top of the screen check "Show Only Selected Codes". This will show just the codes you are trying to schedule and remove all the others, so you can view your entire 6 week plan without scrolling the page.
Remember, as always, you can group, sort and save your view if you prefer your screen to be organized a certain way. For instance, you may want to group your codes by Floor and show only the field work for a certain trade. Use the COLUMN and FILTER panels on the right side of the screen to set the columns you want and the filters. Get your view organized so it suits your planning requirements, then "save the view as my job default". When you return, your screen will maintain the view you want.
Sending a Masked Lookahead Plan to Customers
Sometimes you want to send the Lookahead Plan to customers, but you want to hide the manpower loading data.
The can be accomplished as follows:
Right click anywhere in the Lookahead grid.
Select Export | Excel Export
Open the Excel file
Highlight the area in the sheet that you want to mask (hide)
On the Excel menu select Format | Cells | Custom. In the entry box enter "X" or "=" or any other character. Click OK. The numbers will show as "X" or "=".
On the Excel menu select Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet. Un-click all the selections. Enter a password. Click OK. Now all the data is hidden.
Send the saved sheet to the customer. They will be able to open it without a password, but the rest of the sheet is locked.