Version 4.3 New Features and EnhancementsRESOURCE MANAGEMENT/PIPELINE MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTSIn the 4.0 release, resource analysis functionality was added to PD-Trak at a level that was well suited to portfolio management. This release allowed resource types to be assigned to projects from a central resource pool, by phase/stage. This broad-brush approach allowed staffing profiles for future projects to be quickly generated and then used for overall pipeline/resource analysis to determine if the planned portfolio was realistic given the available resources. In release 4.3, this functionality has been extended. The resource pool has been expanded to allow individuals to be captured by name and their availability to be modeled in a central resource calendar. These resources can be allocated to the projects in weekly increments. The resource analysis function now extracts this weekly project demand from the projects, providing a consolidated report that shows availability and shortage of individual resources in the short to medium term, allowing resource bottlenecks to be predicted so that steps can be taken to minimize any impact. This novel approach provides a practical alternative to resource planning using tools such as MS Project, that require resources to be assigned to individual tasks which tends to be too detail oriented and difficult to maintain. Resource List ChangesThe Resource List has been expanded to include a Resources By Name worksheet where the individual resources can be captured:
Individual resources are categorized by resource type. Cost information is captured which is used as the basis for projecting project costs. Project availability is the default availability of that individual for assignment to projects. However, actual availability as a function of time is captured in the calendar portion of the tool which allows factors such as holidays, vacations, business trips etc. to be captured. The Resources by Name worksheet may be used to capture all resources that can be assigned to projects (more likely for a small organization) or the subset of core resources that need to be tightly managed. The Resources by Type worksheet has been updated to show the sum of resources that have been entered into the Resources by Name worksheet:
This summary information is a check and balance - the total headcount for any given resource type from the resources by name table should never exceed the base headcount for that resource. Changes to the Project FileA new worksheet called Resource Allocation has been added to the project file where the detailed resource demands for the project can be captured (see following figure). Resources are added by clicking on the Add Resource button - a pull down menu then allows a resource to be selected from the central resource pool. Once the resource has been added, the amount of that resourced that is needed is entered into the calendar portion of the worksheet, as a decimal quantity for each week of the project, using the yellow cells. To minimize the amount of data entry required a function has been provided that extends the resource demand for a selected week to the end of the project. With this function, the data entry for setting up a complete resource profile for a typical project takes just a few minutes. The stages of the project are visible across the top of the table. After the resource demand profile has been established, the availability of the assigned resources can be imported from the resource calendar by clicking on the Update Availability button. The availability data then appears in blue directly beneath the resource demand data. If the demand exceeds the availability, the demand entries turn red.
Resources may also be entered by resource type - this allows resource demands to be entered where the skill set is known but the individual resource has not yet been identified. Alternatively, if the user chooses to model resources demands by resource type only, all resources may be added in this worksheet by type. With the addition of the resource allocation worksheet, PD-Trak now provides complete resource management modeling capability. Resource demands are still entered into the Budget and Schedule worksheet before a project starts, as a quick way to scope out the required resources. This level of pipeline management /resource management is appropriate for business level portfolio planning. However, the addition of the resource allocation worksheet now allows resources to be modeled at the individual resource level in weekly increments providing a powerful, low overhead solution for predicting short term resource bottlenecks so that steps can be taken to minimize the potential impact. Pipeline Management / Resource Management Planning FunctionThe pipeline management / resource management planning function in PD-Trak creates a stand alone Excel workbook that summarizes the available resources and compares this to the current resource demands of all projects in the product portfolio. In version 4.0 this modeling was limited to analyzing resources by type where the resource demands were entered into the Budget and Schedule worksheets in the Project Files, as full time equivalents by stage. In release 4.3, a new worksheet was added called Resources by Name. The format is very similar to the Resources by Type worksheet, but in this case there is a table for each resource name and the time scale for resource planning is weekly rather than monthly:
The overall availability or shortage for a given resource appears in the bottom row of the associated table. Reconciling Resource Demand and AvailabilityWhen resource shortages are identified, the user may open a project's Resource Allocation worksheet by clicking on the project name in the Projects Planning Table within the resource analysis file. After editing the resource allocation table, or stage durations on the Budget and Schedule worksheet, the resource analysis can be refreshed to see the results of the adjustments. This process can be repeated until the resource demand is reconciled with resource availability. CURRENCY CONFIGURATIONWhen PD-Trak 4.3 is installed, the following dialog appears for currency selection:
The results of this selection are used to configure all financial worksheets to the selected currency as part of the installation process. PROJECT FILE ENHANCEMENTSProject BriefThe Project Brief has been modified to provide baseline metrics in addition to current metrics for the so called "base model" (the primary product created by the project). Color indicators have been added that allow a visual indication as to the projects current position relative to these key metrics (red, yellow, green).
Project MilestonesA project milestones worksheet has been added that allows key project milestones to be captured, in addition to the standard gates:
SOFTWARE PROJECT TEMPLATEA project file template for software projects has been added to PD-Trak.
This project file template includes a Task Plan template oriented to software development projects as well as document templates and revised PD-Trak tools to support software development projects including:
SIX SIGMA PROJECTS AND TOOLSRelease 4.3 includes a project file template and Six Sigma software tools for managing Six Sigma projects. In addition to the project file and Six Sigma project tools and templates, the overall portfolio of Six Sigma projects can be managed with the portfolio management software capabilities of PD-Trak and the resources required to support these Six Sigma projects can be managed with the resource management software capabilities of PD-Trak.
The Six Sigma process defined in this template is based on a standard DMAIC (Define- Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) process. This process and the process outputs are defined in our Task Plans and are used to help the Six Sigma project team to help plan and manage the Six Sigma project to this well-defined process.
In addition to the standard PD-Trak project management tools, a comprehensive set of Six Sigma tools is included. These tools include:
For further information on these tools, see Six Sigma Tools and Projects. Portfolio Management Software
Resource & Pipeline Management Software
NPD Process Management Software © 2004, PD-Trak Solutions Stage-Gate Process Portfolio Management Software Pipeline Management Software Resource Management Software PLM Software Product Lifecycle Management Software Product Development Software New Product Development Software, NPD Process Management Software Stage-Gate Software Six Sigma Software Design for Six Sigma Software DFSS Software Automating NPD stage-gate process software project resource management project resource analysis project management software |
