When Resource Management is combined with Project Control Suite, the resource planning functions are extended as follows.
The project planning line of the type Resource is considered a "planning request."
Plan for resource group
When the planning line is for a resource group, release the planning line and release the project task to create a resource task with an assignment for the resource group. In this scenario, the resource group (or team lead) distributes the work among team members. Time registration is always per resource.
Plan for resource
When planning for individual resources, the planner has the following options:
Select individual resources from the resource group to assign to the resource task with the Expand Group action.
Once expanded, release the project planning lines and open Resource Planning.
Resource Planning shows the quantity from the project planning lines as Qty to Plan, as well as a set of daily columns for the period as per the project task starting and ending dates. Use the Show Column Name switch in the header to show days of the week instead of dates.
To check availability of the selected resource, open Resource Workload. In the workload columns, select the following quantities:
Capacity
Net Capacity: Capacity minus Absence.
Availability After Orders: Net Capacity minus allocated to projects, assembly, service, and production.
Net Availability: Availability After Orders minus budgeted or planned to projects, service, and production.
Load %: allocation as a percentage of capacity.
When the selected resource has enough capacity, return to Resource Planning and enter the allocation quantities in the daily columns, or use the Re-plan action. This action automatically distributes the requested quantity either forward from a starting date or backward from an ending date, based on the daily available capacity.
When the selected resource does not have enough capacity, clear the filter from the No. column in Resource Workload to show all resources where Use Time Sheet is true. With this information, return to Resource Planning and use the Split Planning Request action to assign the quantity (or part of it) to a new resource. This action also creates a project planning line for this resource.
Releasing the project task creates or updates a resource task. Releasing a project planning line of the type Resource or Resource Group creates or updates a resource task assignment.
Work type
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central uses the Work Type code to differentiate rates for resources. Advanced Project and Resource Management align with this feature:
The Work Type code selected on the project task is copied to the resource task.
The Work Type code selected on the project planning line is copied to the resource task assignment. When the resource task is selected in a time sheet, the Work Type code from the assignment is copied to the time sheet line.
Note
When a resource is assigned to a task where different rates apply, create project planning lines per work type. For example, one for travel time and one for work time. When a time sheet is created for the same period, both assignments are inserted in the time sheet.
Open and released states
The project task and project planning line states drive the resource task and resource task assignment respectively. The following business rules apply:
Releasing a project task creates or updates a resource task. When the project task has released project planning lines of the type Resource, resource task assignments are also created or updated.
Reopening a project task sets the status of the related resource task to Terminated and the resource task assignments to Blocked. Releasing the project task again makes the updated resource task Active and removes Blocked from the resource task assignment.
You cannot reopen a project planning line when the linked resource task assignment has been selected in a time input line or a time sheet line. The time input line must first be Completed or Registered, and the time sheet line Submitted.
Planning Information fact box
The Resource Information part of this fact box calculates the capacity available to plan for the selected resource and shows existing allocations between the starting and ending dates of the current project task:
Capacity During this Task: total capacity for the resource on the selected planning line during the project task period.
Qty. On ProjectBudget Line: budgeted allocation (on all projects, not transferred to planning) for the resource during the project task period.
Qty. on ProjectPlanning Lines: planned allocation for the resource during the project task period.
Qty. on ProjectQuotes: quoted allocation for the resource during the project task period. For information only. This quantity is not considered in the Available Qty. to Plan calculation.
Qty. on Service Orders: allocation on service orders for the resource during the project task period.
Qty. On Assembly Orders: allocation on assembly orders for the resource during the project task period.
Remaining Qty. to Plan: remaining quantity to plan for the resource during the project task period. Shows the remaining capacity (available to promise) after subtracting: Qty on ProjectBudget Lines, Qty on ProjectPlanning Lines, Qty on Service Orders, and Qty on Assembly Orders.
Note
Resource planning progress is tracked in Qty. to Plan, Total Planned Qty., and the Planning Status field (also shown on the project planning line). Options: Unplanned, Partially Planned, Balanced.
With the Move action, move a set of daily allocations forward from another starting date, or backward when the specified planning date is an ending date.
When a resource task of the type Project has been started (an open time input line exists), the project task is "locked." You cannot reopen the project task until the time input line has the status Completed or Registered. You can still modify the project planning lines to create or update resource task assignments.