MS Project is not an approved app for us so I'm trying to use MS Excel or possibly a free app to handle a schedule with approx 30 tasks/milestones that include tasks that are concurrent. I want to be able to enter tasks, durations, a start date, and have it tell me the finish dates for all the tasks and the finish date for the overall project. I've seen some templates out there but they only work with consecutive tasks, not concurrent. If you have a template or know of a MS Project-like free app, I'd appreciate your help. Thx. Saving Changes...
Google it. You will find. Moreover, you can make yours. It is not complicated. Do not forget to check the Template section of the website as well. Saving Changes...
Unfortunately you are now in the realm of true CPM-based scheduling so any Excel template which is able to do this would likely have a ton of VB code in the background doing all the calculations based on start dates, dependencies and so on.
There are open source (with limited functionality) CPM scheduling tools out there - would those be a possibility for your company?
Kiron
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1 reply by Darren Mulford
Nov 16, 2022 9:40 PM
Darren Mulford
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Yeah, I think we can use an open source solution. Do you have one you can recommend?
You can do it in Excel. While the technique is simple, Excel can drive you crazy when you try to edit or debug lots of linked formulas so just getting someone else's template can be more confusing than creating your own.
To refine your search, you might google how to create a PERT chart and how to calculate critical path in Excel. Saving Changes...
Unfortunately you are now in the realm of true CPM-based scheduling so any Excel template which is able to do this would likely have a ton of VB code in the background doing all the calculations based on start dates, dependencies and so on.
There are open source (with limited functionality) CPM scheduling tools out there - would those be a possibility for your company?
Kiron
Yeah, I think we can use an open source solution. Do you have one you can recommend? Saving Changes...
I'll take a look at the open source stuff..thanks for the info.
In the meantime I've been working on one in Excel. I need to get with our Contracting office to get some realistic durations; however, I'd appreciate your thoughts on it. I use the Workday function to account for weekends and holidays. I still need to work on the Actual Start and Actual Finish columns. I want to have similar functions in there and the PM can update the dates and the forumulas below it get automatically updated to reflect the new Award date. Anyhoo...if you're interested, I place it in my Google Drive folder at the link below. I appreciate any comments you have.
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