The type indicates the nature of the project line and its location in the project structure. The project structure determines the types you can choose from. In the case of a project line of the 'Subproject' type with underlying activities, for instance, you can only change the type to 'Project', 'Subproject', or 'Phase'.

• Project: Select this type if you want to enter a new project. This is the highest level, which means that a project cannot be part of another project line. You can add any type of project line to a project. To facilitate project management, you are recommended to give the project a unique code.
• Subproject: Subprojects are subdivisions of a project or another subproject. Subprojects are often used to group activities and milestones that will lead to a particular end result. A 'Production' subproject, for instance, can comprise the activities 'Collection of material', 'Production of semi-finished articles' and 'Production'.
• Phase Phases are subdivisions of a project, and are usually part of a project. For instance, a project can consist of the sequential phases 'Offer', 'Engineering' and 'Production'.
• Activity: Activities are the core of a project. Use activities to define what needs to be done and when. An activity can be part of a project or a subproject. A 'Production' subproject, for instance, can comprise the activities 'Collection of material', 'Production of semi-finished articles' and 'Production'.
• Milestone: An important moment within a project is marked as a milestone. A milestone is located on the lowest level within a project, which means it cannot have any subcomponents. The end date is determinative, and the lead time is 0 days. Milestones can be Open or Closed. A closed milestone has a fixed end date, so that it is clear that the milestone must be reached on a particular date. An open milestone has an open end date, which means that the milestone depends on the progress of the project line with which the milestone has a successor relationship. For example, if a milestone marks the end of a phase, the milestone will move up in time if the phase takes longer than expected.
• Costs/revenues: Use the 'Costs/revenues' type when building a project calculation using plan groups. You can also use this type to specify project costs that are not included in the calculation of the order structure. You include costs, such as transport costs and traveling and hotel expenses of project members, on a separate project line, which line is added as a child project line to another project line.

The Component of check box shows the project, subproject or phase that is the parent of the project line. Both the number and the description of the parent project line are displayed. Only a line of the 'Project', 'Subproject' or 'Phase' type can be selected as the parent project line.

This field shows to which project the project line belongs.

The line number and the line code are used together to determine the unique position of a project line within a project. They determine the level and order of the project lines. The line number/line code combination is displayed in the Structure code field.

The line number is the unique number of the project line within the immediate parent project line. This number is assigned automatically (highest number plus 10), but can be changed if required.

Project codes can be entered manually. You are recommended to choose a unique project code. Although a warning is displayed when an existing code is entered, it is possible to enter more than one project having the same code.

When you start creating project lines within a project, for example for activities within a phase, the line code of the phase will appear in the Component field of the activities. As project lines of the 'Costs', 'Milestone', and 'Activity' types can never have underlying project lines, you do not have to enter a line code for those types.

In this field, you can enter the plan group for which the costs are to be estimated. You can also create plan group lines from within a project using the Create plan group lines process.

The plan group can be filled in only if the link type is 'Not applicable'.

Use this field to indicate the type of costs:

• Material: Material or parts required for the project line to which the costs line is linked.
• Hours: Operations to be performed for the project line to which the costs line is linked.
• Third-party hours: External operations to be performed for the project line to which the costs line is linked.
• Equipment: Equipment that can be used to perform operations for the project line to which the costs line is linked.
• Other costs: Indirect costs, such as travel time and accommodation expenses of project members.
• Miscellaneous: Costs line containing various cost types (for example, material and operations).

To display order data in projects, you need to create one or more links between the project and the order structure. By linking orders or order lines to the project, up-to-date order information is available from within the project about the planning, the costs incurred, and the revenues. Links can be established with a wide range of items, including sales orders, sales lines, purchase orders, periodic invoice lines, and operations. Order information can be linked at different levels, depending on the information you want to see at that level. For example, you could link a sales order at project level, to give you a general overview of the financial and planning data for the entire project. To get detailed information, you could link various production files belonging to the sales order to a phase, and link operations from one of the production files to the activities within a phase. You can also see more information by viewing the linked order or order line itself from within the project line.

You can link multiple orders or order lines to a project line, provided they are of the same order or line type, so that the data can be totaled in various project fields. This means you can link various production orders to a project line, but you cannot link both a periodic invoice line and a sales line to a project line.

Project lines of the 'Plan group' type cannot have any links. The link type will always be 'Not applicable' and cannot be changed.

Note: You are recommended to link one or more sales orders to the project first, before linking other orders related to the sales order. Because of the financial calculations to be made, a sales order must be linked to the project, as the sales order is leading in the financial processes.

Examples of links

This is the date on which the project (or project component) is expected to start. Once the start date has been entered, the Week field will automatically show the week number corresponding to the start date. Using the Project settings, you can determine how a change to the start date affects the end date and the lead time.

• In the Estimate column, enter the probable start date of the project line.

  The date may move as a result of a change to the planning. The date can also be changed manually, if required. If the 'Estimated' plan type is selected, the estimated start date is used in the planning calculation.

• If the project line has subprojects, milestones, or phases, the Project lines column shows the earliest estimated start date of the underlying project lines. If the project line does not have any underlying lines, this check box will remain empty.

  If the 'Calculated based on underlying project line(s)' plan type is selected, this start date is used in the planning calculation.

• If an order is linked to the project line (or to a parent project line), the Order information column shows the start date of the linked order.

  If the 'Calculated based on linked order information' plan type is selected, this start date is used in the planning calculation.

Note: Select the Fixed check box to prevent a start date from moving when the planning changes. You can manually change the start and end times, however, without clearing the Fixed check box.

This is the date on which the project (or project component) is expected to end. Once the end date has been entered, the Week field will automatically show the week number corresponding to the end date. Using the Project settings, you can determine how a change to the end date affects the start date and the lead time.

• In the Estimate column, enter the probable end date of the project line.

  The date may move as a result of a change to the planning. The date can also be changed manually, if required. If the 'Estimated' plan type is selected, the estimated end date is used in the planning calculation.

• If the project line has subprojects, milestones, or phases, the Project lines column shows the latest estimated end date of the underlying project lines. If the project line does not have any underlying lines, this check box will remain empty.

  If the 'Calculated based on underlying project line(s)' plan type is selected, this end date will be used in the planning calculation.

• If an order is linked to the project line (or to a parent project line), the Order information column shows the end date of the linked order.

  If the 'Calculated based on linked order information' plan type is selected, this end date will be used in the planning calculation.

Note: Select the Fixed check box to prevent an end date from moving when the planning changes. You can manually change the start and end times, however, without clearing the Fixed check box.

This is the lead time of the project line. Using the Project settings, you can determine how a change to the lead time affects the start date and the end date.

• If the estimated start date and end date have been entered, the estimated lead time is calculated automatically. You can also fill in the lead time manually if no start date or end date has been entered.
• If the project line has underlying lines, and both a start date and an end date are present in the Project lines column, the lead time is calculated automatically. You can change the lead time, if required. If the selected plan type is 'Calculated based on underlying project line(s)', this may result in changes to the start date or end date of the project line or related project lines.
• If an order is linked to the project line, and both a start date and an end date are present in the Order information column, the lead time is calculated automatically. You can change the lead time, if required. If the selected plan type is 'Calculated based on linked order information', this may result in changes to the start date or end date of the project line or related project lines.

Note: The lead time of a milestone is always 0 days.

This field is not functional yet.

Use the plan type to determine which dates are to be used for project calculations. You indicate whether the estimated start date, end date, or lead time, the dates from the underlying project lines, or the dates from the linked order are to be used for calculations performed on the parent project line. The plan type also determines which information is visible in the Gantt chart.

As the project progresses and more details become available, you can choose another plan type in order to be able to use the most reliable data available at that time. This way, projects can be built up in phases.

The Plan type field can be filled in the following ways:

• Manually
• Using the Change plan and cost types process
• Automatically, based on the corresponding setting on the Basic data form

The consequences of your choice of plan type are:

• Estimated: The calculations performed on the parent project line and in the Gantt chart are based on the estimated values entered in the Estimated column.

  The 'Estimated' plan type can be used at the start of the project, when you can only make rough estimates of the time required or the costs to be incurred. At this stage, the project line is not yet subdivided into activities or subprojects, for example, or it has been subdivided, but the time and costs of these components cannot be determined yet.

• Calculated based on underlying project line(s): The calculations performed on the parent project line and in the Gantt chart are based on the total of the values from the underlying lines. The total of those values is displayed in the Project lines column.

  The plan type 'Calculated based on underlying project line(s)' can be used when the project line has been subdivided into activities, subprojects, etcetera, and the time or costs required for those components can be determined.

  The 'Calculated based on underlying project lines' plan type can be selected only on lines of the 'Project', 'Subproject' or 'Phase' type.

• Calculated based on linked order information: The calculations performed on the parent project line and in the Gantt chart are based on the values from the order (or order line) linked to the project line. Those values are displayed in the Order information column.

  The 'Calculated based on linked order information' plan type can be used when order information, such as shipping dates, is available.

This field shows the status of the project line. For each status, you need to use a status type that represents the progress of the line. The different status types are 'Offer', 'Order', 'Actual costing' and 'History'. '

Contrary to the status types in purchase, sales, and production orders, the project status type is merely informational.

For each status, you can set the shading and color of the project lines in the Gantt chart (the shape is determined by the project settings).

The manually entered value is an estimate of the portion of the project that has been completed.

The value of the % field indicates the percentage of the project that has already been completed. The field is filled if an order has been linked to the project line or to a parent project line. The value filled in depends on the type of order linked to the line.

• In the case of a production order, the value is calculated as follows: Total actual hours / Total preliminary hours * 100%.
• In the case of a purchase order, the value is calculated as follows: Number of parts received / Number of parts to receive * 100%.
• Similar calculations are performed for the other links between orders and projects.

Use this informational field to enter the date on which the progress is to be checked.

This is an informational field in which you could enter the date on which the project must be completed at the latest.

Select the Complete check box to indicate that the project line has been completed. In addition, you can specify the date on which a project was completed.

Confirmation of a project as complete is an important project status. Once a project line has been marked as 'Complete', only some of the information on the project line can still be changed, such as the value of the Complete check box itself, the descriptions, the memo, and the texts. Project lines marked as 'Complete' can no longer be moved in the Gantt chart. Also, these lines will not be re-scheduled if they are successors of another line.

The following processes can no longer be executed when a line has been marked as 'Complete':

• Calculate units, costs and revenues: No more calculations will be performed for project lines of the 'Project' type that have been marked as 'Complete'. Of course, if project components have been confirmed as complete, but the project has not, recalculations will still be performed for the components.
• Copy projects
• Change plan and cost types
• Create plan group lines
• Determine bottlenecks.

Use this informational field to assign a priority to the project line.

This check box is selected as soon as the Determine bottlenecks process has been performed and a bottleneck has been detected in the project. A bottleneck is defined as a discrepancy between the estimated start and/or end date of a project line, and the start and/or end date of the linked order information.

You can also manually select or clear this check box.

The project line will be displayed in the Gantt chart only if this check box is selected. By default, the check box is selected for lines of the 'Project', 'Subproject', 'Phase', 'Activity' or 'Milestone' type. For lines of the 'Costs/revenues' type, the check box is deselected by default. You can also manually select or deselect the check box to get a better overview of the projects. For example, you could choose to display only important projects, or projects/subprojects and phases in the Gantt chart.