Use the Execute project planning process to calculate the project planning. The way in which the project planning is calculated depends on the project line type and the plan type setting.

Tip: To have the project planning calculated automatically each time you make a change that affects the planning, for example a change to the lead time, select the Calculate project planning check box.

Category

Only lines of the type 'Activity' or 'Phase' are scheduled. For projects and subprojects, the start date, lead time and finish date are determined based on the underlying project lines. Milestones are not scheduled; they are inserted in the correct place in the timeline, but they do not have a lead time.

Plan type

Plan types are set by project line, and also the main project has a plan type.

If the plan type is 'Estimated', the start date and the lead time of the project line are used to calculate the finish date.

If the plan type is 'Calculated based on order information', the line is not included in the planning, and the planning data are copied from the linked order information instead. Isah will plan around the project line, however, which means that successors will be scheduled after the line, and any previous lines will be scheduled before the line.

Refining the project planning

The planning method described above is a quick and easy method for making project estimates. Isah includes various options to refine your project.

If you are using date restrictions, for example to indicate that an activity cannot start before a particular date, they will be taken into account during the planning and you can no longer adjust the planning. You can also control the planning by specifying overlap times (if a subsequent operation can start before the previous operation has completed) or break times (for example, drying time between operations).

To see the exact planning, link the project planning to the sales order(s) and/or production order(s) that were actually entered in Isah for the execution of the project. Then set the plan type to 'Calculated based on order information'. Isah will now use the detailed data from the linked orders, which will enable you to compare your original estimates with the actual data.

Note: To plan a project successfully, you need to set the order of the components. Otherwise, all subprojects, activities and other elements will all start at the same time.

Tip: To check whether sufficient capacity is available after you have planned a project, use the Info menu to open the Capacity overview form. The overview shows all the data relating to your project, which enables you to identify any bottlenecks straight away and adjust the planning accordingly. You can also open the form by using the shortcut CTRL + ALT + C.