course materials

1. PROJ 430 DeVry University MS Project Scheduling Project
Question DescriptionThe Two-Machine Project ExerciseThis week you will work through
three software exercises that acquaint you with MS Project scheduling concepts. This is for a
simple project in which two machines need to be overhauled, tested individually, and then
tested in line. Download the following Project Exercise documents.Project Exercise 1:
Setting Up MS Project (Links to an external site.)Project Exercise 2: Creating a Simple Work
Breakdown Structure, Project Network, and Project Schedule (Links to an external
site.)Project Exercise 3: Displaying the Project (Links to an external site.)MS Project
Exercise 2 Finish Exercise 3 Starter File.mpp (Links to an external site.)When finished, use
the Week 3 Assignment Template (Links to an external site.) to present the project in an
APA formatted manner with appropriate APA formatted figures etcetera.Your final MS
Word file should provide explanation and APA formatted figures that provide:an overview
of what the project is about,a screen shot of the project at the summary task level, showing
milestones as well,a screen shot of the full project schedule, anda screen shot of the critical
path only.You should introduce each figure before you display it in your paper with a
sentence or two two of analysis about what the reader should gather from the figure.Submit
your YourNameWeek3AssignmentTemplate and your completed MS Project file, calling it
YourNameWeek3MSProject after you have worked through all three exercises.PROJ430
Project Exercise 3: Displaying the Project ScheduleOverviewIn this exercise, you will display
the two-machine maintenance project multiple ways. You will learn todisplay it as a
calendar, as a schedule, at the summary task level, with milestones, critical path, anddetail
level.How To Do It1. Get the file MS Project Exercise 2 Finish Exercise 3 Starter File. mpp
and open it up to view the detaillevel. It looks like this.2. View the project as a calendar by
selecting the Gantt Chart drop down arrow and then selecting theCalendar option at the far
left of the screen. This view is good for disseminating the project to yourproject team.3.
After you select the calendar option you should see the project tasks on an actual
calendar.Now, put it back to the Gantt Chart View by clicking the Gantt Chart drop down
arrow again, andputting it back to Gantt Chart.4. Now, go to View-Outline and select the
Level 2 option. This will roll up the tasks under theirSummary tasks. This view is good for
getting a high-level view of the project.5. Go to View—Outline – Level 3 to put the project
back to full detail view again. Then, go to View –Filter and select Milestones. You can see the
project in summary view, but with the milestones andtheir dates.6. Take off the milestones
filter by going to View-Filter – No filter. Then display the critical activities inthe project by
going to Format and checking the Critical checkbox. The critical activities are theactivities

2. you shorten if you find the finish date of the project is not acceptable to you. You do nottype
dates into the Start and Finish columns of the Table-Entry portion of the MS project
screenbelow!7. For a big project, it can be useful to filter out all tasks but the critical tasks.
Do this by going to ViewFilter-Critical.8.There might be times when you want to display
your project with progressive elaboration. Take offthe filter by going to View-Filter-No
Filter, and then go to View-Outline – Level 2, and then click onthe minus sign beside the
Machine 1 Summary task. This will allow you to focus on the Machine 1portion of the
project, while keeping other parts collapsed.9. Now, display a detailed project schedule that
also shows which activities have “slack” in them. Slackrefers to the amount of time a task
can be delayed without delaying the next task (free slack) or theentire project (total slack).
To view the project this way, go to View-Table-Schedule. You can see theearliest and the
latest you can start and finish each activity. If the column heading says “Start”, thatmeans
the earliest start. If it says “Finish” that means its earliest finish.10. These represent the
many different ways you can display the project for understandability. Thereare others –
experiment with the various views in the View menu, and the Gantt Chart drop
downlist.PROJ430 Project Exercise 1: Setting up MS ProjectOverviewThis exercise shows
you how to set up MS Project 2010 for a specific project. It focuses in scheduleoriented
defaults.How To Do It1. Open up MS Project 2010. You should get this screen.2. Go to File –
Options – Schedule to get this screen.3. Set it up so it looks like this.Notes:New Tasks
Created: Auto ScheduledThis setting puts the onus on Microsoft Project to schedule the start
and finish date of each taskbased on its duration and the tasks that precede it. You want MS
Project do this, rather thanscheduling the start and finish dates of tasks manually.Default
Task Type: Fixed Duration with New Task Effort Driven unchecked.Setting this task to fixed
duration and turning off effort driven scheduling prevents MS Projectfrom altering your
task durations when you add or remove resources from a task. It means thatthe duration of
each task you put into MS Project will remain at the duration you originallyspecify, even
though you may add or remove resources from specific tasks.Other settings are a matter of
personal preference. You can also set the default times for thestart and end time of the
working day, when the week starts, etcetera near the top of thisscreen.PROJ430 Project
Exercise 2: Creating a Simple WorkBreakdown Structure, Project Network and Project
ScheduleOverviewIn this exercise, you will create a simple work breakdown structure,
project network and projectschedule. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is simply a list
of all the tasks that must be completedwithin the project. The network is the tasks and their
relationships to each other. The schedule is theWBS, the Network and the durations of each
task, which create a plan for when each task starts andfinishes for the entire project.The
sample project is a two-machine project where mechanics and technicians must overhaul
twomachines, test them separately, and then test them working together. This is an
intentionally simpleproject to show you the basic concepts without lengthy data entry.How
To Do It1. After setting up MS Project as shown in Exercise #1, go to the Gant Chart view,
which is the default.If necessary, select the Gantt Chart view and if necessary, View-Table-
Entry to get to this “homebase” screen.2. Go to Project-Project Information and set the start
date of the project.3. Enter all the tasks associated with the project along with summary
tasks. Summary tasks simplyoutline the project’s sections. Tasks represent activities that

3. project team members will actuallyperform, and represent the work of the project. In this
example, the first, second, and fifth tasks aresummary tasks, as you will see in the next step.
The remaining tasks are activities.4. Indent all tasks under the first task, which is called the
Project Summary task. This summary task willeventually inherit the total duration of the
project when we are finished. Do this by selecting alltasks from the second one to the last
one. Then go to Task and select the green indent button thatpoints to the right. This should
indent all tasks under the first task, making the first task bold andcollapsible.5. Do the same
thing for tasks 3 and 4, which will indent under the Machine 1 Summary task. This willmake
the second task “Machine 2” a bold, collapsible summary task.6. Do the same thing for tasks
6 and 7, indenting them under task 5, the Machine 2. Summary task7. Leave the last task,
Test-In-Line task at its original indentation level, as it is not part of the Machine 1or
Machine 2 phases of the project.8. Now we will add milestones to the project.Milestones
represent key accomplishments in the project and can be useful for displaying theproject at
a high level to others. We will add milestones for completing the Machine 1 overhaul
andtest, the Machine 2 overhaul and test, and completing the entire project. Start by
selecting task 5,the Machine 2 summary task, right clicking and then selecting Insert Task.
You should get a new lineabove the Machine 2 summary task that says “New Task” – retype
the name to read “Machine 1Complete” and set its duration to zero. Its icon on the chart
section to the right of the screen shouldturn to a black diamond.9. Do the same thing for the
Machine 2 phase of the project. Select the Test In Line task, right click,select Insert Task, and
change its name to Machine 2 Complete. Make sure you set the duration tozero to create the
milestone.10. Finally, add the Project Complete milestone under the Test-in-Line task.11.
Now you need to add outline numbers to the tasks. Outline numbers make it easier to
identify tasksin certain reports and are part of the work breakdown structure. Add outline
numbers by selectingthe Task Name column, right clicking, and selecting Insert column.
Type Outline number into thefield that appears, and press enter to get outline numbers.12.
Your work breakdown structure is complete. Now you need to enter the predecessor
relationshipsbetween tasks to form the project network. Expand the Task-Entry window by
moving the windowdivider that separates the tasks from the blue bars (Gantt bars) to the
right. You should be able tosee the predecessors entry column.13. Enter the following
predecessors into the predecessor’s column. These numbers refer to the IDnumber of the
task to the far left of the Table-Entry window. You enter only the ID of the task
thatimmediately precedes a particular task, not all of its predecessors. Note how the Gantt
bars move toform your network.14. Your network is complete. Now you need to update the
duration column to create your projectschedule. Note how each task as an automatically
scheduled start and finish date based on itspredecessor(s) and its duration. Also, go to
Format and check Critical Tasks to highlight the longestpath. This path, if late, will delay the
entire project. Knowing the critical path is useful for prioritizingyour project.15. If you ever
need to condense the Gantt chart bars to the right of screen, so they fit on the page,right
click on the timeline above the bars (where the dates are) click on Zoom and then
entireproject. This will put the entire project within one screen view.16. Sometimes, your
project finish date will be later than a client wants. In this case, you DO NOT TYPEDATES
INTO THE START OR FINISH COLUMNS. Instead, you shortent the durations of the

4. criticaltasks until the project summary task’s finish date hits your target date. I repeated DO
NOT TYPEDATES INTO THE START OR FINISH COLUMNS. Shorten the duration of critical
tasks to achieve atarget finish date.Notes:Project Duration: The project summary task is not
the sum of all the activities. It is the sum of theactivities that form the longest path – in this
case, Overhaul Machine 2, Test Machine 2 and Test InLine. The remaining tasks form a
shorter path than this one, and therefore, do not contribute to theoverall length of the
project in working days. The total project length is 12 days, as shown in the topline of the
schedule.Then project starts on July 22/15 and ends on August 6/15, as shown in the start
and finish columnsacross from the Two Machine Project Summary Task.Summary Tasks: Do
not link summary tasks. The only tasks that link with predecessor relationshipsare the non-
summary, and non-milestone tasks. In other words, the regular tasks. Milestones
shouldnever be a predecessor to another task, although a milestone must have a
predecessor in its ownpredecessor column.Dangling Gantt Chart Bars: Your Gantt chart bars
should rarely (almost never) dangle – meaning,they should rarely, if ever be without a
successor task (in other words, every task except your firstones should be predecessors to
another task). If you break this rule, you will not get what is called acritical path – the tasks
which, if late, will make the entire project late. They show in red, explainedin the next
exercise.Missed Target Finish Dates: The project finish date in this case is August 6th. If this
date is notacceptable to you, then DO NOT TYPE DATES INTO MS PROJECT. Instead, reduce
the duration of thetask on the critical path. MS project will automatically cascade the
shortened duration through thepath that leads to the project finish date, letting you achieve
your target. More on this as you learnabout the critical path in subsequent
exercises.Purchase answer to see fullattachment