Hi,

I’ve got a question from one of my Blog readers: “Max units field in Assign Resources are always in %? I want to use QTY instead of %, like we have 10 cranes available, and how many cranes are needed per task instead of using %.”

I will explain this with MS PROJECT 2016.

First of all, you have two choices when assign resources to the Tasks: to use % (percentage), or to use Decimals.  To clarify this, and what decimals means, I will create a simple Project with only one Task:

Now, let’s say that we have 10 Cranes, which are going to be charged per hour, so they will be concerned as worked resource. Let’s say that we have 10 Workers, and they will also be charged per hour. Now, suppose that we need Gasoline, as a Material resource, but it depends on working hours, e.g. we need, for example, 10 liters of Gasoline per hour. And last, we need 500 bricks, no matter how long will the Task take to finish.

Before I create those resources I will change setup for assignment units from Percentage to Decimal:

and then:

and finally:

Now I will create Resources:

As you can see, Max. Units are now in Decimal, instead in Percentages (e.g. 10 instead of 1000%).

Now I will assign 500% or 5 Cranes, 500% or 5 Workers, 10 liters of Gasoline per hour, and 500 Bricks:

As you can see, Costs are:

• for Bricks are fixed (500 * $5= $2500)
• for Crane are not fixed (5 days * 8 hours per day * $500 per hour * 5 Cranes = $100.000)
• for Gasoline 5 days * 8 hours per day * $10 per hour = $4.000)
• for Workers are not fixed (5 days * 8 hours per day * $100 per hour * 5 Workers = $20.000)

So, yes you can put Decimals instead of percentage, and you will get same results.

Hope this helps!

Regards.