How to Get Resource Loading Histogram/S Curve in Primavera P6

This tutorial demonstrates how resources allocation chart (histogram/S curve) is produced in Primavera P6. Assume that you have done “Assigned activities and Sequenced activities to see resource loading histogram/S curve bar chart in Primavera P6. After assigning and sequencing of activities, (1) allocate overall resource and their rated cost and (2) assign resources in activity detail section (3) view resource loading histogram/S curve.

1) To allocate overall resources and cost,

a) Go to Enterprise > Resource >

Note: When you are at Resource, you will see the filter name “Current Project Resources” If you have already opened a resource loaded project. See figure below

b) Add New Resource (If the existing resources are not applicable for a specific project or there is no resource to be assigned).You can skip this step if the required resources have been in.

When you try to add resource, you will get the message like “In order to add resource, the filter will be changed to display all resources” and you will see all resources for all the projects. New Resource Wizard will be prompted, and follow the wizard. You will be asked to enter the following,

Ø Resource ID,

Ø Resource Name,

Ø Allocate Resource Type (Labor, Non labor and material),

Ø Rate (Price/Unit), Default Units/Time and Max Units/Time,

Ø Contact address if applicable

Ø Resource roles which describes their skills

Ø Resource Calendar

Ø Select “Auto- compute if you want actual units are updated by primavera or select “Do not auto-compute actual” if you can update manually for actual man hours spent.

Ø Timesheets set up and log in

After entering of all data, you will notice that the newly added resources are not in the desired location. Therefore, allocate those resources according to their resource level. For example, Pipe fitter, Rigger/Signaler, General worker, Fire watches man, Workshop labor, Painter, etc are allocated under construction department of Petrochemical Projects. See figure below.

2) To assign resources in activity detail section, Go to Activities page > Select the activity > Go to Resource tab which is next to Relationships tab > Add Resource which is located near the bottom of activity detail box > Select required resource and assign it

3) To view manpower histogram and S curve,

(a) Go to Activities page > Select Resource usage profile, and then you will see “Current Project’s Resources” Column on the left and histogram and bar chart on the right side of the layout. The individual loading chart, for instance, welder’s resource profile is shown in the following figure.

b) You can customize the appearance of bar chart by the Resource Usage Profile Options. Right Click on the bar chart area to find Resource Usage Profile Options. You can select “By date” to see interval data (Histogram Chart) and select “Cumulative (S Curve) to see total manpower unit in the following check box below.

c) The following check box is used when you want to show manpower resource profile instead of man hour unit. P6 will calculate total men per period (interval) based on working hrs per period (interval) and total man hours per period. For example, total men per week would be 10 when total man hours for a week are 400 and 40 working hrs per week.

d) And then, select all resources in resource column to view overall man power allocation. To print the bar chart, Go to print preview > page set up > Options > Select “Profile” and unselect Activity Table, All columns, Grid lines and Gantt chart. Set the time scale start from “PS-Earliest Project Start” to “PF-Latest Project Finish”. Finally you will see the bar chart as below.

e) According to above bar chart, the weekly interval manpower is shown on the left side and total manpower allocation is on the right side.

f) You can also see “Stacked Histogram” for this manpower allocation. Right Click on the bar chart area to find “Stacked Histogram”. Firstly, click on "Stacked Histogram" tag, and then you can go to "Resource Usage Profile Options" to get screen shot in step-g. See figure below.

g) Go to Resource Profile options > Assign Resource Filter/Group Name > Select Total cumulative curve as shown in Figure below.

Finally, you will get Stacked Histogram as shown in below. The stacked histogram represents the manpower allocation by individual trade/discipline as well as total manpower allocation (total manpower = 200 men, see the following figure) . It can be printed the same way done on item 3, d.

There are the related posts (1) Tutorial-How to generate S curve/histogram from Primavera, P6 which describes how the progress (histogram curve/S curve) are produced using P6 export excel data.