OWB or Gantt - Autoscheduling with Uniform pushes tasks dates and ETC out

Products

• Clarity PPM On Premise
• Clarity PPM SaaS

Issue/Introduction

Open Workbench (OWB) and Clarity PPM Gantt Autoschedule pushes task dates and ETC out and changes task duration, in the following scenario:

• Max % Load is set to 100%
• Loading Pattern is set to Uniform
• Resource Constraints is checked
   

Notes:

1. When tested with Fixed Duration tasks, issue does not occur if Resource Constraints is unchecked when Autoscheduling.
2. Reproduced with no project or task dependencies or constraints. 
3. Reproduced with no actuals on the tasks.
4. Reproduced when all Tasks are set to Fixed Duration (and also non fixed duration). 
5. Reproduced with and without using Autoschedule with options

Steps to Reproduce using OWB:

(Though issue can also be reproduced similarly in the PPM Gantt)

1. Create a project in Clarity
2. Add one resource to the project who has 8 hours of availability and is allocated 100% to the project 
3. Create 3 Fixed Duration tasks with the same Float, Priority, Start/Finish dates and ETCs 
4. Assign the same resource to all 3 tasks with the same Start/Finish dates. Loading Pattern should be Uniform and no actuals added 
5. Open the project in Open Workbench 
6. Click on the Project tab, then click the Autoschedule button 
7. Update the Start date to be the Start Date of the project 
8. Ensure Resource Constraints is checked and click OK 

Expected Results:  ETCs spread out evenly and Task Start / Finish Dates and duration units remain the same. 

Actual Results: For some of the tasks, ETCs and Task Start / Finish dates get pushed out and the durations of the tasks are shortened. 

Environment

Release: All Supported Releases
Component: OWB, ODPRM, PPMPRM

Cause

This was reviewed as CLRT-76987 and is working as designed. Uniform loading pattern is special when it comes to how it works with Max % Load. If the % of availability is less than the Max % Load then those days are not scheduled when the loading pattern is Uniform.

Resolution

Change either the Max % Load or the loading pattern for the assignment(s) to bring in the task. Example: Change the loading pattern for the assignment to Front. It's recommended to test with the loading patterns and review the documentation at: Set System-Level Default Project Management Settings to see which loading pattern (or Max % Load) works best for your project.

To change the loading pattern:

1. Go to the task with the issue
2. Scroll down to the assignments section
3. Click the Gear icon then configure
4. Add Loading Pattern (and Max % load) to Selected Columns if not there already
5. Click Save and Return
6. From the assignment list view, change the loading pattern (or max % Load)

Here's a snippet from the documentation at OWB: Add Project Tasks and Assign Resources on the behavior for Uniform:

Uniform Loading Pattern

This pattern assigns resource time evenly across a task only on those days when the resource is available to meet the task requirements. For example, if a resource is scheduled to work four hours per day on a task, the resource will not be scheduled to work on that task on days when the resource is only available to work on the task for three hours. The maximum percentage and resource availability is taken into account when assigning resources to tasks using this loading pattern.

Note: To use this loading pattern, set the maximum percentage of the resource on the task.

Additional Information

Searching for known Clarity Issues using Self Service