How To Use A Calendar To Track Machine Availability In Project Insight

Project Insight can help teams track shop machines, industrial equipment, or shared physical resources by using placeholder resources and the Calendar view. By assigning machine placeholders to tasks, teams can see when each machine is scheduled, when it is available, and which task or person is using it across active projects.

This is useful for teams that need to schedule equipment availability alongside project work.

If your team uses and schedules shop machines or any industrial machines, then you might find yourselves in need of a scheduler. PI has that solution! Use the Calendar option, then filter the display by Project, Resource Type and by Resource (see Calendar documentation). 

Best For

• Scheduling shared shop machines or industrial equipment
• Viewing machine availability across active projects
• Preventing equipment scheduling conflicts
• Seeing who is using a machine and when
• Tracking machinery as a resource without assigning it as a person
• Coordinating project tasks that depend on physical equipment

Setting Up 

1. Create the Placeholder Resources that match your machinery
2. Assign the "Machine" Placeholders to the appropriate machine tasks
3. Select those Placeholder Resources in the Resource menu on your Display Options
4. (There is no need to select the Project because you want to include all Active Projects)
5. Check the box for "Display Task/To-Do Details" to see the Task Details

• By following the steps above, you can see that the Calendar is showing when all of the machines are being used and when they are available across all Active Projects.
• Another useful tip that you can see in the Task Details is who will be using the machine, specified by the Task Owner with the Additional Resource defined by the specific machine they will be using. 

Can Project Insight Track Machine Availability?

Yes. Project Insight can track machine availability by creating placeholder resources for each machine, assigning those placeholders to machine-related tasks, and viewing the assignments in the Calendar. This lets teams see when machines are being used and when they are available across active projects.

In short, use placeholder resources to represent machines, assign those machine placeholders to the appropriate tasks, and view them in the Calendar. This gives your team a shared schedule for machine usage across active projects.

Best Practices

• Create a separate placeholder resource for each machine or shared piece of equipment.
• Use clear machine names so users can easily identify the correct resource.
• Assign machine placeholders to tasks that require that equipment.
• Use the Calendar filters to view all active project usage in one place.
• Enable task or to-do details so users can see who is using the machine and for which task.
• Avoid filtering by one project if you want to see machine usage across all active projects.
• Review machine availability before assigning new machine-dependent tasks.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Creating one generic “Machine” placeholder instead of separate placeholders for each machine.
• Filtering by only one project when you need to see usage across all active projects.
• Forgetting to select the machine placeholders in the Resource filter.
• Not enabling task details, which can hide useful information about who is using the machine.
• Assigning the person but forgetting to assign the machine placeholder as an additional resource.

Related Questions

Can Machines Be Scheduled Like Resources In Project Insight?

Yes. Machines can be represented as placeholder resources and assigned to tasks so their scheduled usage appears in Calendar views.

Should Each Machine Have Its Own Placeholder Resource?

Yes. Each machine should have its own placeholder resource if you want to track availability and avoid scheduling conflicts.

Can I See Machine Usage Across All Projects?

Yes. Use the Calendar view and include all active projects so you can see machine usage across the workspace.

Can I See Who Is Using A Machine?

Yes. If task details are displayed, you can see the task owner and the machine placeholder assigned to the task.