Tried auto-scheduling on a 60-unit build and now I'm drowning in workarounds

I finally gave in and turned on the auto-scheduler in our project management tool for a 60-unit multifamily job in Austin last month. The first week it looked great, tasks lined up nicely, crew assignments all neat. Then the drywall sub moved their start by two days, and the whole schedule shifted like a Jenga tower. Now I'm manually overriding 30+ items every morning just to keep the field guys from showing up to empty slabs. What I learned is that auto-scheduling only works if your subs actually stick to their promised dates, which in my experience is almost never. I'm back to doing the thing where I type in every date by hand on Fridays, takes me 2 hours but at least it reflects reality. Has anyone found a tool that actually handles reschedule cascades without turning into a mess, or do we all just accept the manual life?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor22024d ago

Man, I gotta push back on this one. You're blaming the tool for what's basically a data entry problem, you know? If your subs give you real dates instead of fantasy dates, the auto-scheduler handles the cascade just fine. I ran a 40-unit in Round Rock with the same feature, drywall slipped three days, and the tool pushed everything else automatically, including moving the painters and the final walkthrough. The workaround thing is on you, not the software. You're spending 2 hours on Fridays typing dates by hand when you could be calling subs and pinning down actual commitments instead. Stop fighting the tool and start feeding it better info, it'll do the heavy lifting.

simonh7424d ago

Wait, you ran a 40-unit in Round Rock and the drywall only slipped three days? That's practically a miracle on its own. What kind of subs are you using, monks who schedule by prayer? Because around here three days is what I call a good day.

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