In Primavera P6 Professional it is possible to define labor, equipment, and material resources. Material resources require definition of a unit of measure.
Labor resources may be trade skills or specific individuals. Typically, the trade skill is inserted as a place holder until the resource manager assigns an individual to perform the work. It is important to specify the labor hourly pay rate and maximum units/time. The labor maximum units/time is how many trade specific individuals are available to work on the project. Equipment resources have a standard rate. Material resources require definition of a unit of measure in addition to a standard rate.
This article demonstrates the definition and assignment of material resources.
We have in Figure 1 our demonstration project, which has assigned trade skill labor resources.
Figure 1
This is a piping repair and improvement project. The improvement is the addition of concrete thrust blocks to restrict pipe elbow movement from water induced pipe impedance. The labor and material resources available to this project are displayed in Figure 2, pipe repair resource sheet.
Figure 2
We need to add a concrete material resource.
In the resource sheet select Edit | +Add, Figure 3.
Figure 3
In Figure 4 we type in the resource ID and name, Concrete.
Figure 4
In the resource bottom details tab, toggle material and select yes to the popup menu, Figure 5.
Figure 5
Click the unit of measure button to specify the concrete unit of measure, Figure 6.
Figure 6
Note that we need a cubic yard unit of measure for the concrete.
To add a concrete unit of measure select Admin | Admin Categories, Figure 7.
Figure 7
In Admin Categories select +Add, Figure 8.
Figure 8
Type in the unit abbreviation CY and unit name Cubic Yards, Figure 9.
Figure 9
Now return to the concrete resource details tab and select Cubic Yards, Figure 10.
Figure 10
Complete the concrete resource definition by specifying a standard rate, Figure 11.
Figure 11
Great! We are now ready to assign our concrete resource to our project.
Select activity pour concrete and click add resource in the resource bottom details tab, Figure 12.
Figure 12
Enter 5 CY for the budgeted units, and note the material cost of the concrete thrust blocks, Figure 13.
Figure 13
As our project has no equipment costs, the project is now fully cost loaded. Observe the material, labor, and total costs of the project deliverables.
Summary
It is possible in Primavera P6 Professional to define and assign material resources to the schedule. Primavera P6 has its own separate column for listing the material cost of each activity. It is thus possible to analyze the cost impact of material on the project.
It is important to be aware that defined resources in Primavera P6 Professional remain permanently in the database. For this reason it is advised to only include resources in the database that are truly required for the project. So use caution when creating a new resource. Otherwise, the database may quickly become cluttered with resources that have limited usage.
Sometimes material resources are project specific: they are only relevant to a specific project. If this is your situation than instead of creating a new material resource add an expense line item to the respective activity. Refer to the blog Assigning Expenses in Primavera P6 for a primer in Primavera P6 Professional expenses.