I have to plan a launch up against a fixed launch date - how can Project help me understand the LASTEST time I can start on processes

Question

TO keep it simple.

I have a hard end date - a milestone. Lets call it 1/1 2016. for the sake of argument lets say I have just one task that needs to be done. That task takes 10 days and must be fininshed 20 days before launch date. But the launch may be postponed up to 1 year depending on other factors and so theres a need to not start working on tasks until we absolutely need to.

Therefore, I would like project to show the schedule for when the task needs to begin/end according to the launch date - and update those dates if I change the launch date.

So

1. launch date 1/1/1016

2. task 1 start date end date predecessor:1ff-20

This looks good at first. But when I move the launch date, Task 1 DOES NOT MOVE WITH IT.

And that's my problem.

Seems Project only tells me how fast I can get this done and NOT how late I can start.

Any help is appreciated:)

Answer 1

You may also schedule a project from a fixed end date.

1. On the Project ribbon, select Project Information to open the Project Information dialog.
2. Change the Schedule From to Project Finish Date.

3. Enter the finish date for the project.

Project will automatically set each task constraint to As Late As Possible, the schedule each task's finish to align with the finish date of the project. If the finish date needs to be changed, open the Project Information dialog and change the project finish date.

Answer 2

In MS Project 2010, open the task information, go to the advanced tab and change "As soon as possible" to "as late as possible".

Rather than the FF constraint, I would schedule 1.0 Task I must work (10d) 2.0 Buffer between end of task and launch date (20d)