Automatic Scheduling in the Timeline

With automatic scheduling, you can review a project schedule directly in the Timeline and recalculate it based on the stored dependencies, task durations, and date constraints.

Scheduling can be performed either forwards from the project start or backwards from the relevant end date. Before any changes are applied, smenso first displays a preview of the calculated schedule.

The calculation is started manually and does not run automatically in the background. This means you retain full control over whether and when dates within the project are changed.

What is taken into account during automatic scheduling

For the calculation, smenso evaluates all information relevant to the schedule together:

• Dependencies
  Dependencies between tasks, subtasks, milestones, and phases are taken into account.
• Dependency types
  Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, and Start-to-Finish are supported.
• Lags and leads
  Positive lags for time gaps and negative lags for leads are included in the calculation.
• Task duration
  The stored duration determines how much time is scheduled for the respective task.
• Date constraints
  Defined constraints determine how flexibly tasks may be moved.

Schedule forwards or backwards

Depending on the scheduling objective, the schedule can be calculated in two directions:

• Schedule forwards
  The calculation begins at the project start and determines the earliest time at which dependent tasks can be scheduled and completed.
• Schedule backwards
  The calculation begins at the relevant end date and determines when the tasks must start at the latest so that this date can be met.

Forward scheduling is useful, for example, when you want to calculate a realistic new project schedule after a delay. Backward scheduling is particularly helpful when a fixed end date or customer milestone must be met.

Open automatic scheduling in the Timeline

1. Open the desired project.
2. Switch to the Timeline.
3. Click Automatic scheduling in the toolbar.

When you move the mouse pointer over the icon in the toolbar, the name of the function is displayed as a tooltip.

Run automatic scheduling

After opening the function, define the direction in which the schedule should be calculated.

1. Select Forward scheduling or Backward scheduling.
2. Review the selected scheduling direction and the associated description.
3. Click Preview to start the calculation.

The suggested date changes are then displayed directly in the Timeline. Markers and arrows indicate which tasks should be moved and how the calculated schedule differs from the previous version.

Apply or discard changes

After reviewing the preview, two options are available:

• Apply
  The suggested start and due dates are permanently applied to the project schedule.
• Cancel
  The preview is closed and the existing schedule remains unchanged.

You can only continue working normally in the schedule after selecting one of the two options.

Applied changes are immediately updated in the other project views as well.

No changes suggested

If the existing schedule already matches the stored dependencies, durations, and date constraints, automatic scheduling will not find any further optimization options.

In this case, a corresponding message appears and the current schedule remains unchanged.