Planning Manager Overview
The Planning Manager is where users can plan for new projects/shells and proposals and create forecasts for those projects/shells that are already running in Unifier. They cannot administer planned projects/shells the way they administer real projects/shells; however, they can manage the planning phases for these projects/shells as business processes using the same functions used by other business processes. Planned projects/shells can include cost sheets, resource sheets, funding sheets, and other typical business processes; but certain data, such as dates and monies, can be viewed as future forecasts.
Note: Because planning BPs are not "live" projects/shells, the data elements for planned projects/shells and proposals cannot be auto-populated, cannot contain formulas, and should not be part of a dynamic data set.
You can have a Planning Manager at both the company and project/shell levels.
The Planning Sheet is central to Planning Manager functions. Each planning item "type" (such as a capital plan or a campus remodel) can have one or more planning sheets that contain information about the plans of this type being considered by your company. It is from these sheets that Unifier users access, create, update, and import or export the company's plans. Business processes designed for planning items can roll up information onto the planning sheets.
In addition, using a Project/Shell Creation type of business process, you can create projects/shells for planning items when they reach a certain status or condition. If the Project/Shell Creation BP includes a Planning Item Picker, Unifier users can link new projects/shells with planning items. Instead of linking a planning item to a project in the Planning Manager, this BP will automatically create the link when the project/shell is created, and data will begin to roll up to the Planning Sheet from the business processes in this project. (See Project/Shell Creation.)
Notes: About Rolling Up Planning Item Data:
- You can roll up values for planning items in two ways:
- Using a Project Picker or Shell Picker: If a planning item is for a specific project/shell, you must include a Project or Shell Picker on the planning item attribute form. The user can link the planning item directly to the project/shell, and business processes in the project/shell with fields that match those on the attribute form will roll up values to the Planning Sheet.
- Using a Planning Item Picker: If you include a Planning Item Picker on a Project/Shell Creation BP, the user can include a planning item in the project/shell when it is created. Business processes in the project/shell with fields that match those on the planning item attribute form will roll up values to the Planning Sheet.
Using Unifier's snapshot feature, users can take a "picture" of the planning sheet at any point in time. This is a way of "drilling down" into the planning process to expose specific plans or planning phases for particular attention.
The Planning Items node is where users create plans and proposals, import plans from outside applications, export a plan template, and link a plan to a running project/shell.
The Planning Sheets node is where users create and manage planning sheets. A planning sheet can contain data for one or multiple plans and proposals. From the planning sheets, users can automatically update individual plans with changes made on the planning sheet. Reciprocally, they can refresh the planning sheet with changes made to individual plans.
In This Section
Design Requirements for the Planning Manager
Last Published Monday, June 3, 2024