Production Planning & Resource Scheduling Tool Upgrade (Excel / Microsoft 365)
Budget: £20 – £250 GBP
Project: Production Planning & Resource Scheduling Tool (Excel / Microsoft 365)
Background
We are a UK-based coachbuilding and vehicle conversion company carrying out bespoke projects including mobile clinics, outreach vehicles, welfare vehicles and specialist van conversions.
We currently use an Excel-based production planner to schedule projects and estimate labour requirements. The existing system works but requires significant manual updating whenever project dates change.
We are looking for an experienced Excel / Microsoft 365 specialist with production planning experience to either improve our existing workbook or create a replacement solution.
Application Process
Please provide examples of similar production planning, resource scheduling, manufacturing, engineering or construction planning tools you have developed.
Preference will be given to freelancers with experience in manufacturing, engineering, coachbuilding, fabrication, project-based production or resource scheduling environments rather than purely financial or accounting spreadsheets.
Project / Rate: This is a one off fixed price project. Please indicate your availability to complete the project, anticipated number of hours and hourly rate in your application.
Scope of file
Small file (under 1 mb) , low complexity/simple logic with formatting and data linking. data set small - currently c20 rows of active data on 3 tabs but needs to accommodate scope to expand and add new clients.
Objectives
The system must provide a simple visual overview of:
• Current and future labour capacity
• Projects in production (current and potential warm leads in pipeline)
• Available labour capacity that can be sold
• Labour shortages and resource bottlenecks
• Project delivery dates
• Employee utilisation
The solution must be simple enough for non-technical office and workshop staff to use.
Key Requirements
Project Planning
• Multiple concurrent projects
• Project start date
• Project delivery date
• Estimated labour hours per project
• Automatic (Gantt or similar) chart/timeline view
• Automatic rescheduling when project dates change
Resource Planning
• Multiple employees with individual weekly available hours
• Labour hours allocated across multiple projects
• View labour loading by employee
• View labour loading by week/month
• Highlight overallocated employees
• Highlight spare capacity
Capacity Management
• Dashboard showing available labour hours by week
• Dashboard showing labour shortages by week
• Ability to identify future capacity that can be sold to customers
• Ability to move project dates and instantly see impact on capacity
Ease of Use
• Locked formulas and protected worksheets
• User enters data only into designated fields
• Minimal training required
• Cloud-based via Microsoft 365 / SharePoint / Excel Online preferred
• Suitable for users with limited Excel knowledge
Deliverables
• Completed planning tool
• User guide
• Handover session via Teams
• Future modification support if required (please allow for this in your quote)
User-Interface (UI) Protection: Preventing team members from typing typos (e.g., forcing standard dates, status dropdowns), including for example:
Data Validation Dropdowns:
Visual Color-Coding:
Sheet Protection: Locking all formula rows with passwords so team members don't accidentally click and type over a formula, breaking the sheet.
Automated Error Handling: Ensuring formulas use rules
Background
We are a UK-based coachbuilding and vehicle conversion company carrying out bespoke projects including mobile clinics, outreach vehicles, welfare vehicles and specialist van conversions.
We currently use an Excel-based production planner to schedule projects and estimate labour requirements. The existing system works but requires significant manual updating whenever project dates change.
We are looking for an experienced Excel / Microsoft 365 specialist with production planning experience to either improve our existing workbook or create a replacement solution.
Application Process
Please provide examples of similar production planning, resource scheduling, manufacturing, engineering or construction planning tools you have developed.
Preference will be given to freelancers with experience in manufacturing, engineering, coachbuilding, fabrication, project-based production or resource scheduling environments rather than purely financial or accounting spreadsheets.
Project / Rate: This is a one off fixed price project. Please indicate your availability to complete the project, anticipated number of hours and hourly rate in your application.
Scope of file
Small file (under 1 mb) , low complexity/simple logic with formatting and data linking. data set small - currently c20 rows of active data on 3 tabs but needs to accommodate scope to expand and add new clients.
Objectives
The system must provide a simple visual overview of:
• Current and future labour capacity
• Projects in production (current and potential warm leads in pipeline)
• Available labour capacity that can be sold
• Labour shortages and resource bottlenecks
• Project delivery dates
• Employee utilisation
The solution must be simple enough for non-technical office and workshop staff to use.
Key Requirements
Project Planning
• Multiple concurrent projects
• Project start date
• Project delivery date
• Estimated labour hours per project
• Automatic (Gantt or similar) chart/timeline view
• Automatic rescheduling when project dates change
Resource Planning
• Multiple employees with individual weekly available hours
• Labour hours allocated across multiple projects
• View labour loading by employee
• View labour loading by week/month
• Highlight overallocated employees
• Highlight spare capacity
Capacity Management
• Dashboard showing available labour hours by week
• Dashboard showing labour shortages by week
• Ability to identify future capacity that can be sold to customers
• Ability to move project dates and instantly see impact on capacity
Ease of Use
• Locked formulas and protected worksheets
• User enters data only into designated fields
• Minimal training required
• Cloud-based via Microsoft 365 / SharePoint / Excel Online preferred
• Suitable for users with limited Excel knowledge
Deliverables
• Completed planning tool
• User guide
• Handover session via Teams
• Future modification support if required (please allow for this in your quote)
User-Interface (UI) Protection: Preventing team members from typing typos (e.g., forcing standard dates, status dropdowns), including for example:
Data Validation Dropdowns:
Visual Color-Coding:
Sheet Protection: Locking all formula rows with passwords so team members don't accidentally click and type over a formula, breaking the sheet.
Automated Error Handling: Ensuring formulas use rules