Introduction to histograms

In Asta Powerproject you can use histograms to get graphical views of the usage of resources or costs, of task work, or of the days on which activities are scheduled during a project. Histograms are useful resource management tools because they allow you to anticipate any fluctuations in resource usage and take corrective action, hence avoiding periods of over- or under-allocation. Once a project is underway, you could run the same resource histogram on a regular basis to ensure that your planned resource usage is not being exceeded.

A histogram uses a histogram report, which can contain one or more resource graph definitions. For example, you could set up a histogram to compare a resource's allocation and availability. Asta Powerproject provides default resource definition graphs, including graphs for viewing availability, allocation, over-allocation and under-allocation of a resource. You can customise these graphs to your own requirements, and add more graphs to create more sophisticated histograms. For example, you can create graphs to:

Monitor the cost of a resource.
Show cumulative values (values accumulated over time) rather than the average value within a specific time period.
Show the difference between resource usage in a project and in its baseline.
Show what would happen to an over allocation graph if the resource allocations were delayed by one week.
Compare the total project cost and income, to see if the project is within budget.
Monitor the task work in a project.
Show the days on which activities are scheduled in a project.

As well as containing more than one resource graph definition, a histogram can also graph more than one resource or cost centre at the same time, within the same graph. You can graph permanent and consumable resources, cost centres, task work, or the days on which activities are scheduled during a project.