Creating allocation groups

An allocation group is a collection of resource and cost allocations. Allocation groups are useful if you regularly assign the same combination of resource and cost allocations to tasks. For example, if you often assign 5 Packers (permanent resources), 2000 Components (consumable resources) and £10000 warehouse rent (cost) to tasks, you could create an allocation group containing these allocations so that in future you can assign the allocation group in a single step instead of assigning the individual allocations one by one.

To create an allocation group:

Assign your usual combination of resource and cost allocations to a task. You can model your resource allocations if necessary.

If you assign both demand and scheduled resource allocations to a task, only the demand allocations are included in the allocation group. This is because you cannot combine demand and scheduled resource allocations in the same allocation group. To avoid losing any scheduled allocations, create the allocation group when only demand or scheduled resource allocations are assigned to a task.
Right-click the task then select Copy Allocations to Group. The Name Allocation Group dialog appears.
Click the Create radio button, then enter a name for the allocation group. If you want the allocations on the selected task to overwrite the allocations in an existing allocation group, click the Replace radio button and select the allocation group that you want to overwrite.

For example, to add an allocation to an allocation group, recreate the allocation group with the additional allocation and replace the original allocation group. Similarly, to delete an allocation from an allocation group, recreate the allocation group without the chosen allocation and replace the original allocation group.

If you replace an allocation group, any existing allocations of that allocation group are unchanged.
Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog.

The modelling information and parameters of each allocation are remembered within the group, so when you assign the group to a task, each resource or cost centre within the group is assigned according to its own individual settings.

You can edit the default assignment of resources and costs in an allocation group by editing options on the Allocation Group Properties dialog - which you can access by right-clicking an allocation group in Library Explorer or the project view and selecting Properties. You can also specify codes against each allocation group. Any codes that you specify against an allocation group are assigned by default to tasks to which the allocation group is assigned. The Name tab of the Allocation Group Properties dialog lists the resources and cost centres in the allocation group; the other tabs display the default assignment details:

Use the Permanents tab to change the default allocation of all permanent resources in the allocation group. The options on this tab are the same as the options on the Assignment tab of the Permanent Resource Properties dialog.
Use the Consumables tab to change the default allocation of all consumable resources in the allocation group. The options on this tab are the same as the options on the Assignment tab of the Consumable Resource Properties dialog.
Use the Costs tab to change the default allocation of all cost centres in the allocation group. The options on this tab are the same as the options on the Assignment tab of the Cost Centre Properties dialog.
Use the Codes tab to specify the codes that should be assigned by default to tasks to which the allocation group is assigned.

Any changes you make on these tabs are applied to all the permanent resources, consumable resources or cost centres in the allocation group. However, if you assign the resources or costs individually (not as part of the allocation group) their own default assignment settings still apply.

Once you have created an allocation group, you can assign it to tasks in the same way that you assign individual resource and cost allocations. When you assign an allocation group to a task, a separate allocation is created for each resource or cost centre in the group; there is no evidence left of the allocation group once the assignment has been made.