1

Hello, I work for a company that builds and maintains cell phone towers. We currently manage all our projects on Excel. We(the worker bees) want to move to using MS Project but one of our managers is telling us MS Project is not able to do it. We use spreadsheets that have up to 400 columns and as many or more rows. Is there a way to import spreadsheets of this size into Project? There are about 50 milestones we deal with. I think MS Project can handle this. Can someone please give me some advice on this issue? Thank you

2

Alex has explained very well…!! You can also check Microsoft project 2010 website for more details…there are many free project 2010 training videos, demos available. Check this for more details on MS Project management guide

3

Import/export between Excel and MS Project can be done many ways. “File->Open” in MS Project lets you import Excel spreadsheets. “File->Export” in MS Project lets you export to Excel format. There is a “map” feature that matches Excel rows and columns to MS Project data.

You can also copy-and-paste data between MS Project and Excel. Create a view in MS Project with the same column headers as the table in Excel, and then copy from one to the other.

Visual Basic for Applications scripts can also open an Excel spreadsheet, read the data, and then use the data to create resources, tasks, assignments, and other data in MS Project.

Before doing a large-scale import, work with MS Project to understand how you want each project to look in MS Project. Depending on how you import your data, MS Project may auto-calculate duration, work, finish date, and other parts of your schedule.

I have worked for years with both tools, and I still need many trial-and-error passes to get an import working well. You can use formulas in MS Excel to create the data that MS Project needs to create a good list of tasks, assignments, and resources. I usually create a sample project in MS Project by hand to serve as a model for all my imported projects, then work in MS Excel to transform the data into that template’s format.

MS Project can definitely handle milestones and complex data. If you truly have 400 columns, you might run out of places to put the data in MS Project, but there are over 200 custom fields available for resources and tasks, plus a large number of built-in fields. I suspect that all the important data for your projects, milestones, tasks, and other information can be kept somewhere in MS Project.

4

Importing and exporting to MS Excel from MS Project 2007 is quite simple. Just go under “File->Open” and select an Excel spreadsheet to start the import. To export to Excel, “Save as…” and select the Excel format.

MS Project allows you to create and save “maps” to match rows and tabs in the spreadsheet to different fields in MS Project. Here is an article that walks through some of the process:

http://www.pmconnection.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=60

You can definitely import the data. If you create a view in MS Project that matches the column headings in Excel, you can even do a simple “Copy/Paste” to move data between the programs.

Finally, it is also possible to use Visual Basic for Applications to create a script that reads an Excel spreadsheet as an input file, and then creates MS Project tasks, resources, assignments, and other elements.

Be careful during your import. If you enter fields like start, finish, and duration, MS Project may auto-calculate certain fields (units, duration, and work). Review the imported data and the final schedule to see if you got the results you intended. I usually need to do several passes through the import process before I get the MS Project schedule that I want. You can use formulas and other features of MS Excel to transform the raw data so that it matches what MS Project requires.

It helps to have a strong understanding of MS Project before running an import like this one. Make sure that you have a good template and plan for how you will manage these projects first. Then create an import process to create the project plans for each of your Excel spreadsheets.

5

Thank you for the reply, we are using Project 2007.

---- manimtim via ms-project-l

6

Once imported, which is very doable, the issue is what value you would get from?MS Project??? Are jobs and resources getting assigned effectively?? Are jobs getting done on time?
?
You could have many very small projects in a master/sub structure, or you could have modules of tasks you paste into?a single schedule.?
?
Regardless, what’s the problem.?? (Actually, Excel has only 255 columns.)

7

Flint, it rather depends what’s in the 400 columns. The 50 milestones would be no problem - Project deals with hundreds of tasks quite easily.
Typically construction projects involve multiple teams and activities (surveying, permissions, ordering materials, erecting structures, connecting networks, testing, commissioning, etc.) all of which have to be done in some kind of order. Worker bees need to be scheduled, materials need to be delivered, service needs to be switched on when promised - this all adds up to a coordinated schedule which is what Project does.
There are many custom fields which can be configured to hold date, text, number, cost, flag information against tasks and resources which might satisfy the data requirements of some of the 400 columns. What kind of data do they hold?
Graham

8

What version of Project are you using? We have customers in the same industry using MS Project and EPM Live to manage their projects so I don’t see why not.

Best,
Michelle

From: Atkron205 via ms-project-l [mailto:ms-project-l@Groups.ITtoolbox.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 6:50 PM
To: Michelle Manimtim
Subject: [ms-project-l] Importing Excel into MS Project

Posted by Atkron205
on Jul 8 at 9:47 PM

Hello,
I work for a company that builds and maintains cell phone towers. We currently manage all our projects on Excel. We(the worker bees) want to move to using MS Project but one of our managers is telling us MS Project is not able to do it. We use spreadsheets that have up to 400 columns and as many or more rows. Is there a way to import spreadsheets of this size into Project? There are about 50 milestones we deal with. I think MS Project can handle this. Can someone please give me some advice on this issue? Thank you

9

Ms project is able to do this. You will have to import the excel spreadsheet and import it via a map that is pretty self explanatory. I have done this for many Excel spreadsheets and it can be done very quickly.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry