You can bring Project Assets into Aphex to save time. These can be pre-assigned to your tasks on your Master Schedule. These Project Assets include:
Create a User Defined Field (UDF) for each asset you wish to import.
Name each UDF something recognisable, like “Aphex Subcontractor”.
In each UDF (eg. Subcontractor or Location), insert the field (Subcontractor, location etc.) for each activity. This should be consistent with the name in your Aphex project (if not, Aphex will create a new one)
In the Owner UDF, insert the email address of the activity’s owner. Check that this matches the email address the team member uses for Aphex. If not, the address entered will receive an invite to join the project.
Importing Milestones
Milestones can be imported into Aphex in bulk from your Master Schedule. These will be automatically imported with your regular tasks & do not need to be mapped.
Follow these steps to create Milestones in your respective program:
Add a new Activity (or select one that you have already made)
Go to the Details window
Select the General Tab & head to the Activity Type dropdown
Change the 'Task Dependant' to either 'Start Milestone' or 'Finish Milestone'
Create a Task
Enter 0 into the duration column & hit Enter
This will create a Milestone
Aphex Milestones have a duration of at least 1 day. If your imported Milestone is 0 days, this will be updated to 1 day duration in Aphex
Aphex does not differentiate Start Milestones & Finish Milestones, so these will just be imported as 'Milestones'
A Target Date can be set in Aphex to track the progress of your Milestones
Create your Import File
Your .xml file will need to be formatted correctly to be imported into Aphex. Our supported tools each have guides on how to do this if you get stuck:
Click the Aphex Icon in the top left, above the Gantt
Click Master Schedule Imports
From the Master Schedule Imports page, click Import and select the .XML file you'd like to upload
Filter [Optional]
If you created a UDF filter in your master schedule, select the UDF and value from the two drop-down lists.
Timeframe
Select the timeframe of data that you’d like to import. You can see the number of tasks each timeframe will import from your .XML file.
Check Unsupported Task Types
If your Import file contains WBS Summaries or Level of Effort (LoE) Tasks, you can choose how to handle these tasks.
For WBS Summaries, you can choose to:
Ignore them from the import so they will be excluded.
Import as Tasks. If imported, WBS summaries will convert to Task Dependant types.
For Level of Effort (LoE) Tasks you can select from:
Ignore all LoE tasks and these will not be imported (this is the recommended option)
Import LoE tasks as task dependant types without links
Import LoE tasks as task dependant types with links - Selecting this option may cause variance in your import
Check Driving Predecessors
There may be some Tasks that are being driven by Tasks outside of your import dates. This can sometimes result in variance. The decisions for this step include:
For Driving Predecessor Tasks, you can choose to:
Add missing Tasks to the import scope (this is the recommended option)
Remove non-driving Links between selected Tasks.
Do nothing
For Driving Predecessors Level of Effort Tasks you can select from:
Remove non-driving Links between selected Tasks (this is the recommended option)
Add missing Tasks to the import scope
Do nothing
Handle Actual Dates
Aphex uses Task Status to define a Task state & scheduling behaviour. Decide how you would like to handle tasks with Actual Dates.
For Actual Starts, you can choose to:
Import without Predecessor Links (this is the recommended option)
Import with Predecessor Links
For Actual Finishes you can select from:
Set Task Status to Done (this is the recommended option)
Do nothing
Set Target Dates from Milestones
Choose whether to set Target Dates when importing Milestones in Aphex. Options include:
Set Milestone Target Date from the imported Dates
Do nothing
Target Dates will be automatically set as the date of the Milestone when it is imported. This can be changed once the Milestone has been imported.
Map Task Properties [Optional]
To import your current WBS into your Project's Folder tree, select the WBS option from the Folder Code drop-down list.
If you've chosen to pre-assign project assets, you’ll need to select the correct field on each drop-down list so that Aphex can correctly map your UDFs to your imported activities.
Review and Import
The final import page summarises the data you will be importing, including the number of tasks, Folder codes, Owner, Subcontractors, Locations, Notes and Calendars.
This will also be where you can see if there were any Tasks or Properties that were skipped.
Once you’re happy with your options, click Finish Import to import your Master Schedule.
Distributing Work
Your imported Tasks will be imported into Project Data. The next steps will be to assign the tasks to their Owners & then move them from the Backlog onto the Gantt.
Click the Aphex icon in the top left, above the Gantt
Click Master Schedule Imports, then navigate to the Project Data page using the side-menu
Open the Unassigned tab
Select an owner for each task with the drop-down menu
Click Move Tasks to Backlog
Select the Backlog tab
To select all of the Tasks in the Backlog, click the checkbox at the top of the table
Click the Move Tasks to Gantt button to move the Tasks onto the Gantt
