# Materials {% hint style="info" %} **Who can use this feature** Admins can create and manage Materials *** All project users can add Materials to their Tasks and log actuals {% endhint %} Materials can be added to Tasks to forecast your daily resource demand and track planned vs actual quantities. ## Creating Materials *** Creating Materials lets you build a reusable library of Materials to assign to Tasks.
**Creating New Materials:** * Click your Project Title in the top left, then select `Project Assets` * Select `Materials` from the menu * click * Create your custom Material resource by entering the name, unit, Material type and colour * The Material is added to the library of Materials the team can assign to their Tasks
Material Type Each material needs a Material Type from one of the following categories: | Material Type | | ------------- | | Concreate | | Piles | | Earthworks | | Roadworks | | Electrical | | Drainage | | Steel | | Other |
Material Unit Each material needs a Material Unit from one of the following categories: | Material Unit | | -------------- | | Item | | Metres | | Metres Squared | | Metres Cubic | | Kilometers | | Kilograms | | Tonnes | | Tons | | Yards | | Yards Squared | | Yards Cubic |
## Assigning Materials *** Assigning Materials to tasks helps plan how much is needed for each one, making it easier to manage demand across your project.
**To add Planned Materials to a task:** * On the Gantt, navigate to the column picker and toggle `Materials` * Click the Material cell for your task & select Materials from the dropdown menu See also: Bulk Edits
Material Property Rules * Materials are a multi-select property * A Quantity of the Material can be inputted when adding Materials to tasks * Quantities are applied per day * The unit quantity is split across the task's duration * Archived Material resources will no longer be available to add to tasks but will still exist on tasks it was assigned to before the resource was archived
## Editing Planned Daily Quantities *** When you add a planned Material, Aphex spreads the total amount across the Task’s planned days. If you expect to use more or less of a material on a certain day, you can adjust the daily quantity to match.
#### To adjust the daily planned quantities: * Double-click your task bar on the Gantt to open the right-hand panel * Scroll down to `Planned Resources` and click to expand your chosen Material * Click into the Quantity box and change the value ## Material Actuals *** Material tracking doesn't just stop at forecasting demand. Use Actuals to log what was used each day, directly on the Task - giving you a clear picture of performance over time, and use the inputs to automatically generate planned vs actual quantity reports.
**Adding Actuals to Tasks:** * Double-click your task bar on the Gantt to open the right-hand panel * Scroll down to `Actual Materials` and click to expand your chosen Material * Click and select a planned material * Pick a day to record the Actual against, enter the Quantity and click to confirm ## View Forecasted Materials on the Gantt *** Use the Resource Overlay in the Gantt to forecast Material demand day by day. You'll see how much of each Material is needed across the project, with a clear breakdown of which Tasks are driving that usage and who's using it.
**View the Resource Overlay by Material:** * Click and select `Resources` and click Material * Hover over the numbers to view your `Total` and `Project Utilisation` * Click to filter to a specific Material type * Click the Resources Configuration icon to switch between `Tasks in View` and `Project Utilisation` * Hover over to see the daily breakdown See also: Export Material Demand
What's Shown on Hover On hover, the daily breakdown includes: * **Utilisation** * Quantity of Material used by Tasks in your current View (respects filters) * **# of Tasks** * Number of Tasks in your current View using that Material on the selected day (respects filters) * **Project** **Utilisation** * Total quantity used across the entire project (ignores filters) * **# no of Project Tasks** * Number of Project-wide Tasks using that material on the selected day (ignores filters) * **Task Owner Breakdown** * Lists each Task Owner contributing to Project usage * Includes Task Count and percentage of total utilisation for that day and Material * **Cell shading** * **Darker = higher quantity** * Lighter - lower quantity * Scale is relative to the values shown in the current overlay * **Quantity values** are only shown in Day View * In Week, Month or Year mode, cell shading remains but numeric values are hidden
Resource Overlay Configuration Options | Option | Function | | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Total** | The demand for tasks in your current view | | **Project Utilisation** | The demand for your entire project | | **Hide Un-utilised resources** | Removes resources that aren’t assigned to any Tasks from the resource list |
## Filter by Material *** Filter by Material to quickly review and manage work related to a particular Material items across your plan.
#### Filter by Material: * Click and * Select `Material` in the first dropdown * Select from `Is`, `Is Not`, `Is Empty` or `Is Not Empty` in the second dropdown * Select your desired Material item in the third dropdown See also: create & share Views
Filter Breakdown | Filter | Operator | Value | | -------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | Material |

Is
Is Not
Is Empty
Is Not Empty

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Multi-Select


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## Report on Planned vs Actual Material *** Once Materials have been assigned to Tasks, all updates (including Delays, On Track & Improvement events) can be traced back to each Subcontractor. This makes it easy to understand how each Subcontractor is performing across the project.
#### Power BI Connect your Project as a datasource for Power BI to report on Material Demand, and track Planned vs Actuals. #### Aphex Insight Utilise Aphex Insight to track Material Demand. See trends and drill down into specific Tasks to identify where each Material Resource is allocated. See also: Connect to Power BI