Resource modeling
Effective resource modeling is essential to creating a project schedule that provides realistic, actionable results. In Fusion Online, resources play a key role in both network modeling and schedule generation. This article explains how to model resources properly, how the Project Scheduler uses resource information, and how to interpret the resulting load data to manage project and organizational performance.
Why use resource modeling?
Resource modeling is not just about capacity planning — it is about improving the realism of your project model. While it is possible to schedule tasks in Fusion Online without assigning resources, doing so leaves out a vital source of information: limited resource availability.
When you model resources, you enable the Project Scheduler to:
Identify which resources are limiting project throughput.
Resolve resource contention automatically by balancing load.
Produce schedule projections that realistically account for resource constraints.
Provide resource load information for load analysis and resource management.
In addition, Fusion Pipeline can be used to pace your projects and further minimize resource overloads across the portfolio.
Without resource modeling, your project schedule will assume infinite capacity for every task — which may result in projected completion dates that are optimistic but unrealistic.
Why NOT use resource modeling?
You should seriously consider when to use resource modeling and which resources to model, because:
Modeling all resources is a lot of work, especially when networks change over time.
Modeling all handoffs can result in a major proliferation of tasks, which in turn can cause a schedule to become bloated and very difficult to maintain.
To mitigate these problems, there are a couple of techniques we recommend:
Limit resource modeling to clear organizational bottlenecks. If a resource is unlikely to be a problem, you probably don’t need to model it.
Use fractional resources. As a simple example, if the task “Write specifications” requires a writer and an engineer, rather than break it into two parallel tasks, you may assign resources according to the work required from each. This task might require (on average) 1 writer and 0.2 of an engineer through its duration. Warning: Avoid using fractional resources to represent multitasking. For example, if a person is shared 50-50 across two projects, do not model them as 0.5 on one project and 0.5 on the other; that will inflate your durations. Instead, assign them 100% on each task, use durations that assume a full-time person, and let load leveling figure out which task should be done first
Model skills, not individuals
One of the most common mistakes in resource modeling is assigning individual people as resources. We usually recommend avoiding this. Instead, model skills or resource pools.
For example:
Use "Software Engineer" instead of "Alex".
Use "Design Engineer" instead of "Jordan".
Why? Because:
The Project Scheduler needs flexibility to shift work when the situation changes.
Individuals change, teams grow, and reassignments happen frequently. Every time one of these things happens, your schedule will need to change, sometimes significantly.
Modeling at the skill or role level makes it easier to adjust the resource pool during planning or execution (e.g., you can model adding more Software Engineers without worrying about exactly who).
To assign work to specific individuals during execution, use User Assignments, not the Resource field. This allows you to separate the structural constraints of your model (skills required) from the day-to-day management of who performs the work.
How resource assignments affect scheduling
When you assign a resource to a task, you are telling Fusion Online:
This task requires this skill (resource) to execute.
The task will require the specified number of units of this resource during its execution.
The Project Scheduler uses this information to:
Automatically adjust projected task timings to prevent resource overload.
Identify the bottleneck resources that are limiting project completion.
Calculate resource load data, which is available in Resource Views and Load Graphs.
Resource-constrained schedules are often longer but more realistic than unconstrained ones. The critical chain will take resource contention into account, not just task dependencies.
Resource availability
Each resource in a project has a defined availability, which tells Fusion Online how many units of that resource are available over time. This availability directly influences the Project Scheduler's resource leveling and task scheduling.
Default availability
By default, each resource has one availability record, which defines a fixed number of units available for the entire duration of the project. This value is set in the Resource Details view.
For example:
A Software Engineer resource might have 2 units, meaning that for the given project, two engineers are available to work on tasks requiring that skill any time during the project.
Variable availability
If the number of available units changes during the course of the project, you can create multiple availability records, each with a defined From and To date.
Example:
Jan 1 – Jun 30: 2 units available
Jul 1 – Dec 31: 3 units available
This allows you to model situations where:
You ramp up a team mid-project.
A contractor joins or leaves.
You adjust staffing based on demand.
Fusion Online will reference the correct availability record for each task based on its scheduled timing, ensuring that resource leveling and load projections are accurate throughout the project lifecycle.
Resource hierarchy
In real organizations, skills and roles are not flat lists. Fusion Online supports hierarchical resources, allowing you to group and structure related resources.
Why use a resource hierarchy?
You may want to:
Organize related resources (e.g., Senior, Mid-Level, and Junior Engineers).
Model substitution flexibility (e.g., any "Design Engineer" or "Quality Engineer" can do a task that requires an "Engineer").
Aggregate load at higher levels (e.g., see total Engineering load, not just Senior Engineering load).
How it works
Any resource can have a parent resource.
Parents can have parents, forming a hierarchy with unlimited depth.
Loops are not allowed — a resource cannot be its own ancestor.
Parents must have at least as many available units as any of its children.
When a task is assigned to a child resource, Fusion will:
Apply the load to the child.
Roll up that load to the parent, grandparent, and so on.
This allows you to view rolled-up load totals at any level of the hierarchy in resource views and load graphs.
Example:
Senior Design Engineer
Design Engineer
Junior Design Engineer
Design Engineer
Design Engineer
Engineer
In this example, tasks assigned to Senior or Junior Design Engineers will roll up load into the Design Engineer and Engineer categories automatically.
You can specify a parent resource in the Resource Details panel. The hierarchy will be visible in Resource Views and load analysis tools.
Sharing resource sheets
Maintaining consistent resource definitions across projects is important, especially when you want to look at the load on resources across multiple projects.
Fusion Online allows you to:
Import resources from another project or template into your project.
Update existing resources during import to sync availability, calendars, hierarchies, and other attributes.
Use template projects to include standardized resources and calendars across your organization.
Imported resources retain their hierarchy, calendars, and other configuration, allowing you to maintain consistency when scaling across multiple projects.
Load analysis
Once you’ve modeled resources and scheduled the project, you can use Fusion’s resource load tools to:
Analyze resource demand over time.
Identify overload situations.
Spot bottleneck resources.
Evaluate whether adding or shifting resources could reduce project duration.
Useful views include:
Resource Views — Show resource load, overload indicators, and task lists.
Load Graphs — Visualize load trends and capacity across time.
For guidance on interpreting load data, see:
Summary tips
Think in terms of skills, not people when assigning resources.
Use the hierarchy feature for better aggregation and reporting.
Don’t forget you can import resources from templates to ensure consistency.
Leverage load analysis to proactively manage risk and capacity.
See also
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