Gantt Chart Utilisation Bar

Overview

The Utilisation Bar is a capacity row displayed inside the Gantt chart header on the Planning Board. It gives planners an at-a-glance view of how many people are required, assigned, and available, as well as how many transport seats are required, assigned, and available, for each visible time period.

Instead of switching between the Planning Board and separate resource reports, you can identify capacity conflicts directly on the Gantt timeline while you plan.

Where to Find It

Navigation path: Planning → Planning Board → Gantt tab

Click Planning in the left-hand navigation menu.
Select Planning Board from the sub-menu.
Open the Gantt tab.

Once utilisation data has loaded, the utilisation row appears inside the Gantt chart header above the task bars.

Prerequisites

Before the Utilisation Bar becomes visible, make sure the following conditions are met:

You have access to the Planning Board.
The selected date range includes scheduled activities or work orders that can contribute to utilisation.
Personnel have active rotation schedules in the selected period.
Transport resources have configured seat capacity.
Transport resources are assigned to activities in the selected period where transport seat utilisation should be shown.

Note: If no utilisation data is available for the selected period, the utilisation row may appear empty or not show usable values. If data is loading, a pulsing loading indicator is shown inside the cells. If an error occurs during data retrieval, an alert icon is displayed in the row.

What the Utilisation Bar Shows

Each cell in the utilisation row covers one day or one month, depending on the selected Gantt time scale.

Each cell can show two lines of information:

Icon	Line	Values shown
👥	Personnel	Required / Assigned / Available
💺	Transport seats	Required / Assigned / Available

The Available figure is colour-coded to indicate capacity status:

Colour	Meaning
🟢 Green	Assigned usage is at or below 80% of available capacity
🟡 Amber	Assigned usage is above 80% and up to 100% of available capacity
🔴 Red	Assigned usage exceeds available capacity, or there is demand but no available capacity

Display Modes

The Utilisation Bar automatically changes display mode based on column width. Column width is affected by the selected time scale, zoom level, and screen size.

Mode	Appearance	When it appears
Full	Shows Required / Assigned / Available	Wider columns
Compact	Shows Assigned / Available	Medium-width columns
Dot	Shows two coloured dots, one for personnel and one for transport seats	Narrow columns

Tip: If you only see coloured dots, open the tooltip for the cell to see the full figures, or zoom in / switch to a more detailed time scale.

Toolbar Controls That Affect the Utilisation Bar

Several Gantt controls influence what the Utilisation Bar shows:

Control	Effect on the Utilisation Bar
Time scale	Changes whether each cell represents a day or a month and affects whether the row appears in full, compact, or dot mode.
Date navigation and date picker	Changes the visible date range. The utilisation values update for the new period.
Zoom in / Zoom out	Changes column width, which can switch the row between full, compact, and dot modes.
Primary bar	Controls which work order date set is used to calculate required personnel demand.
Filters	Filters the utilisation data so figures reflect the currently filtered scope.
Draft mode	When viewing a draft, utilisation can reflect draft planning data.

What Each Value Means

Personnel

Value	Definition
Required	The peak number of personnel required within the period. This is based on work order requirements and the dates controlled by the Primary bar setting.
Assigned	The number of unique personnel assigned to activities in the period. A person assigned to multiple activities in the same period is counted once.
Available	The number of personnel with an active rotation schedule overlapping the period.

Transport seats

Transport seat figures are calculated across transport resources active in the period.

Value	Definition
Required	The number of seats required for activities in the period.
Assigned	The number of unique personnel assigned to transport resources in the period.
Available	The total configured seat capacity available from transport resources in the period.

Using the Tooltip for a Detailed Breakdown

Open a utilisation cell or dot to see a detailed tooltip for that period.

The tooltip includes:

A Personnel row showing Required / Assigned / Available personnel.
One row per transport resource showing required seats, assigned seats, and available seat capacity.
Colour-coded availability values.
An information icon explaining what Required, Assigned, and Available mean.

How to open the tooltip

Go to Planning → Planning Board.
Open the Gantt tab.
Locate the utilisation row above the task bars.
Open a cell or dot in the utilisation row.
Review the detailed breakdown.
Close the tooltip using the × button or by clicking elsewhere.

Step-by-Step: Reading the Utilisation Bar

Go to Planning → Planning Board.
Open the Gantt tab.
Use the time scale, date picker, and navigation arrows to select the period you want to review.
Check the Primary bar setting. This affects the Required personnel figures.
Wait for utilisation data to load.
Scan the utilisation row from left to right:
- Green means capacity is healthy.
- Amber means usage is approaching capacity.
- Red means capacity is exceeded or unavailable.
Open any amber or red cell to see whether the constraint is caused by personnel capacity or transport seat capacity.
Use the information to decide whether to reschedule work, adjust assignments, add capacity, or change the planning window.

How Utilisation Is Calculated

Personnel — Required

The Required figure reflects the peak concurrent staffing demand within the period shown in each cell. It is not a simple sum of every work order in the period.

Which dates are used?

The Primary bar selector controls which work order dates are used to calculate Required demand:

Primary bar mode	Dates used
Actual	Actual start and finish dates. If actual dates are missing, the calculation falls back to planned dates.
Planned	Planned start and finish dates. If planned dates are missing, the calculation falls back to actual dates.

Changing the Primary bar setting can change the Required figures because work orders may fall into different periods depending on whether actual or planned dates are used.

How concurrent demand is calculated

The system looks at work orders that overlap the period and calculates the highest number of personnel needed at the same time.

If two work orders do not overlap, only the higher requirement contributes to the peak.
If two work orders do overlap, their personnel requirements are added for the overlapping period.
If several work orders overlap partly, the highest combined demand during the period is shown.

Example — sequential work orders

Work order A runs 1–5 May and requires 5 people.
Work order B runs 8–12 May and requires 3 people.
They do not overlap.
Required = 5, not 8.

Example — overlapping work orders

Work order A runs 1–10 May and requires 5 people.
Work order B runs 6–10 May and requires 3 people.
They overlap from 6–10 May.
Required = 8 during the overlap.

This gives a realistic view of the maximum staffing demand at any point in the period.

Personnel — Assigned

The Assigned figure is the number of unique personnel assigned to activities within the period. A person assigned to multiple activities in the same period is counted once.

The Primary bar setting does not affect Assigned personnel. Assigned counts are based on activity dates.

Personnel — Available

The Available figure is the number of personnel with an active rotation schedule overlapping the period. A person is counted once even if they have more than one overlapping schedule.

The Primary bar setting does not affect Available personnel. Availability is based on rotation schedules.

Personnel colour coding

Personnel colour is based on:

Assigned ÷ Available

Ratio	Colour
≤ 80%	🟢 Green
> 80% and ≤ 100%	🟡 Amber
> 100%, or demand exists with no available capacity	🔴 Red

Transport Seat Utilisation

Transport seat utilisation is calculated from activities using transport resources in the period.

For each transport resource, the system compares:

Assigned personnel on that transport resource ÷ Available seat capacity

The cell display shows transport seat totals across the period, while the tooltip breaks the figures down per transport resource.

A person assigned multiple times on the same transport resource in the same period is counted once for that resource.

If transport resources have work schedules enabled, they are only counted as available during periods covered by an active schedule. Transport resources without schedule-based availability are treated as available based on their configured capacity.

The same 80% and 100% thresholds are used for transport seat colour coding.

Note: The Primary bar setting does not affect transport seat figures. Transport seat figures are based on activity dates.

Draft Mode

The Utilisation Bar also works when viewing a draft schedule.

When a draft is active, the Gantt can send the draft context into the utilisation calculation, so the row can reflect draft planning data. This helps you review capacity impact before applying the draft to the live schedule.

Note: Direct task editing in the Gantt chart may be disabled while viewing a draft. Use the timeline view to adjust draft assignments.

Filters

The Utilisation Bar respects active Gantt filters. This means the figures reflect the currently filtered planning scope.

Examples of filters that can affect utilisation include:

Site
Asset
Subassembly
Component
Work order type
Work order status
Priority
Transport resource
Work package
Department
Required qualification
Transport type

Clearing filters returns the utilisation row to the wider visible scope.

Limitations

The Utilisation Bar is only visible in the Gantt tab.
The row depends on the selected visible date range.
If the visible range contains no relevant utilisation data, the row may be empty or show no useful values.
In Year view, utilisation is aggregated by month rather than by day.
The Primary bar setting affects Required personnel only. It does not affect Assigned or Available personnel, or transport seat figures.
Transport seat values are based on activity assignments and configured transport capacity.
Inline activity warnings may use simpler checks than the Gantt utilisation calculation, so they may not always match exactly.
If other users make changes while you are viewing the Gantt, refresh the page to ensure you are seeing the latest utilisation data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Utilisation Bar not showing?
Check that the selected date range contains relevant scheduled work or draft planning data. Also confirm that personnel schedules and transport capacity are configured.

Why do I only see coloured dots instead of numbers?
The Gantt columns are too narrow to display full numbers. Open the cell tooltip, zoom in, or switch to a more detailed time scale.

Why is the Required number lower than I expected?
Required shows peak concurrent demand, not the total number of people required across all work orders. Sequential work orders are not added together unless they overlap.

Why did Required change when I switched Primary bar mode?
The Primary bar controls whether actual or planned work order dates are used. If those dates differ, Required demand may appear in different periods.

Why is a cell red?
A red cell means assigned usage exceeds available capacity, or there is demand but no available capacity. Open the tooltip to see whether the issue is personnel capacity or transport seat capacity.

Does the Utilisation Bar work in draft mode?
Yes. When viewing a draft, utilisation can reflect draft planning data so you can review capacity before applying the draft.

Can I export the utilisation data?
The Planning Board PDF export includes the Gantt chart as currently displayed. If the Utilisation Bar is visible on screen, it should be included in the export.