page title decoration image

Workforce capacity planning software

Software for workforce capacity planning in multi-project environments

Workforce capacity planning software for multiple projects
Workforce capacity planning software for multiple projects
Workforce forecasting software for roles and qualifications
Workforce forecasting software for roles and qualifications

Rillsoft Project is a workforce capacity planning software for mid-sized industrial companies with several parallel projects. The software compares cross-project personnel demand with available workforce capacity – based on roles and qualifications, before any concrete person is assigned.

Unlike pure HR capacity planning, Rillsoft Project does not only answer “How many heads do we have?”, but calculates whether the required qualifications are actually available in the required period – even when the same employees are used in several projects in parallel.

Who is Rillsoft Project as workforce capacity planning software relevant for?

  • Project managers and resource managers with several parallel projects
  • PMOs responsible for long-term personnel capacity in the portfolio
  • Mid-sized industrial companies with 20 to 200 employees
  • Industries such as mechanical engineering, engineering, production and IT
  • Companies that hit the limits of spreadsheets or HR capacity planning because qualifications and project assignment are not represented there

Workforce capacity based on roles and qualifications

The key advantage over HR capacity planning and generic project management tools: capacity is balanced by role and qualification – not by lump-sum head counts.

  • Demand analysis per role and qualification, not per person
  • Availability per qualification visible over several months
  • Concrete employees are mapped to tasks only shortly before execution
  • Multiple roles per employee, grouped in individual teams
  • Working and non-working times from the project calendar feed into the capacity calculation

This keeps long-term workforce capacity planning robust even when personnel size and project mix change.

Make bottlenecks and free workforce capacity visible

Workforce capacity planning is only useful when over- and under-coverage are visible early. Rillsoft Project supports this with the following functions:

  • Shortages from missing personnel capacity are calculated precisely and highlighted in red
  • Over-coverage from free capacity is highlighted in blue
  • The capacity balance can be analyzed graphically
  • Identification of tasks that cause the workload, with assessment of slack within buffer times
  • Various views for workload optimization across roles and employees
  • Ratio of scheduled to available working time per time unit
Workload balancing software for workforce capacity planning
Workload balancing for workforce capacity planning

Workforce capacity planning in the multi-project portfolio

In a multi-project environment several projects access the same personnel pool. Rillsoft Project shows cross-project workforce load per role and qualification – bottlenecks become visible in the planning phase, not only during execution.

  • Personnel resources are managed centrally and balanced across projects
  • In case of resource conflicts, project prioritization decides which project keeps its workforce capacity
  • Changes in one project immediately show their effect on other projects

This delivers a realistic view of workforce capacity across the entire project portfolio.

Difference from staff scheduling and HR capacity planning

  • Staff scheduling is the operational assignment of concrete employees to concrete tasks.
  • Workforce capacity planning in Rillsoft Project is the strategic, mid-term view: are the available qualifications sufficient over months to deliver the planned projects realistically?
  • HR capacity planning organizes positions, headcount and attendance without direct project or qualification context.

Rillsoft Project ties these views together: qualification demand, employee availability, working time, vacation and project assignment feed into one shared workforce capacity plan.

Connection to resource, capacity and multi-project planning

Operating modes

Rillsoft Project is a Windows desktop client. For cross-project workforce capacity planning in multi-user operation, Rillsoft Integration Server (on-premise) and Rillsoft Cloud (hosted) are available. In standalone mode the cross-project workforce capacity functions are not available.

Frequently asked questions(FAQ)

Workforce capacity planning software compares cross-project personnel demand with available personnel capacity. It calculates whether enough employees with the required role and qualification will be available in the planned period – before any concrete person is assigned. Bottlenecks, free capacity and overloads become visible in a multi-project context.

Rillsoft Project is built for mid-sized industrial companies with 20 to 200 employees that run several parallel projects with limited personnel – for example in mechanical engineering, engineering, production and IT. Typical users are project managers, resource managers, PMOs and commercial workforce planners responsible for long-term personnel capacity.

Staff scheduling answers the operational question of which specific employee is assigned to which task. Workforce capacity planning answers the strategic question of whether, across all running and planned projects, enough personnel with the required qualifications exist at all. Both views interlock – Rillsoft Project combines them in a shared planning environment.

Instead of assigning individual employees, demand is first captured by role and qualification. Rillsoft Project calculates whether enough employees with the required qualification and availability exist – before any concrete person is assigned. Only shortly before project execution are individual employees mapped to tasks. This keeps long-term workforce capacity planning robust.

Shortages caused by missing personnel capacity are calculated precisely and highlighted in red. Over-coverage from free capacity is highlighted in blue. Bottlenecks per role, qualification and employee become visible at a glance – also across projects and across several months.

In a multi-project environment several projects share the same personnel pool. Rillsoft Project shows cross-project workforce load per role and qualification. Bottlenecks become visible in the planning phase, not only during execution. Project prioritization decides which project keeps its personnel resources in case of conflict.

Rillsoft Project is a Windows desktop client. Cross-project workforce capacity planning with a shared personnel pool, multi-user operation and connection to time tracking requires Rillsoft Integration Server (on-premise) or Rillsoft Cloud (hosted). In standalone mode these cross-project workforce capacity functions are not available.