How to make a labor, equipment mobilization plan in Primavera P6

When developing a project plan, it’s not enough to define only the Start and Finish dates of each activity. We also need to determine when resources are required and how many are needed at each stage.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a Labor and Equipment Mobilization Plan using Primavera P6.

Project Example

We’ll use a simple project with three activities and the following resource assignments:

• Activity A: 10 workers and 1 crane
• Activity B: 5 workers and 2 cranes
• Activity C: 20 workers

Step 1: Configure Time Period Settings

1. Go to Admin > Admin Preferences.
2. Click the Time Periods tab.
3. Adjust the Hours values to match your project calendar.
   For example, if your project uses a 6-day work week:
   • Hours/Week: 48
   • Hours/Month: 208 (8 hours × 26 days)
   • Hours/Year: 2,496 (208 × 12)

Click Close when done.

Step 2: View Resource Usage

1. Click the Resource Usage Spreadsheet button.
2. Hold Ctrl and select the two resources: Worker and Crane.
3. The data will appear on the right side of the screen.

By default, the data is shown in Units, which may not be helpful if you’re interested in the actual number of people or equipment.

Step 3: Display Resource Quantities

1. Right-click on the table and select Spreadsheet Options.
2. Enable Calculate Average and choose Based on Hours per Time Period.

Now, the spreadsheet will display the actual number of workers and cranes required per time period.

For the week of 29-Sep, the plan shows:

• 35 workers
• 3 cranes

Step 4: Print the Report

To generate a report:

• Go to Print Preview and print the mobilization plan for documentation or sharing.

With this Resource Mobilization Plan, you can clearly see when and how many resources are needed throughout the project.