Master build schedule to sync with other sheets?

Paul Nelson

I am not having any luck searching for a solution to this. My company has a production schedule in Excel. It changes daily. Builds get added, removed and moved around on a regular basis. We have two different engineering departments that are managing their work load in Smartsheet. The two departments have very different requirements and needs from Smartsheet.  However, they are both are taking the same build schedule from the Excel master and putting that info into the two different engineering Smartsheets. It takes a lot of time to update both engineering Smartsheets when a change to the excel master happens. I am trying to find a way to have the Excel master drive the core info on both engineering sheets or have a master Smartsheet build schedule drive the two separate engineering sheets. As of now I can only come up with combining both sheets and have both departments work off one sheet. I would prefer not to go that route if possible. Any ideas out there?

Nick Burrus

Hello! At the company I work at we do this. We also use it to track our employees. You can see one of the examples of our work here;

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/example-advanced-smartsheet-reporting-interconnectivity

If you're interested in possible consulting work from us please feel free to contact me at NBurrus@Stria.com We can be called at any time at 661-617-6601 as well, just ask for my colleague Scott.

Everything you want can be built by using references and formulas. 

Andrée Starå

Hi Paul,

At a glance it seems fairly straightforward but I would need more information to be sure. 

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting​

Paul Newcome

Building the master in SS would be the easiest way to go. How you use it to drive the other two sheets is going to depend on the exact setup. If you'd like to post some screenshots with sensitive/confidential removed, blocked, or replaced with "dummy data", there could possibly be a pretty straight forward solution.

Paul Nelson

Thanks! I will set up a few sheets to better explain what we are trying to do.

Paul Nelson

Thanks! I will set up a few sheets to better explain what we are trying to do.

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

Looking forward to seeing how we can structure it best!

Paul Newcome

Would you mind posting an outline of the solution here?

 

When I first started in SS I built a few things out where a bunch of people had individual sheets that I needed to pull together. By the time I realized it would have been easier to start with the master, there was already too much data flying around to try to change things up.

 

Lesson learned the hard way there, but if there is a way to salvage it, I'd most certainly be interested.

Paul Nelson

Here are some more details on the issue. The Excel master schedule is generated by someone else and I do not have any control over it. It is typically 150+ builds long. Builds are being added and moved around on a regular basis.

Awhile back I made a build schedule for engineering group A. The screen shot is a very abbreviated example of the schedule. The first five columns is information that is being manually enter off of the Excel master. We are manually adding and moving builds. The remainder of the columns is information that is specific to tracking the work in engineering group A. It is a little bit of an inconvenience to manually shift and add rows of new builds but we were making due.

Recently engineering group B asked if I could make a schedule that is customized to them. They are tracking very different things then what group A is but the same first five columns of information are being used.

Ideally, I would like to be able to add and move rows on one sheet and have the other sheet follow and sync with the first one. Or make one master sheet that can drive the order of multiple other sheets. I think I may have other departments that will want similar tracking sheets made for them. I am apprehensive on having smart sheet pull information off the Excel master. I cannot guaranty that the format, layout or even the file name won’t change at any given time.

Paul Nelson

I am really sorry is this is posting multiple times. When I hit post I am not seeing anything happening.

Paul Nelson

Here are some more details on the issue. The Excel master schedule is generated by someone else and I do not have any control over it. It is typically 150+ builds long. Builds are being added and moved around on a regular basis.

Awhile back I made a build schedule for engineering group A. The screen shot is a very abbreviated example of the schedule. The first five columns is information that is being manually enter off of the Excel master. We are manually adding and moving builds. The remainder of the columns is information that is specific to tracking the work in engineering group A. It is a little bit of an inconvenience to manually shift and add rows of new builds but we were making due.

Recently engineering group B asked if I could make a schedule that is customized to them. They are tracking very different things then what group A is but the same first five columns of information are being used.

Ideally, I would like to be able to add and move rows on one sheet and have the other sheet follow and sync with the first one. Or make one master sheet that can drive the order of multiple other sheets. I think I may have other departments that will want similar tracking sheets made for them. I am apprehensive on having smart sheet pull information off the Excel master. I cannot guaranty that the format, layout or even the file name won’t change at any given time.

Andrée Starå

I can only see this post at the moment. Did you post something with pictures? It might wait for approval.

Paul Nelson

Yes, it has two screen shots of the two engineering schedules. I am sure you are correct on waiting for approval.

Andrée Starå

Feel free to send them to me and I'll have a look.

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Paul Nelson

I have shared the two sheets with you.

 

Andrée Starå

Thanks!

I'll take a look and get back to you!