PowerSolver — customer handover guide

For: the planners and data owners who will run PowerSolver on their own after the pilot. You will learn to: keep your planning workbook up to date, check it, make a plan, read the result, replan when something changes, compare plans, and know when to call for help. Your consultant used the pilot guide to build your first workbook; you do not need it to work day to day.

Contents

1. Access and roles
2. Your plan type and your workbook
3. Keeping the workbook up to date
4. Checking the data before planning
5. Reading the messages
6. Making a plan, reading it, replanning, comparing
7. Versions and safe keeping
8. Common errors and when to call for help
9. Handover checklist

1. Access and roles

Left menu: Define Problem (the 7 steps), Results, Compare Solutions, Solve, Upload (open a saved plan file), Download (save the current plan file), Reset Wizard (start again — saves nothing), Documentation.

Recommended set-up for your team: one plan owner (makes and publishes plans), one data owner per sheet (keeps that sheet correct, §3.1), one back-up who has done the checklist of §9.

2. Your plan type and your workbook

2.1 Your plan type

Your plan type was chosen in the pilot and is written in the Setup sheet of your workbook (row Problem type). Keep it. The plan types the wizard offers are: job shop, school timetabling, conference scheduling, employee rostering, maintenance scheduling, cloud optimisation, task assignment, vehicle routing and generic. The type only changes the wizard's form labels; your rules are in your workbook.

2.2 Where your workbook comes from

• Your current plan: wizard step 1 → Download workbook template gives the plan loaded in the wizard as a workbook (lists, rules, settings).
• Starting from nothing: the same button, with nothing loaded, gives a small example to replace with your data.
• The file your consultant handed over: keep it as your master copy (§7).

2.3 What is in it

The words you will meet:

3. Keeping the workbook up to date

3.1 Every planning period

3.2 Writing values correctly

An empty cell means "nothing": no requirement, never unavailable.

3.3 Changes that need care

4. Checking the data before planning

4.1 In Excel (5 minutes)

• ☐ Every sheet still named as before.
• ☐ No empty id; no id twice (Excel: Conditional formatting → Duplicate values on column A).
• ☐ Every id used in another sheet exists (fixed person, depends_on, pinned values).
• ☐ Dates are in the new period; earliest is before due on every row.
• ☐ Spellings of skills/needs identical in both sheets (sort the unique values side by side).
• ☐ Rough count: for each skill, the items needing it fit in the options offering it (e.g. 42 exams needing a large hall, 9 large halls × 4 free slots = 36: it cannot fit).

4.2 In the wizard

1. Step 1 → Load a plan from Excel → choose your workbook.
2. The dialog lists what each step will receive (rows per sheet). Check the counts.
3. Fill all steps now. If anything is wrong, nothing is imported and each problem is listed with its sheet, row and column: correct the workbook, save, load it again.
4. You land on step 7: Can this work? checks the data (next section).

You can also go step by step (each step shows "Ready in your-file.xlsx … Import"); the step bar marks what is waiting (spreadsheet icon) and what is imported (✓).

5. Reading the messages

5.1 Can this work? (step 7, before planning)

Try a quick plan (20 s): a short trial. "A valid plan exists" is a proof; "No valid plan found in a quick plan" does not mean impossible — the full plan has more time.

Typical red reasons and what to do:

5.2 Check before you use it (Results page, after planning)

Other messages: "The planner is busy with other plans" → try again in a minute (nothing wrong with your data); "The planner hit an internal error" → plan again, then call support with the run id (§8).

6. Making a plan, reading it, replanning, comparing

6.1 Making a plan

1. Load the workbook (§4.2), check (§5.1).
2. Step 6: the time limit (from your Setup sheet). Short (30-60 s) while you test, the full one for the final plan.
3. Step 7 → Plan it. The wizard shows progress and opens the Results page.
4. The wizard downloads two files automatically: problem_<date-time>.json (what was planned) and solution_<date-time>.json (the plan). Keep them (§7).

6.2 Reading the Results page

6.3 Replanning when something changes

Example: on Wednesday a machine breaks down until Friday.

1. Open your workbook copy for this replan (§7: …_replan_wed.xlsx).
2. Mark what is already done or must not move: in the items sheet, column pinned = TRUE and the decided values in the decision columns (copy them from Results → Export to Excel).
3. For the other items, keep their current values in previous_<decision> columns (e.g. previous_machine): your Rules sheet has wishes "keeps its machine/time" that make PowerSolver move as little as possible. (Your consultant sets these up during the pilot; demo 18 problem.wednesday shows the pattern.)
4. Apply the change: the machine's unavailable slots, a person's absence, a new urgent item (new row).
5. Load, check, Plan it.
6. Results → Changes: what moved, what stayed, what is new, which rules got better or worse.

The wizard has no "replan from this plan" button yet: the steps above are done in Excel.

6.4 Comparing plans

• Changes tab: compares with the last plan made in the same browser tab, or with a baseline you load (the problem_…json and solution_…json of the earlier plan).
• Compare Solutions (left menu): several plans in a row (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday), each with its problem file; what changed in the data and in the plan at each step.

7. Versions and safe keeping

7.1 Naming

<site>_<plan>_<period>_<version>.xlsx      e.g.  lyon_machining_2026-W48_v1.xlsx
                                                   lyon_machining_2026-W48_replan_wed.xlsx
problem_<date-time>.json / solution_<date-time>.json   (downloaded by the wizard — keep them next to the workbook)

7.2 Rules

1. Never edit the master workbook directly. Copy it for each period and each replan.
2. Keep, for every published plan: the workbook, the problem file and the solution file, in one folder per period.
3. Change rules only in the wizard (step 4) and export them (Download rules (Excel)); note the change and the date in a "changes" line of your team log.
4. The wizard remembers your work in this browser only. Another computer, or Reset Wizard, starts empty: your files are the real record.
5. Keep the workbook closed in Excel while the wizard reads it, and save before loading.

8. Common errors and when to call for help

Call your consultant when: you need a new rule or a rule behaves unexpectedly; a red Can this work? finding looks wrong for your data; you change the plan type, the decisions or a list name. Call support when: "internal error"; the plan never finishes; you cannot sign in. Send the workbook, the problem_… and solution_… files, a screenshot of the message and the step you were on.

9. Handover checklist

Do each item yourself, with the consultant watching. Tick when done without help.

Access

• ☐ I can sign in and change the language.
• ☐ I know who in my team owns each sheet of the workbook.

Workbook

• ☐ I can download my workbook from step 1 and explain each sheet.
• ☐ I prepared the next period's workbook from a copy (§3.1) and wrote values in the right format (§3.2).
• ☐ I added an option (e.g. a new machine) and removed one cleanly (§3.3).

Checking and planning

• ☐ I ran the Excel checks (§4.1).
• ☐ I loaded the workbook with Fill all steps now, and corrected a problem reported by sheet, row and column.
• ☐ I read a Can this work? verdict and explained it (§5.1); I corrected one red finding on purpose.
• ☐ I made a plan and found the two downloaded files.
• ☐ I read the Results page: verdict, checks, Rules & score, Overview, Export to Excel.

Replanning and comparing

• ☐ I replanned a real change with pins and "keep" columns (§6.3) and read the Changes tab.
• ☐ I compared three successive plans in Compare Solutions.

Safe keeping and help

• ☐ I filed the workbook, problem and solution of a published plan in the period folder (§7).
• ☐ I know when to call the consultant and when to call support, and what to send (§8).

Signed (customer plan owner) ____________ Signed (consultant) ____________ Date ________