Redmine

Hi Eugen,

welcome to the Redmine community!

Is it possible to use Redmine as a replacement for MS Project, ProjectLibre as a construction company or is Redmine only intended for pure software development?

Well, it depends on your requirements and habits. Redmine is an issue tracker what means that it collects information in form of sets of data which are identified by a unique number. Such a data set can be everything you can imagine. A todo, an information, a requirement, a question. You can create a specific data set for every kind of thing you want to track in your project. Everyone with its own content and workflow. Just like printed forms but with the capabilities of the computer age. Filtering, tracking of changes, adding comments and so on.

Redmine's default settings are tied closely to a process for software development but you can get rid of the most part very easy and then you can create your own task based workflows. There are also some parts in Redmine where you need further effort to get rid of the software related terminology. E.g. instead of milestones you create a version. You would have to change this directly in the translation files of Redmine instead of the settings menu but its just another name, so why bother at all.

It's my also lack some features you are used from other project management solutions like resource planning, cost management or a decent portfolio overview. I don't know if there are plugins for that but that are things you would have to add manually to your installation.
So just for task management you could definitely give it a shot. There is a nice playlist on YouTube where someone uses Redmine to plan service jobs for I think a sanitation business or so.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkE-4cQPDFucK4n8GoejHEkGVqh881aVO

On the website of Planio (a PM suite based on Redmine) you can find a video where Redmine is used in a logistics company to track their stuff.
So Redmine is incredible versatile but you have to customize it to your needs what can be a decent amount of planning and work.

I tried Redmine on the VM and didn't quite understand how to create relationships between tasks, milestones etc. in the Gantt diagram.

In Redmine every task is created as an issue. An issue has a start date, a due date and a target version (you know, that's the milestone). If you add this information to your issue, it's shown as a bar in the Gantt chart and it's listed on the Roadmap under it's given target version. Issues can have subtasks ( also issues ) which can be created by either clicking on "Add subtask" in the issue's details view or by filling out the field "Parent issue" with the appropriate issue number in the issues creation form.
If you watch the details of an issue (clicking on the subject in the issues list) you can also add relations to other issues. These are shown in the Gantt chart, too.

If you have further questions about Redmine or specific problems, feel free to ask.

Kind regards,

Bernhard

Hi Eugen.
I’m not sure if I could figure out your situation correctly, but I personally think Redmine is also effective in management for non software development.

• Use Redmine for task management of the information system department.
  • As enterprise helpdesk platform to support corporate staff’s technical issues, questions and so on.
• Use Redmine for procurement management,
  • To receive new corporate staff. (Create e-mail account, NAS account, register AD account....)
  • To manage schedules related to software and hardware licenses renew.
  • To deal with many approval tasks.
• Use Redmine for project management
  • Example: Relocate office project

Especially, relocate office project involved many network / infrastructure engineers and administration division s staffs.
And above all use cases did not use any repositories (SCM), but due date or milestone (version) setting were very effective.

At the operational point of view, if you have any privileges to handle your organization’s Identity management system, such as AD, you can use the same authentication infrastructure.
So it would be helpful both end users and Redmine operators.
(Of course it depends if platform is based on on-premise or PaaS / SaaS.)

But, on the other hand, we did not use so much the Redmine’s Gantt feature....
I hope this comment would be any help.

Bernhard, thanks for your detailed comment!

Thank you both for your help.
And thanks also for the clarification regarding milestone, version and Gantt.
Regarding resource planning, cost management I will see if there are plugins for it.

Kind regards,

Eugen Zwetzich

Hello I'm Alessio from Italy and I work as Operations and Technical Manager for LINCE ITALIA S.p.A, a factory that develops and manufacture products for security systems.

We use Redmine for:

• project management for development of new items (so software, hardwere, industrialization issues and so on)
• management of non conformities (quality system)
• management of claims (quality system)

So I think that, from my experience, the answer is absolutely yes! You can use Redmine also for non software development.

Hi, Eugen,

I know RedmineUP have clients from the construction industry that use Redmine and are satisfied with this platform and with the additional features. I've also seen implementations in companies from logistics, telecommunication, consulting, manufacturing or healthcare.

They prefer to use Agile board as well as Gantt board because it can be configured for different business cases and roles. The main benefit of using the agile board is that it allows displaying tasks visually and see the progress.

They have a cloud version with a free trial where you can take a look at how it works. Their customer success manager is helpful and friendly and will help with the trial account configuration.

Here's a short video of the Agile features in use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up2Mb2gD-po&t=47s

RedmineUP also has plugin for resource management, as well as reporting and invoicing.

Good luck in your projects!