I’ve recently needed to manage several programs and I’m trying to see if there is a good way to do it in MS Project. I’ve played around with Project and taken basic tutorial classes, but I’m not sure if there are “best practices” or techniques that will solve my problem. Or maybe I’m expecting too much. But anyways, here is what I’d like to attempt.

First task:
Let’s assume I’m in the business of making phones – lots of different types. Duration is takes to make a phone is set – 4 weeks. Throwing more resources to it does not change, as there are set equipment limitations. Also, I would use a 24-hour calendar (not standard). However, I can make up to 4 phones in the 4 weeks, as the equipment use is not 100% the entire 4 weeks. Additionally, let's say I have 4 types of equipment with different max usage available (i.e. 80, 80, 60, 50)

I’d like to stagger productions of a new types of phone every couple weeks. As I schedule the phone productions, what is the best way to see when equipment is available for use (to stagger productions) or when something is overused in a given time.

Second task:
Next – I have pre-determined timeframes for phone production. So I want to plan it out in Project (I think this is baseline?) But of course, not everything goes to plan and sometimes the production is delayed a week. What is the best way of visual when and how often I miss deadlines?

Third task:
This involved forecasting. Assuming I’ve gotten tasks 1 and 2 covered, I should hopefully have an understanding of resource utilization and be able to maximize production by using my equipment more efficiently. With that said, if I wanted to increase my phone production for the following year, I want to be able to somehow project how much more equipment I’ll need.

I know this is complicated and a lot of work, and problem seems stupid because I need to be told everything step by step. But I’ve been wracking my brains for a couple weeks trying to sort this out and I haven’t had much success. I’ve debated somehow using Excel, but I think that’s even more inefficient for what I’m trying to achieve. Hopefully someone can provide guidance, minimal or not, it would be greatly appreciated!