About Allocation and Monitoring

Introduction

The Allocation and Monitoring Process can be broken down into three Activities

1. Allocate Resource - Allocation is the process of rapidly allocating Employees and/or Tool/Facilities to work orders and operations.
   This process takes place in the Allocate Resource window
2. Monitor Resource - Monitoring is the process of monitoring exceptions and following up on resource progress.
   This process takes place in the Resource Monitoring Gantt window
3. Reallocate Resources - Reallocate is the process of reallocating Work Orders and Work Order Operations to handle exceptions and meet with internal and external constraints. Exceptions are normally identified as an outcome of the activity "Monitor Resources". This process takes place both in the Allocate Resource window and the Resource Monitoring Gantt window.

Allocation Concepts

• An allocate able resource equals a maintenance employee or a Tool/Facility ID in IFS Applications
• Employees & Tools/Facilities can be allocated at either Work Order or Operation Level of a Work Order

Data Setup in IFS Applications

Resource - Employees, Mandatory data

In order for employees to appear in Allocate Resource window and Resource Monitoring Gantt window , the following data must be defined:

• The Employee must be created as a maintenance employee and assigned to a valid maintenance organization (IFS/General Data for Maintenance).

Resource - Tools/Facilities, Mandatory data

In order for employees to appear in Allocate Resource window and Resource Monitoring Gantt window , the following data must be defined:

• The Tool/Facility ID must be connected to a site and assigned to a valid maintenance organization IFS/General Data for Maintenance.

Resource - Employee, Basic Data

The skills/properties of a employee will determine whether the Employee will be considered suitable for a Work Order/Operation and will appear in the Allocate Resource or will match the search criteria's in Resource Monitoring Gantt window.

• Maintenance Organization that the maintenance employee belong to will have to match the Maintenance Organization of the Work Order/Work Order Operation that the should be allocated.
• Team that the maintenance employee belongs to will have to match the Team of the Work Order/Work Order Operation that should be allocated.
• Crafts for the maintenance employee will have to match the craft of the Work Order/Work Order Operation  that should be allocated.
• Licenses for the HR employees associated with the Employee will have to match the license of the Work Order/Work Order Operation that should be allocated.
• Competencies for the HR employees associated with the Employee will have to match the Competencies of the Work Order/Work Order Operation  that should be allocated.
• If a Work Time Schedule has been defined for the Employee it will have indicate the Employee as available and unallocated at the timeslot that should be allocated.

Note that the employee's allocations, such as, absences, training allocations, project allocations, breaks and lunches will only be visible in Allocate Resource dialog and Resource Monitoring Gantt if IFS Human Resource Management is used.

Resource - Tools/Facilities, Basic Data

The properties of a Tool/Facility will determine whether the Tool/Facility will be considered suitable for a Work Order/Operation and will appear in the Allocate Resource dialog.

• The Tool/Facility ID must be connected to a site and be assigned to a valid maintenance organization that matches the site and Maint Org of the Work Order/Work Order Operation that the user seeks to allocate.
• The Tool/Facility Type of the Tool/Facility ID will have to match the Tool/Facility type of the Work Order/Work Order Operation that the user seeks to allocate.

Work Order, Basic Data

In order for the Allocate Resource right mouse option to be available on a Work Order/Operation, either of the following data must be defined on the Work Order:

• Work Order Execution Time must have been entered on the Work Order.
• Operation has been defined in the Operations tab along with Operation Planned Hours and Operation Planned Men has been defined on the Work Order.
• Tools & Facilities row has been defined in the Tools and Facilities tab along with Planned Hours and Planned Quantity

Allocate and Reallocate Resources in Allocate Resource

The Allocate Resource allows you to allocate and reallocate resources to work orders and operations according to the constraints provided in work orders and operations. Maintenance employees and tool-and-facilities are considered as allocate able resources in IFS Service & Maintenance. Employees can be allocated at either work order level or operation level.

Allocation Window for Allocate Resource

The time horizon displayed in the Allocate Resource Dialog is based upon the Work Order Date Constraints.

The start of the time horizon will be evaluated in the following priority order when allocating a work order or an operation:

1. Fixed Start - If there is a Fixed Start defined on the work order then Fixed Start will always be considered the start time of the allocation horizon. 
2. Requested Start - If there is a Requested Start on the work order the Requested Start will be used as the start time of the allocation horizon. 
3. Planned Start - If there is a Planned Start available on the work order, then Planned Start will be used as the start time of the allocation horizon. 
4. Current Time - If none of the work order date constraints listed above have been defined, then current time will be used as the start time of the allocation horizon. 

The end of the time horizon will evaluated in the following order when allocating a work order:

1. Fixed Start - If there as a Fixed Start defined on the work order then Fixed Start with the execution time added to it will be considered the end time of the allocation horizon.
2. Requested Finish & Late Start - If there is a Requested Finish and a Late Start on the work order the earliest of Requested Finish and Late Start with execution time added will be used as the end time of the allocation horizon. 
3. Planned Finish - If there is a Planned Finish available on the work order, then work order Planned Finish will be used as the end time of the allocation horizon. 
4. Population Fallback Period -  If none of the work order date constraints listed above have been defined, then the time setting defined for Population Fallback Period will be used added to the start time of the allocation horizon
   to calculate the end time of the allocation constraint.  (Population Fallback Period can be set to 7;21 or 38 days from Settings tab in the Resource Allocation Search)

The end of the time horizon will evaluated in the following order when allocating a work order operation:

1. Requested Finish - If there is a Requested Finish this date will be used as the end time of the allocation horizon. 
2. Planned Finish - If there is a Planned Finish available on the Work Order, then Work Order Planned Finish will be used as the end time of the allocation horizon. 
3. Population Fallback Period -  If none of the Work Order Date Constraints listed above have been defined, then the time setting defined for Population Fallback Period will be used added to the start time of the Allocation Horizon
   to calculate the end time of the allocation constraint.  (Population Fallback Period can be set to 7;21 or 38 days from Settings tab )

Allocate and Reallocate Employees and/or Tools/Facilities in Allocate Resource

Please refer to Allocate Resource respectively Reallocate Resources.

Availability of Employees and Tools/Facilities in Allocate Resource and Resource Monitoring Gantt

When allocating an employee, the available time for the employee is considered, and will be fetched according to the following criteria:

• If the employee has been registered in both IFS Human Resource and IFS Service and Maintenance, and the employee's available time is fetched from the Working Hours Schedules window in IFS Human Resource/Time Management/Schedules and Rules.
• If the employee has been registered in IFS Service and Maintenance only, then the employee available time will be fetched from the calendar connected to the maintenance organization of the employee.

When allocating a tool or facility, the available time for the tool/facility is considered, and will be fetched according to the following criteria:

• The availability is fetched from the calendar connected to the maintenance organization of the tool or facility.

Allocation Constraints for Allocate Resource

The allocation constraints in the Allocate Resource Dialog determines when an allocation may or may not occur. The concept is that an allocation must occur between the allocation start constraint and allocation end constraint for the work order/operation.
The allocation constraints are basically the constraining dates given on the work order: Requested Start, Late Start, Fixed Start and Requested Finish. The dates will be shown as allocation constraints (blue horizontal bars appearing that restricts the movement of the allocation bar in the lower pane of the Allocate Resource window) to avoid the user accidentally allocating the work order /work order operation outside these dates. However it is possible to override the constraints from the work order by simply ticking the "Ignore Constraints" checkbox in Allocate Resource window.

The allocation start constraint will be evaluated in the following order when allocating a work order or an operation:

1. Fixed Start - If there is a Fixed Start defined on the work order then Fixed Start will always be considered the start constraint of the allocation. 
2. Requested Start - If there is a Requested Start on the work order then it will be used as the start time start constraint of the allocation. 

The allocation finish constraint will be evaluated in the following order when allocating a work order:

1. Fixed Start - If there is a Fixed Start defined on the work rder then Fixed Start plus Execution Time will always be considered the end constraint of the allocation. 
2. Late Start & Requested Finish - If there is Late Start and Requested Finish on the work order the earliest date of (Late Start plus Execution Time) and Requested Finish will be considered the end constraint of the allocation.

The allocation finish constraint will be evaluated in the following order when allocating a work order operation:

Requested Finish - If there is a Requested Finish on the work order then the Requested Finish will be considered the end constraint of the allocation.

Note: Tools/Facilities are not possible to allocate outside the Planned Start and Planned Finish of the Work Order.

Search & Search Settings for Allocate Resource

There are a number of configurations that can be conducted to the Allocate Resource dialog. These settings can be changed by pressing the Search..  button in the Allocate Resource dialog. From there the user needs to navigate to tab Settings, here the user controls the following settings (settings are stored in the user profile and will used the next time the user opens the allocate resource dialog):                                

Show Days Before:
Number of days that the user wants to display as a buffer prior to the start of the time horizon of the Allocate Resource window.

Show Days After:
Number of days that the user wants to display as a buffer prior to the end of the time horizon of the Allocate Resource window.

Snaptime in Minutes:
This parameter is used to specify the minutes rounding which is used when allocation bars are moved and/or incremented/decreased in the Allocate Resource window.
Possible values are: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60.

Population Fallback dates
The Population Fallback Period can be set to 7,21 or 38 days and is used when no end time has been given for the allocation horizon.

If the user cannot find a suitable resource in the returned result set or if the user wants to refine the search in anyway adding an extra search criteria's, then the search criteria's may be manipulated by pressing the Search..  button in the Allocate Resource dialog. From there the user needs to navigate to tab General to change the search criteria for Employee or Tool/Facility or to the License and Competency tabs.

Note: Please note that any changes to the Gantt Timescale will also be saved in the user profile and will used the next time the user opens the allocate resource dialog.

Symbols and colors for allocations and calendars used in Allocate Resource

If the user wants an explanation to a symbol or a color used in the Allocate Resource this can easily be achieved by pressing the Legend button in the Allocate Resource dialog. From there the user can find information about symbols and colors used by allocations, calendars and date constraints.

Monitor and Reallocate Resources in Resource Monitoring Gantt

The Resource Monitoring Gantt allows you to get an overview of the availability of employees or tools-and-facilities in terms of their schedules and allocations and also to monitor the progress of their assignments.

Display Days Window for Resource Monitoring Gantt

The Time horizon displayed in the Resource Monitoring Gantt will be set when populating the client.

Monitoring Exceptions and Progress in the Resource Monitoring Gantt

Please refer to Monitor Resources.

Re-Allocation in Resource Monitoring Gantt

Please refer to Reallocate Resources.

Re-Allocation Constraints for Resource Monitoring Gantt

Work orders , operations and tool/facility allocations may be rescheduled and reallocated using drag and drop in the Resource Monitoring Gantt, making it possible to reallocate and reschedule here in a much quicker way than in Allocate Resource. This quick reallocation feature is basically to be enables the planner/dispatcher/service manager/call center to quickly deal with Exceptions to be able to quickly shuffle allocations between Employees and/or Tools/Facilities.

 However in order to provide this kind of quick reallocation/rescheduling of allocations the Resource Monitoring Gantt overrides the date constraints of the work order and or operation and also overrides organizational requirements (Site, Maintenance Organization, Team) as well as craft license and competency requirements. It is still however possible to reallocate an allocation in accordance with organizational-, date- and skill requirements from the Allocate Resource dialogue whilst in the Resource Monitoring Gantt. This can be achieved by selecting right mouse button Allocate Resource for an allocation in the Resource Monitoring Gantt.

Search & Search Settings for Resource Monitoring Gantt

There are a number of configurations that can be conducted to the Resource Monitoring Gannt. These settings can be changed by pressing the Search..  button in the Resource Monitoring Gannt window. From there the user needs to navigate to tab Settings, here the user controls the following settings (settings are stored in the user profile):                                

Snaptime in Minutes:
This parameter is used to specify the minutes rounding which is used when allocation bars are moved and increased/decreased in the Gantt. Possible values are: 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60.

Jeopardy Buffer in Minutes: In Jeopardy Warnings are used to catch Exceptions before they even occur. User may define Jeopardy Buffer Time in Minutes which will raise a In Jeopardy Warning a certain predefined number of hours/minutes (In Jeopardy Buffer time) before an Exception occurs. If buffer for instance is defined to 1 hour then a In Jeopardy Warning will be raised when 1 hour remains until Work Order Late Start or SLA Start and the Work Order has not been started. Alternatively when 1 hour remains until the Work Order Requested Finish or SLA Finish and the Work Order has not been promoted to Work Done. Allocations In Jeopardy will be marked with a yellow color warning to the left hand side of the allocation bar.

Show Progress: Progress indicates the calculated progress of a work order or an operation. It is only possible to see Progress for work orders that have been defined to use Progress Templates.
The progress bar is displayed as a thin bar at the bottom of the allocation bar.

Note: Please note that any changes to the Gantt Timescale will also be saved in the user profile and will be used the next time the user opens the allocate resource dialog.

Reassign and Transfer to Mobile in Resource Monitoring Gantt

As a part of the monitoring and reallocation process it is also possible to transfer work orders to mobile and to reassign a work order that has been transferred to mobile. This can be achieved by right mouse button selecting a work order, operation or a tools/facilities line and selecting the option to Transfer to Mobile (if not already transferred) and Reassign (if already transferred) . 

Execute Work Order Status in Resource Monitoring Gantt

As a part of the monitoring and reallocation process it is also possible to promote or/and demote work orders. This can be achieved by right mouse button selecting a Work Order and selecting the status and then the status user wishes to promote or demote  Work Order status to.

Symbols and colors for allocations and calendars used in Resource Monitoring Gantt

If the user wants an explanation to a symbol or a color used in the Resource Monitoring Gantt this can easily be achieved by pressing the Legend  button in the Allocate Resource dialog. From there the user can find information about symbols and colors used by allocations, calendars and date constraints.