You specify data in the strategy profile that controls how operations are dispatched on the planning tables.

The following settings are important for dispatching operations on both types of planning table:

• Plan. direction forwards: If you set this indicator, during automatic dispatching, the system looks to the "future" for a possible date to dispatch operations within the planning period. If you do not set the indicator, the system looks to the "past".

• Dispatch at earliest point in time: If you have set this indicator then the system tries to dispatch operations as early as possible in the planning period without taking preceding operations in the order into account. If this indicator is set, then the system switches to Planning direction forwards.

• Consider Float bef. prod.: If this indicator is set, the system is to check whether, during dispatching, an operation was shifted within the float before production. The system only takes this indicator into account if you have activated the dispatching function Operation date check and set the indicator Take op. floats into accnt.

• Use float before prod.: This indicator specifies that the system is to check whether an operation was dispatched within the float before production. This indicator is only taken into account if you have activated the dispatching function Operation date check and set the indicator Use float before production.

• Use float aft. production: This indicator specifies that the system is to check whether an operation was dispatched within the operation float. This indicator is only taken into account if you have activated the dispatching function Operation date check and set the indicator Use float before production.

• Cancel dispatching due to error: If this indicator is set, the system terminates the dispatching of an operation if it discovers errors during finite scheduling or the operation date check.

• Reschedule with production. version: This indicator is only relevant for planned orders. You thus specify that when an operation is rescheduled, the production version in which the work center is entered as the production line is copied to the order. If no such production version exists, then the planned order is rescheduled. It is scheduled using the old standard values and the formulas from the new work center.

• Term. resch. with prod. version: This indicator is only effective in conjunction with the indicator Reschedule with prod. version. It specifies that rescheduling a planned order taking the production version into account is terminated if no production version exists in which the new work center is entered as the production line.

• Date entry when dispatching: If you set this indicator, the system does not dispatch operations automatically on the planning tables. Dispatching is only possible manually. If you have set the indicator, you reach a dialog box once you have selected the planning table function Dispatch. You have to enter a start time or finish time and/or a target work center in this dialog box depending on the planning time that has been set. This entry is then valid for all operations that you have selected.

• Dispatch. sequence: Sequence and format key or sort key used to specify the sequence in which operations are to be dispatched.

• Treatment of queue time: Key you use to define the queue time used for scheduling if you do not want the system to use the queue time calculated by lead time scheduling. It is important to note that with finite scheduling for an operation the system does not take other reduction measures, such as splitting, into account.

• Reduction level: If you have used the key Treatment of queue time to specify that the queue time is to be reduced, then you should enter the desired reduction level.

• Change planning direction: If you set this indicator, the system searches for remaining available capacity to dispatch operations in the whole planning period. The system first looks for remaining available capacity in the planning direction defined. If it doesn’t find any here it searches in the other direction.

• Close gaps: Key you use to specify how the system is to deal with gaps caused when an operation has been deallocated or rescheduled. The following options are available:

• The gap in the capacity commitment remains.
• All the operations up to the next gap in the commitment are shifted one way or the other depending on the planning direction so as to close the gap.
• All the operations are shifted to the end of the planning period according to the planning direction in order to close the gap that has arisen.

• Planning in non-work periods: This indicator specifies that operations can be dispatched to non-work periods without you having to change the available capacities in the work centers. During dispatching, the calendar, operating times and available capacities in the work centers are ignored and instead the following data is used:

• Dispatching at best time for setup: If you set this indicator, the system dispatches operations into existing commitments in such a way that the setup times of the commitments increase as little as possible. You must also set the indicator Insert operation.

• Initial setup state: Initial setup states are states of work centers. They are used in:

• Adjustment of setup time
• Setup time optimization
• Dispatching of an operation at the best time for setup

• Period split: Defines the period split for dispatching operations on the capacity planning table (for example, shift split). You use the following indicators to define whether and how the period split is taken into account on dispatching:

• Start search in period split: Specifies for dispatching with the period split at what point the system starts to look for remaining available capacity.
• Always adhere to period split: Specifies that when dispatching to the period split either the start or finish dates of operations (depending on the planning direction) lie on points of the period split.
• Operation completely in period split: Specifies that when dispatching to the period split the start- and finish date of an operation must lie within an interval of a period split, for example, a shift. If the indicator is set and an operation is longer than a split interval, then the operation is dispatched at the next possible time.

The following indicator is relevant for dispatching operations on the capacity planning table (tabular form):

• Overall capacity load: If you have set this indicator, the system takes account of overloads in individual periods when dispatching operations. Thus, a 200% load for one period means that no operation can be dispatched to the following period.

When dispatching operations on the capacity planning table (tabular form) with the periodic-continuous display the following indicators are relevant as for the capacity planning table:

• Insert operation

In the strategy profile you can define which functions are to be active when dispatching. The following functions are possible:

• Midpoint scheduling: This function must be activated if, when dispatching an operation, you want midpoint scheduling to take place when the status has been set. Otherwise midpoint scheduling takes place when you save the planning table.

• Change production version on error: If you have activated this function and an error in automatic dispatching occurs (for example, capacity overload), the next production version is automatically copied to the planned order. The production versions are sorted alphanumerically according to production version key. The planned order is scheduled using the routing for this version, but not dispatched. The operations remain in the pool and can be dispatched to the new production line along with other operations. This function only works with planned orders.

In the strategy profile, you can use the key Dispatching internal production to specify at what time the system is to dispatch internally processed operations, for example from plant maintenance orders and networks. Here you can choose between dispatching at the earliest point in time, the latest point in time and dispatching depending on the valid distribution key of the scheduling capacity.

Dispatching using the distribution key leads to the operation being dispatched to the period when it is currently displayed. The distribution key contains a distribution strategy. The earliest and latest dates for the distribution are defined in the distribution strategy. This determines whether the system uses the earliest or latest start date.