Definition

The rank of a mode within the group of modes assigned to an activity.

Use

You can define several modes for an activity, that is, several sets of resources on which the activity can be carried out. In general, these alternatives are not of equal value. For example, you may want to utilize a fast, expensive special machine to a greater extent than the slower, cheaper, spare machine. This means you have to assign priorities to the modes: a mode with priority A has the highest priority (for example, the special machine), a mode with priority B has the next highest priority (for example, the spare machine), and so on up to priority O. Various modes can have the same priority. With automatic mode selection (for example, when creating an order), the system selects the mode automatically according to priority and the availability date/time.

You assign priority Z to the modes you only want to schedule manually on the DS planning board or in the resource planning table. You manually schedule the resources you only want to use in exceptional situations for production (test or training machines). You can schedule modes of all priorities manually on the DS planning board and in the resource planning table.