Mode
Definition
Set of resources used for performing an activity .
Use
In the mode, you define:
The duration of the activity.
The capacity used by the activity (resource consumption).
During scheduling, the system uses this data and the quantity to be produced to calculate the duration of the activity and the consumption of resources (capacity requirements). An activity occupies all the resources of the mode simultaneously. That is, it has the same start and finish date on all resources.
To represent alternative processing variants, you can assign several modes to an activity and then define various priorities for these modes. In the detailed scheduling planning board, you perform mode selection manually. With automatic mode selection (for example, when creating an order), the system selects the mode automatically according to priority and the availability date.
Structure
A mode contains exactly one primary resource , and optionally several secondary resources . Each resource may appear only once in a mode. You define one of the resources as a calendar resource . The system uses the calendar of the resource when scheduling the activity. The various functions of the resources in the mode are described below:
Resource |
Description |
Primary resource |
The primary resource may be a resource that is particularly important for processing the activity and for your schedule (it may be a bottleneck, for example). You therefore want to schedule it as detailed as possible, that is, by using the full PP/DS functionality. The following PP/DS functions are only possible for primary resources:
|
Secondary resource |
You can use the secondary resources, for example, to represent various tools that are required in addition to the tools of the primary resource to execute the activity. The functions listed under the primary resources cannot be used for the secondary resources. For example, you cannot execute a sequence-dependent setup for a secondary resource nor can you execute block planning. Therefore, you cannot use a resource as a secondary resource for a mode:
|
Calendar resource |
The system uses the working times and non-working times of the calendar resource for scheduling the activity, that is, the working and non-working times of the calendar resource are decisive for all resources in the mode and overwrite the calendar of the resources. When scheduling, the system uses working and non-working times to search for an appropriate scheduling date on the primary resource on which the activity can be processed on the primary resource and on the secondary resources simultaneously. As only the calendar resource is used, the duration of the activity is the same on all resources. |
Integration
If you want to make the mode selection for an activity dependent on which mode is used for an activity of another operation, you can link the modes for these activities. Mode-linked activities cannot be scheduled on random modes independently of each other. This is particularly valid for the activities of an operation that are always processed on the same primary resource (mode linkage via the primary resource). For more information, see Linking of Modes .