Resource Type
Definition
A resource type is a classification of resources that share the same characteristics or attributes. Training Management distinguishes four classifications of resource types:
Use
Categorizing resources into resource types facilitates resource management and provides you with a clear overview of resource availability. When you create a resource type, you define the attributes that all resources of this type have in common.
When you assign resource types to a course type in the Create Business Event Type function, you are specifying utilities that may be required for holding the course. You assign the actual resources to the actual scheduled course with the function Create Course Dates with Resources.
See also:
Creating a Course with Resources
Structure
When you create a resource type, you store indicators or attributes that characterize resources of this type. You maintain the following infotypes:
Availability Indicators:
· The Availability Indicators infotype lets you specify the conditions that apply to the resource types required when a course is planned.
· Whether the resource in question is a room, instructor, material or other resource.
· Resource priority: you can assign a priority value to resources, specifying the order in which resources are presented to you during automatic resource reservation.
· Location dependency: you can set this indicator for the resource Room if you work with course locations. Once you set the room indicator for a resource, the system automatically proposes the location-dependent indicator.
· Obligatory resource: you use this indicator to specify that a certain resource is essential for a course and must be reserved in the planning process. A resource with this indicator must be reserved for the course otherwise the course may have to be canceled. The associated indicators multiple and single let you specify whether a required resource can be reserved by multiple courses or only by one.
Only resources that have this indicator are reserved during automatic resource selection.
· Amount available: this feature lets you specify how many resources of a type you need per course or per participant. For example, per course you require one resource of the type room, but require the resource material for each participant (for example, training material).
· Alternative resource search: when you search for the resources material and instructor, you can specify here the object types or relationships + object types to be proposed for selection during resource reservation. The system automatically enters the relevant relationships/object types when you specify one of the above-mentioned categories.
Resource types are represented by the object type R. Depending on their classification, the resources themselves are assigned as follows:
Resources classified as Room are assigned to object type G
Resources classified as Instructor are assigned to different object types, for example, P (employees from HR master record), H (external persons), US (users). Other object types that correspond to real persons can also be used as instructors.
Resources classified as Material are assigned to object type M
Resources classified as Other Resources are assigned to object type G
In this way, the resources are determined, according to object type, in different ways for resource selection for planning and creating courses. No other entries are needed for object type G (rooms and other resources) because they are directly related to object type R.
Resources classified as material or instructor, however, must be determined using the Alternative Resource Search. In this case, you must enter either the object type with which the resource type is related (such as the object type, external person for instructor) or an allowed relationship between the course type and an object type (such as is held by +, for example, the object type, eternal person for instructor, and used for course or used for participant + object type, material for material). If you use the second option (relationship + object type), you can store specific resources for the course type (such as instructor X is allowed to hold this course) that is related to this resource type. These resources are offered for reservation for the course.
Capacity
The capacity infotype lets you specify the minimum, optimum, and maximum capacity of rooms. These values are compared with the capacity values stored for a course or course type when participation is booked.
Relationships
In this infotype, you specify the cost center to which resources of a resource type belong. The cost center you enter here is proposed as default for the pertinent resources. You may overwrite it if required.
Further Information
You maintain the Costs infotype on this tab page. You assign costs (subdivided into cost items) to a resource type. This information is required for cost transfer to Cost Accounting and for the price determination feature.
Before you can maintain the Costs infotype, you must work through the step Define Cost Items in Customizing for Training Management under Course Preparation.
It is not mandatory that you store the infotypes capacity, cost center, or cost data for the resource type. You can store this data for the individual resources instead. We recommend that you maintain this information for the resource types. The values you store apply then to all resources of a given type.
If required, you can override these values by maintaining a different value for one specific resource.
Integration
You can create resource types and resources in Current Settings or in Customizing under Course Preparation.
Maintaining resources and resource types in the dynamic resource menu offers you a more structured and clearer working environment. An added advantage is that you can directly reserve resources for courses there.
See also:
Availability Indicators (Infotype 1023)