In Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling, if you want to protect an activity or the primary resource, on which the activity is processed, from unforeseen delays in material staging, you can schedule using a resource-specific time buffer. The time buffer represents a type of safety time: Using the time buffer, the system keeps a larger time interval between the activity and its predecessor activities during scheduling. Possible delays in the predecessor activities can be caught by the time buffer and a standstill in resources due to material shortage can thereby be avoided. Here, predecessor activities are the activities that have a time relationship or a pegging relationship to the activity.

When scheduling with time buffers, the system must – depending on the type of relationship – keep the following minimum time intervals between the activities:

• In a pegging relationship, the availability date must be earlier than the requirements date by at least the duration of the time buffer.
• In a time relationship, the minimum time interval defined in the production process model (PPM) is increased between the activities by the duration of the time buffer.

• You specified a time buffer in the primary resource for which you wish to carry out scheduling with time buffers.
• You specified in the detailed scheduling strategy that the system should consider time relationships.

• In the PPM for the time relationships, for which you wish to schedule with time buffers, you specified that the system can use the time buffer during scheduling (reference subtype 2).

• You specified in the detailed scheduling strategy that the system should consider pegging relationships.