Configuring Availability and Availability Exceptions

The Availability schedule can be defined for all Facilities, a specific Facility, all Docks, a specific Dock, a specific Shop Area, or a specific Work Center. Each day is defined with the hours that the resource type is available by specifying the start and end times. To set a resource type as not available on a certain day, set the start and end times to the same value. Multiple Shop Schedules may be created, allowing companies to set a schedule for all Facilities and exceptions based on specific Shop Areas or Work Centers.

Availability Exceptions are used to set a resource type (all Facilities, a specific Facility, all Docks, a specific Dock, a specific Shop Area, or a specific Work Center) as not available for a period of time that it would normally have been available, or available for a period of time when it is not otherwise available. Examples of not available times would be holidays or scheduled maintenance. An example of available times would be Saturday mornings for a given period, such as a busy season. Note that the Job Calendar and MPC now have the ability to define multiple start/end times within a day and have all intermittent times be blackouts. For example, on the Edit Availability Exceptions form, if Monday has 8am-12pm and 1pm-8pm defined, the blackouts are midnight-8am, 12-1, and 8pm-midnight.

Configuration

Facilities, Docks, Shop Areas, and Work Centers must be setup prior to adding Availability and Availability Exceptions.
If using the unavailability feature based on subsequent job routings sequences, the following additional configurations are required:
- An operation in the "Unavailability Operation" field on the Scheduling tab in Production > Options.
- Those routing sequences that need to be unavailable for scheduling will need to have the "Unavailable For Next Sequence" field checked.

Process

Adding an Availability schedule

Navigate to Production > Maintenance > Availability.
On the Availability form click the "Add New" button.
Select an appropriate Schedule Type. If selecting a Schedule Type of Facility, Dock, Shop Area, or Work Center the system will change the field following the Schedule Type field to a pick list where users will need to select which specific Facility, Shop Area, or Work Center the schedule will be applied to for scheduling purposes.
Click the "Add" button to display the Edit Availability Time form.
Select the appropriate day of the week and the appropriate start and end time. When finished click the "Next" button to enter additional days of the week.
When finished entering the days of the week click the "Save" button on the Edit Availability Time form. The Edit Availability Time form will close.
Ensure the "Active" box is checked on the Edit Availability form.
Once all changes are complete click the "Save" button to save the Availability schedule.

Adding an Availability Exception

Navigate to Production > Maintenance > Availability Exceptions.
On the Availability Exceptions form click the "Add New" button.
Select an appropriate Schedule Type. If selecting a Schedule Type of Facility, Dock, Shop Area, or Work Center, the system will change the field following the "Availability Type" field to a pick list where users will need to select which specific Facility, Shop Area, or Work Center the Schedule Exception will be applied to for scheduling purposes.
Select an appropriate Availability Type. This field is used to determine if the resource specified in the above field will be available or unavailable for the specified dates and times.
Select the appropriate Start Date and Start Time for the Exception.
Select the appropriate End Date and End Time for the Exception.
Ensure the "Active" box is checked on the Edit Availability Exception form.
Once all changes are complete click the "Save" button to save the Exception.

Note: The 'Name' field on the Edit Availability Exception form is used to add a description to note why something is unavailable. This exception name will appear on Dock or Master Production calendars.

Reporting on Availability Schedules

Generating an Availability (Shop Schedule) report displays the Operation, Work Center, and Routing sequence for each part on the selected Jobs based on the selection criteria used in the pre-filter. This report also displays the original quantity and finished quantity for each part, as well as the total weight of items issued to each Job. To display the total weight of issued items, the "totwgt" field may be added to the grid layout.

Note: Job routing information for the line selected on the report may be edited via the "Edit" button at the bottom of the report. When the "Edit" button is clicked, the Input Job Routing form will be displayed. Users may change the start time of the routing for this line provided a start date has been specified. The "Next" button in the Input Job Routing form will also allow users to move through multiple sequences at a time for efficient scheduling of larger jobs.

Navigate to Jobs > Job Reporting.
Select a Report Type of "Shop Schedule" and fill in the other filters as desired then click "View".
The resulting report will display all Jobs and their associated details (according to the pre-filter). Users can use the output to Issue to the selected Job, Input Production, or simply View Detail.

Marking Work Centers unavailable based on subsequent routing sequences

Beginning in version 17.01.010, users can block Work Centers as unavailable for scheduling on the Master Production Calendar by setting an unavailability operation on Routings. The feature was designed for situations where a work center will be tied up and needs to be marked unavailable for scheduling based on where and when operations on subsequent sequences on the same job occur:

If the sequences are on the same work center, and there is a gap between them, the work center will be marked as unavailable until the start time of the subsequent sequence. (Example – a mixing tank work center is actively mixed in for an hour, but nothing can be scheduled in this work center until a filling operation has completed and mixing tank is empty)

If the sequences are on different work centers, the work center will be marked as unavailable until the end time of the subsequent sequence. No gap between sequences is required in this case.

Steps:

Ensure that an operation is selected in the "Unavailability Operation" field on the Scheduling tab in Production > Operations.
Ensure that those routing sequences that will need to be unavailable for scheduling have the "Unavailable For Next Sequence" field checked on the appropriate routings in the system. Note: Routings may be changed from the job entry screen. In this case, the changes only affect the routings for that specific job.
Create the necessary jobs and ensure that the correct Routing containing the unavailability sequences are indicated on the job.
Launch the Master Production Calendar via Production > Calendar.
Once the calendar is displayed, schedule the job routing sequences as necessary.
1. If scheduling sequences on the same Work Center, there must be a gap between them. This can be done by manually dragging the sequences to create the space, or a lead time can be entered on the subsequent Work Center.
2. At this point you should see the unavailability operation displayed between the end of the sequence marked for unavailability sequence and the start of the subsequent sequence. The unavailability operation will be displayed on the calendar with a black fill color just like maintenance tasks and will also display the job number and operation name.
3. If scheduling sequences on different Work centers, no gap between the sequences is required, and the subsequent sequence may be scheduled to start immediately after the previous sequence.
4. In this case, the unavailability operation will be displayed from the end of the previous sequence until the end of the subsequent sequence.
If no other changes or scheduling is required you may save the calendar and exit.

Notes on scheduling unavailability operations:

Double clicking the unavailability operation opens the availability exceptions form, just like maintenance tasks.
When an unavailability operation is scheduled, other routing sequences scheduled at the same time should be pushed forward.
Unavailability operations can not be moved/re sequenced by themselves.
An unavailability operation/sequence will not be scheduled if the sequence marked as unavailable ends at the same time or later than it's following sequences on a different work center.

Scheduling Around Blackouts

The Schedule Around Blackouts field, located on the Routings form (and available beginning in version 17.02.010) may be used to allow or prevent sequence scheduling during calendar blackouts and periods of unavailability.
The Continuous Routings feature (available beginning in version 17.02.010) may impact how routings are scheduled or not scheduled during blackout and periods of unavailability.