Resource capabilities
The next step in the process is to create the resource capabilities, which describe what resources can do. When you're designing a route, you can express the requirements that resources need to perform the various operations in the route as the set of resource capabilities. This approach allows you to defer the allocation of resources until production is scheduled.
Resources
You can assign resources to jobs and operations. Resources can be different types, including machines, tools, human resources, vendors, facilities, or locations. The scheduling engine aligns with the new resource model and can schedule resources based on their capabilities.
Resources and capabilities replace work centers and task groups to provide more flexibility in setup and maintenance. In finance and operations apps, you can allocate resources to jobs and operations by matching the capabilities of the resources with the requirements of the operation.
The system considers alternative resources with the same capabilities, unless requirements exist for a specific resource or resource group. This factor applies whether you select to run job scheduling or operations scheduling. The selection process consists of matching the requirements of the operation with the capabilities of the resources. The scheduling engine considers other requirements, such as location, resource working time, and resource type, when you're planning the production.
Set up resources
You can use operation resources throughout the production or project processes. These resources can be machines, tools, people, or vendors that contribute to the production of an item. They're considered as one unit for managing the planning of capacity requirements and detailed scheduling. After you create an operations resource, you can assign it to a resource group and specific productions.
You can reassign resources to different resource groups. However, you can only assign a resource to one resource group at a time. The Effective and Expiration date fields on the Resource groups tab represent when you can use the resource in question for production.
This setup lets you share a resource across many sites. When a resource becomes a member of the resource group, it represents the physical move from one site to another.
The following pages are available on the Resource groups page.
Capabilities - The ability of a resource to perform a given activity that's relevant to production. You can assign capabilities to an operations resource.
You can assign more than one capability to a resource and assign a capability to more than one resource. You can assign capabilities to resources on a temporary basis by defining a start date and expiration date on the capability assignment.
Capabilities that have expired on a resource prevent the resource from being scheduled for production if the production requires that capability. You can renew a capability that has expired. Also, you can assign a capability to any type of resource.
Skills - You can create and manage competencies that you plan to specify for employees or jobs. An operation might require a resource with a specific skill.
The scheduling engine can find resources with specific skills by searching for the skill information on the worker to which the resource is linked. This feature is only applicable for job scheduling, not operation scheduling. To set up skills, go to Human resources > Competencies > Setup > Skills.
Courses - You can create and maintain courses. On the Courses page, you can track which courses your employees have attended. An operation might require a resource with a specific course. The scheduling engine finds resources with specific courses by searching for the course information on the worker to which the resource is linked. This feature is only applicable for job scheduling.
Certificate - Adding a certificate to a user in human resourcing allows you to track what certificate your employees have. An operation might require a resource with a specific certificate. The scheduling engine can find resources with specific certificates by searching for the certificate information on the worker to which the resource is linked. This feature is only applicable for job scheduling.
Title - The title that an employee has can also be a requirement for a job. An operation might require a resource with a specific title. The scheduling engine can find resources with specific titles by searching for the title information on the worker to which the resource is linked. This feature is only applicable for job scheduling.
Priority - Use this page to determine which resource the system should allocate first, if more than one resource could perform the same capability at the same level within the given time period. For a certain capability, the system selects the resource with the lowest priority number first. In other words, the lower the priority number for a certain capability, the higher the priority.
Level - This page shows a qualification of a Capability that allows the system to search for a suitable resource if multiple capable resources are available. Level doesn't have units, and it's a numeric value solely for finding a resource. You wouldn't use level value in capacity calculations in any manner.
For example, if you enter a level value of 100 in the route, then you can use all resources that can perform at more than or equal to 100. If resource R1 has a level of 300, then that resource can perform the operations that need up to 300.