Resource planning allows you to carry out detailed planning to execute an order. In resource planning, a suitable resource (personnel or tool) that covers the demand is assigned to the demand from the order operation.
Note
You can use tool resources for Plant Maintenance (PM) and Customer Service (CS).
There is a separate user interface for resource planning – the Scheduler Workplace.
Each scheduler can configure the workplace as required. The main features of the interface are:
• Worklist
• Item Worklist
• Planning Board
• Alert Monitor
Prerequisites
• You have configured all of the required settings in Customizing for SAP Multiresource Scheduling. You call Customizing for MRS using transaction /MRSS/IMG.
• You have created master data specific to SAP Multiresource Scheduling for qualifications if you want to work with this.
• You have defined the objects (for example, organizational units) that you want to use for your resource planning structure.
• You have the necessary authorizations for resource planning.
• You have created an order with the associated operations and production resources and tools.
Process
Note
Resource planning is a dynamic process that does not always run in the same way.
Moreover, depending on the requirements of the task and the complexity of the data, this is not required or even possible. The steps described below apply to all aspects of resource planning. However, the sequence may change and the resource planner may
skip or repeat some of the steps with certain assignments. Depending on the source of the demand (CRM service order, order from ERP Customer Service, project from Project System and cProjects, or Plant Maintenance), additional steps may be available or necessary. These are described in the corresponding sections (for example, resource planning in the service). The following process contains the steps that may be relevant regardless of the source of the demand. Steps that refer to tool resources are only relevant for source of demands from Plant Maintenance (PM) and Customer Service (CS).
The process begins after you or the person responsible has created an order that is relevant for planning and this has been transferred to SAP Multiresource Scheduling.
1. You open the Scheduler Workplace. Depending on the main aspects of the work, the resource planner can use various transactions (see Calling the Scheduler Workplace by Work Priority).
2. The planning horizon is the period for which you plan assignments. It is configured automatically by the selected transaction or you can enter it manually (see Planning Horizon).
3. Once you have opened the Scheduler Workplace, you obtain an overview of the scope of your worklist and the available resources.
4. You check the item worklist to determine whether there are any items classed as urgent. You also attempt to process items with a higher priority first when you plan the resources.
5. You check whether there are personnel resources with a suitable qualification profile to carry out the order operations. The system displays the result of the qualification comparison as a ranking list sorted in decreasing suitability of qualifications and time availability.
6. You check the utilization of the personnel resources.
7. You add personnel resources from other resource planning nodes to the
planning board if your own resources do not have the required qualifications or are overloaded.
8. You link demands to other resource planning nodes if you want to assign them to another resource planner, for example.
9. You create teams if several employees are required to complete the task over a longer period of time, or if you want to use capacitive planning.
10. You check whether you have suitable tool resources to carry out the order.
11. You add tool resources from other resource planning nodes to the planning board if your own resources are not sufficient.
12. You create a link between tool and personnel resources if, for example, a resource requires the tool in the field for a longer period of time.
The tool is then unavailable for other resources. When you create an assignment, a tool assignment is also created to simplify planning.
13. You create time allocations for unscheduled absences or attendances of resources.
If a personnel resource is absent during normal working time, the resource planner can note this in a time allocation on the planning board. The same applies to tools that require maintenance or repair.
14. You create assignments for your personnel resources, taking into account the above criteria.
You can copy the dates for the assignments automatically from the order or enter them yourself.
15. The system checks whether the resource type is suitable for the assignment. If a resource does not have the necessary requirements profile, the system generates an alert.
16. You split assignments if an assignment exceeds the normal working time (plus overtime) of a personnel resource, for example.
17. You split demands if you want to distribute them across different resources or resource planning nodes.
18. You can assign several personnel resources to a demand. In this case, the system does not calculate the duration automatically. Instead, you enter the duration of the respective assignments based on your experience.
19. Provided that you do not save your data, you can undo any planning steps you have made and repeat them if required.
20. You use the Alert Monitor to check that planning for your assignments is free of conflicts.
The system runs checks while you plan your resources. It generates alerts if errors occurred during the checks and indicates the type of error and its cause in the Alert Monitor.
21. You correct the cause of the alert.
To do so, you must check the data (for example, availability) and process assignments again.
Note
You can confirm alerts without having corrected their cause.
22. You save your planning.
Only once you have saved your changes in resource planning are they visible to other resource planners who work with the same resources.
If you work in the Scheduler Workplace, data can be changed in other applications (for example, new assignments or new order operations), which can affect resource
planning. To include this data, update the Scheduler Workplace regularly.
If you want to create an assignment for an order operation or resource, the order or resource may be locked. This is because another resource planner is creating
assignments for the order or resource at the same time. In this case, wait and update the data in the Scheduler Workplace or contact the other resource planner. Assignments and time allocations are locked as long as they are being processed by another resource planner.
Result
You have created assignments for suitable resources to carry out planning-relevant operations or suboperations. Your planning is on schedule and free of conflicts.
See also: