Balancing the workload

Balance the workload by adjusting the schedule. The WO Load Balancing form consists of three pages: the Parameters page, on which you define the selection criteria for locating the work orders to balance; the Preview page, on which you can preview the work orders prior to actually balancing them and select or unselect the work orders to process as necessary; and the Balance Load page, on which you can balance the work order load.

The Generate Options section of the Parameters page enables you to specify the manner in which the system processes the work orders.

The Preview page allows you to preview all of the work orders selected for processing based on the selection parameters, enabling you to select or unselect work orders to balance. You can select or unselect individual work orders for processing, or you can select or unselect all work orders for processing.

Note: The system does not enable you to balance the workload for work orders of Type ST (standing work order) or MEC (multiple equipment child).

The Balance Load page enables you to view labor availability and reschedule work.

To balance the workload:

  1. Open the WO Load Balancing form.
  2. Work Order Org.—Enter the organization to which the work order belongs if you use multi-organization security.
  3. Enter selection criteria as necessary in the Selection Parameters section of the form.
    Note: You can enter wildcards for the Department, PM Schedule, Project Budget, WO Type, Priority, Trade, Status, Reported By, Work Order, Assigned To, and Assigned By parameters. Enter the first character of the parameter followed by a percentage sign, and then click Process. For example, if you enter E% for Trade, the system retrieves all work orders with a trade that begin with the letter "E" on the Preview tab.
  4. Schedule Window (Days)—Enter the number of days into the future for which to calculate labor availability.
  5. Sort By—Select whether to sort by Reported Date or by Scheduled Start Date.
  6. Click Process.
  7. Select—Select each work order you wish to balance, or you can unselect each work order you do not wish to balance as necessary.
    Note: To select all the work orders at once, check Select. To unselect all the work orders at once, uncheck Select.
  8. Click Lock Selected Work Orders.
  9. Select a work order, and then click to move the current work order ahead in time. Click to move the current work order back in time. You may also click a specific date cell to change the work order date. In the lower section of the form, the system displays colors to represent labor availability versus labor required for the work order:
    • Green—Available labor hours exceed required labor hours
    • Yellow—Required labor hours equal available labor hours
    • Red—Required labor hours exceed available labor hours
    By adjusting work orders in the schedule, you can reschedule them at times when enough labor is available, and thus balance the workload.
  10. Click Update Activity to update the work order activity.
  11. Activity-Trade—Select the activity-trade for which to update the trade or start date.
  12. Trade—Enter the trade to update for the activity.
  13. Start Date—Enter the starting date to update for the activity.
  14. Click Save.
  15. Click Close Session and Update Work Orders.
    Note: To save the work order balancing session, click Save Session.

    To cancel the work order balancing session, click Cancel Session.