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Siebel Field Service Guide > Scheduling and Dispatch > Optimization Engine >

Requirements for Optimization

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The following settings are required for running the Optimization Engine:

A service region
Server Key mapping
Cost function
Cost list
Travel cost
Minimum travel time
Travel U/M
Parameter set
Parameters:
Optimizer - Activity Category
Optimizer - Default Priority
Optimizer - Glued
Optimizer - Save interval
Optimizer - Tardiness Cost
Optimizer - Task Excl Cost
Optimizer - Timeout

The Optimization Engine has the following additional requirements:

An activity cannot span more than one day; multi-day activities are not scheduled. The Optimizer can schedule other activities during the time intended for multi-day activities. However, the penalties for not scheduling these activities still contribute to evaluating the potential success of an optimized schedule (see the Cost Function).
Activities that cross between the end of the Optimizer horizon and the ABS horizon are treated as locked by both the ABS and the Optimizer.

When loading activities into the Optimizer cache for the first time, the Optimizer produces an initial solution to the schedule by accepting the existing order and assignment of appointments. While finding the initial solution, the Optimizer first processes the activities which have Lock Assignment and Lock Schedule flags (see Making Changes to a Schedule) set to TRUE. This helps to ensure that these requests are honored in the optimized schedule.

While the schedule for a service region is being optimized, only insert activity (see Insert Activity Button) and stop optimization (see Service Regions View) requests are accepted. These are queued, and the queue is processed when the optimization finds the next solution. Any other request is returned.

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