Siebel Field Service Guide > Scheduling Using Siebel Scheduler > Creating Constraint Sets for Schedules >

Defining Constraints

You create constraints using the Constraint Wizard. This wizard guides you step-by-step through the process. You select a constraint template and then either select or enter the appropriate values.

Do not define contradictory constraints. For example, the following constraints conflict with each other if both constraints are hard constraints and if the duration of the activities is less than 2 hours:

• A field service engineer must work a minimum of 4 hours in each day.
• A field service engineer can work on no more than 2 activities in each day.

In this example, the Optimizer cannot find a solution and fails to schedule the activities.

Test new constraints before releasing the constraints into a production environment. Leaving the constraints as soft constraints might help to avoid problems. However, too many soft constraints and not enough hard constraints can hamper performance.

After you define constraints, you can define constraint sets that are associated with service regions. For more information, see Defining Constraint Sets.

To define a constraint

1. Navigate to the Administration - Scheduling screen, then the Constraints view.
2. Create a new constraint record, and follow the Constraint Wizard steps.

   For more information about the predefined constraints that you can select, see Creating Constraint Sets for Schedules.

3. When you complete the constraint, click Save.

   The Save a Constraint dialog box appears.

4. Enter a name for the constraint, and click Save.

   The Constraints list reappears.