Labor Resource Scheduling

There are four different methods for scheduling labor resources.

  • Select a resource group ID and click the Recommend Labor button on the Schedules page (Labor Schedules) to run the resource match engine, which recommends resources that meet the labor requirements based on both qualifications and availability.

  • Search for the resources based on the craft manually by clicking the Search link in the Labor Schedules - Assignments tab on the Schedules page. This conducts a search based on the availability of the resources and the craft.

  • Enter or select a specific employee ID at the resource line level in the Labor Schedules - Assignments tab on the Schedule page.

    Use this method when you know the specific resource whom you want to assign.

  • Access the Labor Assignment Workbench and assign available crew resources and non-crew resources to multiple work order tasks.

In each of these methods, the system checks the resource calendar for conflict before making the actual assignment. If a conflict exists and the system allows overbooking of the resource, it creates the assignment and issues a warning message to the user. If you indicated that overbooking is not allowed, then the system issues an error message based on the conflict. Once the labor resources are assigned, a distribution row is created in the Labor distribution record in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management. When the actual time spent on the work order task for this schedule row is entered through a timesheet, the Labor distribution row ChartField values will flow into the timesheet that will feed the shared tables with PeopleSoft Travel and Expenses.

To manually control overbooking of resources at the work order task line, you must select the Overbooking Resources - Require Manual Override check box for the shop associated with the work order. If you select this check box, then an Overbook Flag check box displays in both the Labor Schedules and Tool Schedules grids in the work order. If you select the check box, then the system allows the overbooking of the resource. If the check box is deselected, then the system does not allow the overbooking of the resource. If you do not select the Require Manual Override check box for the shop, then the system automatically allows overbooking of the resource for all work order task lines associated with the shop.

There are two types of shifts that the system considers in the assignment process:

  • The shop's shift, which defines the operating hours of the shop.

  • The resource's shift, which defines the working hours of the resource.

If overbooking is not allowed, the system checks the resource availability based on the availability cache record and the resource working hours in the shop. If there is no availability for the scheduled time frame and duration, an error issued. If overbooking is allowed, the system uses either the shift associated with the shop identified in the work order header or the resource shift in the assignment process, depending on one of these scenarios:

  • For a cross shop assignment where the resource is assigned to the shop identified in the work order header, the system uses the shift that the resource is assigned to in the shop associated with the work order.

  • For a cross shop assignment, where the resource is not assigned to the shop identified in the work order header, the system uses the shop's shift in the assignment process

  • For a non-cross shop assignment, the system uses the resource's shift in the assignment process.

Schedulers can assign non-crew and crew resources one at a time using the Labor Schedules grid or the Labor Assignment Workbench. They can also assign non-crew and crew-scheduled resources to multiple work orders and tasks using the Labor Assignment Workbench. When you set up resources, you can associate them with one or more shops, shifts, and crafts using Manage Profiles. When you access the Shop component, the current shop resources are listed on the Resources page. All resources must be assigned to a shop before you can assign them to a work order task.

When you click the Search link in the Labor Schedules grid in the work order and access the Search for Labor Resources page, you can search by shop, crew, location, employee ID, craft, and availability. However, you can override the other values, but you cannot override the craft value on this search page. For example, if a crew has three electricians and two mechanics associated with it, and you need three electricians and two mechanics to do the job, then you perform the search based on the crew ID, which results in a list of the three electricians or two mechanics associated with the crew (depending on the craft specified on the search criteria) so that you can assign these resources to the task. If crew technicians are not available in the shop associated with the work order task, the scheduler can search for technicians in another shop or procure technicians using a purchase order or requisition.

The scheduling and assignment of crews to multiple work orders is described in detail in the Performing Crew Scheduling set of topics.

See Understanding Crew Scheduling.