Activity Duration Estimation for Bundled Activities
Oracle Field Service estimates the ratio of the average duration of activities that are part of a bundle (excluding the first activity) to the duration that is currently estimated for such activities. The calculated ratio is applied to the original estimate to get the estimated duration of bundled activities. Again, this ratio is not applied to the estimated duration of the first activity of the bundle. The first activity continues to have the same duration similar to a standalone activity.
Only one single ratio is calculated for a particular instance. This ratio is based on reported duration of non-first bundled activities and duration that is currently estimated for similar activities.
Example:
Here is an example to understand on how the ratio will be used
Consider four activities that are part of the same visit bundle - A, B, C and D. Assume that as standalone activities, the estimated durations (based on resource's ratio for each activity and company level estimation) for the four activities would've been 30 mins, 20 mins, 50 mins and 40 mins respectively. Assume that the final ratio of bundled activity duration is 80% (based on calculated value and limits set).
The final estimated duration, when these activities are assigned to the resource's route, would be as follows:
Activity A - 30 mins (ratio is not applied since it is the first activity of the bundle)
Activity B - 20 * 80% = 16 mins
Activity C - 50 * 80% = 40 mins
Activity D - 40 * 80% = 32 mins
As with all other statistical values, the value of this ratio is recalculated on a daily basis, typically overnight. For an activity type, if the Configuration, Activity Types, Calculate activity duration using statistics check box in the Activities page is unchecked then the ratio is not applied to the activity durations of that activity type.
View and Control Ratio for Bundled Activities Duration
The Lower and upper limits of ratio for bundled activities duration field under Visit bundling keys on the Business Rules page allows you to control the lower and upper limits for the ratio to be used. In addition to setting the limits, the field displays the value calculated by the application based on the durations reported by mobile workers. You can set the limits using the slider to a value from 1% to 100%, provided the lower limit does not exceed the upper limit.
The final ratio is applied to estimation durations of non-first bundled activities between the lower and upper limits set here. So, if the calculated ratio lies within the limits, that value is used. If not, the limit closest to the calculated value is used.
Here are some examples:
Case 1:
Lower limit = 70%, Upper limit = 90%, Calculated value = 80%. In this case, the duration of all non-first bundled activities be 80% of the duration of similar normal activities.
Case 2:
Lower limit = 70%, Upper limit = 90%, Calculated value = 60%. In this case, the duration of all non-first bundled activities be 70% (lower limit) of the duration of similar normal activities.
- Case 3:
Lower limit = 70%, Upper limit = 90%, Calculated value = 95%. In this case, the duration of all non-first bundled activities be 90% (upper limit) of the duration of similar normal activities.
If data reported is not enough to make meaningful calculations, there is no calculated value; the default value of 100% is displayed. The set limits are respected and the default value of 100% is used only if the upper limit is also set to 100%. If not, the value set as the upper limit is used.
Set Overriding Ratio for Bundled Activities Duration
Using the limits, administrators can also override the ratio to be used for the duration of non-first bundled activities. Administrators can set both lower and upper limits to the value they want to use. As the system always respects the limits, it uses the value that is set.
For example if the desired ratio is 80% then you may set both lower and upper limits to 80% so that the system uses that value regardless of the calculated value.
To disable this feature altogether and to have the system behave the way it earlier used to, you may set the lower and upper limits to 100%.