Balancing Operations on Working and Nonworking Resources

You can balance operations on working and nonworking resources using the Resource Balancing command.

Before you begin: Open your session content, which should include an organizational resource with three working resources and three systems with operations. A Resource-System scope is required.

The scenario below also applies to nonworking resources.

See Also
Resource Utilization Gantt Chart
Exporting Resource Balancing Information to an XML File
  1. Select the organizational resource in the tree.
  2. From the Authoring section of the action bar, click Resource Balancing .

    The Resource Balancing panel displays. This is the global panel showing the operations assigned to all the working resources under the selected organizational resource.

    Useful information also displays in the table under the bar chart:

    • Total time of the operations assigned to the working resource
    • Percentage utilization of the working resource
    • Idle time of the working resource
    • Cycle time defined on the root system

    The colored rectangles in the bar chart show the operations assigned to each resource. By default, the operations are represented by blue rectangles. Parallel operations (that is, operations that are done at the same time on a given resource) are represented by red rectangles.

    Tip: You can customize this color in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > Simulation > Process Engineering > Equipment Allocation > Resource Balancing Chart.



    Notes:
    • If you right-click the Parent Resource cell in the table, a context menu displays for showing or hiding empty resource columns in the bar chart. An empty resource column has no assigned operations.
      • Manage Resource Visibility: provides a dialog box for showing or hiding any resource column, whether it is empty or not.
      • Show All Empty Resources: shows all empty resources.
      • Hide All Empty Resources: hides all empty resources.
      • Small Duration Mode: shows operations with no defined duration.
      • Actual Duration Mode: when the operation rectangles are shown in Small Duration Mode, this command switches to the default mode.
    • You can select one or more working resources in the tree and click Resource Balancing to display an individual panel for each resource. You can show or hide the value list for a resource using the small arrow button on the panel. The value list shows the total time, utilization, and idle time for the resource. If several individual panels are displayed, clicking the expander of any panel hides or shows the value lists in all the panels.
    • You can customize the colors of the rectangles in the bar chart in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > Simulation > Process Engineering > Equipment Allocation > Balancing.



  3. From the Authoring section of the action bar, click Resource Utilization Gantt .
    The Gantt chart shows that some of the operations are sequenced, others are not.



    For WorkerA, there are four operations in parallel: these are the operations that show up in red in the Resource Balancing panel.

  4. Drag an Unloading operation from WorkerA to WorkerB.
    The operation is added to WorkerB.

  5. In the same way, drag another Unloading operation from WorkerA to WorkerC.
    The operation is added to WorkerC. The Gantt chart is also updated to show that the operations are now added to WorkerB and WorkerC.
    Notes:
    • You can drag an operation:
      • Between different individual bar charts
      • Between the bar chart and the tree
      • Between the bar chart and the 3D resource object
      • Between columns of the bar chart to modify the assignment of the operation.
    • You can drag an operation from a working resource to a nonworking resource and vice versa. In this case, the operation is assigned to both resources and existing constraints are kept.
    • You can drag an operation from one individual working resource panel to another working resource panel to assign the operation to the new working resource. If the operation was previously assigned to one or more working resources:
      • All those resources are unassigned and the operation is assigned to the new working resource.
      • If you press Ctrl during the drag, the operation remains assigned to those resources in addition to the new working resource.
  6. Sequence the operations in the Gantt chart.



    The bar chart and the information in the table are updated accordingly (total time, utilization, and so on).



  7. Select a rectangle representing an operation in the WorkerA column of the bar chart.
    The rectangle changes from dark blue to light blue and a tooltip gives information about the operation. The operation is also highlighted in the tree.
  8. Right-click an operation.
    A context menu displays, allowing you to create, edit, or delete time analyses, or to modify operation properties.
  9. Create a time analysis on the operation.
    For more information, see the Time-Motion Study User's Guide.
  10. Right-click the operation and select Properties, then change Time mode to Analyzed time in the Properties dialog box.
  11. Right-click the Total Time cell in the table.
    A context menu displays, allowing you to change the time type displayed on operations:
    • Estimated Time
    • Simulated Time
    • Analyzed Time
    • Time Type Defined On Operation
  12. Select Time Type Defined on Operation.
    The bar chart is updated to show analyzed time on the operation with the time analysis.

Notes:
  • A Set Number of Lines contextual command is available on the first cell of each row in the panel's table. It displays a Number of Lines dialog box that lets you manage the row height for displaying full names in the table cells. You can do this either by specifying the Maximum number of lines value or selecting the Auto adjust lines option.
  • You can display "value added categories" bars in the bar chart using the Display value added categories from Time Analysis on system option in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > Simulation > Digital Manufacturing Apps Common Services > Manufacturing Planning Apps Common Services > Process Gantt.
  • You can specify which resource types are to be displayed in the Resource Balancing panel in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > Simulation > Process Engineering > Equipment Allocation > Resource Balancing Chart.
  • When you close the panel, length, width, and position information is written into a preference file (DELMLBResourceBalancingPreference.CATPreference). Therefore, the size and position of the bar charts are retrieved at the next activation of the panel.
    Note: As the size and position information is based on the resource reference name, it may vary if the resource is renamed or if different resources have the same reference name.